Page 13 of The Silent Note

She frowns.

Silence. It stretches for a long time. Too long.

I’m impatient, so I start pacing.

“Let’s see. Arson. Burglary.” I count off on my fingers. “You’ll have an impressive rap sheet.”

Her chest rises and falls slowly. The shapeless hospital gown drapes over her body, resting on those Double D cups. She’s not wearing a bra. I saw it when she was stomping me into the ground.

I shouldn’t have looked.

That didn’t stop me from wishing I could drag her down on top of me and taste every inch of her curves.

“If you expose me, you expose Sol and I know you won’t do that.”

She’s negotiating.

It’s… cute.

A wicked smile blooms across my face.

She shirks back, her thick bun catching the sunlight. “You’re insane.”

“Don’t make me start a war, Grey. Don’t make me betray my friends. Let’s form an alliance before things get ugly.”

“You’re eighteen. What do you know about marriage?”

It’s a fair point.

Dad was no example. Mom put up with his cheating for so long that even I started to lose respect for her. After she finally kicked him to the curb, dad jumped from one twenty-something model to another.

“I won’t cheat on you.”

She rolls her eyes.

“I’ll keep you close to me.”

“Like a toy.”

“Like a treasure.” The words scrape past my throat. She might think I’m not serious, but I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. “When I saw that car ram into yours, I wanted to die. I’d do anything to protect you. This is just the start.”

She glances away.

“Give me a chance.”

More silence.

She’d rather go down in a fiery death than join her life with mine.

I exhale and pull out the trump card I’ve been saving.

“I have an idea who really killed your friend Sloane,” I mutter.

Grey’s head whips around and widen with interest.

“Or at least I know where I might start looking for them,” I clarify.

“Where? Where?” She practically springs to her haunches.

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