Page 95 of The Heir
I had made it to the windowsill, desperately flattening my hair, before Linea swung her door open.
As I held my breath and put on my most charming smile, Finn filled the doorway.
“What the fuck!”
Da-dum, da-dum.The sound of my heart was in my ears. Finn wasn’t as intimidating as my father or uncle, but he was still from the old-school generation where touching an unmarried woman was a death sentence. Would he give me time to explain that his daughter had accepted my proposal?
“We thought Belle had come to visit.” His thumb pointed over his shoulder. “That’s Mason’s drone outside.”
“I borrowed it. Mine was at the shop,” I said quickly.
“I see.” With Finn now inside the room, everything felt cramped. Folding my hands around the edges of the windowsill that I was leaning against, I tried to act as if this was a normal situation.
Finn’s tone turned sharp as he walked closer and glared at me. “Why the fuck are you in my daughter’s bedroom? Don’t mistake her for an unprotected Motlander. Linea ismydaughter, and I won’t tolerate anyone putting a hand on her.”
With Finn in my face, I swallowed hard and held up a palm between us. “I assure you, sir, that I had no bad intentions. I love your daughter and I came to propose to her.”
“Without my permission?”
It was like the man in front of me was a scary twin to the easy-going, jovial Finn I’d known since I was a child.
“Dad, stop it. You’re being weird.”
Finn stood for a second with his chest puffed up and his brow furrowed and then his rigid stance eased a bit.
“Thor came to talk to me. He climbed up the wall and came in through the window.”
“The door was locked,” I said in my defense as if that made my act of climbing Finn’s wall normal.
Finn shut me up with another glare. When he finally broke eye contact and turned to Linea, I inhaled a sharp breath to fill my lungs again.
That’s when I remembered Linea telling me that he knew we slept together last night. “Look, sir, I know how this must seem, but I assure you that I have the deepest respect for both you and your daughter.”
“And this is how you show it? By sneaking into my daughter’s room.” He grabbed onto the fabric of my t-shirt. “Am I supposed to believe that you arrived with your shirt inside out?”
“Dad!” Linea stepped over to my side and took my hand. “You’re freaking Thor out.”
“Am I?” His question came out in an angry roar that made me nod my head.
“Yes.”
In a complete transformation, Finn changed back to the fun guy I knew and laughed. “Great! I’ve waited twenty-two years for Linea to start dating so I could have some fun.”
“Fun?” I blinked my eyes in confusion.
Finn smacked my shoulder. “You should have seen your face. It was epic. I can’t wait to tell the others about it. Your dad and Magni are gonna shit themselves when they hear I made you shake and push yourself against the wall in fear.”
I straightened up. “I didn’t shake or push myself against the wall.”
“No?” Finn grabbed my hand and turned it palm up. There was a red line from where I’d squeezed the windowsill. “Tell me again that you weren’t just a little scared!”
“Dad, this isn’t the time to play pranks.”
Finn was grinning from ear to ear. “Now you sound like your mother. What I want to know is, what did you answer to Thor’s proposal? Did you say yes?”
Linea and I exchanged a loving glance that calmed my nerves before she smiled and confirmed it: “I did say yes.”
The edges of Finn’s eyes crinkled when he smiled; he turned to run down the stairs shouting through the house. “Babe, you owe me a massage.”
