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25. Under the Covers
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Waking up in the morning, their bodies were intertwined and tangled in the blankets. Lili smelled his musky scent and knew that among all of the chaos in their world, he was the one solid anchor that kept her afloat.
Without him, she may have drowned in her sorrows as memories of Hal tried to overwhelm her sensations. How she had let Hal's cruel words control her from the very beginning. She hadn't been able to leave him before that day as he always sweet talked his way back into her life, with promises that he would change.
He was never going to change and she allowed herself to be manipulated by Hal. If it wasn't for Finn's reputation with Billy and Russel, she would not have allowed herself to trust him. Those two treated her like she was their daughter and she trusted and loved them both.
Therefore, she was content as she snuggled up to her Finn.
Finn raised his head and looked into her eyes as
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Protecting My Heart 26. For the Love of Family
Finn couldn't believe his ears. He just stared at her and opened his mouth but nothing came out. Finn was truely speachless. Lili giggled when she realized how shocked he was. "You're joking, right?" he asked. She shook her head to indicate that she wasn't joking. "I am dead serious. Thoughts?" she asked as she smiled at him and his current state of bewilderment. "I am registering your words and waiting for my heart to stop running away. I love you, Lili and this just shocked the hell out of me. With everything that is going on, well I just wasn't expecting this." Finn stammered a bit as he was talking. She just placed her head on his shoulders and whispered, "You deserved a good surprise. You have taken care of me and loved me and I have just simply used you for your body these last few weeks." Now they were both laughing really hard and he finally man
Protecting My Heart 27. Warning Shots
Instead of going home, Anders drove over to Billy's house and knocked on the backdoor, yelling "Anyone home?" Cindy walked back as she wiped her hands from cleaning up in the kitchen and said, "Anders, what a nice surprise. We are just sitting down to dinner. You shall join us." Anders tipped his hat and gave his favorite cowgirl a hug and said, "How are you my dear lady?" "Well, things will be better once you solve this case. Billy is stressed." "We all are, Cindy. We all are!" Anders replied. As they walked into the dining room, Billy was sitting there with pictures all around him and Anders face grew pale as he asked, "Billy, who is this man? I recognize this car?" Before Billy answered he started heading out of the house running towards his truck and yelled, "Bring your gun and call for backup. Now!" Billy looked at Cindy and said, "I am sorry. He knows something about this gu
Protecting My Heart 28. Fresh Paint
Someone was covered from head to toe in a light yellow paint and may have accidentally stepped in the paint tray. There may or may not be a few footprints across the old tile floor that is being ripped out anyways. Someone else, might have taken the paint brush and turned, accidentally on purpose and painted the back of whoever was in the room. Long red hair with new yellow highlights! A cowboy hat with paint dripping down. Laughter filled the halls of the new house that Lili and Finn were renovating. It had been three months since the day of the shooting and Christmas was a month away. Their new house was in total disarray so they decided that they would put the Christmas tree with all of its decorations out on the covered porch this year, leaving the the gifts inside by the fireplace. "Do you give up?" Finn asked before placing his paint filled hat on her head.
Protecting My Heart 29. The Wind Through the Trees
The wind was starting to pick up and a storm was brewing on the horizon as Finn and Lili jumped in the truck. They were heading over to Billy and Cindy's for dinner with Anders and Stacey. Billy still wasn't back to work and the recovery was taking longer than expected, but Finn wondered if Billy just really enjoyed being pampered by Cindy. Since Billy wasn't working, Anders was in charge of the station and Stacey moved in just over a month ago. The fallout from their night together didn't sit well with Caleb, who had made her life a living hell until she quit. So here they all were with their broken lives and reliving trauma, but they had each other to cling to when it just became too much. Pulling up to the ranch house, Lili hopped out of the truck and was itching to get inside and show Cindy and Stacey her new ring. Billy and Russel already knew that Finn was going to propose, because he had asked both men
Protecting My Heart 30. After the Storm
The smell of coffee permeated the kitchen and the fire gave off some heat as the inhabitants of the house started to wake up. The sound of chain saws could be heard in the distance and morning brains started to seek coffee to function and face the aftermath of the storm.Finn was already up with Billy, stoking the fires in the fireplaces and making the coffee using their generator. Now that the house was warming up, he went to wake his sleepy little Lili with the aroma of fresh brewed coffee.He had kept her up way too late and she mumbled and tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but he was persistant and she finally opened her eyes and grumbled out a protest 'good morning'.Finn was laughing at her grumpiness and offered to tickle her awake. Lili stuck her tongue out at him as she sat up and pouted. He handed her the coffee that he was holding and she smiled as she smelled the wonderful elixer that she was holding in hands.
