Page 121 of The Broken Note

Something about his word choice nags at me. Why doesn’t he seem that concerned about his son dealing? Didn’t he hire me because he was concerned? Shouldn’t he be more frantic? More upset? Just… more?

Right now, he seems calm.

Too calm.

As if everything I’m doing, all the ways I’m acing were anticipated.

Don’t overthink it, Cadence. Just find a spot for the device and move on.

“You have a lot of books,” I murmur, sliding across the room as Jarod settles behind his desk.

“Purely for decoration.” He waves a hand, staring distractedly at the computer. “I’ve never cracked one open a day in my life.”

Bingo.

I slide my nail against the spines, finally stopping on a shelf closest to Jarod’s desk, but out of his line of sight. Turning my head slightly, I note that he’s focused on the computer.

Sweat dots my upper lip and my hands shake when I take out Jinx’s device.

I’m too anxious to be a spy.

My heart in my throat, I slip the device on the shelf and hide it beneath a book.

Suddenly, the door bursts open.

I straighten and spin around with a guilty look.

Lucien slides his shadowy eyes over me.

My heart bangs against my chest, but I force myself to remain calm. Tilting my chin up, I let my eyes slide past him to Jarod.

“I told you to always knock,” Jarod snarls.

A dark look passes through Lucien’s gaze. He frowns. “Your meeting with the TV interviewer is in fifteen minutes. We need to move.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

Lucien remains in the doorway.

Jarod shoos him with a gesture. “I need a moment with Miss Cooper.”

Lucien’s eyes slice through me. He scowls and closes the door.

“Ignore him. He’s more friendly than he looks.”

Yeah, I doubt that.

What’s important is that Jarod Cross didn’t notice me planting a bug in his room. I can only hope like crazy that there aren’t any security cameras in here and, if there are, that no one is watching. Especially not Lucien.

That guy gives me the creeps and I don’t know what he’ll do to me if he finds out I betrayed his boss.

“Thank you for helping me prove Dutch’s true colors,” Jarod Cross says, his voice thick with almost… parental concern. “Now that you’ve seen who he really is, what do you think of him?”

I find the question strange. Why does a rockstar care what I think about his son?

The answer is easy.

I want Dutch Cross to burn in hell.

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