Chapter 23 ALWAYS SECOND BEST

Chapter 23 ALWAYS SECOND BEST
                                                                      FINN

I thought she was in trouble, especially considering that she was shaking, basically trembling all over. I was there when Nikolai went into the garden to get her, and I could already feel my blood boiling just thinking about what I would do if he did something to hurt her. I know I said I was going to stay out of it, but if he hit her or did something to hurt her, then I wouldn't just stand by.

When he walked past me in the hallway, I tried to tell myself to walk away and just mind my damn business, but I couldn’t – especially when I saw him enter her room. He looked stiff and tensed, didn't even say a word to me when he walked by.

Now I wish I had just walked away instead of coming here. It was something, but it wasn’t anything I thought at all. I wish I didn't care enough to find out, then I wouldn't be here.

I stand there, listening to the sounds of her moan, my fists clench, and I shut my eyes and clench my teeth even harder. I’m so disconnected, I don’t even hear Delilah approaching.

“Why the fuck are you here?” Her voice makes me open my eyes and sigh.

I don’t reply.

“Oh my God!” she makes a disgusted face as she hears them too. “Are they… fucking?”

I sigh and walk away, leaving her there to decide for herself. At least I know that it’s sealed now. No need to keep guessing around and considering possibilities that don’t need to exist.

I make my way down to the basement, where I have four people tied up and hanging from the ceiling.

As soon as I walk in, they all make a bid to start talking all at once. I take out my gun and shoot three of them, leaving the last man wide-eyed and terrified.

“You better tell me what I need to know right now, or so help me God, I will cut you to pieces and deliver your body in bits to your toddlers every day for the rest of the year.”

I mean every single word that comes out of my mouth, and I’m sure he can tell. So, he does the only thing that he can do, which is spill everything I need to know.

I leave him there alive. I’m still deliberating what to do with him.

I don’t know why I’m so riled up; I already knew that Nikolai had a thing for Mia, and of course, he got her…he always does. Right from when we were young, he always got all the girls because he was good-looking, the son of the mafia boss, and most importantly, he had that bad boy energy that women always found intriguing.

And Mia, we never really had anything to begin with; it was just a week we spent together as strangers. She doesn’t even recognize me.

But that week was the most amazing week of my life.

FLASHBACK

I wasn’t supposed to be distracted.

I was on a mission to kill the Miami chief of staff, and he sat three stools down to my left, laughing too loudly and drinking something blue with an umbrella in it. I’d been nursing the same whiskey for twenty minutes, eyes on the reflection in the mirror behind the bar.

That was when white crossed my vision.

Not silver. Not blonde. White.

It’s more than rare to come across someone with such radiant white hair. I turn my head before I can stop myself.

She slides into the stool beside me like she was no stranger around here. Her hair falls down her back in a pale cascade that looks unreal under the amber lights.

She orders without looking at the menu, and that tells me that I must have been correct in my analysis.

“You’re staring,” she says casually, eyes on the bartender.

“Yes, I am,” I admit, lifting my glass and taking a quick glance at my target. “No need to deny, you are a sight to behold.”

That earns me a glance.

Her eyes are sharp and assessing. Not impressed, but not bored either.

She smiles just a little.

I go back to my drink and let the silence stretch. She seems to be here for the same reason as me. I can tell that she’s watching someone from the way her attention keeps drifting and her body is angled outward, ready to move quickly.

Hunters recognize hunters.

It’s something that a random person would easily miss.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

She chuckles a little and sighs before she answers. “Cleo.”

I look at her and raise a brow. “Is that your real name?”

This time, she laughs, like I’d just passed a test of some sort. “For the purpose of this conversation, let’s say it is.”

I nod with a smile of my own. “I’m Peter,” I lie, a clean one.

She takes a sip of her drink with her eyes still on me over the rim of the glass.

“You don’t look like a Peter.”

“And you don’t look like a Cleo.”

This makes her smile even wider.

“And what do Cleos usually look like?” she asks.

“They look like saints,” I say with a straight face, which just makes her laugh even harder.

She snorts into her glass, “Yeah, well, Peters usually look like millionaires.”

“I think I look pretty wealthy,” I take a look at my reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Low cut hair and casual pants, and a shirt. “What gave me away?”

“You’re too calm,” she says. “People who are calm and composed usually have something to hide. Innocent people are rowdier.”

I chuckle, “Careful now. You keep talking like that, and I might start thinking you’re profiling me.”

“Maybe I am.” She takes another sip, then adds casually. “Or maybe I’m just bored.”

“In a place like this?” I ask.

“Yup. It’s mostly empty people with loud mouths. That doesn’t seem to be you, though.”

