Finn (Blue-Collar Billionaires #2) (18 page)

"Damn it, Rissa. You're sick and I still can't keep my hands off you." He pulls back and looks into my eyes. He looks tortured and I can see the strain holding back is having on him.

My other hand trails down his back and then stops on his ass. "I don't want you to keep your hands off me."

"Shit. Your mother is out there."

For some reason that makes me want to giggle. I bury my face against his chest to muffle my soft snickers. "We aren't in high school. This shouldn't be so funny that we're still sneaking around!"

The soft puff of his laughter washes over my cheek. "It's not like I'm climbing up to your bedroom window or something. I'm just trying not to have your mother come in here and hit me with a frying pan."

I stroke him, watching his eyes darken. "We can be quiet."

He groans when I bring my other hand into the mix and grip him through the front of his jeans. "You can't be quiet, angel. And neither can I."

"It would be fun to try though, wouldn't it?” I unbutton the top of his jeans and then carefully lower the zipper.

"Protection. I don't have a condom. I'm clean but–"

"I'm on the pill and I'm clean too. You're running out of excuses, big boy."
 

Suddenly he grips my hips and tugs on the drawstring bottoms of my pajamas. I lift up and push them down. I wasn't wearing panties underneath anyway.
 

"You are an unbelievable tease, do you know that?"

I grip him firmly, positioning him right at the center of my core. Right where I need him. "It's not teasing if you follow through." Then I angle my hips and tug on his ass. The first stroke seats him so deeply that I almost scream right then and there.
 

"Uh uh, angel. You have to be quiet," he rasps in my ear. The rumble of his deep voice in my ear is sexy as hell.
 

Then he works himself a little deeper, swiveling his hips slightly as he thrusts. I bite my lip. The pleasure is so intense and every pump of his hips takes me higher. It's incredibly erotic to just lie here while he fucks me, unable to scream or make any noise. The constraint of not being able to make noise makes me more aware of my breathing. My heart rate.
 

A small whimper escapes when his hands tuck under my bottom, holding me tighter as he thrust faster. His mouth covers mine and the next sound I make is muffled as he slips his tongue in my mouth. I come just like that feeling completely open and dominated, completely consumed by him.

I can tell his release is close by the way his breath starts coming faster. I wrap my legs around him and clamp down on him every time he withdraws. His fingers on my hips tighten and I'm sure I'll have bruises later.
But it'll be so worth it
, I think as he lets out a harsh groan in my ear. We lie together, panting quietly until he finally moves to the side.
 

He pulls me back against him again. Part of me wants to just sob at the pleasure of feeling him here, next to me but that would take more energy than I have to expend. For now, it’s enough just that he’s here.
 

“I missed you. So much. Don't stay away from me, Finn. I know you think it's best for me but it's not. This is what I need.” At another time, when I’m not so sleepy and satisfied, I’ll probably regret my candor. But right now I don’t care. It’s how I feel and I’m tired of pretending.
 

"I need you, too. And I won't be staying away from you for much longer. There's just something I have to take care of first."

"What do you have to take care of?" I ask but the question is interrupted by a giant yawn.
 

His lips brush over my forehead. "Right now, you need to sleep. Close your eyes, angel. I'll still be here when you wake up. Then we'll talk."

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The next morning I roll over and clutch the pillow I'm holding tighter. I always sleep like the dead after I've had a migraine and last night was no exception. Especially since Finn was there. I always sleep better when he's there.
 

I open my eyes and frown at the empty space next to me. I prop myself up on my elbow and look around. The house is quiet but the pillow still has the slight indentation where his head rested. Why would Finn sneak out in the middle of the night? Then I catch a glance at the clock on the dresser and scramble to get out of bed. It's almost nine, way later than I usually get in to work. I only hope the other girls haven't needed me for anything.
 

After a lightning fast shower, I dress in a white T-shirt and jeans, pulling my Maid-4-U logo apron on over it. I pick up my purse and pull out my cell phone. I frown. There are little red flags everywhere. I've never had so many unread texts, voicemails and emails simultaneously before.
 

I quickly scan the texts. The oldest one is from Finn. He had some meeting this morning and didn't want to wake me. The rest are all from Daphne and Tara. Same with the voicemails. Once I see that my emails are mainly from my partners, too, I call the office with a sinking feeling in my chest.

Daphne answers on the first ring. "Thank god, Rissa. You have to get in to the office."

"What is going on? I have so many messages to listen to."

Daphne pauses. "We just got a call from Mercers. They've been sold and the new owner isn't renewing our contract."

I clap a hand over my mouth. We knew this was a possibility. I'd heard rumors over the years that the owners of Mercers wanted to sell and relocate but they were being really choosy about potential buyers. They wanted to sell to someone with long ties to the community and there aren't many people in this area with that kind of money.
 

For some reason that thought causes a curl of dread to unfurl in my belly. "Well, this sucks for sure but maybe we can change the owner's mind. They might just be saying that because they want to keep their options open."

Daphne doesn't say anything and the dread in my stomach explodes. "Who is it, Daph? Who's the new owner?"

"Are you coming in? We have a lot of stuff to talk about."

It's a classic Daphne evasion tactic. She hates conflict and she'll do anything to avoid it. Tara and I have been teasing her for years that she could probably teach the military about escape and evade maneuvers. It's usually amusing but then again I'm usually not on the receiving end of it. I take a deep breath so I won't end up yelling at one of my best friends. Then she'll cry and I'll really feel like an ogre.
 

"You're avoiding the question, Daphne. That doesn't make me feel too good so just spit it out."

"I really think you should come in to the office," she squeaks.

"Daphne!"

