Navy Blue - A Second Chance Romance (Complete)

Navy Blue: Chapter 38

The body curled around Emily hardened like cement. Finn's anger seeped under her skin. "But then..."

"He lied, Em." Finn's fingers drummed against her bicep. "To you and to me. They both had a hand in keeping us apart."

"I can't believe it." Her sister made a twisted kind of sense. But Simon.

Sweet, smiling Simon, friendly to everyone, had lied straight to her face. That misty morning as he unlocked the door to the restaurant. He'd offered her a seat, made her coffee to warm up after sitting outside. All the while aware, Finn waited on the other side of town, about to board a bus.

She didn't know which was worse. Mary manipulating her own words to make it appear Emily had broken up with Finn or Simon's silence. Every time she called the bar, she begged him to relay her words to Finn. He swore he would. He lied over and over. To both of them.

"I can." He shook his head. "Perfectly Pink has always had it out for me."

"Perfectly what?"

"It was our nickname for your sister, Simon and I." Finn threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Because she always wore pink and everything had to be perfect for her. Wouldn't accept anything less."

"But... to drag Simon into her scheme."

"Who says he was dragged?" Finn growled out the statement.

Emily sat up on one elbow. "You think he willingly..." The stoney line of Finn's jaw assured her he did believe Simon acted of his own accord. "Because he had a crush on her?"

Finn huffed. "Infatuation more like it. Why I'll never understand."

An old familiar desire to defend her sister rose in her throat. With determination, she stuffed it back down, swallowing hard. Mary didn't deserve any defence. Not only had her sister robbed them of eight years, if Finn hadn't come back to Washington for the trial, they might never have found each other again.

Emily clamped her arms around Finn's neck again and held on for dear life. Neither Mary nor Simon deserved a second thought. The man in her arms, he was all that mattered. She pressed her eyelids together, forcing back the tears that threatened to leak from her eyes. There would be no more crying. No more wallowing in regret. It was time to start living.

"I'm not going anywhere, Em." Finn's chin rubbed against the crown of her head. "I'm just..."

"Pissed off?"

A gruff snicker emanated from him. "You could say that. I ... they..."

Emily's recently mended heart splintered again for the betrayal of his brother. The duplicity they both endured. She held Finn's stoic face between her palms, wishing she could take away his pain. "Finn, let's not hold on to the hurt. Forget them. Forget the lies–"

"I'm not like you, Em." He squeezed her shoulder. "I can't forgive as easily."

"Then don't." She pressed her forehead against his. "Just push them aside. Ignore them. I'm definitely not speaking to my sister any time soon."

"That'll make Beth's baby shower next week a bit awkward."

Emily let the chuckle escape. Finn making a joke meant she was getting through to him. "How do you know about Beth's baby shower?"

"Seems your brother-in-law is way more perceptive than I gave him credit for. He's a great lawyer by the way."

"He is. But back to the baby shower..."

Finn twisted a lock of her hair between his thumb and finger. "Apparently all those invites to hikes and birthday parties. Yeah, they called it Operation Second Chance."

"They?"

"Beth's been in on it too."

"That little sneak."

Finn's mouth twitched. "I could kiss her."

"I'd rather you kiss me."

Warm lips pressed against hers, fulfilling her wish until her lungs screamed for oxygen. When the broke, she repeated her request. "What do you say, Finn? Forget the hurt. Hold on to the love?"

Her fiancée rubbed his thumb along her cheek and chuckled. "Always the optimist."

"Well, it's my mission. And with you it's easy."

His hand moved to her neck, his thumb caressing the hollow above the silver charm there. "I love you beyond..." Finn completed the sentence with another kiss, showing with actions what words could never get close to describing.

She ached to give in, drown in him, but the lawyer in her couldn't follow her own advice, needing one final cross-examination to close the case. Hopefully forever. "Finn?"

"Mmmm." His hand skimmed across her hip.

"One tiny thing."

"Em. Haven't we talked enough." A trail of kisses peppered across her shoulder and she almost forgot her train of thought. Almost.

"Please." Finn's lips stilled. She swallowed, forcing the words out. "This means...I always thought... you ghosted me. But you didn't, did you?" Saying the words out loud broke the final string holding her back from trusting Finn. If he could fall out of love with her once, what would stop him from doing it again? Every assumption, every theory, every story she told herself the past almost decade all fell mute. Useless. Wrong.

"Em, I told you, I have never stopped loving you. Even when I got the message loud and clear you thought I wasn't good enough for you." Those words again. She'd prove to him he was worthy of her. More worthy than she was of him. In time. She just needed time. "Running away to the other side of the world to avoid me, dumping me with a Dear John letter."

"But I didn't." How could he think such a thing?

Finn's hard features melted before her. "No. You really did want to be with me."

"I did. I do. I always will."

"And me you. I may have been an idiot, acted foolishly. I should have stayed in Bridgetown. Or gone to New Haven. I should have fought for you." Electricity burned in his eyes. "I will never make that mistake again. Can you trust me?"

"I want to."

She hated the dip of his mouth paired with the tightening of his grip on her waist. "It's a start. Give me a lifetime to prove myself?"

Blue irises locked on silver. In Finn's eyes infinite possibilities blossomed. The future, free of fear, presented itself. Emily saw the man she loved, loving her back.