“Nothing’s going to happen—” Even as he said the words, Finn knew he was lying. Being involved with the Soldiers meant anything could happen.
“Fuck, Finn. Just listen.” Pete stepped closer, urgency in his voice. “If something happens to me, you need to go to Mitch. You need to tell him what’s going on with Rocky, with the club. Youneed to tell him what’s in the books. You need to tell himeverything.”
“Okay.” He nodded reluctantly.
“I mean it. You can trust him. The rest of them are arseholes, but not Mitch. Mitch, he’s one of therealgood guys. He’ll be on your side; he’ll help you.”
Warmth flooded Finn’s chest at the words, at hearing Pete validate what Finn felt about Mitch, only it faded fast. “I know you workedwith Mitch before, but he’s involved in all of this. He does what Rocky says, just like the rest of us. He knows what goes down around here. He can’t be that good a guy, no matter how trustworthy you think he is.” Finn felt disloyal uttering those words. His gut told him he could trust Mitch—fuck, he could trust him with his life, but….
“You can,” Pete insisted. “There’s stuff you don’t know,stuff I want to tell you. For now you’ll just need to trustmeon this.”
They both turned at the sound of heavy footsteps and saw Rocky, Stack, and Mitch heading their way across the car park.
Pete gripped his arm, pulling him close and speaking low. “There’s no time to talk now, so just trust me on this. I’ll make sure we can catch up later this week, and I’ll tell you everything I know. Mitchis on our side, Finn.”
Finn’s mind spun as he tried to make sense of what Pete was saying.On our side?
“Just the two people I wanted to see.” Rocky grinned as he joined them. “We’re going back to my place for a party. You coming?”
“Sure.” Pete’s words were directed at Rocky, but his eyes pleaded with Finn, no doubt looking for Finn’s confirmation that he understood. Finn nodded, a brief dipof his head, hoping he conveyed that he’d do as Pete asked—if something went wrong, he’d talk to Mitch. Pete was on edge, and he wanted to reassure his friend that he didn’t need to worry about him. Once he saw Pete’s face relax, Finn turned to his brother.
“I need to close up here,” Finn said. “And I’m still beat from being sick. I’ll give the party a miss.”
“Yeah. But nah. That won’t be happening.”Rocky swung an arm around Finn’s neck and hauled him against him. To anyone else it would look like a friendly hug, but the force against his throat made it obvious Rocky was delivering a message. “Wouldn’t want you to miss all the fun. It’s a celebration of sorts. Stack’s closed another deal. Things are definitely going in our favor at the moment. I think you might be our lucky charm, littlebrother.” Rocky grazed his knuckles over Finn’s hair as he pulled his head down into a noogie.
Stack laughed, no doubt at what he perceived as casual brotherly antics, or maybe he liked to see Finn squirm. In fact, it was probably enjoyment at seeing Finn being pushed around, given Stack was the type of guy who’d get his thrills from seeing someone kick a puppy.
As Rocky’s arm left his neck,Finn met Stack’s cold eyes head-on and forced a smile to his face, although inwardly he was seething. He knew he’d eventually relent and end up doing what Rocky demanded, but there was no way he was giving in too easily. He not only wanted to stand his ground in front of his brother and his cronies, but he wanted to get some time with Mitch, to feel him out about the stuff Pete was hinting at. Hedidn’t want to spend hours hanging around at Rocky’s place watching the guys drink beer and getting wasted with club groupies.
He straightened and took a deep breath. “I’ve got stuff to take care of. You don’t need me around. You’ve got plenty of people who’ll be happy enough to party with you.” He took a step back, then turned to Mitch. “Give me a hand tidying a few things up, then I’ll be readyto go.”
Before he’d taken another step, Rocky grabbed him by the wrist and swung him around. Pain flared as his arm was wrenched backward, and he found himself yanked up against his brother’s body. Rocky’s grip around his wrist was excruciating, but even that faded as his arm was pulled farther back, and the agony flashed into his shoulder.
“Fuck!”
His knees buckled as his vision went whitearound the edges. Finn swallowed the lump in his throat and focused on breathing. A couple of deep breaths, and the world regained clarity, although the pressure on his arm and shoulder didn’t let up.
“You’ll do what I tell you to do, kid, and don’t you forget it,” Rocky hissed against his ear, his breath hot against Finn’s cheek. “I’ve got no fucking idea why you keep trying this shit, butI’mthe one in charge. The sooner you learn that, the sooner we’ll start getting along. Stop making things tougher on yourself than they need to be.”
Finn opened his eyes. Stack stood with a sneer on his face. Pete was staring at the ground, kicking the butt he’d stomped out earlier, obviously avoiding the scene in front of him. But it was Mitch, as Finn struggled in Rocky’s hold, that caused a blastof pain in Finn’s chest that rivaled the agony in his shoulder. Arms folded across his chest, not a flicker of emotion passed across Mitch’s features as he held Finn’s gaze. Finn could understand Pete’s reluctance to get involved, but he thought he’d see some sympathy in Mitch’s reaction.How the hell can he stand there and watch Rocky hurt me?Finn knew there’d be no way he could stand by andwatch the same thing happen to Mitch. So much for Pete’s advice that Mitch was a good guy who’d help him!
When Rocky finally released his grip, the relief was immense. Not just reduction of the physical pain, but the ability to get away from Mitch’s scrutiny, to turn his back on the man who had just proven he was one of Rocky’s men and that Rocky and the club would always come first.
Any desirefor quiet time alone with Mitch fled, and suddenly an evening at Rocky’s surrounded by people and noise sounded much more appealing.