She's quiet and then whispers, "I'm sure he has an explanation."

My head is still slightly fuzzy from my extended sleep from the night before. It takes a minute for what she's saying to even register and for me to realize what "he" she's even talking about. When I finally get it, I fall back onto the bed, my legs suddenly unable to hold up my weight anymore.
 

"Oh god. It’s not possible." That's truly how I feel. How could it be possible for Finn to have done something this underhanded?
This manipulative.
 

I think back to what he said to me in the elevator earlier this week about not being a good guy. I'd taken it as a sign of self-deprecation but maybe he was trying to warn me. He told me he was an asshole and I didn't listen. I should have heeded the warning.
 

"I'm so sorry, honey." Daphne's sorrow comes over the line and blends with mine. She hates giving bad news and this is probably even worse for her since she knows how I feel about Finn.
 

"This just can't be real. Are you sure?"

"Tara said the new company's name is the same one on our paperwork when we did the deal with Finn. Unless this is all a really big coincidence."

"Or he's been playing me this whole time."

RISSA

Daphne, Tara and I have closeted ourselves in my office. I've looked at the contract we've signed a dozen times, hoping that the letters on the page will rearrange somehow and form something else. But there's no denying that the name matches the new owner of Mercers.
 

The owners were super helpful when I called back and very apologetic about everything. I'm sure they know how important their contract is to our business so I could tell they felt bad about the effect this will have on us. But it's not their fault that I trusted the wrong man.
 

That's no one's fault but my own.
 

"Maybe it isn't what it looks like?" Daphne suggests. She's been hovering over me ever since I got here. I think she feels some sense of responsibility since she had to break the news to me. But it doesn't matter who told me or how I found out. All that matters is the bottom line.
 

Finn Marshall now owns me in truth.

"Or maybe it's exactly what it looks like." My head falls forward into my hands. Not only am I humiliated because I've been so stupid and so blind but also completely sick that I have let my two best friends down. They've done nothing but support me and now because of Finn's vendetta against me, they are going to be caught up in the crossfire.
 

"He warned me. He told me in the very beginning that he wanted revenge and that was his sole purpose in seeking me out."

"He actually said that?" Daphne asks, horrified.
 

Tara squeezes her arm. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. There may be another explanation. Maybe he was already in the process of buying Mercers before you guys reconnected?"

It's possible but in my heart I know it isn't true. My mom always told me not to trust pretty words from a man. To just take them at face value and I've never been good at that. If I had heeded that advice, then I would have run away the first time I saw Finn standing in the middle of his apartment looking so haunted.

"He would have told me about it if that were the case. It came up in conversation way too many times. No, this was deliberate. I know it was."

Finally Tara speaks what we're all thinking. "But if he's doing this for revenge, then that means we just lost two major contracts. And we can't meet payroll without at least one of them."

I nod, miserable. If I hadn't already done the paperwork to push a couple of our part-timers into full-time status it wouldn't be so bad. But we now have more salaries along with the resultant benefits and taxes to pay. Along with our next rent payment, we're screwed.

Totally and completely screwed.

"How could he even know that was one of our major clients in time to pull this off?" Tara wonders.
 

"Oh god." The humiliations just keep on coming. I bang my forehead against the desk. "The presentation. When his lawyer asked for the quote, he also asked for references. You know, other clients so they can check up on you. That presentation gave him everything he needed to figure out our weak spots. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't try to buy all of our other clients. That's how he does things. All or nothing."

"This is pretty sick. There has to be something we can do." Tara paces the floor and then blows out a breath. "Maybe we should go and talk to him. All three of us. We can threaten to sue or go to the media! How would he like that? I'm sure the local news would cover that story.
Billionaire asshole bankrupts three local women for funzies
."

I snort out a laugh. Even in the midst of a crisis Tara can always make me laugh. Then my smile fades. "I'll go talk to him. He's mad at me so it follows that I'm the one he wants to hurt the most. Maybe if I tell him what he's really done, he'll stop this. There's plenty of other ways he can hurt just me without taking away the employment of a bunch of women who need their jobs.”

"Do you really think that'll work?" Daphne looks hopeful. I don't want to crush her optimism but I'm afraid to give her anything to hold on to.
 

"No, I really don't think that'll work. But I'm hoping that underneath the part of him that obviously still hates me, that there's still a piece of the boy I loved. That guy was always a good person." I stand up and grab my handbag.
 

"Let's just hope he’s still in there somewhere.”

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Even though I have a key, I ring the bell. Finn opens the door after a few minutes.
 

"Rissa? What are you doing out here? Did you lose your key?"

He opens the door wider and steps back so I can enter. After a moment of hesitation, I come in. With the exception of that day when he was hallucinating, he's never scared me. I'm just afraid of what he makes me feel.

"I already know Finn, so you can drop the act. Your plan succeeded. Congratulations."

He looks so thoroughly confused that for a moment a small ray of hope peeks through that maybe this is all a mistake.
 

"What plan?"

"Your revenge. Your plan to buy all my clients so that I'll be wholly and completely dependent on you."

Suddenly he looks wary. "What are you talking about?"

"Mercers. They were just bought out. By your company."

He looks shocked and then I see it. Recognition. He knew this was happening.

His eyes close briefly. "Rissa wait. I can explain."

Those words should be banned from the male vocabulary because that's the first thing men say when they've done something wrong. Andy always had an explanation too after he'd hurt me and I'm done with listening to people rationalizing away my pain.
 

"There's nothing that needs explanation. I'm stupid for trusting. You were honest from the very beginning.
 
You told me that this was your way of working me out of your system and that you wanted to hurt me the way I hurt you. Well, I just thought you should know that your plan worked brilliantly."