Page 11 of Heir of Fire
Those were the only words that kept coming to Finn’s mind the entire time he walked back to his room, scrubbed his hands, and then paced back and forth until he was sure he burned a hole through the fucking floor.
He had never looked or even thought about Gianna in that way. Which way? He wasn’t even sure himself. A way that was different to the innocent way he used to look at her. The way that said she was his sister’s best friend and that was it.
So then what the fuck was that?
He ran a hand down his face, pausing when he smelt her perfume. Was that his mind playing a trick on him or was it actually there? God, why was he starting to find the sweet strawberry scent that enveloped her being so fucking intoxicating?
He shouldn’t have ever come home, that was the problem. He was deprived of everything good in his life—sex included—and the minute an attractive woman showed some interest in him, he completely lost his mind. Finn wasn’t even sure she was showing interest. Gianna was a tease and a flirt, but her request for him tounzip her dress was most likely innocent. Yes, that’s exactly what it was. An innocent request.
He needed to leave.
He couldn’t be lingering around, solving problems for people when he had no intentions of staying. But when she cried—or more like nearly suffocated—he couldn’t deny that he sympathized with her. He would have felt the same murderous rage had it been his own sister crying on the floor because some asshole broke her heart.
That made Finn stop pacing. Maybe it wasn’t any type of attraction towards Gianna; maybe it was him feeling sympathy towards her. He had known her since they were children—granted, she had been the annoying child that followed her sister around everywhere. But ultimately, had the roles been reversed, he would have wanted Allister to help Luna in the same way—minus unzipping her dress. As an older brother, it was his duty to do what was right.
Maybe it really was that simple. Since he felt bad that she’d had her heart broken, the right thing to do was teach the asshole that did it a lesson. That seemed logical enough; beat up the man that made her cry and then order could be restored. She could move on with someone else, and he could leave the city and never look back.
Besides, he hadn’t had a good fight in far too long. He was due for beating the shit out of someone.
The only issue was that he couldn’t just come and beat the asshole outright. He had to have some reason for doing it. Something that was accidental or perhaps coincidental. Maybe something that the asshole just so happened to stumble upon.
Finn grabbed his phone to call Augustus. He answered after the third ring. “What?”
“Should I be surprised you’re awake this late?”
“Cecilia went out tonight, you know the drill,” Augustus said.
“Well, I have a question for you,” Finn said, finally taking a seat on the bed.
“What is it?”
“How do you feel about hosting another Fight Night?”
“It’s not Initiation Weekend.” Augustus sighed. “But you don’t give a shit about that, do you?”
“No, I don’t. I have some pent-up stuff I have to get out,” Finn told him. “Don’t tell me you’re not willing to beat anyone up.”
“Hey, don’t get ahead of yourself. You know I’m always down for a fight. Who are the opponents then?” he asked.
“Let’s make it a special invitation for whoever dares to step in the ring with us.” Finn couldn’t help but grin.
There was something exciting about stepping into the ring, letting his body and instinct take over to annihilate the person in front of him. It had been far too long since he’d had a good fight. Actually, the last time was last Fight Night when he and Valerio got into it, but no one won that fight. Finn still wasn’t sure why he left the ring in the middle of the fight, but something told him he didn’t want to know.
“Where do you plan on hosting it?” Augustus asked.
“What do you mean? The same place we always do.”
“Yeah idiot, the arena is now under the Vitali’s since you left and refused to handle anything related to the Kingsley name.”
Fuck.
“So, if I want to use the space?”
Augustus snorted. “Then you better start kissing your brother-in-law’s ass.”
Then he hung up the phone, leaving Finn in his own silence. He groaned, falling back on the bed.
Why the fuck was nothing ever simple?
