Chapter 11

Eleven

Finn opened the door, expecting to see Oak on the other side. His friend had said he’d come to the hotel when they’d texted. He’d stayed longer on base than planned because he’d wanted Jess to have a little time with her friend.

Kaley had been frantic when Jess wasn’t responding to her messages. Oak had said it’d taken a while to calm her after Jess had finally texted back.

Finn hadn’t had a chance to ask what was going on with Oak and Kaley. So much for Oak saying he wasn’t going to bounce straight into something with another woman after only breaking up with Sylvia the day before.

“House, what are you doing here?” His teammate was standing at the door, with a laptop under his arm.

“Thought we’d video call Tex together. That way, you and Jess can meet him and, if she’s up to it, she can relay what happened to the man himself, rather than either one of us trying to explain it.”

“Sounds like a plan. Come in.” He stood back to let his teammate cross the threshold.

House’s head swiveled around, taking in the opulence of the room. It wasn’t a mystery what was going through his teammate’s mind. The room was a bit over the top for a Navy SEAL.

“It was the only room available.” Finn had always been careful with his money, even though he didn’t have to be. Most of the time, he lived within his means, using his Navy wages wisely.

It helped that he lived on base, but when the need arose, he was happy to delve into his trust fund. Like now, when he wanted Jess to have somewhere nice to stay.

House chuckled. “No judgment here. Just thinking about splurging on a few days here with Leonie to celebrate our ten-year wedding anniversary.”

“I’m sure she’d love it. They give a military discount, too,” Finn said.

“Good to know.” His fellow SEAL continued on his way to the living room to set up the computer.

Jess wandered into the room, and Finn made his way to her side, pulling her close. It was ridiculous how much he wanted to touch her.

Now that he’d kissed her and held her again, he was amazed at how he’d been able to keep his distance—for the length of time he had.

“You remember House?” he asked, canting his head to his friend and teammate.

“I do. Good to see you again.”

“You, too. I’m here to connect you with Tex. He’s the guy we were talking about last night.”

“Right.” Jess perched on the edge of the couch.

Kaley sat in one of the lounge chairs, smiling at House.

“Okay, let’s get started.” House opened the computer and pulled up the video calling app.

Finn was interested to see what this Tex person looked like.

“House, what can I do for you?” a deep voice asked with a southern twang.

“Tex, this is my teammate, Hive. His friend is the one who has the issue.”

Finn leaned forward and nodded at the man on the screen. “Tex, really good to meet you.”

The man on the screen showed no emotion, but his look was intense and familiar. Finn had seen it on all his instructors during his BUD/S days and some of the older SEALs around base.

It was surprisingly comforting for him.

“Hive, what’s going on?”

“This is my girl, Jessica Killian, and her friend, Kaley.” He twisted the laptop so Tex could see who was in the room. He wasn’t going to have this conversation without the man knowing everyone who was present. “There was an incident last night in Jess’s hotel room that we need help with.”

“Good to meet you both.” Tex nodded. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Jess.”

“Thank you. It wasn’t fun,” she responded quietly.

Another knock sounded, and Finn started to rise, but Kaley spoke up. “I’ll go answer it.”

“Thanks,” Finn said. Behind him, he caught the sound of Oak’s voice.

Kaley came stomping back into the room and sat down on the lounge chair, crossing her arms over her chest. Oak followed, with a smirk on his face. His buddy took a seat closest to the chair Kaley was sitting in.

Did Jess know what was going on between those two?

Or had Kaley not said anything to Jess?

Whatever it was, they could sort themselves out. He wasn’t getting involved. He had more important things to focus on.

“Sorry, Tex, another teammate of ours just got here,” House said.

“All good. Why don’t you tell me exactly what’s been happening, and we can go from there?” Tex said.

Over the next thirty minutes, Jess explained what she’d been through and what had happened in her hotel room. All through it, Finn kept hold of her hand, giving her his support. Hearing everything a second time didn’t make it any easier for him to handle.

All the anger returned, threatening to drown him. He took a couple of breaths to push it down.

Jess didn’t need him getting all worked up. His job was to support her. He could hit the gym later to deal with his pent-up energy.

When she finished, she sat back, and he hugged her close. “You good?” he murmured.

“I don’t know.”

“Whatever happens, we’ll face it together. You’re not alone with this, okay?” Finn pressed his lips to her temple.

“I’ve got the hotel’s security feed,” Tex announced. “I’ll share my screen.”

A second later, the hotel hallway outside Jess’s previous room filled the screen.

Everyone watched as someone wearing a ball cap entered the picture with a large bag in hand. The person stopped outside Jess’s door, as if obviously obscuring their face from the camera.

“Fuck. They knew what they were doing,” Oak said.

