Without another word, Trixie started back down to the beach. She waved to them all when she reached the bottom.
‘I think we should take this inside,’ Audra said, when Rupert turned to stare at Finn.
Finn’s heart slugged like a sick thing in his chest. He’d kissed Audra, and Rupert’s sense of betrayal speared into him in a thousand points of pain.
Rupert hadn’t been joking when he’d said he’d no longer consider Finn a friend if Finn messed about with Audra. Finn had to brace his hands against his knees at the sense of loss that pounded through him. He’d destroyed the most important friendship of his life. This was his fault, no one else’s. The blame was all his. He forced himself to straighten. ‘I think we’ll do less damage out here, Audra.’
‘The two of you are not fighting.’
He met the other man’s gaze head-on. ‘I’m not going to fight, Princess.’ But if Rupert wanted to pound him into the middle of next week, he’d let him. Rupert’s eyes narrowed and Finn saw that he’d taken his meaning.
‘Rupe,’ Audra warned.
Rupert made for the house. ‘You’re not worth the bruised knuckles.’
The barb hit every dark place in Finn’s soul. He’d never been worth the sacrifice Rupert had made for him. He’d never been worth the sacrifices he’d always wanted his parents to make for him.
Hell! A fortnight on this island with Audra and he’d laid his soul bare. He lifted his arms and let them drop. He didn’t know what any of it meant. What he did know was that this Greek island idyll was well and truly over. He wanted to roar and rage at that, but he had no right.
No right at all. So he followed Rupert and Audra into the house, and it was all he could do to walk upright rather than crawl.
They went into the living room. Audra glanced from Rupert to Finn and back again. ‘I think we need to talk about that kiss.’
Finn fell into an armchair. Was it too early for a whisky? ‘It won’t help.’ He’d broken his word and that was that. He’d blown it.
Rupert settled on the sofa, stretched his legs out. ‘I’m interested in what you have to say, Squirt.’ He ignored Finn.
‘The kiss—the steamy one—it wasn’t calculated, you know?’
She twisted her hands together and more than anything Finn wanted to take them and kiss every finger. He hated the thought of anything he’d done causing her distress. You should’ve thought about that before kissing her!
For a moment he felt the weight of Rupert’s stare, but he didn’t meet it. The thought of confronting the other man’s disgust left him exhausted.
‘It was Finn who ended the kiss. I wanted to take it to its natural conclusion, but Finn held back because of how much he feels he owes you.’
He sensed the subtle shift in Rupert’s posture. ‘You know about that?’
She nodded. ‘I’m glad you did what you did when you were sixteen, Rupe. It was a good thing to do.’ She folded her arms. ‘But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m furious with you at the moment.’
Rupert stiffened. ‘With me?’
She leaned forward and poked a finger at him. ‘You have no right to interfere in my love life. I can kiss whoever I want, and you don’t get to have any say in that.’
Finn dragged a hand down his face, trying to stop her words from burrowing in beneath his flesh. Rupert knew Finn wasn’t good enough for his sister. Finn knew it too.
‘I understand the kiss,’ Rupert growled. ‘I get the spur-of-the-moment nature of being overwhelmed before coming to your senses. I understand attraction and desire. None of those things worry me, Squirt.’ He reached for the photos she’d set on the coffee table, rifled through them and then held one up. ‘This is what worries me.’
Audra stilled, and then glanced away, rubbing a hand across her chest.
Finn glanced at it. What the hell...? It was the second photo—the one after the kiss. Okay, there was some heat in the way they looked at each other, but that picture was innocent. ‘What the hell is wrong with that?’
Rupert threw him a withering glare before turning his attention back to his sister. ‘Have you fallen in love with him?’
Every cell in Finn’s body stiffened. His breathing grew ragged and uneven. What the hell was Rupert talking about?
‘Princess?’ He barely recognised the croak that was his voice.
Her face fell as if something inside her had crumbled. ‘Your timing sucks, big brother.’
‘You’re family. You matter to me. I don’t want to see you hurt. Have you fallen in love with Finn?’