Protecting My Heart 31. Don’t You Dare Walk Away
"Don't you dare walk away from me TJ! What the hell is going on?"He just threw down his work gloves and walked back to the house and shrugged Lili off as she tried to grab his hand. Screaming at the top of her lungs, her words echoed through the valley, "Finn, just talk to me!" He didn't even look back or stop regardless of her protestations or tears. Anders and Stacey just watched the train wreck in stunned silence and looked from each other to Lili, who was now alone on her knees with her head bent down and her hair was touching the snow. Lili's entire body was trembling and she could hardly take a breath. She stammered, "I dont want him to leave. I just want to talk." Anders left Stacey to stay with Lili and he chased after Finn. Finn made his way into the kitchen and he was glaring at Billy with his fists curled and his teeth clenched.As Anders entered he heard Finn curse
Protecting My Heart 32. Attempts at Revenge
"My drug addled brain wanted revenge with the hope that I could break free of my addictions. I guess, I hoped that revenge would heal the pain," Finn started to say before his voice trailed off.He looked miserable and wanted to bury himself forever under the blankets. For the first time in ages, he longed for a high to hide these lows.When he looked into Lili's trusting eyes, his soul was crushed and he didn't know how to fix this. "You know, there were three of them. The first was easy, Martin. I knew he was forced into it that day. He whispered in my ear, how sorry he was. I didn't have the heart to do much to him. So I emptied all the air in his tires and left it at that.""Ok, that is understandable. Not good, but I get it," Lili offered as a way to encourage him to go on.He looked like he wanted to cry as he said, "It gets worse. A lot worse, Lili."Groaning as he started t
Protecting My Heart 33. What Does Forgiveness Look Like?
After their talk, Finn and Lili went downstairs to discuss the situation with everyone as they all sat around the kitchen table. He was still pissed at Billy but Lili explicitly told him, that he needed to let it go."Well, Anders and Billy, I know that you are both aware of what Rory told you. I didn't then and I don't now want to press charges against him for his actions towards me. I lied to Lili about what originally happened and I didn't tell her that he was one of the teenagers who violated me. For that I have asked for forgiveness."Billy stood up and slammed his fist on the table and swore profusely, "Damn it man, when are you going to start telling the truth. Have we had a snake in our midsts all along? Rory said that you were the one that violated him!"Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing. The abuser turned on the victim and the police are going to believe Rory now."What? What are you
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Protecting My Heart 79. Epilogue
"Jordan and Stephen! Give that back to your sister right now!" Lili scolded as they walked through the amusement park. Morgan, who was just three years old, was crying because the boys took her stuffed bear that Finn just won for her at the cheesy boardwalk clown game. Finn scooped her up and calmed her tears as Lili talked to the boys for the fifth time this afternoon. Drake and Claire walked over with Gia and Max who were pinching each other when their parents were not looking. Drake asked, "Has anyone seen Anders and his crew?" "Yeah, they went to the first aid hut to get Leah's hand cleaned. She fell when Justin pushed her." "Well, I think that after three days of this, we just need a little R&R back at the house and maybe some time around the pool," Claire said matter of factly. "Oh, Claire! Yes, that is just what we all need!" Lili sighed at the thought of relaxing
Protecting My Heart 78. Accident or Sabotage
