Billie Bossa Nova

55.

Billie couldn't help but notice that Finneas was not driving in the direction that led to the penthouse she shared with Kai. Upon noticing this, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"A hotel closer to the airport," he replied after making a turn. "Tomorrow, you can get everything ready and then the day after that, we leave for Paris," he explained.

Billie shook her head. Finneas was too focused on the road to notice, so she said out loud, "No. Take me back to the penthouse."

Finneas laughed, but it lacked humor. "Are you kidding me? That's about the first place Adan Rivera is going to look for you. If you spend another night there, I'll be shocked if you make it to the morning."

"Finneas, I have one more day left. Take me back."

He laughed again. This time, shook his head too. He looked out his window, then back ahead before his fleeting gaze found Billie. "You have a thing for him, don't you?"

Telling Finneas. She thought of it at times. His response. How things would turn out for her. The outcomes never seemed to be good, even when she envisioned it. She looked away into the window, because much as she couldn't tell him the truth, she also couldn't deny Kai. At least not again. It felt to her like betrayal to him, to what they were and what they had.

"Good to know you wouldn't lie to me. What really shocks me is how you thought you had me convinced with the whole fake dating thing." Billie glanced over to him when he said this. His expression was hard, distant. "You don't need to go back. Your cover as Billie Eilish ends here. Break all contact with him as soon as possible."

Billie shook her head defiantly. "I'm not doing that."

"The choice isn't yours-"

She broke his sentence, "Yes it is! I've given my entire life to CRO, Finneas. I'm asking for a day to myself."

The car screeched. Finneas swerved into the side of the road and stopped the car right there. He fell back against his seat, his index and thumb finger pinching the space between his eyes.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Billie." He huffed. His gaze drifted to her. "You know how this works. We both do. Why the hell would you go messing around with Adan Rivera's son of all people?"

He looked at her with some sort of sympathy. Maybe Billie's expression upon having to depart so early from Kai was more broken than she thought it looked. She tried to put on a brave face, turned away when it didn't come to her.

"It's not like I was trying to, Finneas."

He sighed, "I told you not to get emotionally involved in any way."

Billie fell silent. How could she explain it to Finneas? He'd never made such a mistake in his life. He wouldn't understand something Billie herself was trying to grasp. She had no idea at what point Kai began being her first priority over her own job. It was something that happened on its own, without her permission.

The silence between them was long. Patronizing. As bothersome as it would be if there was a deafening noise. Some minutes went by before Finneas ended it by starting the car.

Then, he spoke when the car continued up the road. "Remember that he's Adan Rivera's son. I wouldn't be shocked if these so called feelings you've developed for him isn't just him manipulating you into thinking you like him. That being said, you'll make no further contact with him as from today." Billie whipped her head to Finneas. He kept his eyes on the road. "If you do, then I'll see no reason to keep him alive."

For a moment, Billie stared at him, lips parted and eyes two sizes wider. She struggled to process what he'd just said, what it meant, moreover, whose mouth it was coming from. "You wouldn't."