Chapter 53: The Forbidden Note: Chapter 53

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 was not the 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.

“Well, you did,” I snap, noticing the way his eyebrows hike over his perfect forehead. Jarod Cross doesn’t have many wrinkles and I can’t tell if it’s from a killer skincare routine or just spending most of his life not smiling.

“I heard you yelling and hurried downstairs. I’m sorry if you were frightened.” His words are caring. Almost exaggeratedly so.

It reminds me of the way he is with mom when he’s trying to calm her down after weeks of not talking to her. As if a few sweet smiles and a little attention can cancel out all the ways he’s hurt and neglected her.

“Where’s my mother?” I ask, not bothering to hide the accusation in that question. If he harmed her in any way, I’m going to tear him limb from limb.

“She went shopping for groceries. She said there wasn’t anything in the kitchen for dinner tomorrow.”

Almost as if he summoned it, my phone starts buzzing.

It’s a reply text from mom.

Jarod came home tonight so I’m making a quick run to the grocery store.

My fingers tighten over the phone. Mom is like a kid at an amusement park when she visits the store. She can spend hours in there. I have no idea what she’s doing half the time. How hard is it to grab a couple items and check out?

Jarod’s long-legged stride carries him toward me. He moves with the grace of a panther. Light on his feet and yet, somehow, you know it won’t take a minute for the claws to come out.

“I’m glad I caught you, Gracie. I’ve been meaning to have a chat.”

“My name is Grace.” I lift my chin, scowling. “Don’t call me Gracie.”

He does a little chuckle, but his eyes are rock hard. “Sorry. Grace.”

“What do you want to talk about?” I fold my arms over my chest, keeping my voice carefully neutral. Internally, I’m taking stock of the kitchen for weapons.

Murder.

Drugs.

Who knows what else he’s involved with?

Zane and his brothers believe their father is capable of the worst evils.

I can’t take any chances.

“Shall we go to the living room?”

I shake my head. There aren’t knives in the living room. “I’d rather we stay here.”

Jarod studies me like he’s trying to find the right words.

“First, I wanted to apologize for what happened that night at dinner.”

My shoulders get tight as he glances my way, his mouth forming a thin line. “I let my anger and frustration at the boys get the best of me. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

“You threatened me.”

His eyes widen and he gives me a look of dazed innocence. “I definitely did not.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

His eyes narrow. “Grace, I care about you as if you’re my own daughter.”

I let out a snort of laughter.

“You don’t have to believe me, but at least believe your mother. Do you think Marian would continue to stay with me if she truly thought I was a danger to you?”

No, I don’t think that mom would do that intentionally. But I know firsthand how easy it is to make stupid decisions in front of the guy you have feelings for.

You can have me for one night.

My insides twist and I feel sick to my stomach.

This is so freaking messed up.

Jarod Cross takes another step forward and stops in the sliver of moonlight falling through the window. His broad shoulders and lean waist make him look like a star even when he’s just breathing. Just existing. It’s like he was made to be adored, worshipped by millions.

All the Cross brothers have that effect.

Especially Zane.

An otherworldly charisma that drives women wild.

“You’re starting to hurt my feelings.” Jarod Cross leans a hip against the counter, his tone slightly coaxing. “As an educator, shouldn’t you hear the other side before you form an opinion?”

“You’re saying that you have nothing to do with Cadence’s mother dying?”

He laughs. “Those boys.” As if he’s talking about misbehaving toddlers, Jarod says, “I never met the woman. Why would I be involved in a drug addict’s overdose? Wouldn’t the cops have arrested me, at least questioned me, if I were guilty?”

“The rules don’t apply the same to those in power.”

His lips crook into an enigmatic little grin, and it reminds me so much of Zane that I temporarily lose my breath. “I can’t argue with that, but not even Jarod Cross is above the law. Especially right now.”

“Does my mom know you’re running for governor?”

His eyes flash to mine. I watch him twist his wedding ring around. “Of course. I don’t keep secrets from my wife.”

I cringe because I don’t believe that for a second.

“Does your mother know the rumors about you and Zane?”

Finally, he’s showing his true colors and playing dirty.

I get a little more comfortable. For a minute there, when he was defending himself so earnestly, I almost wavered.

“I’ve noticed that you don’t seem bothered by those rumors at all. Given you’re Zane’s father and I’m his teacher, shouldn’t you be asking me a different question?”

His lips curl up, almost as if he didn’t expect that kind of a comeback. When he glances at me again, it’s with a little more respect.

Silence descends as we size each other up.

The rich, powerful rockstar.

The Redwood teacher, born of poverty and grit.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” I speak dryly. Absolutely calm. Devoid of all emotion.

