Page 30 of A Violet Obsession

He scowls. “You’re not leaving.”

I bark a humorless laugh. “Not your call. I have to go.”

“The hell it isn’t.” He takes a step into the room. “You were grabbed off the street⁠—”

“I’ll be careful.”

He has the nerve to cock an eyebrow at me, and it’s so infuriating I want to smack him.

The years I’ve spent, first with my parents and then with Scott, making myself quiet, making myself practically invisible… disappears in a heartbeat. A lifetime of suppressing myself boiling to the surface.

“Tell Emma you tried to make me stay, and I insisted on leaving. You can be the hero, Finn. Problem solved.” The word comes out more bitter than I intend.

His nostrils flare, and for a second he just stares at me with an expression I can’t read. “You don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in.”

Yes, I do. That’s the problem.

“You don’t need to leave. You can stay here until I figure this out,” he continues, and to be fair, he sounds like he means it.

I want to take what he’s offering and stay inside the safety of these walls, pretending everything will be okay. I want to lean on someone else and let them solve my problems so badly. But life has taught me that things don’t just ‘work out’ for people like me. I have to make it happen.

Plus, the weight of the phone in my pocket is a reminder of everyone I’m putting at risk.

“I’m exhausted, Finn. I feel a migraine coming on, and I need to go home and sleep for more than a few minutes.”

“You’re not walking out that door.” He’s nearly shouting now, closing the distance between us, and I realize my comment about the headache wasn’t entirely a lie. The edges of my vision are starting to pulse.

“Unless you’re planning on tying me up, I’m leaving.”

Something dangerous shifts behind his eyes, and his nostrils flare. “You want me to tie you down, Butterfly?”

He takes another step, his body crowding mine, and I hold my ground even as my stupid, traitorous body registers every inch of his chest against mine. Heat flashes sharp and low, so intense it’s unnerving.

“Back up.”

“You’re being⁠—”

“Choose your next word very carefully,” I growl.

His jaw works, but he swallows whatever it was he was going to say. He sucks in a breath. “Walking out of here without a plan or protection after what happened today is reckless. And you know it.”

“You’ve made it perfectly clear that you don’t actually want anything to do with me.”

He flinches. “That’s not what I⁠—”

There’s movement in my periphery, and I suddenly remember we aren’t alone.

Vincent appears from a hallway, his gaze sweeping from Finn to me to the blond guy watching us. He jerks his chin toward the open steel staircase that climbs the far wall. “Leo.”

The blond guy closes his laptop. “Why do I always have to miss the good stuff?” he mutters.

Finn levels him with a death glare. Leo holds up one hand in surrender and then takes the steps two at a time, disappearing through a door on the first landing.

“We can’t keep her here if she doesn’t want to stay.”

Finn’s hands curl at his sides.

Vincent’s gaze shifts to me. “I’d like you to reconsider. At least for tonight.”