Only the threat of ruining his son’s life and giving the man a heart attack had stopped her from rushing to his side. She’d decided to sneak him some sweet contraband when no one else was around. She would give him this peace offering, thank him for the years of kindness his family had shown her, and say goodbye.
And it would really be goodbye this time. Her apartment was nearly packed, her moving truck was coming next week and a new life was waiting for her on the other side of the country.
It was only way forward she could see.
“Tasha, I think I’ve been patient. Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Stephen? What was so bad that you’ve cut everyone out of your life? A lot of people are hurting here, babe. Jen and Ellen. And Jesus, don’t get me started on Brady.”
“Brady?”
Jeremy nodded. “My new buddy. I think he’s slowly moving in. He and Owen just sat on my couch playing video games every night for weeks. And now he’s been whispering on the phone with some guy named Ken. Owen says he’s a rope master? But I don’t think they’re having phone sex, more’s the pity. That Marine needs a date. He’s too wired. And then there are those nightmares of his. He says that’s what keeps him awake all night. His insomnia is putting a serious damper on my sex life.”
Brady was spending time with Jeremy and Owen instead of protecting Stephen? “Doesn’t he still work for…the senator?”
She shouldn’t be thinking about what Stephen was doing. It led to thinking about what she’d done to him—cutting him off the way she’d been told to. Without explanation or apology. She didn’t answer any of his phone calls, she’d ignored the loud knocking at her door until her neighbors intervened and threatened to call the police on him. She’d given Burke what he wanted. No sex, no matter how good it was, was worth that kind of headaches she’d given him. Worth that kind of betrayal.
He must have come to the same conclusion, because his attempts to communicate with her had stopped after the first two weeks. Now she didn’t even have that contact, however miniscule and depressing it had been. Jeremy’s reports through instant messages and texts were what she lived for now. He was determined to keep her in the family loop, and even though it hurt, she’d let him. She had to know what was happening.
It was how she found out Jen had stopped going to the club after getting arrested for assault. Jeremy said “some married woman” had been trash-talking Finns after Jen turned down her offer for a threesome. Again. It was something that had started a few months ago, insults that had followed the initial rejection. That was what Jen had wanted Tasha’s advice about. This time the heated words led to hair-pulling which led to Jen’s fist in the woman’s face. Jen had broken the lady’s nose and her cousin James hadn’t been on duty this time to stop the couple from pressing charges.
A fine was paid and community service offered, and the last Jeremy had told her, Jen was looking through college pamphlets and considering getting a master’s degree in social work. She was also taking an indefinite break from the fetish club. And sex.
Tasha hoped she’d find the right balance soon, social work sounded right. Little Finn had a big, beautiful heart.
“Brady’s unemployed.” Jeremy’s words brought Tasha back to the conversation with a jolt. “Stephen fired him as soon as you got back from your sexy holiday, which obviously wasn’t as sexy as planned.”
“He fired his cousin? Why?” But she knew. Brady had kept his promise to her. He’d refused to tell Stephen anything about why she’d left.
“Really bummed Brady out, as you can imagine. I think he blames himself for what happened between you and Stephen, but no matter how much I feed him, he won’t tell me why.” He swore. “He won’t talk to us. Stephen won’t talk to Owen. And you won’t say a word to anyone. According to my sources, you haven’t even been to the club in two months and no one there knows why either, although a few of them have mentioned something about you having a boyfriend. But you don’t do boyfriends so I know that can’t be true. I thought we swore no more secrets, Tasha. Why do I feel like there are more of them now than ever?”
“Because there are,” she replied, as truthfully as she could. “But they’re necessary. You know I wouldn’t keep them if they weren’t.”
Jeremy was breaking her heart. She wanted to tell him everything, the way she always did, but she couldn’t. He and Owen may not be married—yet—but only a license and a legal name change kept him from being a Finn. He wouldn’t be able to withhold these secrets from Owen. They were too big. And Owen would call a damn family meeting, because that’s what they always did. If that happened, the Finns would find themselves in the middle of a big, juicy scandal.