Page 71 of Heir of Fire
He snorted. “Clingy? Is that how I’ve been?”
“Mhmm. Totally clingy.”
“Huh, I didn’t know. I’ve never had anyone to be clingy with.”
Gianna shook her head with a smile. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Only for you, princess.”
Fucking hell, it was only for her.
He paid the bill when it came. They got out of the booth, walking towards the exit. Finn held her hand the entire way, being the clingy man that she now labeled him as. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone staring with wide eyes and an open mouth. He probably should have looked closer, but his girlfriend had a way of keeping his attention always. Still, he could have sworn that he recognized the caramel hair that sat with the pretentious pre-law students, thinking it looked a lot like Blair Adler herself.
It all slipped his mind the moment Gianna gave him a kiss, though. She got onto the bike with her helmet on and he did the same before revving the engine and taking off.
Finn shook his head, letting himself relax with her arms around him. He would hold onto that peace for as long as he could.
THIRTY-TWO
FINN
Finn wasn’tone to enjoy early mornings. He had always preferred the potential for trouble late at night much more than the ambition of the early morning, but Valerio seemed to be an early riser, so he was forced to adapt.
He showered and threw on a nice suit, making sure he looked every bit the part he was meant to be playing. Fuck, he really wished it would eventually stop feeling like he was pretending and instead feel natural, like he was meant to be in the role.
Finn headed out of his room, wanting to go to Gianna’s to say goodbye before he left, but was met with an overly cheerful Dante instead.
“What are you doing here?” Finn asked, confused.
“Thought we could carpool.” Dante wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they walked. “I go down to the office on certain occasions to help Valerio out, so does Allister.”
“And you’re both going today?”
“Yep. It seemed necessary to help welcome you to your new life.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “This isn’t new. You’re forgetting that I grew up an heir too. I know my way around this business bullshit.”
Dante threw his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I’m sure you do. But now that we’re family, you’ve got to realize that we all support each other. I know that’s a foreign word for you, so I’ll spell it out. S-U?—”
They had reached the kitchen when he was interrupted by Allister who was already awake and typing away on his laptop.
“Finally. Let’s go before we’re late. There’s coffee at the office,” he said, closing the laptop and standing.
Finn looked at the clock. “It’s not even seven yet.”
“Allister is a little anal about time management," Dante said.
“Dante just likes anal,” Allister snapped back.
“If I was drinking anything, I would have choked.”
Finn could already feel a headache coming on and they hadn’t even made it out of the house yet. They walked to the garage, and there seemed to be no argument about who was sitting where. Dante was driving, Allister was in the passenger, and that left Finn in the back seat. It made him stop to consider if he would ever be a part of this routine where things fell into a natural order like this. Hell, normalcy and routine hadn’t been a thing in his life since before his father died. Even then, the days were always so unpredictable because of his father’s attitude. In a split second, the way he felt would change the projection of Finn’s day from being the best to being the worst.
It was hard not to think about such things while they drove, and no one made any conversation. Dante played music and Allister typed away on his phone. Finn was bored. He pulled out his phone, sending a text to Gianna to wish her a good morning whenever she woke up. Knowing her, she would probably be sleeping for another couple of hours.
He wished he had the ability to sleep as much as she did.
They pulled up to a skyscraper of a building. The letters at the very top and on the entrance spelt out ‘Vitali,’ letting everyone inthe city know exactly who owned it. Finn wouldn’t have expected anything humbler from Valerio, but who was he to judge?
