Page 7 of Heir of Fire
He pushed it down, further and further, until it was suppressed. Until it didn’t hurt anymore.
And that was all he could do to survive.
After a vigorous workout session, Finn took a shower and made his way into the garage where Dante had said his bike was. Sure enough, it sat upright supported by the kickstand. Luckily, it didn’t look like they had destroyed it in the process of bringing it over to the house.
His bike was the first serious purchase he’d made for himself in college. Simply put, his father would have destroyed it if he ever knew about it, so it was his dirty little secret. The freedom he experienced when he felt the wind on his body while he whipped past cars and went dangerous speeds—there was nothing comparable.
Sex and alcohol couldn’t even compare to it, but after a long day of riding, they were close seconds.
He grabbed a rag from the counter and a bucket with water from the sink, taking his time to wash it down. Months on the road had done a beating on it. The bike needed an oil change and other regular maintenance, no doubt. The tires needed to be replaced, but now that Finn had all the money and time in the world, he might as well get the bike prepared for another escape.
Being reunited with the one thing he really did care about almost made him lower his guard. The keyword being ‘almost.’The hairs on his neck stood up, letting him know that someone was watching him.
“If you’re going to take me out of my misery, doing it when I’m turned around is a dick move,” Finn said, still not bothering to turn around to see who it was.
“I don’t think you deserve to see my face when I put a knife in your ass.”
Now that voice did have him turning. The surprise hit him hard when he saw Augustus standing in front of him and not one of the usual dwellers of the home. He desperately tried to regain his composure, but that seemed futile because this was the one person who was able to read him. They had been best friends—no, more like brothers—since they were eight years old. If anyone knew him, the real him, it was Augustus.
“Why the ass and not my back?”
“I didn’t want to bother with the symbolism of stabbing you in the back,” he said, shrugging.
Finn stood up, wiping his hands on his jeans. “I’ve been calling and texting, but you haven’t answered. Did Cecilia mention I asked about you?”
“She didn’t need to. I hacked into the cameras and watched her myself.”
Finn held back his comments. Getting back into Augustus’s good graces was his priority, not telling him how batshit crazy it was to follow Cecilia around the house on the camera feed when he wasn’t around her.
“The only reason I’m here is because you pushed her to a place where she had to protect me against you, so thanks for being a giant asshole. Also, if you ever talk to her like that again, I’ll fucking kill you,” Augustus said, the threat clear in his voice.
“Noted.” Finn nodded, rubbing a hand on his chin. “I appreciate you coming.”
“Where’s my apology?”
“I thought you understood why I left,” he said. “I didn’t realize I owed you one.”
“I thought I was never going to see you again, dumbass. It was easier to accept it rather than fight it. Now you’re back, so you have to apologize for all the bullshit you put me through,” Augustus said.
Finn scoffed. “Everything you’ve been through? What about what I went through?”
“Can you stop being dense for one fucking second? I’m not undermining what you went through, asshole. I’m trying to make you realize that I’m not disposable. We’ve known each other for too fucking long for you to just throw me aside—to just throw everyone aside,” he said, the vein in his neck popping through at the outburst.
“I didn’t throw you aside, or at least I didn’t mean to.” He shook his head. How could he explain to people that he couldn’t have stayed? That the image of his father dead on the floor was so engraved into his head that he had to keep moving to help clear it. That being around all of them was a reminder of his old life, the life with his father in it, and he couldn’t decipher whether that was a good or bad thing. He said none of it. Instead, he said the only words he could manage to say, which were easier than anything else. “I’m sorry, okay. You’re my brother and you always have been.”
That seemed to appease Augustus enough because he nodded his head. “Thank God. I thought I was going to have to beat it out of you.” When the smile came onto his face, it seemed that the tension between them had lifted.
“I can admit when I’m wrong.”
“Can you? Damn, five months on the road did change you.”
Finn shook his head, grinning now. “What’s that saying about the road?”
Augustus snorted. “I don’t think there is one, dumbass. Now, tell me all about your adventures.”
SIX
GIANNA
