Desire and destruction.
Yes, Jinx is alive.
But after one night with me, that might no longer be the case.
Adrenaline pumps through my body, a rare sensation. I believe… this feeling means I’m thrilled.
“Finn, what do you think?” Sol says.
I straighten. I have no idea what they were talking about.
“Leave Finn alone,” Zane says after a beat of silence. “You know he won’t agree to us setting a trap for hisgirlfriend.”
The car rolls to a stop in front of the villa. Dutch and Sol exit the vehicle and walk inside without expecting any response from me. I let them think what they wish and take my time outside, stretching my legs and admiring the vast, starry sky.
My brothers will want to strategize more, but I don’t think I’ll be much help. It’s been a very long day, and exhaustion is beginning to creep up on me.
Zane rides his motorcycle up and joins me as I look up at the sky. “Since when do you stargaze?”
“Unlike you, I don’t need tits attached to something in order to admire it.”
He snorts.
I smile and keep looking up.
“Finn.” Zane speaks hesitantly. “A lot’s going on right now. Grey’s gone and it consumes me.”
As it should. I know how much Zane loves his wife.
He shakes his head. “But you’re my brother, and I know you’re going through a lot right now too.”
Whether intentional or not, they’ve been reminding me that I’m their brother often lately. As though I may one day forget and leave them.
Zane’s eyes travel over my injuries. “You don’t need to stay in the yakuza, Finn. At any time, for any reason, you can leave. We’ll make sure you can leave.”
He’s wrong.
The yakuza is not something a person can simply walk away from. They—myfatherwill kill everyone I care about if I turn my back on the promise I made. That is something I have no doubt about.
Zane pats my back as I remain silent. “Get some sleep, man. You look like crap.”
I would argue with him, but I don’t think it’s in my best interest to act tough. Tomorrow, Kurosaki’s men will expect me at training, and they won’t go easy on me because of my injuries.
Moving to the front door, I push it open and turn back to find Zane staring up at the stars with a wistful look on his face.
“Zane,” I call.
He looks at me, the wind tussling his hair. We’re all the same age—Dutch and Zane were born minutes apart, but Zane has always been a younger brother in my mind. I’ve felt extra protective of him growing up.
“Wewillget them back.”
His lips curl. “I’m not worried about that part. I can’t live without Grey. There’s no universe, no dimension that I exist without her. I know I’ll find her.”
Then why does he look so defeated already?
“What has me worried, Finn”—my brother meets me at the door step and looks at me with eyes shadowed and dark—“is what kind of monsters we’ll all have to become to do it.”
Chapter Nineteen
