Page 86 of Wicked Intention

“Did you feel it vibrate?”

She’d gotten calls and texts during the day from her friends, including people in Puerto Jardin. There was only one person he thought she might be hoping to hear from who hadn’t contacted her. “Do you think Marianna might text you for your birthday?”

“No, she won’t risk it. She’d be scared that it would put me in danger, too, and she’d never take the chance.” Zo sighed. “I’ll assume your question means you didn’t feel the phone vibrate.”

“Did you want to take a look?”

Zo shook her head, but what concerned Finn was that shewouldn’t meet his eyes. “No. There’s no point. I didn’t expect anything.”

“Who did you think would call?” She didn’t answer. “Loquita?”

The song was drawing to a close, and Zo stepped back, breaking his hold before she said, “My parents.”

Finn caught her hand before she could escape. “What?”

She tugged once, but when he didn’t release her, she scowled at him before resignation settled on her features. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then you shouldn’t have said anything.” But she had, which meant she was ready to share something. “Come on, let’s take a walk.”

Another light tug, and she fell into step with him. It took a lot of effort to get her out of the ballroom and into the garden without being stopped by anyone, but he managed it. Once they were away from the hotel, Finn said, “Okay, now we can have a conversation without Archer breathing fire.”

Zo made a face. “Archer would never show that much emotion.”

“Figuratively then.” The paths were well lit, the garden carefully maintained with flowers of different pinks lining the path. She pushed her long hair behind her shoulder with her free hand, a nervous gesture. Zo had curled it and pulled the sides up into some ponytail-braid thing, but she left most of it loose. It was sexy as fuck, but it also gave him a clear view of her face. “You never talk about your family,” Finn said, keeping his tone even.

“You had me checked out in Puerto Jardin. You know everything that matters.”

Not even close. He stroked his thumb over her palm, hoping to soothe her. “We’ve been living together for close to three months now—I don’t remember you talking to your parents.”

“That’s because I haven’t.”

Since she sounded defensive, Finn nodded calmly and didn’t immediately ask another question. He hadn’t grown up with a family of his own and didn’t know firsthand how they worked, but it was clear there’d been some kind of fallout here. One that hurt Zo.

Another couple neared, and Finn started walking again—holding Zo’s hand—until he found an out-of-the-way spot where he didn’t think anyone else would interrupt them. Keeping his tone easy, he asked, “They haven’t called you, so have you tried calling them?”

Zo laughed, a sound with no amusement. “I called for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I had to leave a voicemail because they didn’t pick up. Neither of them bothered to return my call.” She tugged her hand free and put a few feet of distance between them. “I usually have to leave a message. Sometimes they’ll call back in a week or two.” She shrugged as if it didn’t cause her pain. “It’s been that way for a couple years now.”

“What happened a couple of years ago?”

“I dropped out of my PhD program and went to work for the Paladin League. I knew they wouldn’t like it. I didn’t realize what my punishment would be for not following the script they’d written for my life.”

Zo pivoted away before he could read the expression on her face, but there’d been multiple emotions in her voice—anger, hurt, bewilderment, and maybe a touch of desperation. Finn went to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her back toward him. There were no tears—he’d never seen her actually cry—but her face wasn’t composed either, the pain written there was so stark that he wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her against his chest.

Her fingers bit into his back as she held him tightly, and Finn stroked her nape under the fall of her hair. “I’m sorry, loquita. I’m sorry,” he murmured as he caressed her.

Suddenly, what she’d said earlier made more sense. Whenhe’d asked her why she hadn’t finished her degree when she was so close, she’d said it waseasier to kill expectations than to manage them.She’d been talking about her parents’ expectations.

When she seemed calmer, he said, “So they had your future mapped out for you.”

“Oh, yeah. I went along with it for most of my life to please them, and I wanted a lot of the same things. I wanted to be an archaeologist. I wanted to focus on pre-Columbian civilizations. I even wanted to concentrate on the Huarona people…like they had. Then Archer approached me about going to work for him.” She shrugged one shoulder. “My parents didn’t take the news well.”

Zo’s voice had been thick, so Finn eased her back enough so he could see her face in the lamplight. There were no tears, and she’d gathered herself now. Her features were almost composed. Almost, but not quite. “They didn’t want you to go to work for the Paladin League? Not even the legitimate side?”

Her lips twisted. “They only know about the public-facing side of the organization. It’s better that way, believe me. But no, their plan was for me to become a college professor like them. I had to teach while I was in grad school. I hated it.” Zo shook her head. “No, hate is too mild a word. Iloathedit. Lecturing, grading papers…” She let her voice trail off. “The boredom. I’m not cut out for their path. I can’t even handle the tedium of a dig site, and at least that’s real archaeology.”

Finn’s lips curved. “I know. You like some adventure in your job.”

His loquita returned the smile. “Yes. I kind of drifted along, figuring I’d deal with my career after I graduated, but…” She let her voice trail off.

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