Finn (Blue-Collar Billionaires 2)

The girl turns and regards the expensive car in silence. I open the door and step out. Her eyes immediately land on my cane before she pulls her gaze away. I smile at her to let her know that I'm not offended.

"You must be Daphne."

I know who she is due to my research not because Rissa ever mentioned her. Getting Rissa to open up about anything has been difficult to say the least. But Daphne doesn't know that. She looks startled that I know her name, and then she relaxes.

"That's me. Who are you?"

I hold out my hand and she takes a tentative step forward to shake it. "Finn Marshall. I'm here to see Rissa."

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you that you've missed her. I guess you're stuck with me instead."

"That's nothing to be sorry about." When I smile at her, she blushes slightly. "Although I was hoping I could catch Rissa before she went home. I wanted to thank her."

Daphne glances behind her at the obviously empty building. "Home? Oh, she's probably on a job still."

"Could I go see her there? I don't mind driving over."

At the look on Daphne's face I can tell she isn't going to give up the location of Rissa's current job easily. I'm happy to see her loyalty and frustrated because she's the only thing standing in my way.

"She's very lucky to have a friend like you looking out for her. But I mean her no harm. She's an old friend from high school and I'm actually one of your clients. As of last week, anyway."

Suddenly her eyes swing to my face. "You're the high-rise?"

I'm not sure why that one piece of information seems so important but if that works for her, I'll go with it. "Yeah that's me. Rissa left some decorating suggestions for me this morning. I wanted to thank her. And I have to admit, I also don't like the idea of her walking alone to her car late at night. I'm sure she'd think that was overprotective but I can't help it."

Daphne bobs her head in agreement. "She would think it was overprotective. But then she's stubborn like that."

"When did that happen? She didn't have a problem with me walking her to her classes when we were in high school." The memory makes me laugh a little. Even before we'd been officially dating, I had always walked Rissa everywhere. I wasn't going to take a chance on any of those assholes messing with her when I wasn't around. That had caused problems with the girls I'd dated before her and I still hadn't cared. I'd been a slave to her even then.

Daphne smiles. “Sounds like you're sweet on her.”

The description sounds entirely too tame for how I feel about Marissa Blake. I want her, I hate her, I crave her. Thoughts of her have consumed me for years until it seems there's little sanity or rational thought left in me when it comes to her. There's nothing sweet about it. However, there's no expression in the English language that would encompass all that so I just nod. “Yes, I am.”

That seems to push her into a decision. With one last glance at my cane she says, "She’s at Mercers this time of evening. You know, the big department store."

I don't shop often but I'm well aware of the store. It's one of the only locally owned department stores left in the area.

"Thank you for your help, Daphne. Rissa is really lucky to have a friend like you."

She turns and walks out to the parking lot. I watch as she climbs inside a sporty little green hatchback and then pulls out of the parking lot with reckless speed and seemingly no regard for her personal safety.

I turn back to the car. At this point, I really should just give this up and go home. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to let Rissa go on living her life with no interference from me. There's no way I can go through with the plan I was so committed to just a few days ago. Because seeing her the way she was yesterday at the furniture store, her eyes bright with excitement just brought it all back in a way that was too real. She can’t be that girl anymore, that happy laughing girl who used to make me so happy. The only way I’ve been able to survive at all is believing that girl never existed.

And seeing her show up yesterday had been too much.

But then I look down at the catalogue in my hand and suddenly I'm

smiling. Each day used to be so routine and mundane. I did the same things with the same results. There were no surprises. No joy. Now each morning I wake knowing I'll see Rissa again. I haven't taken any pain pills at all today. The pain is still there, it's just that I'm so distracted by everything else going on. There's no way that I can give this up. I'm having way too much fun to leave her alone.

I close the door and sit back. Jonah turns around and looks at me expectantly. "Where to, sir?"

"Mercers. The department store."

CHAPTER SIX

RISSA

I roll my neck, trying to get the kinks out. The floor buffer I’ve been using for the past hour has made my arms feel almost numb. But the floors look shiny and perfect.