I don’t want to think about it. Finn is in the business of drugs. I know that much, but I don’t want to consider the details or what he had to go through to become the owner of a place like The Landing Strip.
“You told me that it was just his mom, that Colson didn’t have any other family.”
“At the time, that was accurate,” I tell her.
“So what changed?”
I make my voice as low as it’ll go. “After his mom died, he found out that she was secretly married to some guy. Colson never knew this, but it was actually his dad, who ended up having a kid with another woman, too. Finn is that kid.”
“She kept them from each other?”
“He was never in his life. They found out because Colson’s mom had a lump sum of money that he was supposed to get.”Her eyes go wide. “Except because she was married, it went to her husband.”
“Holy fuck.”
I nod. “Yep. So not only did Colson lose that, but he also found out about his father and Finn in the process of trying to gain access to those funds.”
She looks down the steps again. “That’s really messed up, Vi. No wonder he’s fighting.”
“So as shady as things seem around Finn, I trust him.” Even if Colson warned me not to.
“Well, bonus that I don’t have to worry about him digging a hole and dropping me into it, huh?”
“He wouldn’t let anything happen to us.” As odd as it is to say that, I know it’s true. Finn cares about Colson more than he lets on. He wouldn’t let anything happen to us because he doesn’t want anything more happening to Colson.
Olive nods and blows out a breath, letting me know she’s ready to descend the stairs. I know it’s not easy for her, getting swooped up into all this drama. It wouldn’t be easy for anyone.
Finn comes into view when we pass the bend in the staircase. He’s leaning against the end of the bar, his elbow perched there as he loops his keys around his finger with one hand and types something on his phone with the other.
He doesn’t look up. “Ready?”
“What about my car? It’s sitting in the lot and will need to get back to Chatham Hills.”
“One of my guys will follow us with it,” he says, finally looking our way. His eyes cut across Olive for the briefest second then he asks for my keys. I slip them out of my clutch and drop them in his hand. “Let’s go.”
We follow him out of the building, which is a lot quieter than last night. There are no patrons sitting on stools. No bartenders catering to their drink orders. The chairs are propped up ontables and the booths are wiped clean. There’s still the glow of the lights behind the bar that taunt me as we walk by, but I force myself to ignore the memories of being on stage.
My skin blooms with goosebumps and embarrassment at the memory of being in my lingerie in front of everyone. That, in turn, eventually led to my panic and walking a little too close to Yolga as her elbow connected with my head. There are fuzzy parts in between.
We follow Finn to a SUV at the back of the lot. He unlocks it with his key fob then, surprisingly, opens the back door for us. We clamber in, and I can’t help but wonder how many times Colson has been in it. Has he ever smoothed his palm over the material stretched over the seats? Has he had the opportunity to breathe in the faint cigarette smell embedded into it?
Finn hops into the front and starts the car. The dash lights glow in the dark. Soon, the sun will rise over the horizon but before it does, I take full advantage of the night skies. Of how it casts a shadow over all areas of life, how it makes Colson seem so far away and that makes my heart scream out in protest.
Finn is quiet on our ride back to Chatham Hills. I turn to look out the back window to see if my car is following us. Finn doesn’t lie. Someone really is driving it back for me. I cast a long look out over the Sycamore Memorial Bridge as we cross, noting how the moon shines the last of its reflection atop the river. When we pass Chatham U and Finn pulls into Spring Meadows, I squeeze Olive’s hand and promise that I’ll be up in a few minutes.
“You promise you won’t bail on me?”
“Yes. I just want to talk to Finn about something first.”
“About what?” Olive prods.
“I’ll tell you when I come up.”
“You promise that, too? Because I’m tired of being out of the loop.”
I grab her shoulders and pull her into a hug. “Thank you for trying to get my mind off of him last night. It didn’t end how we wanted it to, but I’m still so glad to have you as my sister.”
She squeezes me. “You’re making it sound weird, but I’m going to let it go because I think you might still be a little drunk.”
