“Normal for you, maybe.For Superman and Batman and the other Avengers.”
“Avengers are Marvel.Superman and Batman are DC.”
“So you’re not going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“You promised you’d share your life with me, as long as it didn’t involve your company’s tech or your time in the—”
“Ah, that.”He sighs.“Fine.I had a meeting with my brothers, and I told them about Mr.
Sick Fuck—”
I stiffen.
“No—absolutely not, Emma.Never.I will never share your story.I just said that he has no business being a foster parent and that we needed to put the hurt on him in every way we could so that his life became a living nightmare.”
“What did you do, Finn?”
He shrugs.“First, we set up a shell company.Next, we paid way too much to purchase the wholesaler he worked for, and then immediately fired the human garbage dump that is J.R.Perkins.Then we sent anonymous complaints to the state, the county, the prosecutor’s office, the IRS, and the pastor of his church.”
My mouth falls open.
“Listen, however intense that sounds, let me assure you that it’snothingcompared to what Special K wanted to do to the man, okay?It was the least extreme of our options.”
“You and your brothers did that for me?”
“They’re your brothers now, Emma.Remember what I said about the MacLaine motto—go big or go home.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve thanked me plenty.”
I fiddle with his chest hair and summon the courage to put a period on this sentence.It needs to be said.
“I know you’ll never ask me, so I’m just going to tell you.He was never charged because
I was too traumatized to make a statement.I refused to talk to the prosecutors or the cops.But the statute of limitations—”
“Twenty years.”
I raise my eyes to his face in surprise.“Yes.But I may never want to.Right now, it’s enough that he won’t be around foster children anymore.”
He brings my hand to his lips and kisses it gently.“I’ll be here right by your side, no matter what you choose.”
I’m hit once again by a rush of wonder.I don’t know what I did to deserve a man like Finn.But whatever it was, I’d do it a thousand times over.
“One thing I should clarify,” he says, after we’re under the covers again and our bodies are intertwined.“You know how you did that whole slashing thing on your face?”
I wince.“Yeah.”
“I didn’t say a thing, but they’ve figured out that scar was your handiwork.”
I sigh.“I kinda figured.Sorry.”
“Not a damn thing to apologize for, not with this crowd.But you’ll never live it down.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
