Page 76 of The Forbidden Note

A familiar face walks past me.

“Vanya,” I blurt.

“Miss Jamieson?” She jumps, nearly splattering her papers.

“Can I see your cell phone?”

“Um…” She curls her fingers around the device.

“Please,” I beg.

Slowly, she offers the phone to me. Expertly, I navigate to the previous tab.

That’s when I see it.

A private article.

Three words jump out at me.

Redwood’s Newest Romance.

And below… is a picture of me and Zane.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

GREY

I exhale, my eyes sweeping closed and my fingers tightening around the cell phone.

No, this can’t be happening.

Thisisn’thappening.

But when I open my eyes again, the picture is there in full color. The photographer captured me and Zane walking into the funeral parlor together. His hand is at the small of my back and I’m hunkered close beside him.

The picture itself is pretty tame, but the insinuation is devastating.

“Uh, Miss Jamieson, can I have my phone back?”

An ache springs in my head. It feels like someone’s taken a sledgehammer to my skull.

“Miss Jamieson.”

“Huh?’

“My phone.”

I hand the phone over, setting it in her manicured hands.

Vanya peers closely at me. “Is it… true?”

My mouth parts.

At that moment, the front doors explode open.

Dutch, Finn, Zane and Sol stalk into Redwood. They’re all huge. And I don’t just mean their height. Their presence fills the entire corridor, pushing everyone out. All incredibly gorgeous and charismatic, they always draw their own riptide of appreciative stares and curious gazes.

But today is different.

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