Page 124 of The Silent Note

She looks at me. “Why?” she croaks.

“Because I have a wife. Her name is Grace Jamieson and she means more to me than those stupid drums. She means more to me than being with other girls. She means more than alcohol and partying and if I have to drink this prissy wine for the rest of my life,” I lift the glass and she laughs, “because she prefers the taste of wine when I kiss her, that’s what I’ll do.”

“You’re not supposed to be drinking at all. You’re eighteen.”

“It’s legal in Europe.”

“Are we in Europe right now?” Her eyes glint with laughter.

I smile back. “I wanted to tell you something else in the car, something important but a bunch of stupid words came out instead.”

She tenses and tries to pull back.

I hold fast. “I’ve never said this to any other girl. Not once. I need you to understand that because it’s true. Grey… I lo?—"

She places a finger to my lips, smushing the rest of the words back in. “Don’t.”

I freeze.

She chews on the inside of her cheek, working through something in her mind. I give her the space. Give her the time.

Finally, she closes her eyes and breathes out.

“Show me first,” she whispers. “Show me that world exists. Show me it’s a world I can survive in.”

“What world?”

“A world where it’s okay to love you.”

My chest rearranges. It feels like all my organs turned to soup and a bat from hell is stirring my insides with a giant ladle.

Grey successfully pulls her hand out of mine and sits straight up, all business. “My turn.”

“Your turn.” I agree and take a sip of the wine, feeling strangely full.

“You’ve been stalling all night. Don’t hold back anymore. What’s going on with Slavno?”

Chapter Thirty-One

GREY

“He’s dead.”

My brain short-circuits and I shake my head. “What?”

“I got the call right when you left to visit the police station.”

“You’re saying Harris killed himself and then Slavno died right after…”

“Yes.”

“Of what?”

“Heart attack.”

“I smell a conspiracy.”Sloane paces in front of the hotel bed, her arms locked behind her back and her Redwood Prep skirt swishing.

“What about the evidence he promised?” I ask, trying hard to keep it together and not hyperventilate. “We saved his grandmother. He said he’d give us the evidence then. Now we’re back to square one?”

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