Restless, p.24
Restless, page 24
"I don't plan to ever do that again, babe."
***
We leave the doctor's office with a sonogram picture and a prescription for prenatal vitamins in my hand. We get into Finn's truck.
"I need to stop at my house to get some clothes. My mom should be at the shop by now," I tell him as he pulls out of the parking spot.
"Okay. Let's go."
Finn drives in the direction we've gone so many times together. He used to drive me home on his motorcycle with my hair whipping through the breeze.
Finn hasn't mentioned once that I destroyed his bike. I wonder if that's because he doesn't care or if he's in the process of fixing it. I'm not about to bring up a subject that could ultimately lead to an argument, so I don't ask him.
I do wonder if he automatically knew my destruction from that night came from pain, not anger. Does he know me so well that he doesn't even question it?
His arm holds me captive against him as he pulls into the driveway, turning off the truck.
"Do you want me to come in with you?" he asks.
"No. I think I can handle grabbing a couple of days of clothes," I joke playfully.
A smirk spreads across his handsome face. "I'm pretty sure you could handle anything, babe." He leans in and claims my lips with his, urging a moan from me. I run my fingers through his soft strands as he deepens the kiss, pulling me tighter into his body.
If I didn't still have the pain in my stomach, I'd be in his lap, taking him inside me already.
"Fuck," he growls as he pulls out of the kiss. "Keep teasing me, baby, and I'll lose all my restraint. I'll fuck you into a coma," he warns, which just fuels my desire for him.
"For that to happen, you must have gone a long time without any," I taunt him, which earns me a possessive hand on my ass.
"Too fucking long, and I have a sexy-as-fuck girl who makes my cock hard constantly," he grumbles before nipping at my bottom lip.
"In that case, I better hurry up," I say before playfully nudging him.
Finn sends me his sinfully sexy grin as he releases me, and I carefully step out of the truck. I try my best to calm my body down, but Finn has his way of turning me into a bowl of mush, unlike anyone else.
I pull out my keys and unlock the door before stepping inside. I'm surprised when I see my mom's purse, her phone, and her car keys on the table.
What is she doing here? She's supposed to be at the shop. The shop opened two hours ago.
Did something happen?
"Mom?" I call out to check on her, but I get no answer. "Mom, is everything okay?"
Still, deafening silence greets me.
My internal panic alarm starts going off. Something isn't right.
Mom shouldn't be here.
She shouldn't be ignoring me calling for her.
Something is terribly wrong.
"Mom!" I call again before stepping into the living room, where I see something that utterly fractures my inner child into a million little pieces.
I hear a booming scream, only to quickly realize the sound is coming from me.
Chapter Twenty
Him
I sit in the truck for a minute after Francine disappears into her house before I step out. I want to be ready just in case she needs any help.
Everything is moving so fast. My head nearly spins.
I can't believe my sister's advice actually worked out. All I had to do was bite the bullet and tell Francine the truth. She doesn't trust me completely—I didn't expect her to—but she's accepting me by her side and giving me another chance.
That's all I want.
To be by her side.
It didn't matter to me who the father of the baby was, but it didn't stop me from wanting to scream from the rooftops how relieved and proud I am that Francine's baby is mine.
I shouldn't be excited about this. Francine is still in high school. She needs to worry about college and everything, but there's the part of my brain that knows I'm ready for this.
I love this girl so fucking much, and I'm all in with this.
My dad used to joke about how if I were anything like him, he'd be surprised if I made it to eighteen without knocking someone up. I always rolled my eyes at the crude joke, but it does make sense for why I feel so prepared already.
I pretty much had to raise Sorcha and everyone else in my close-knit group. I've always been the guy who helps everyone out, and that made me grow up fast.
No wonder I'm not freaking out about becoming a father at twenty-one. I know Francine expected me to avoid the subject, but I'm not that kind of asshole.
I'm not Rian. I'm not going to abandon her when she's just found out about our child. She needs support, devotion, and understanding.
More than anything, she needs love, and I'm going to give her everything she needs.
Suddenly, I hear a loud, ear-curdling scream coming from the house, and my instincts kick in.
I've heard that scream before. It's the same sound Francine makes during one of her nightmares—the sound that signifies something horrific is going down.
I race for the front door and force it open before crashing into the living room.
"Francine!" I call out before I see her on the floor, leaning over the motionless body of her mother.
"Momma, please, wake up," she cries.
My heart breaks for her.
This is her mom.
Bethany Gray was gone from Francine's life for six years, but it wasn't a choice; it was to make herself better. This is just too fucking tragic.
Francine was avoiding being here to prolong the inevitable talk she'd have with her mom to tell her about the baby and to avoid explaining her injuries. It all seems so insignificant now.
“She won’t get up,” Francine says, her voice cracking, tears falling down her face.
I pull out my phone before moving over to them.
Francine is too frantic to make the call. It’s left up to me.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
“I need an ambulance to eight-one-one-nine Cherry Oak. My girlfriend and I found her mom unconscious on the floor.” I grab Bethany’s wrist and feel for a pulse.
