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She jerked away, surprised no one seemed bothered by the way he manhandled her. In fact, they appeared to be enjoying the show.
He spun around and leaned close, as if to share a secret, although everyone could still hear him. “Let me explain things to you. I’m taking you home with me, and I’m going to enjoy showing you all the things you should learn to expect here.”
Tears and bile rose in her throat, her chin trembling as she swallowed them down. He was going to break her right here in front of everyone. She could’ve taken this from anyone else, but not Finn. She’d loved him in one form or another her entire life, but now she realized he wasn’t the man she’d ever thought he was.
He took her arm in a gentle grip. She knew better than to try to get away again and allowed him to lead her wordlessly out the door to his car. They stopped beside a black Porsche, and he finally released her to open the door for her, but unable to move, she simply stood, staring over the hood of the car.
“Get in.” His soft voice had her tears threatening to fall on their own.
“You know I hate you now, right?” She didn’t meet his glare.
He nodded. “If that’s what it takes.”
Chapter 5
Gretchen followed Finn into his apartment without a word. They hadn’t spoken on the drive over. What could she say after he called her a whore and humiliated her in front of the entire club? She’d seriously overestimated Finn James’s character, he was no different than any of the other men she’d encountered while undercover. Only, as she watched him flip on a light and make his way through the open living room to the sleek, sparse kitchen, she couldn’t make herself believe that.
Finn tossed his keys into a bowl and braced his hands on the counter, before he dropped his head. She stood and watched, trying to quiet her breaths so she wouldn’t further annoy him. Her heart still pounded from the way he’d talked to her at the club. Likely, neither of them would survive a private confrontation now.
He looked back at her over his shoulder. “Go take a shower. My room’s through there.” He nodded to the door next to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
She only stared at him, immobile.
“Go take—”
“Why? You want to pretend this didn’t happen? You want me to erase—"
He spun around, his fists clenched by his sides and worked his jaw. Instinct and training told her to step back, but despite what she’d tried to convince herself, Finn wasn’t like any other man. She didn’t need to fear him, at least not physically.
“Iwantyou to get rid of that wig. I want you to fix whatever you’ve done to your eyes. I want you to wash off that whore perfume, and I want you to come back out as Gretchen,” he raged before reining in his fury. “My Gretchen.”
His possessive declaration wasn’t going to erase everything he’d said so far.
“You wouldn’t touch Gretchen,” she reminded him as he stalked to the shelf holding several expensive bottles of liquor.
He snickered as he filled his glass, before he threw the liquor back and slammed the empty highball on the bar. “Do you think that’s because I don’t want you? That I don’t fucking ache for you?”
“Yet you only slept with me because you thought I was a whore.” She choked on the lump forming in her throat.
“Because fucking some whore couldn’t be nearly as dangerous as making love to you.”
Her breath caught, and the tears she thought she’d gotten under control sprang back full force. “I would never do anything to hurt you.” She took a step forward, wanting to erase the tension that bunched his muscular shoulders.
Before she could reach him, he turned to her and gave a swift nod of his head. “Yet here we are.” He met her eyes briefly before dropping his gaze. “Go take a shower.”
He pushed past her, leaving her frozen to the spot. She took an unsteady breath, as she listened to him retreat down the hall and slam a door behind him. Finally, she forced herself to walk to his bedroom. She glanced at his bed as she passed. How many women had he brought here? Less dangerous women, women he’d chosen over her. Had he ordered any of them to shower afterward? She surveyed his room. Like the rest of his apartment, the space was cold, spare, devoid of anything that hinted at the man Finn James had become. If not for the spicy, masculine scent of him that filled the air, she could’ve been made to believe he’d never been there at all.
Inside the black and white bathroom, she kicked off her heels, letting the cool tile ease her tired feet. Finn’s razor sat by the sink and his toothbrush was in the holder. The setup was all so simple and private. She bit back the tears threatening to escape her throat. He didn’t willingly share these pieces of his life with her, he didn’t want to share any intimate details with her.
She peeled off the too-short black dress and dropped it and her thong on the floor, before she went to the sleek glass shower. Her hand trembled as she turned on the hot water before she went back to the mirror to remove the wig from her hair. Her own long blond hair tumbled free as she pulled out the pins.
Gretchen ran her hands through the tresses, massaging away the tension on her scalp, and leaned close to the mirror, to remove the contacts and throw them into the wastebasket under the sink. She studied the girl in the mirror staring back at her. Would Finn ever see her as more than Brock’s little sister, the untouchable Christensen princess? Would her heart be able to let him go if he couldn’t? The answer to both was likelyno. She sighed and stepped into the steam.
When she finished showering, two fluffy white towels hung on the bar by the shower door. She’d been so lost in her own thoughts, she hadn’t even heard Finn enter. Apparently, he’d snatched her clothes and shoes as well, because they were missing. Sighing, she wrapped herself in the towels and made her way back into Finn’s bedroom.
On the bed, he’d laid one of his button-up shirts for her. Despite her determination to stay mad at him her lips curved as she slipped the shirt on.
She looked around his room again. It would be nice to hide out there, at least until morning when maybe she’d be able to think more clearly and not do something stupid like beg Finn to finally love her.