The guests all watched in horror as the crystal chandelier above the grand ballroom started to sway violently. A deafening crack filled the room as wires snapped one by one and sparks flew around the ceiling. Someone yelled, "Look out!" And another screamed, "Get out of the way!" as loud as they could over the music. The band realized what was going on and as calmly as possible told the guests to get off of the dance floor and move to safety. Chaos won the day as the chandelier suddenly fell about a foot closer to the ground. The snapping of the wires contunued until it finally let loose in a freefall crashing to the ground. Guests that had scurried to the sides of the room started to scream in fear as crystals projectiled around the room. The chandelier was one thing, but then they smelled a thick acrid smoke that permeated the room. Many of the guests started to panic an
Protecting My Heart 77. Down the Aisle
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Protecting My Heart 76. Just One More Day Until Forever
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Protecting My Heart 74. Final Preparations
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Protecting My Heart 73. The Reading of the Will
All dressed in black. Lili hated wearing black but she was supposed to be in mourning to the rest of the outside world. So, she gave in to customs to pretend that she cared about her father and she was dressed in black from head to toe. Finn on the other hand, loved the dress that she was wearing. The way it showed off her figure and her legs. She had her hair up in a professional looking bun and he noticed her neck. Oh, it drove him insane to know that they were walking out of the house in less than 5 minutes to go the reading of the will and he had other things on his mind, like taking that dress off of her. Did she know what she was doing to him?
Protecting My Heart 72. Free
Waking up at 4 am, Lili got out of bed and crept downstairs and sat at her desk and started to write. The words flowed freely as she poured her heart out. She had just started a new book and she was free from worrying about ... well just about everything. For the first time in her life she was free of the torture that she endured on behalf of her family. She was free! No more demands on who she dated or where she lived. No more legal letters telling her to not write anymore. No more controlling parental guidance. Her father would not be missed and she knew that was an awful thought but her family really was very dysfunctional. Extremely. Lili was so intent on writing that she didn't hear Finn as he walked in and leaned against the doorway. Just watching. His eyes sparkled at he watched his little lilipad typing away as she was lost in her own lit
Protecting My Heart 71. The Art of Letting Go
Anders read the letter and the news shocked Finn. "You're pregnant?" Finn asked again. Lili looked up in to his eyes and softly replied, "Yes, but this isn't how I planned on telling you. I had plans, special plans. Not like this." All of that special nonsense didn't matter to Finn. That wasn't him anyways. Finn forgot Anders was their and kissed her sweet lips and whispered in her ear, "My beautiful little Lili James is going to give me a beautiful lille baby. What's better than that?" Finn felt the magic of the moment and was in his own world with Lili when Anders cleared his throat. Letting Lili go, he looked at Anders and sheepishly said, "Forgot you were here." "Let's grab some coffee in the kitchen and talk through the events of today." Lili looked from Anders to Finn with curiosity. She was so thrilled with Finn's reaction to the baby news that she forgot abo
Protecting My Heart 70. Almost
Two weeks had passed and Finn felt like a piece of him was missing. Drake had always been there, even when he arrested Finn, he supported him when he had been at his lowest. Lili was standing there in the kitchen and knew what was eating him alive and she decided that she needed to do something about it. She put down the dish towel and walked over to him and boldly stated, "I am going to see my father in jail and finish this, for good." "What? You can't do that!" Finn said as he voice cracked. He was not letting her go to see her creepy father. The guy was a miserable man with nothing but hatred flowing through his viens. No wait, even worse than that...vindictiveness ran so deep that he spewed nothing but hate. Lili gave him her puppy dog eyes and walked over to him and said, "Listen, he can't hurt me in jail but he can try to continuously surprise us with one hate filled plot after another and one of them mi