It’s there but barely, and her skin is like ice.
“Is she breathing?” the operator asks monotonously.
“Yeah, but she’s not doing good. Her skin is like ice, and my girlfriend can’t wake her up,” I tell her.
My eyes fall to Francine, who is crying her poor heart out over her mother’s state. The way her body shakes speaks volumes.
No matter how much time passes or if Bethany recovers, Francine will never forget this.
***
The paramedics immediately take Bethany away on a stretcher. All I can tell from their medical lingo is that she's in critical condition, and they think she took something.
Did she do this on purpose?
I get Francine in my truck, and I watch as she holds an envelope in her hands, staring down at it.
"What's that?" I ask.
"She was holding it when I found her," she admits before wiping her eyes. "They think she tried to kill herself," she tells me with her voice rising and falling with anguish. "If that's so, this is her suicide note," she adds before looking at me.
"Babe, they're going to do what they can to help her." I'm not sure what else I can say.
I know from experience—with Rian—that there are no words for when someone's parent does this.
At least Rian's mom locked herself in the bathroom when she took her own life. Bethany did it in the fucking living room, of all places.
Francine tears open the envelope before taking a sharp breath. She pulls out the paper, and her eyes scan over the words.
Slowly, her shaking disappears and is replaced with rigid tension and anger that flashes across her face.
"Babe, what is it?" I ask, but she doesn't answer.
Instead, she puts the note back in the envelope and puts on her seat belt.
"I have a few choice words for your dad," she grits with rage. "I need you to take me to him."
"Take you to my dad? What about your mom?"
"They'll be working on her for a while. This won't take long. Don't worry. I'm not going to kill him."
I'm not so sure I believe her. The way she says it indicates she's not even sure of her own words.
My dad did something even if Francine won't say what it is.
"Just go, Finn, please." She looks at me with seriousness in her beautiful green eyes.
I cave.
"One condition. What did the note say?" I need to be prepared for whatever she's going to do when I take her to my dad.
"The note wasn't addressed to me. It's for your dad. It says he's been torturing her for weeks, at least. She describes it as unyielding savagery."
What the hell?
My dad has been torturing Bethany?
This has to be an emotional torture, right? It can't be something he physically did to her. Why the fuck would he do this?
A million questions spin in circles in my mind, but I ask her. She doesn't have the answers. The only person that does is my dad, and he's the one who will answer them.
***
"Just don't do anything stupid, okay?" I ask for this one thing as I pull up in front of Frank's shop, but I know it might be asking a lot.
"He hurt my mom. I'm bound to do something stupid," she says before climbing out of the truck before I've even put it in park.
"Goddamn it, Francine," I growl as I put the truck in park and get out, but she's already headed straight for him.
My eyes lock on and keep a close eye as she grabs a crowbar and smacks it across the back of my dad's head.
I know a part of me should be freaking out, like oh, no, she's attacking my dad type of thing, but my only concern is her taking it too far and others in The Five Families pushing for retribution in a way I refuse to give.
None of the guys would. Our ancestors might've been willing to hurt anyone who broke the rules, but we aren't complete monsters. We won't touch a pregnant woman. Even if it weren't Francine, the guys would refuse, as would I.
"Francine, stop!" I order as I pull the crowbar from her grip and restrain her against my chest.
"What the fuck?" My dad groans as he stands up, looking at her murderously.
"You fucking asshole! How could you do this shit to her! After everything she did for you, and you fucking torture her!" Francine fights against my hold, but it's no use.
It's a good thing I'm so much stronger than her.
Francine is psychotic. She's a force to be reckoned with. The Devil himself should cower at her wrath if it were ever directed at him, but my dad isn't that smart.
"Get her out of here," he orders, but I don't move.
She has every right to say whatever she wants to say to him.
"Do it, boy," he presses, looking ready to attack me if I don't do as he says.
I'm not going to let her be close by if he loses his shit. I've seen it happen before, and it gets ugly. I won't risk her safety or our child’s at that.
"Go back to my truck, babe," I say before she spits at him.
"You're not fucking worth it, Nigel O'Reilly. To do what you did to my mom, I hope you rot in hell, and demons torture you every moment of all eternity." She hands me the envelope before she charges back over to my truck.
"Get rid of her," my dad demands.
"I'll be getting her out of here in a minute."
"No, I mean get rid of her." He makes his point clear.
"No, I'm not doing that," I refuse.
"Do what you're fucking told to do, Finnick," he growls with hatred.
"She's pregnant, Dad." He knows the insinuation I leave in the air—the baby is mine—but his response speaks volumes.
"I don't give a flying fuck. She's broken the rules, and all the women in her family are good-for-nothing whores."
It's bad enough that he's completely disregarding the life of my girlfriend and our unborn child, but to go as far as to call Francine a whore pushes me past my limit.
I pull my fist back and slam it into his jaw, which knocks him back on his ass. He stares at me for a moment, stunned by what I've just done.
