Page 47 of Finn's Future

His eyes narrowed.

“Nothing between us,” I said flatly. “She means nothing. Just a job.” The lie felt like I was drinking acid, eating me from the inside out. “I’m watching her like you told me. She means nothing, Pres.”

Behind me, the office door creaked.

Kate stood in the hallway just outside the door, and it looked like she’d heard every word. The hurt in her eyes hit like a punch straight through my ribs.

“I’m sorry . . . I was just checking on you . . .sorry.”

“Kate—”

But she was already backing away, hand over her heart, her lower lip trembling and her eyes glassy. Then she turned and walked straight down the hallway towards the stairs.

“Damn it,” I muttered, starting after her.

Reaper’s hand clamped down on my shoulder. “You take one more step,” he said coldly, “and you forget who you answer to.”

I stopped.

“You want to chase women,” he continued, voice hard as steel, “do it on your own time. Right now, you’re a Dead Knight, and that girl is club business.”

My fists clenched, and my jaw shut so tightly, it ached.

“Understood?”

The word scraped my throat. “Yeah,” I said.

But all I could think about was the look on Kate’s face when she heard me say she meant nothing and how badly I wished I could take it back.

“Good, cos we’ve bigger things to worry about than you getting your dick wet. Follow me.”

Chapter 21

Kate

Isat on the edge of the narrow bed in the small room the club had given me while Noah slept quietly in his cot beside me.

Late afternoon light filtered through the thin curtains, painting pale stripes across the worn wooden floor.

I brushed my fingers gently through Noah’s curls, grounding myself in the soft warmth of him.

Because everything inside me still hurt.

“She means nothing.”

The words wouldn’t stop replaying. I squeezed my eyes shut hard but tears still slipped free.

Maybe I wasn’t supposed to hear it. Maybe Finn never meant for me to. But I had. And somehow that made it worse. Because only moments earlier, he’d kissed me like I mattered.

Like he wanted me.

My chest tightened painfully. God, I’d been stupid. Stupid enough to believe the way he touched me had meant something more than lust. Stupid enough to forget men could want your body without wanting you.

Noah shifted in his sleep, and I immediately leaned forward, adjusting his blanket even though it didn’t need fixing.

Anything to stop thinking. Anything to stop remembering the way Finn looked at me that morning.

The way he’d whispered,“You have no idea what you do to me.”