Jess’s fingers dug into Finn’s leg, and he placed his free hand over hers. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

He’d keep saying that until it sunk in. No way was he going to let anything happen to her. Which was a big task, considering he couldn’t be with her every moment of every day. But he’d find a way to make sure she was safe, even when she wasn’t with him.

A few minutes after the person entered Jess’s room, they left, the bag looking decidedly less full than when they’d walked into it.

“There’s your culprit,” Tex growled. “I’ll see if I can get a better visual on their face. Dig around to see if there’s more footage of this person anywhere else in the hotel.”

This might be the first time Finn had had anything to do with Tex directly, but he was very glad House had contacted him for them.

“I’ll get answers for you,” Tex said. “Also, I can confirm Bartholomew Anderson is still in prison and, from what I can determine, he hasn’t made any contact with anyone on the outside to arrange anything. But I’ll keep an eye on him. Just because I can’t find any involvement, that doesn’t mean I’m going to disregard that he might be responsible for this.”

The more Tex spoke, the tenser Jess got beside him. Her fingers continued to dig into his leg. Finn wanted everyone to go, so it was just the two of them, and so he could calm her and reassure her the best people possible were on the case for her.

“Thank you. I appreciate you doing this for me.” Her body’s reactions told him she was freaked out, but Jess’s voice was still strong—not a hint of a waver as she spoke to Tex.

“No thanks necessary. You’ve got a lot of people supporting you, Jess.” Tex smiled. “When I hear something, I’ll let you know.”

“As Jess said, I appreciate everything you’re doing,” Finn said.

“We look after our own. I’ll be in touch.” The man nodded and the screen went black.

House closed the laptop and made eye contact with Finn. He’d put his team-leader face on. “We’ve got your back, Hive. Don’t ever forget that.”

Finn smiled, appreciating his teammate. “I know. Thanks.”

“I’ll see you later.”

Finn didn’t want to leave Jess’s side, but he needed to see his friend out. “How long do you think it will take Tex to get some leads?” he asked quietly, aware that Jess was still within hearing distance.

“Not sure, but when he finds something, he won’t hesitate to call, no matter the time. He’s on the east coast, too.”

Finn nodded. “Okay. I know I don’t need to say it again, but thanks.”

“Always.” House gave him a chin lift and exited the suite.

He took a few seconds before heading back to where Jess, Kaley, and Oak were seated. Tension licked through the air, and he glanced around to see if he could pick up on what was causing it.

“Do you always do this?” Kaley asked, breaking the silence.

“Do what?” Finn asked.

“Hack into security systems, and other stuff to get information you need? Isn’t that illegal and unethical? And what about the police investigation? Will what you find be admissible since you got it from illegal methods?”

Oak laughed. “Honey, how the hell do you think the government gets most of their intelligence? It’s not through various agencies sharing all their secrets. All the important things...well, that’s from other means. Other people. You need to watch some spy movies. Some of that stuff is closer to the truth than you think.”

Kaley glared at Oak.

Finn stepped in before things got too out of hand. “Kaley, if it gets Jess the answers she needs, then I’m all for it. And Oak’s right. We use whatever means possible to get the information we need. As for the police, I’m pretty sure they’re going to put what happened to Jess down as a jealous boyfriend or believe it was meant for someone else, especially if they find out the same information Tex did that Bartholomew is still behind bars.”

“It’s fine, Kay-Kay.” Jess hugged her friend. “As Finn said, if it helps to find out who is doing this quicker, then I don’t have an issue with it. Also, you know the police never took what I said seriously until I almost died from what Bartholomew did.”

“I know, I just don’t want to see you go through that again.” Kaley hugged Jess back, and Finn was glad Jess had her when her life was in turmoil.

He wished it’d been him, but he was here this time, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.

“How about we all go to the beach and watch the sunset and then get some dinner?” Finn said.

“I like that idea. How about it, Kay-Kay? We can go walk the sand, and you know...” Jess waggled her eyebrows, and her friend laughed. There was some hidden message passing between the two girls.

Finn caught Oak’s gaze and he shrugged, confirming he had no idea, either.

“That’s settled, then,” Finn said. “Let’s go.”

Jess clutched Finn’s fingers as they made their way along the damp sand. The water flowed up over their bare feet before retreating back into the ocean.

The first blast of cold water had shocked her, but the more it washed over her, the more she adjusted to the temperature.

“What’s the coldest water you’ve ever swum in?” she asked.

“All the water is cold, especially if we’re swimming in stormy water. But we usually have our dry suits on, and that protects us from the colder temperatures. Most of the time we’ve got adrenaline pumping through our systems, so I tend not to notice how cold it is,” Finn said.