I’ve noticed that Jarod Cross loves it when mom acts on feelings. Snapping at him when she’s angry. Forgiving him when she’s happy. Fawning over him when she’s thankful.

Emotions are his sign posts, akin to an X-ray showing all his opponents’ thoughts. He’s carefully constructed himself to reveal nothing, while taking in everything around him.

I can’t win any of his mind games unless I’m equally in control of my emotions.

Mimicking his posture, I press my elbows on the island. “It didn’t have to be her. It could have been anyone, but you chose mom. You sought her out. You observed her. You seduced her and then you married her, but it wasn’t for love, was it?”

Jarod Cross smiles and a shiver takes over me. I prefer it when he’s frowning or obnoxiously blank. This smile feels too close to his true self and that level of darkness, of evil, goes much deeper than anything I’ve seen out of his sons.

The tainted smile disappears quickly, as if he let the mask slip out of place by accident and he just remembered to set it back.

“Contrary to your belief, I do love your mother. No amount of ambition can stop love.” His lips curl up and his eyes flash knowingly. “You, of all people, should get that, Grace. Having a mission, a purpose you want to protect so badly and yet giving one person the power to destroy everything you’ve been building towards.”

My heart pounds in my chest as he holds me captive, a prisoner to his gaze.

“What do you want?” I whisper tightly.

“What does any parent want from their child? To be respected, to be understood and appreciated.” He straightens to his full height and nods. “You took the boys’ judgement of me and ran with it, but you missed the truth.”

“And what is the truth?”

He walks until he’s right in front of me. The custom cologne on his skin swirls around me, making me want to choke.

Eyes darting between mine, he whispers, “I am not a bad guy.”

“Good guys don’t go around saying that. Only the bad ones do.”

He chuckles and puts a hand on my shoulder. The pressure makes me wince. “I love your mom, and I want to be with her. I also love my sons, despite what you—or they—might think.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” I say, my voice trembling a bit. Jarod Cross is a walking, talking force of nature. Standing so close to him, I realize how easy it would be for him to turn his hand and snap my neck.

He drops his hold on my shoulder and steps back. The easy grin, the one that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, touches his lips. “Do you know where I was before I came here?” He doesn’t wait for me to tell him I don’t care. “At Redwood, in Harris’s office.”

“Harris?” I gasp.

“The police concluded their investigation and found evidence that my boys broke into Redwood and stole some things from the basement.”

His stare turns hard and I glance away.

“It took a lot of convincing for Harris to not expel them all, but I made it happen. Tomorrow, they’ll go to school and it will be like nothing ever happened. I did that… for them. Fully expecting that they won’t care or even thank me.”

My mind races. If Harris has evidence on Zane, Finn, Cadey, Sol and Dutch, that means he knows about me too.

There’s no way I’ll last another day at Redwood.

Tomorrow, when I go to school, it’ll be the end.

“I need to go,” I mumble. My head is already a thousand miles away as I think about what I should do next.

I’m halfway to the door when Jarod Cross calls me back.

“My friend found something.”

I freeze.

“About The Grateful Project,” he adds.

I turn slowly, my breath coming in sharp bursts.

“He thinks the man who went to jail for murdering your friend wasn’t the real killer.”

My heart pinches and I stumble forward. “What?”

“I’ve arranged an interview for you at the prison.” He tips his chin up. “If you still want to accept my help.”

“How? I’ve been trying to get an interview for years. Sloane’s killer… he never wanted to meet with me.”

“He will now.”

“What’s the catch?” I challenge.

“Believe in me.” Jarod Cross smiles. “I’m already on your side, Grace. I just want you to be on mine.”

The sound of the garage door lifting interrupts us.

A few moments later, mom enters the room.

“Gracie! You’re here.”

“Let me help you with those bags,” Jarod Cross says, moving over to mom.

As they shuffle around me, I hurry to the bathroom and lock the door. In the stark light, I lift my hands and see that they’re trembling. A stain of blood rushes over my skin, covering brown with dark, metallic red.

I know it’s not real.

I know.

But it doesn’t stop the panic.

Is it true? Is Sloane’s real killer still out there?

A shudder runs down my spine when I think about that night we almost got run off the road. What if they weren’t targeting The Kings? What if they were targeting me?

That means I have more to worry about than just losing my job.

I could lose my life.

For a second, I let the panic take over, dragging me underneath until it feels like I’m drowning. And then I grip the sink, splash cold water on my face and reach for the unshakeable drive that pushed me to apply to Redwood in the first place.

I died with Sloane.

My body’s in that coffin with her and it has been since the moment I decided to bring her to justice.

I’ll do whatever it takes to expose the truth.

Even if it means turning my back on Zane, betraying The Kings and making a deal with the devil.