Page 135 of The Darkest Note

I give him the update and then add, “I’ve decided. It’s time we deal with Cadence for good.”

I pause. It feels like someone’s glaring at me but, when I turn to see if Redhead is watching, she quickly glances away.

“What do you want us to do?” Finn asks.

I step through the glass doors of the hotel and jog down the stairs with Redhead beside me.

“We get her scholarship revoked.” I lower my voice. I don’t want to scare Redhead, but this needs to happen. Tonight. “Get the IT guy to flub her grades. I’ll tell Christa to get her dad involved.”

“You think that’ll work?”

“There’s no way she’s getting out of this.” I slip the phone back into my pocket and touch Redhead’s shoulder. Even in the midst of my panic and fear, there’s a hint of affection for her. “I’m sorry about tonight. I’ll make it up to you.”

Her face turned, she waves me away. “Go.”

Something doesn’t feel right, but I don’t have time to follow up on it. My steps are slow as I back away from her, but she doesn’t even look at me as she hurries around the corner.

I’ll definitely make it up to her, I promise myself.

And then I turn and sprint straight to my car.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

CADENCE

Cold water pours over my head as I stand, shivering in the shower. I scrub and scrub and scrub my skin until it’s rubbed raw. Water splashes at my feet, soaring down the drain, but it’s not taking the film of disgust with it.

My heart is beating atallegrissimo—one of the fastest tempos in music. I keep scrubbing until my skin burns and lean over, a hand against the wall and my hair clumping in front of my face.

Dutch made a plan to ruin me and he did itright in front of my face.No mercy. No hesitation. He was every bit as cold and cruel as ever.

I pound the wall again. My forehead eases against the shower. It’s cool to the touch.

My mind runs in circles. Before Dutch got that phone call, I was sliding my arms around his neck and kissing him like my life depended on it. I was digging my fingers into his shoulders and moaning while he undid my jeans.

I was preparing to give it all to him.

Something precious. Something that he didn’t deserve.

Idiot.

The frustration grows and I hit the faucet to turn it off. Scooping my hair back and away from my face, I breathe in. I can still smell him on me. The fragrance of sandalwood and mint and money. I can still feel his fingers digging into my thighs as he prepared to unwrap me like a present at Christmas.

Then that call came.

And it changed everything.

I hit the wall again. And again.

The most ridiculous part of this is that, before he exposed his plans, I genuinely felt for him. When Dutch got that first call, his entire face went pale.

I stared into his vibrant amber eyes, saw the panic flashing there and my first instinct wasn’t to revel in his pain.

It was to protect him.

After all the horrible things he’d done to me, all the ways he’d ruined me, all the times he made my life miserable, I still wanted to hold his hand, hug him and ease the strain.

‘I’ll deal with Cadence.’