I've never raised my hand to him, no matter how much he has deserved it in the past. He's hit the max of douchebaggery I've witnessed to date.
"Do you really hate Bethany Gray that much?" I grit out with anger.
"Don't push me, boy," he growls as he moves to his feet.
"No," I refuse. "You don't pull that whole holier-than-thou bullshit. Francine has every right to be pissed right now. Do you have any idea of what we just came here from? After everything she did, all the deals Francine's mom made for you—"
"The fuck you talkin' about?" His head snaps up, anger still there, but it becomes mixed with confusion.
He has no idea about the deal Bethany made for him all those years ago.
"She traded herself to keep your ass out of jail. Her to the Gray family for protection to keep you out of prison, but I bet you never even thought to ask about that, did you?" I throw at him, but then I see something I've never seen before.
My father, the most headstrong person I've ever known, looks filled with a guilty conscience, regret, and self-hatred, but he doesn't speak. His eyes fall to the floor as if he knows there's more to come.
"I don't know what the hell you did to her, but whatever it was, it was too much for her. You pushed her past her limit," I warn before I reach out, handing the envelope to him.
"What's this?" he asks, glaring at the paper package.
"Francine opened it before she realized it was for you. It's from her mother. It's her suicide note," I say, watching the color drain from his face.
I'm surprised he doesn't pass out from how winded he seems.
"Did you say suicide note?"
"She tried to kill herself. If Francine and I hadn't arrived at the house when we did, she'd probably be dead. As far as I know, they're trying to save her life. Francine thought it was more important to come here and defend her mother after reading that than going straight to the hospital to be with her mother."
He takes the envelope and pulls out the paper but looks away for a moment.
"I hope you keep this and let this be a reminder. You can't play God and not deal with the consequences. You can't fuck with people and expect them to take it forever. Bethany Gray was probably the only woman who ever gave a damn about you, and where is she now? You have no one to blame but yourself."
I expect him to yell or defend himself somehow, but he nods mindlessly. He's in his own head, unable to pry himself from where his eyes are glued to the floor.
He's processing everything, and a part of me wonders what he will do with this information.
I turn on my heels and leave him standing there as his eyes turn to the note Francine's mom left for him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Her
My mom's condition hasn't changed in days. She's been comatose since the doctors pumped her stomach and put her on the ventilator.
She can breathe on her own, but the doctors aren't sure if it's good enough without that horrible machine.
Finn and I stay with her from sunup to sundown, and she doesn't show any sign of improvement. The only reason I don't sleep by her side is because Finn reminds me that I need a good night's sleep for the baby, if not for myself.
He's right, but sleep is a struggle. I keep having nightmares about finding my mom on the floor and being unable to help her. My only saving grace is that Finn wakes me up and holds me close until I calm down.
I wake up to the sound of my phone’s alarm, and Finn tugs me in closer to him.
"Finn, we need to get up," I complain.
To be a bit of a sexy asshole, he presses his hips to my ass, his rock-hard cock digging against my rump so deliciously.
"I'm already up," he rasps as he kisses along my shoulder.
"Finn," I whimper as he palms my waist.
I missed feeling him like this. This is the first time he's done this since our fight before prom. He's been so patient and hasn't brought sex into things at all, like he's proving to himself that he can hold out.
"From how you're moaning, it looks like I need to take care of your needs before anything else," he growls before laying me on my back.
His hungry lips latch onto mine as I scratch at his back, needing more than he's giving.
"Do you want this?" he asks in a husky voice before trailing his lips down my neck.
"Yes, Daddy," I respond breathlessly.
He teases the crotch of my panties with his thumb before slipping past the barrier and pressing his thumb hard down on my clit.
"Yes!" I cry out as I arch toward him.
"That's right, babygirl," he growls as he circles my clit, egging me on more and more. "I need to get you all wet for me before I give you what you're craving."
"I'm already wet," I moan out as his thumb speeds up, trying to push me over the edge.
"Is that so? Let's check that out." He presses a finger inside me as he keeps up his rhythm on my clit. "Fuuuck, yes. So, fucking wet." Next thing I know, he's ripping off my panties and pushing his boxers out of the way. His thumb stays on my clit as he pushes my legs apart and teases my slit with the tip of his cock.
"Please," I beg as he continues his brutal pace.
"What do you want? Say it," he demands before pressing his thumb back down hard on my clit, igniting my orgasm.
I scream out at the pleasure he delivers to me.
"Please! Fuck me. I want you to fuck me, Daddy," I beg.
He grabs my waist before easing his cock deeper and deeper inside me until he's fully seated in me, his cock nearly too much for me to take.
It's been too fucking long since Finn last fucked me.
"I won't last long," he warns as his fingers wrap around my neck, and he starts a gentle rocking motion.
He feels incredible, but I've become increasingly addicted to him, chasing the bigger high every time he's around me.
I need more. I need my fix.
"Harder," I demand. I expect him to snap back with how I don't get to give orders, but no, that's not what I get.
