Cruel Infatuation (Underground Kings 3)

“I fucking hate you!” I lift both my arms in the air and use the rock as a fist against his broken face. “I hate you so much. You took them from me. You ruined my life for the longest time. No more.” I toss the rock to the side and hear his wheezing attempt to breathe. “God, why can’t you just die?” I roll off him and grab him by the thick of his air and drag him into the water.

“Finley!” Grayson calls for me again and this time his voice is closer.

Tired, exhausted, but fueled with anger, I trudge through the current, pulling Trevor behind me. When I’m deep enough, I push his head under and he’s too weak to struggle. He tries, but I know I can kill him easily.

I want to torment him like he did me. I lift his head above water ,and he coughs. “Please,” he begs. “Don’t.”

“Please. Don’t. Stop,” I mock him. “Those words sound familiar.” I dunk his head again until his body slows from thrashing, and then I bring him to the surface again. He inhales and gasps for breath, struggling to keep his eyes focused on me. “You know, when you nearly raped me. I still have scratches between my legs.” I dunk him again, but this time I don’t bring him back up. I keep him under until his body stops thrashing and for a few more seconds.

One can never be too sure.

My muscles are shaking, and Grayson dives into the water to get to me.

“Finley.” His hand falls on top of mine where I’m fisting Trevor’s hair. “Let go. Let go. Let the ocean wash him away.”

Let go.

Is it really so easy to do?

“I have you, Finley. It’s okay,” Grayson reassures.

I stare into his beautiful brown eyes, hued with yellows and burgundies, and remember that my future is him. He has me. I let go of Trevor, and Grayson slings me into his arms and carries me away from the shore. I watch a

s Trevor’s body gets carried away until I can’t see it anymore.

He’s gone.

I can breathe.

“Are you okay?” Grayson asks, holding me wedding style and pushing the hair out of my face. He pinches his lips together when he sees my busted lip. “Bastard. I’d kill him all over again if he were here. We were too slack. He left his phone at the hotel. It was irresponsible of me to leave you out here. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. Our plan to live our lives without our pasts got started earlier is all. I had it all under control.”

“You did,” he says with pride. “You gave it to him good. You’re so fierce and strong. I’m a lucky man.” He carries me up the natural stone steps back to the Cliff House, and I lean my head against his chest.

I’m the lucky one. Grayson could have turned his back on me after I lied about my age, when I killed two men, and now that I think about it, Grayson must have been insane to stay by my side.

But he did.

And I’ll forever be grateful.

Now I know what love truly is.

It isn’t harsh. It isn’t cruel. Love isn’t supposed to be difficult, but easy, as natural as breathing, and sometimes you have to fight for it.

It’s the victory at the end that’s worth it because now we get to love freely, without pain, without fear, without our past haunting us.

Love is our prize.

Epilogue

GRAYSON

“Go ahead, ring it,” Doctor Gladstone says to Dillon.

Finley has the camera out and recording, and I’m standing there, watching my son about to ring the remission bell. It’s been a long journey, but the transplant worked. He is cancer free. He has to come in every three months for testing for the first year, then after that, it’s every six months.

His hair has started to grow back and it’s the same shade as mine. It’s a beautiful dark brown, shiny, and right now it looks a bit fuzzy, but it’s progress. It’s fucking progress, and it means he can live the life the way he wants to.