Page 23 of Vengeful Union

I scoff at his words. “Get real.”

His smile is anything but pleasant. My throat tightens with fear as he picks me up effortlessly and throws me over his shoulder. His feet move toward the water, and I can’t help but let out a scream, high-pitched and filled with terror. There’s no mistaking the fear wrapped in the sound.

He stops just before he reaches the pool, and slowly lowers me. I slide down the front of his body, his hands tight around my waist, holding me close.

“You’re afraid,” he says, and this time his voice is softer.

The man’s tenacious. He won’t stop until I tell him. Taking a deep breath, I nod, unable to talk, hating that I couldn’t just get in the damn pool. I’ve now given a man who has me hostage my biggest fear. One he could use and exploit to hurt me.

“Why?” he asks, and I’m pretty sure there’s disbelief in his voice.

“When youaccidentallyfall into a pool at twelve years old and almost drown, it sort of makes you afraid of going back into the water. What about you, Psycho Boy? What are you afraid of?” I say with a raised brow. I’m full of sass as I try to hide my embarrassment.

His lips twitch. “You ever going to stop with the psycho bullshit?”

My nose scrunches up. “Not in your lifetime.”

He releases a put-out sigh. “Whatever, brat.”

“So,” I begin as I try to pull out of his arms. “Are you going to tell me what your fear is?”

He pulls me back against him. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

I roll my eyes at the bullshit lie. “Sure you’re not.”

“You said it wasaccidental. Who pushed you into the pool?” he asks.

I shake my head. “Not going to happen, Psycho Boy. You don’t get to have my secrets when you give nothing away.”

He takes my hand and pulls me toward the chair beside the pool. “Not going in, princess. Just sit down, okay?”

I nod. “Okay. I can deal with sitting beside it.” The noise of the water lapping against the side is hard to deal with, but Finn talks, and instantly the memories are pushed aside.

“Was it your dad?” he questions, his gaze intense as he stares at me.

I laugh. “You’re like a dog with a bone.”

“When I want to know something, I won’t stop until I get the answers. So, tell me, was it your dad?”

I glare at him. “What do I get from this? Why should you know this about me, but I know nothing about you?”

“You’ll know more about me when I’m balls deep inside of you.”

I shake my head in disgust. “Told you already: the only way you’ll get me into bed is by force.”

The smirk he has tells me he has no problem with that at all. Bastard.

“I’m pissed that I didn’t get to go to my da’s funeral. I’m beyond livid that I was in hospital and my family thought it was okay to proceed without me,” he says, the bitterness clear in his voice, his accent getting thicker as his anger grows.

The stories are true then. Everyone heard Finn was shot when his father died and so couldn’t go to the funeral. Finn and his father were extremely close. It was no secret that Seamus was teaching his sons how to become the best they could be. Finn was touted to take over as Boss, but unfortunately, Seamus didn’t have the final say. That went to the leader of the Clann. Henry Gallagher chose his granddaughter for the position instead.

My heart hurts for him. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I hadn’t been able to say a proper goodbye to my mom. The person I loved most. I also understand that in him telling me, he’s giving me something I doubt many know.

“No, it wasn’t my father who pushed me into the pool.” I take a steadying breath. “Though he did nothing when I was lying by the side of the pool while my uncle gave me CPR.”

His eyes flash. “You had to be given CPR? What the fuck? How long were you in the pool?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. The adults were inside. They didn’t know about me until my cousin, Levi, raised the alarm. By that stage I wasn’t breathing, and my lips had turned blue.”

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