Cruel Infatuation (Underground Kings 3)

rom Owen’s arms, and carries him out of the water. “You coming?” Grayson asks.

I shake my head and wiggle my phone at him. “I need a few minutes of privacy. I’m going to check what my mom said.” I haven’t checked her messages since I’ve been here, and I miss her. I miss who she used to be. I miss being able to talk to her about anything. I’m not sure what happened and what caused her to turn into the lost woman she was before she died, but my heart aches for what I used to have with my parents.

Grayson bends down and gives me a kiss on the forehead, and Dillon gives me one on the cheek. I cup Dillon’s face with my hand and stare at Grayson. “I love you both.”

“We love you too,” Dillon yawns.

“I’ll be up in a second.” I can tell he wants to stay, but I’ll be fine. Trevor is in town at some cheap motel last time Sebastian checked.

Once I’m alone, I appreciate the beauty of the water again. The sun is glistening down on the surface, reflecting light with every ripple. The breeze blows the salt into my hair, and the seagulls are cawing above. There’s a sailboat in the distance, slowly making its way across the sea. I’ve never been on a boat before. Maybe that’s something I can talk Grayson into.

With a deep, sorrow-filled breath, I call my voicemail and put the speaker on so I can hear her over the crash of waves against the shore.

“Finley. Don’t come back. You hear me? Don’t you dare come back. I’m proud of you for leaving, for getting the courage to get the hell out of here. I was too weak to leave. I wasn’t the mother you needed me to be, but I’m going to try to be now. I love you. I miss you. I have missed you. One day, I hope to see you again. Stay strong, my sweet girl.”

“Who are you talking to, you fucking bitch? Get off the phone.”

“Trevor, I’m leaving a voicemail for Finley.”

Tears brim my eyes when I hear the abuse on the other end of the line.

“Get off me!”

“Shut up. You’re nothing but a whore. Spread your legs.”

“Fuck you! Get off me.”

I turn the phone away, unable to hear what happens next. There weren’t many times by mom was sober, but she was just then. When the screaming stops, my hands shake and place the phone against my ear.

“I’m coming for you, Finley.”

The dial tone that sounds after Trevor’s voice is haunting. I wipe a tear away and end the call. That voicemail… I think that’s when Trevor killed her.

“Aww, you look so sad.”

I spin around to see Trevor creeping out of a small space between the rocks behind me. “You should have been there, Finley. She put up a hell of a fight.”

“Why do this to me? Why do this to Grayson? Kendall, my mom, my dad, why?” I ask, taking a step back. My foot lands in the shallow water and I stop, not wanting to go any further.

“Why not?” He shrugs. “You were easy targets. Easy money to be made. Your mom was gullible, easily to manipulate. She made me good money, lots of it, but she was starting to look her age. It wasn’t a good look either. Your dad, he was collateral. Your mom threatened to out me, so I took the one thing she cared about. But then there was you, and I knew I had to be around to watch you grow up, to turn from a beautiful child to a sexy woman. You were going to be the reason I rose up the ranks with Douglas and Richard.”

I look around for a weapon, a stick, a broken bottle, but there’s nothing. The beach is spotless. He crowds me, pushing me closer to the water’s wrath. “You stole from me. My money. My opportunity. You’re coming back with me,” he says, snaking out his arm and wrapping his fingers around my wrist.

“And you took everything from me,” I grate, yanking my arm out of his hold. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” I rear my arm back and slam my small fist against his face. He doesn’t stumble, but his mouth bleeds.

The red liquid spreads across his teeth as he grins. “I always like it when you fight,” he says, launching himself at me. He tackles me to the ground and slaps me across the face. “You’re coming back with me. You’re going to be the reason I’m not in debt anymore.” He yanks down my bikini bottoms and says, “but not before I get to test the goods.”

“You aren’t getting shit,” I say with backbone, hiding my fear better than I initially thought I would. I slam my forehead against his and he tumbles off me. I yank my bikini bottoms up and try to yell for Grayson, but Trevor holds a hand over my mouth.

His breath is rancid, his teeth are rotting, and he looks like he’s a few days away from dying. He smells like cheap cigarettes and vodka, his two favorite things. “We’ll see about that. Now, get to walking.” He pulls out a knife and threatens to cut my bikini top off.

I should be more frightened, but I’m not. I know deep down in my soul that I’m not going anywhere with this asshole. And if the attempt to survive kills me, at least I fought for my life and didn’t give up. I swipe my hands in the air and knock the knife from him, then lift my knee and ram it between his legs.

“You think I’ll just go with you?” I punch him in the face again, angry tears in my eyes when rage possesses my body. All the hate I’ve had for him over the years surface, and there is nothing more I want than to kill him. He falls to the ground, cupping his pathetic cock he has forcefully used on one too many women. I connect my knee to his face and watch as blood oozes from his nose. “You think I won’t fight? You should know from the first time—I’ll fight until I can’t fucking breathe!” I slam my knee against his face again, and he falls to his back, sputtering blood and broken teeth. I straddle him, and the waves crash against my knees. “Is this what you want?” My hand pats to the right in search for a rock, something small. Once my hand wraps around it, I bend down and whisper in his ear, “Because this is the closest you will ever get.” With a grunt, I swipe the palm-sized rock through the air and smash it against his face until his eyes roll back.

I clobber him with it until his bones are distorted and I can’t tell who he is anymore.

“Finley!” Grayson yells for me in the distance, but his cries of panic fall on deaf ears. I’ve been my own savior my entire life. I can continue to save myself for the next few minutes.