Page 19 of Property of Mercury

“Habit, I guess,” I admit. I look at my hands, calloused and scarred from a life of fighting. “I’m a tracker, Finley. My whole life is about finding things that are lost or hidden. When you appeared in my life, I treated you like a mission. Something to be secured and guarded. I forgot that a mission doesn’t have a soul, but you do.”

She smiles, and it’s genuine this time. It reaches her eyes, turning them soft. “I appreciate the sentiment. But I’m not a mission. I’m just a woman who’s tired of being hunted.”

“I get that,” I tell her as I reach out, resting my elbows on my knees. “And I promise, that changes tonight. I’m not your warden. If you want to sit out here, you sit. If you want to talk, I’m right here. But I’m not going to watch your every move like I’m waiting for you to fall.”

She takes another sip of her drink, looking out at the darkness. “That sounds like a start, Mercury.”

“It’s the only place we have to go,” I say. We sit in silence then, but it isn’t the suffocating kind. It’s the comfortable sort, the kind that lets two people breathe in the same space without needing to fill it with noise. For the first time since I found her, I feel like I’m finally in the right place.

“For the record, you never made me feel like you were guarding me like a prisoner. Honestly, your presence makes me feel safe,” she admits. “You mentioned earlier that there was something you wanted to discuss. Now that we're by ourselves, do you want to share what that is?”

“This is uncharted territory for me, Fin. I’m really not the type to talk about feelings and all that kind of shit,” I confess. “But I’ve got all these mixed emotions tangled up inside, and honestly, most of them are about you and me.”

“Since I have feelings for you too, Mercury, I think it’s important we talk about them. So let’s start clearing the air,” she suggests.

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Finley

I wait patiently for him to start but after several long minutes, when he remains silent, I decide to take the bull by the horns. If my abduction and being hunted didn’t teach me anything else, I now know that life is too short for what ifs and maybe I should haves. “Mercury, I’m not naive enough that I don’t know if you hadn’t found me, I would be dead. I was physically weak from being starved, and while my wounds weren’t quite fatal in nature, if I hadn’t gotten medical care, they would have become just that. At first, I wasn’t sure if what I felt was some kind of hero worship. What woman doesn’t secretly want to be a damsel in distress who eventually gets rescued by her prince charming, after all?”

“I’m no prince charming, sweetheart,” he replies.

“Maybe not in the traditional sense, since you don’t have a suit of armor or a trusty steed, but you do wear a coat of armor of sorts with your leather cut, and your steed has a motor and chrome. Not all girls are the ballgown dressed princesses, so why should our prince be expected to adhere to the fairy tale standards?” I ask. “Then, when I never saw you any time I was awake, I was depressed and convinced you wanted nothing to do with me whatsoever. Silly thoughts, I know, since we hardly knew each other and in fact, we don’t really know each other now, which is something I hope to change. You always seemed so removed, so focused, and even though I’ve decided to make a few changes when it comes to my life, I want you to be a part of that. But with you staying away, I started rethinking everything. Maybe what I thought was interest was nothing more than human kindness, helping someone who was obviously in need.”

“So, what shifted?” he asks.

“Hanging out with Orion, seeing how all of you interact with each other. You’re a family and I know from Sutton that y’all are actually blood related, but it’s more than that and I’m not sure if I can explain it right,” I admit. “I saw you relaxed and joking, two qualities that were definitely absent the day you found me. The teasing y’all do, the respect y’all have for each other, it defined family to me. That’s what I’ve always wanted, Mercury. To belong, to be part of something outside of what I have built. Y’all are a family, and while I know I haven’t seen all sides of how that looks, it’s something I crave to be a part of.”

I take another sip of my cocoa, allowing the warmth to soothe the nerves that are starting to jangle in my gut. His facial expression has remained blank, so I have no clue what he’s thinking right now. Since his opinion is important to me, my anxiety is growing the longer he stays silent.

When he leans against one of the columns, crossing one leg over the other, I relax, knowing that good or bad, he’s about to spill his guts. I want to know everything about this man, from his food preferences to what scent he likes to wear. Personally, it’s my favorite; clean, slightly woodsy, with an underlying tone of leather. It’s all man and makes me feel warm and gushy inside.

“Growing up, it was all about family. We were part of a club in Texas as Sutton has told you. Our fathers were brothers and wanted something built with family in mind. I think we were riding dirt bikes before we could properly walk, that’s how early they started us. The plan was to eventually pass the officer roles to us and retire, but we lost all of them in a horrible eighteen-wheeler accident. Our moms are living their best lives now, roaming the countryside in an RV, but until Big Daddy reached out to us about becoming Kings and rebuilding this chapter, we were somewhat aimless.”

“I’m sorry y’all lost your dads, that kind of pain is unfathomable to me,” I softly reply.

“We miss them every day, and it’s kind of funny how much each of us mimic our dads,” he says. “From a young age, they taught us how to live off the land, how to hunt, fish, build cars and bikes, pretty much anything they could think of, we all learned. Hell, they taught us how to fight and made us promise to always have each other’s backs. But, we spent so much time together growing up, we know what buttons to push to get each other going. I had an affinity for tracking, I’m able to look at a scene and discern what happened, and as I got older, I got better. One of the local men was over a volunteer search and rescue group, and I started working with him, eventually earning my certifications. As my skills grew, so did my confidence, and before I knew it, I was being brought in on situations that needed my expertise.”

“Like Dog the Bounty Hunter?” I ask.

He barks out a laugh and seeing the genuine humor in his eyes and on his face lightens my own mood. “Definitely not, I occasionally tracked people who skipped out on their bonds, but it’s mostly been to find missing people or those considered endangered. Sometimes the clues I found and processed allowed the officials to prosecute the guilty parties, because my father and uncles taught me to look at everything, not just the obvious shit.”

“Okay, so I don’t have to worry about being Beth,” I tease. At his startled look, I can’t help the giggle that escapes. “Okay, so full disclosure, I like reality tv, and that’s a show I watched like my life depended on it. She was always involved in his job assignments, and I’m going to put it out there, I’m not that kind of woman. You may have found me all beaten, broken, and busted to hell, but I’m not the outdoorsy type at all. While I prefer city living, it’s more because it’s convenient than anything, and I’m finding that this kind of quiet that’s out here is more to my liking.”

“You and Orion are like two peas in a fucking pod,” he grumbles. “He likes that shit too. Even watches some of the housewife ones.” Then, he looks up at the sky and mumbles, “Is this your idea of a joke, God?”

“Orion’s been a good friend to me,” I tell him. “I’m sure he’s got a serious side, but his joking around with me really helped when I was hurting, Mercury. Plus, he’s giving me a job, which I’m excited about since I honestly hated where I worked before.”

“Well, they were nothing but a group of misogynistic assholes, so you definitely dodged a bullet when you effectively quit after not showing up,” he drawls, making me giggle. “You need to do that more, Fin.”

“What?”

“Laugh,” he answers.

“Haven’t had a lot to laugh about, Mercury,” I admit. “But somehow, despite everything that has happened, I find myself more at ease and relaxed. So, these tracking assignments, how does that work with you being part of the Kings now?”