Jess glanced over the ocean, trying to imagine him swimming in the dark depths, where all manner of sea creatures lurked. A shudder ran down her spine. Maybe it was better not to think about that aspect of his job. Then again, was there any part of his job that was good to think about?

Would he even answer her questions? How much could he talk about what he did and where he went?

There were so many questions buzzing around her head, but that was where she kept them. Jess could ask him about it later—maybe.

“Do you think we should head back? Things were a little frosty between Kaley and Oak,” she said.

Finn chuckled. “Oak is definitely doing everything he can to try and annoy Kaley. I’m not sure why.”

“He likes her,” she said, in a singsong voice. “And Kaley likes him.”

“Well, considering he just got dumped last night, it’s probably best Kaley ignores whatever Oak’s doing.”

Jess reared back, frowning. “Wait! Oak broke up with a girl last night ? Did I hear that right?”

“Yeah, she ended it after the show. Oak said he was feeling the same way as Sylvia, so he wasn’t too upset about it.”

The last thing Jess wanted was for her friend to be a rebound girl. Nothing good ever came from that. Plus, Kaley was the type of girl who—while she’d never admit it—wanted the fairy tale. Wanted to be swept off her feet. “You need to tell your friend to back off,” she barked.

“I already told him when we were together this afternoon. Told him he shouldn’t be messing with someone so soon after a breakup.”

Jess let out a big breath. Good. Finn had thought to look after Kaley. “What did he say? Because it doesn’t look like he’s paying attention.” She pointed to where Kaley and Oak were wrapped up in each other’s arms, as if they were long-lost lovers—not people who’d just met.

What was Kaley thinking?

Finn tugged her hand until Jess was facing him. He gripped her waist lightly. “I can’t control what he does, and it looks like Kaley wants it as much as he does. I know Oak. If she didn’t want to be kissed by him, he wouldn’t force the issue.” He lowered his head.

Jess’s blood heated in anticipation.

“But I do say I like the way they think,” he whispered.

She didn’t get a chance to respond as his lips captured hers. She sighed into the kiss, wanting it more than she wanted her next breath.

His tongue traced the seam of her mouth, and she opened for him.

Jess pressed tightly against him, wanting to take the kiss to the next level. Wanting to lose herself in it.

Wanting to forget their past and forge a new future together.

Finn broke the kiss before she was ready for it to end.

“I want you, Jess, so much, but I also know I have a lot to do to get you to trust and believe that this is what I want.”

“I want you too, Finn. And I have to believe if you didn’t want to be here, you wouldn’t be. That what happened last night isn’t the reason you’re standing with me right now.”

Finn’s warm hands framed her face. “Look at me, popsicle.”

Jess couldn’t look away even if she wanted to.

“I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. I was a dick that night in New York. I was an asshole for what I did after. I was scared. Scared that one kiss was all it’d taken for me to want you so much. Kissing you generated feelings so intense, I was surprised I could still stand. But I believed walking away was the right thing to do. Not for me, but for you. You were just starting out with your career, and I was seriously considering joining the SEALs. I regretted it every day afterward. I’m here, standing in front of you, because I want to be here. Nowhere else. Not because of what happened last night. I may have walked away from you after I saw you backstage, but I wasn’t going to let you leave without seeing you again.”

Her heart stuttered at the ferocity of his confession. However, she didn’t doubt his words. Didn’t doubt his sincerity. She believed he’d thought he was doing the right thing.

Yet something still wasn’t sitting right with her. Something he’d said when he’d come up to her at the bar.

“But you said at the bar that you only came over because of Oak. Was that a lie?”

“No. I wasn’t going to bug you again the same night, but I was going to go to the big guns for help.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Jess had a feeling what he was going to say next. “The big guns?”

“Yeah. I was going to call Aunt Poppy and see if I could find out where you were staying. And come and see you. See if you’d let me show you around.”

“What if I said I didn’t want to see you, even after you went to all this trouble?” Jess arched a daring eyebrow.

Finn sighed and a little of the light died out in his eyes. “Then I would’ve respected what you wanted, and I would’ve walked away, knowing that I’d made the biggest blunder of my life. But it was what you wanted, and I couldn’t ignore that.”

She considered everything he’d said. If things had been different, and she hadn’t gone to the bar, would she have turned him away if he’d come knocking on her door?

No .

She would’ve gone with him and ended up where they were right now.

“I wouldn’t have turned you away,” Jess said quietly. “Last night, after I said I didn’t want anything to do with you, I regretted it immediately. I was so happy to see you at the bar, but I also didn’t want you to know that.”

“How about we stop playing games with each other?” Finn asked.

She smiled, relieved he wasn’t upset with what she’d just confessed. “I like that idea a lot.”