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Twenty-Six
Finn
Lena returnedat the worst possible moment.
Though Aoife was crying in my arms, I was still preternaturally aware of my surroundings, so when I heard the elevator doors rush open, I understood what it felt like to have one foot on either side of a fault line in the middle of an earthquake.
With each step that Lena took deeper into the apartment, the closer disaster came to striking and the more uncertain I grew as I tried to figure out how to fucking fix this.
Devastation imminent, I knew I had to appeal to Aoife’s logic but there was no logic to be had in a situation like this. None whatsoever.
Praying that she’d let me fix this, I rasped against her hair, “Sweetheart, I need to go throw Lena out.”
Aoife’s gasping sobs stopped falling, and I felt her grow tense in my arms.
When she peered up at me, her face red raw from tears, I wasn’t sure what her next move was going to be, but her question surprised me nonetheless.
“You’ll kick her out?”
I blinked down at her. “Of course.”
She licked her lips, and I watched the movement, half expecting her to start slapping me again.
Christ, I’d take every slap and every hit if it eased her pain, if it healed the gaping wound that I’d caused.
Ihadlet her lean on Lena like she were a mother. I had allowed Jake to think of her as a grandmother.
Those were my worst sins.
As guilt threatened to choke me, I whispered, “You will always be my priority, Aoife. Always.”
Teardrops quivered on her eyelashes as she stared up at me. “I’ll deal with Lena.”
Though I tensed, I nodded. “You do whatever you need to do, sweetheart.”
She tipped up her chin. “Are you going to call Senior? Do some damage control?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re my priority. Not him. Not Lena.”
I wanted to tell her that this particular situation was the only time I’d ever put them before her, but that was one time too fucking many anyway.
What kind of shit defense was that?
So I held my tongue.
I kept silent because words would only fuck things up even more.
“Help me up,” she rasped, and I got to my feet and leaned down to support her as she stood on shaky legs.
I watched as, smoothing her palms over her cheeks, she said, “I don’t want you to say a word to her.”
“I won’t.”
“Not a single word, Finn,” she warned. “I’m on my last nerve here. Do not push me.”
