Page 211 of The Forbidden Note

“One night,” I croak.

He looks down at me, understanding snapping through his face almost instantly. A cold sneer chases away the burning passion from only a second ago.

“Just one?”

I dip my chin slowly. “You can have me for one night, but after that, I never want to see you again.”

CHAPTERFIFTY-THREE

GREY

I stumble woodenly into the large kitchen and set my house keys on the counter. My head is in a daze and I curl my fingers tighter around the keys, accepting the pinch of the metal digging into my palm.

It’s a perfect distraction from the stormy thoughts in my head. I shove it in deeper, trying to see how much of the pain I can take before I fold.

Idiot.

Zane coldly shoving me away wasnotthe reaction I’d expected to my proposal.

The anger that descended on his face sent a shiver down my spine. And then he laughed and it was this sound that was so frightening, so dark, that I knew I shouldn’t have opened my mouth in the first place.

It was already nerve-wracking to make the offer.

Now it feels like I just scratched at a wolf.

What is the monster going to do next?

I don’t want to know.

I wish I could walk back the past forty eight hours and avoid him completely.

Pushing my hand over my face, I scrub in frustration.

The air around me shifts.

Silence screams loud, crowding around me, pressing in on all sides.

Something feels… off.

“Mom?” I call, noticing for the first time that the house is completely dark. Shadows crawl along the floor like imps released from hell. The place is cold. Mom likes the thermostat set to ‘balmy day on the beach’. She’d never let the house get this morgue-like.

I send mom a text asking where she is.

A noise comes from the kitchen.

“Mom?”

“Your mother’s not here,” a deep voice says.

I shriek and whirl around.

Jarod Cross stands in the kitchen entrance, looking tall and pale. He’s wearing all black, reminding me of a vampire from an old horror film, a supernatural killer come to life with nothing but ice running through its veins.

The light flicks on and Jarod Cross looks at me with exaggerated concern.

I snap my mouth shut, aware of how silly that scream made me appear.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He lifts his hands in a placating gesture.

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