That earns her a real smile, and we drift into more conversation. Going from one topic to another, like we’ve done this a lot.

All the while, my attention keeps splitting.

My target stands, swaying slightly and dropping cash on the counter before disappearing towards the exit.

I watch him go, contemplating following him or just going to his room later. I already have all the information I need to track him.

I feel her lean in closer. “We should get out of here. Go back to your hotel room or something.”

I wasn’t expecting her to be so direct. I mean, I could clearly feel the sexual tension, but I didn’t expect her to make the first move.

“That’s … not exactly what I planned.”

Her eyebrows lift. ‘You always stick to plans?”

“Mostly, but I can make exceptions.”

She smirks. “May I be an exception?”

I exhale, shaking my head with a quiet laugh. ‘You’re trouble.”

She stands, already turning towards the exit, and I follow her.

I know I shouldn’t have, but thank God I did, because that week was one of the best times of my entire life.

END OF FLASHBACK

“Are you okay?” Delilah’s voice comes from the entrance of the kitchen, where I had found myself reliving memories that should have faded with the mission.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I scoff softly.

“You really don’t have to do that.” She walks in and takes a seat next to me.

I sigh. “If you came here to psychoanalyze me, you picked the wrong time.”

“You’re not really doing a good job at convincing me that you’re fine.”

I shrug. “Why would I have to convince you?”

“You don’t have to be like that,” she sighs.

“Like what?” My jaw tightens.

“Like you don’t care about what’s happening between Nikolai and Mia,” she says.

“You know you should really learn the art of minding your goddamn business, D.”

She ignores that. “I saw you the other night.”

My eyes flick up, curious.

“You were with her at the balcony,” she says calmly. I say nothing, I just look away.

“I know you were with her when Nikolai was searching for her,” she adds. “You didn’t even try to hide it.”

‘And why would I? I was just helping a helpless human.”

She rolls her eyes. “You have to be lying to yourself, because you can’t be lying to me.”

I stay quiet again.

“You’re not the same with her, and you know it.”

“All this time alone must be making you imagine things, D,” I still try to deny, but she wouldn’t have it.

“I’ve known you for years, Finn. I know your tells. This must hurt.”

It does hurt.

I sigh again and say nothing. There really is nothing to say in a situation like this.

“But,” she starts again. ‘Whatever you feel for her is not worth it.”

I roll my eyes.

‘I’m serious,” she says. “Nikolai isn’t someone you want to cross. You know that better than anyone.”

My mouth curls into a bitter smile. “You think I don’t know that?”

“I think,” she says softly. “Those feelings make smart men do stupid things.”

I laugh, hollow. ‘Relax, I’m not an idiot.”

“I know. I just don’t want this to cost more than you’re willing to pay.”

I stare past her, my eyes distant. “Why would I even want something that belongs to Nik?”

“People don’t belong to anyone.”

This time, I ignore her. “Everything in this house belongs to him. Including her.”

‘That’s not how he sees it,” she says quietly.

“That’s exactly how he sees it,” I shoot back. “Even if he won’t admit it.”

Delilah studies me for a bit. “And you?”

“I already made my choice a long time ago,” I say. “Long before this.”

She nods. “Good.”

But her voice lacks conviction.

She steps closer and rests a hand on my shoulder for what I assume is comfort. “I’m not judging you,” she says. “I just don’t want you to do something that would destroy you, over something that wasn’t yours to begin with.”

“I thought you said people don’t belong to anyone?”

I don’t let her speak, I pull my hand away from hers and get up, straightening my jacket and pulling my mask that I had let slip back on.

She wasn’t here to comfort me; she was here to make sure that Nik was safe. She came here to make sure that my feelings for Mia are not planting seeds that might pose a danger to Nikolai in my head.

“Conversations over.”

‘You’re doing that thing where you just up and run away again,” she says

And you’re doing that thing where you choose Nikolai over me again… but I don’t say that out loud.

“This conversation did not happen,” I say, ignoring her again.

She nods with a tight smile, and I walk away.

“Just be careful, Finn,” she says just before I leave the kitchen, and I don’t respond.

I’d be lying if I said I’d never imagined what it would be like to be Nikolai. From when we were younger, he got everything he wanted; he was the favorite child of his family and the best, and a lot of things.

I always came in second to him in everything, including to my parents. We grew up as practical siblings, but I was always in his shadow, always one step behind.

When his father and brother died, and he became the head of the mafia, he came to me with everything… he still does on most occasions.

I hated him at first for everything I felt like he took from me without even trying as much as I was, but in time I realized that there was no point hating him, because he had this thing about him that made everyone want to give their life to protect him.