Page 188 of The Silent Note

I lift the flash drive and she freezes, her eyes locked on my hand.

“I wanted to watch you fall asleep at night.”

“We can still do that.” Her eyes well with tears. “If you give me that flash drive, we can still do all of that.”

“You’re different, Grey.” My eyes meet hers with desperation. “You’re everything to me.”

A tear spills down her cheek. “Zane, please.Pleasedon’t do this.Please.”

I harden myself against her pleas and toss the flash drive down.

She takes a giant step forward but stops when I lift my boot.

“If you do this,” her nostrils flare and her face twists in anger, “it’s over for us. I will never forgive you. I will hate you for therestof my life.”

I hope so. I hope her hair is grey and she’s losing teeth and she’s sitting on a rocking chair wishing for my death. I hope she’s watching her great grand kids play at her feet and listening to the laughter of her children andloathing me.Because that would mean she lives. That would mean she survives.

I swing my foot down like a guillotine, using all the impact that I would on the kick drums during a concert. The force is substantial. I’ve been playing drums since before I could walk properly.

The flash drive snaps in two.

“No!” Grey dives for it.

I kick it away from her and keep stomping, smashing, destroying everything she’s built beneath my feet. I trample it and I leave nothing but shattered chips and the fragments of a memory board.

It’s gone.

There’s no getting the evidence back.

Grey is on her knees, arms extended to the drive. Her heart-wrenching sobs send a rip-force of sorrow through my skin.

Pain consumes me and I curl my fingers into fists.

Her cries are like knives to my ears.

I can’t take it anymore.

Dropping to my knees in front of her, I cradle her face. “I had to. I had to or you were going to die.”

She lets out a shuddering breath.

“I don’t expect you to understand or forgive me. I just?—”

“Get out.” The words rip from the bottom of her soul, from the darkness. Like an imp crawling out of sludge.

A thick, slimy panic presses into my skin.No, don’t leave. You’ll never be able to see her again once you go.

“Out!” Grey explodes to her feet and yanks me up. With a surprising strength, she pushes me through the door. “Get out!”

I whirl around, taking one last look at her. Her chest heaves like she ran up five flights of stairs. Her eyes are wild with pain and fury.

“Grey…”

“I never want to see you again. We’re over.”

My bones, my limbs, my veins spasm with anguish. I don’t know where the agony stops and I begin. All I know is, I’ll spend the rest of my life as this pained, broken creature.

The door slams shut.

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