Page 126 of A Violet Obsession

Yeah. Words are definitely not my thing.

“Not because you’ve got nowhere else to go. I’ll get you your own place tomorrow, if that’s what you want, I don’t care. I just want you to… not want that.”

“You’re better at this than you think.”

“You’re the only one who would think so.” I grunt.

“Good. Because hopefully you won’t be doing it again.” Her eyes are wet, and she’s smiling.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.”

I close my eyes and let out a breath I think I’ve been holding since I heard the gunshot.

She’s quiet for a moment. “There’s still Callum.”

“He showed up today. Outside the Vale house.” I’m not sure why it matters so much to me that she knows he was concerned for her. Lily is always going to be skittish about trusting new people, and she has every reason to be, but Callum is one of the few people on this earth I’d trust to stand between her and a bullet.

“I saw him.” Her voice is guarded. “I appreciate it. I do. And I know he’s your friend. But he’s a stranger to me, Finn.” A pause. “Even if we have the same eyes.”

I turn and press my mouth to her forehead. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” I say into her skin. “And you definitely don’t have to decide tonight.”

46

LILY

Hera supervises our packing from the top of the bookshelf. But her silent judgment isn’t what makes me keep dropping things.

It’s because my brother… I shake my head. Callum. I can’t think of him as anything other than that yet—is coming over to talk. He’s leaving town tomorrow on an extended job, and this could be our last chance to speak in person for months. I have so many questions. I’m also terrified to hear the answers. I’ve only just started coming to terms with the little I already know about my screwed-up origins.

When Callum gave Finn permission to tell me that he believes I’m his long-lost sister, I’d known it was coming. I’d looked up the words he’d said that day. Mathair. Mother. And wee hen is a common Scottish endearment for a little sister.

From what Finn said, the shock of seeing me and my resemblance to our mother had been what sent Callum off on his frenzy. We’ve done DNA swabs and are waiting on the results, but I don’t doubt what they’ll say.

I haven’t seen Callum in person since the glance I got that day at Dawn and Trevor’s house, but Finn has shown me pictures, and I can see the resemblance between us. Today, I’m hoping I’m going to get some of the answers I’ve been waiting for.

“You okay over there?” Finn asks as he lifts my TV off the wall.

“What if it’s really bad?”

Finn leans the screen against the wall. “Then it’s an awful story. It’s not who you are.”

I nod, but it doesn’t do much for the nerves churning in my stomach.

Finn puts his hands on his hips, surveying the pile of my things waiting to go down to the moving truck. “I'd better take a load.” He’s just bending to pick up a stack of boxes when there’s a knock at the door. My eyes go wide, but before I can freak out, Finn’s already there, his hand at the small of my back, gently nudging me sideways so he can open the door himself.

My heart climbs into my throat and stays there.

The door isn’t even fully open before I hear Callum growl. “This neighborhood is awful. She’s not staying here.”

Finn waves an arm at the room in its half-finished state of moving. “I know.”

Callum grunts. “With you?”

The two men stare at each other, some kind of conversation traveling on the testosterone oozing between them. I take the moment to really look at Callum. He is handsome in a rough kind of way, and huge enough to completely fill the doorway. His hair has more gold in it than mine, but his eyes are exactly the same. A scar runs through one eyebrow and down his cheekbone.

Yeah, this isn’t going to be a happy story.