Finn’s face falls, but he picks it up almost immediately. “Everyone fucks up, Moore.”
“No. Some people fuck up. Others chooseto be fuck-ups. Pretty sure that’s the category you fit in, Finn.”
“You don’t know a goddamn thing about the way I grew up, about the choices I had and still have to make. About the things I choose and don’t choose, or the categories I belong in.”
“If there’s one thing I know, it’s that you’re no different than the tree you fell from. I told you when I paid Mom’s debt off that I was done with you, and I meant it. Finding out we share DNA doesn’t change that for me.”
Finn rolls his cavernous eyes. Almost like he’s bored with me. “Very metaphoric of you.”
I give him my middle finger, because as far as I’m concerned, he can fuck right off. Also, it’s better than punching him in the throat, and my urge to do just that is growing by the second.
Violet completely strips the thought from my mind when she speaks up behind me. “Wait. What debt?”
My ears buzz with static noise. For a split second, I want to run from the truth of my connection with Finn, but I’ve kept it hidden long enough. Violet needs to know who I really am. That I’m not all the good she thinks she sees when she looks at me. That my upbringing and Harrison Heights are sewn into me with no plans of ever leaving.
I used to think I was better than Finn, but now…it’s never been clearer how similar we are in that sense that this town is a part of who we are. It shouldn’t, but it defines us.
If she wants to be involved in the drama…well,consider yourself involved, beautiful. Because I don’t have it in me to keep it a secret anymore.
“Yeah, Finn,” I jut out my bottom lip and sweep my hand in her direction, “you want to clue Violet in on how we knew each other before the brother thing came out or should I?”
Violet’s attention ricochets between the two of us. “What are you talking about?” I don't know who the question is meant for. I’ve spent months keeping my business with Finn under wraps, but they got exploited in that stupid fucking conference roomwith Stewart. The same is happening now. The only one who gets the protection of lying about it at this point are the Lincolns, and I’ve about had it with them thinking they can do whatever they please.
No more lying.
No more secrets.
Only truths.
She needs to know that the person who brought her here tonight isn’t who he’s trying to portray himself as—a brotherly hero who supposedly cares.
And it wouldn’t hurt for her to know that the guy she’s spent the last few months falling for isn’t as honest as he’s made himself out to be. We all have secrets and lies that we hold close, and she’s about to find out both of ours.
Finn’s tongue sweeps across his bottom lip. Violet steps closer. My heart races like it’s in a marathon and breaks are off limits. She glances at Finn, but it’s me her eyes ultimately end up on. The truth hits harder with me.I see it in her eyes.
“Colson, what debt?” she pleads, voice strong, but I sense the waver in her words. She used to tell me that it didn’t bother her when I didn’t give every single detail on a matter, but those things mostly revolved around my connection with the guy who waited for me outside of Spring Meadows and the reason behind my bloody lip and bruised ribs.
Now, she’s tired of my shit and wants answers.
She’s fed up with the go around, and I can’t say I blame her.
If we were any other people in this world, she would’ve known by now.
A staggering breath rolls out of me, and I clamp my hands on my hips. I decide it’s better to just come out and say it because what good is delaying the inevitable? My heart is already broken, seeing hers shatter in front of me won’t hurt that much more, right?
“Finn and his dad sold drugs to my mom.” My eyes remain on him. He stares back at me, no emotion on his face. “A few times, I had to pay off money that she owed them, but a few months ago, she ended up cutting a deal bigger than all the others. They gave her product to move, but she fucked around with it instead. Their dumb asses trusted an addict with ten thousand dollars worth of supply—which we now know is because his dad wanted her dead so he could claim the inheritance she left behind when she finally kicked the bucket—and guess who had to pay it back?”
Her eyes scan my face. They drop down to my feet, then blink back up to my mouth while she points at Finn. “You paid himten thousand dollarsbecause your mom took drugs from them?” Her face pales.I’m sick over it, too.Fucking wrecked.
She puts it together so fast. “That’s why he was at the apartment that day, isn’t it?” she questions. “He’s the one that beat you up. That hurt you and had you bruised and bleeding a-and…”
She rubs her hands over her face and cinches Finn’s sweatshirt tighter around her body. She turns to him. “And then you…you gave Janie drugs when you knew she was deep in her addiction?”
Finn meets her head on, and why wouldn’t he? He’s not ashamed of the things he’s done, of the deals he’s orchestrated alongside his father. Of the people he’s harmed in the process. “It’s not like that. It’s just business.”
“Business?” she scoffs, disgust sliding underneath each syllable.
“It wasn’t personal, at least not for me. If it weren’t Janie, it would have been someone else.”
