Page 167 of The Ruthless Note

“How did you break into the practice room? Did Sol give you his key card?” I don’t miss the slight clench of his jaw when he asks.

“You don’t answer any of my questions and you expect me to answer yours?”

His head tilts back. “What do you want to know?”

“Why did you want me out of Redwood?”

He purses his lips. “Just before summer break, we snuck into school and got caught trying to steal something. Sol took the blame. Right after, we left on tour. We abandoned him.” His eyes fall to the ground. “When we came back from tour, he’d disappeared.” Dutch motions to me. “And his scholarship spot had been given to someone else.”

“Me,” I whisper, the realization stealing my breath.

“Sol was never supposed to leave Redwood. We needed to bring him back where he belonged, but to do that, we had to get rid of you first.”

It makes sense. Their insistence. Their cruelty. It was nothing but torture on my end, but Dutch was going all out for a friend.

“You could have told me. When Sol came back, you could have clarified it.”

“Then all would have been forgiven?”

My hands explode in the air. “Of course not! What you did was still messed up. You ruined Mr. Mulliez’s career. You made my life a living hell.”

“Exactly. Telling you wouldn’t have mattered. I’d rather show you what I feel.”

“How?”

He continues to smile in that away that gets under my skin. My fingers curl into the T-shirt so hard that I’m sure it’ll leave a permanent wrinkle.

Dutch stares at me, a hot and sticky kind of look that makes me feel like he’s touching me even though he hasn’t lifted a finger.

A part of me longs for him to pierce this stupid tension, but another part of me is scared. Scared I won’t be able to handle it if he does.

Without a word, Dutch goes into his hoodie pocket, lifts a velvet box and tosses it next to the knife beside my foot. My breath catches as I reach down, grab it and lift the lid.

There’s an actual freaking diamond in there.

CHAPTERFORTY-TWO

CADENCE

“What the hell is this supposed to be?” I bite out, flinching from all the light the diamond is throwing into my face.

“Handcuffs,” Dutch says, and in an instant, the battling fury and lust that I have for Dutch Cross comes roaring to the forefront.

Sex is a big deal to me since I’ve managed to go this long without it but, somehow, compared tomarriage…

My eyes zero in on him, narrowing sharply.

Dutch doesn’t look flustered at all. “Take off your clothes, Cadey.”

My nostrils flare. “You want to be legally bound to me? At eighteen? Are you insane?”

“Start with your panties.”

He’s still sitting so far away from me. Not a hand lifted. Not a finger on my skin. Yet my entire body is burning up. The sensation keeps building, like the sizzle before a fireworks explosion lights up the night sky.

Destructive, wild, but so freaking stunning.

My eyes drop to his lips and I’m not sure if he’s drunk or high or maybe he’s been body-swapped.

---