Page 181 of The Forbidden Note

They’re so damn overprotective.

“About Hall,” I meet Grey’s eyes, “I’ve decided how to proceed.”

They all lean in.

Sol asks eagerly, “What do you want to do with him first? Burn his house down? Drive his car into a river?”

I see when Grey flinches.

“We’ll hurt him deeper than that.”

Dutch purses his lips. “What do you mean?”

“I want him looking over his shoulder every day and night. I want him to beg for a ticket out of Redwood and never get one. I want him crawling on his hands and knees in front of us.” The fingers of my good hand form a fist. “Willing to eat dirt, lick our shoes, do whatever we tell him because he knows the alternative.”

“You want him humiliated,” Finn says, getting it first. He always does.

“He’s going to expect retaliation. He won’t expect this. In the meantime, we get our weapons ready. When we bury him, we bury his family, everyone he cares about.” My voice goes cold. “We don’t start wars.” I glance at Grey. “But we end them.”

Dutch nods.

Finn gets a little gleam in his eyes. “I’ll text Jinx. See what secrets I can buy.”

Sol laughs softly. “This is way too refined of a plan for you, Zane. Did that knock in the head switch your personality?”

“Let’s just say there’s an angel on my shoulder.” I smirk at Grey. “A pretty little angel of death.”

She clears her throat and pulls the phone back. “All of you. