Page 110 of The Ruthless Note

But hell, I barely got to my own conclusions with Cadence. There’s no way I can convince Zane of anything.

“You want us to take out the other girl?”

“Serena, right?” Zane twists his body completely. He takes his feet out of the pool and the scrunched-up ankles of his jeans skitter water on the tiles.

He’s always been better at remembering names than I am. It’s a part of his charm. He can make a stranger feel like a friend and turn that friend into a lover in less than five minutes.

Finn and I don’t have that skill.

Not that we want it.

“Miller doesn’t want a bloodbath. He just wants to teach Cadence a lesson. There’s no reason to make this bigger than it has to be. One of them goes. It can’t be Sol and it can’t be Cadence.”

“She is going to hate you more than she already does,” Finn predicts.

I meet his eyes in the twilight. His gaze is steady. Always steady. Like he has nothing to lose.

I think it’s why dad doesn’t mess with him as much as he does with me and Zane. Or maybe it’s because dad never saw him as a real son and thus not worth the energy.

Or maybe it’s both.

Who the hell knows how things work in dad’s deranged mind?

Speaking of dad…

“I got a text from Jinx asking for confirmation in exchange for a secret,” I say, changing the subject.

Moonlight glints against the edge of the beer bottle as Zane drains the last of it. “She’s still doing that?”

“Brilliant, right?” Finn leans back in the pool chair, a flicker of admiration in his eyes. “The school app is just a front to extort more money. If you’re the gatekeeper of the secrets and the head of the underground media…”

“You control everything,” Zane says. He lets loose a low whistle. “I see why you have a thing for her.”

Finn scowls and flips him off.

Zane chuckles.

I wish I could join him, but I’m still turning over Finn’s warning in my mind.

Cadenceisgoing to hate me even more if I turn over her only friend at Redwood as a lamb to be slaughtered.

But that’s not what bothers me.

It’s the fact that Cadence’s happiness is venturing into my decisions at all. Why the hell should I care if she hates me for doing what needs to be done? I’ve never let anyone else’s opinions or feelings factor into my plans.

The memory of her scorching eyes and greedy mouth on mine sears me. I press my lips together and glance aside.

Zane gets up and saunters to the third pool chair. He takes a seat and the plastic creaks when it accepts his weight.

“What did Jinx want confirmation of?” Zane asks.

I answer woodenly. “Whether dad is dating or not. She says she has evidence he’s in more than just a fling.”

My twin chuckles. His eyes glint hard and blue in the darkness. “We knew this would happen since the day he sent that text.”

“Why would Jinx want confirmation on that?” Finn stares thoughtfully into the pool. “There’s something she’s not telling you.”

“Screw that.” Zane flails his arms. “I’m not about to worry about something that hasn’t happened yet. Dad’s coming home soon. I’m going to forget he exists until then.”

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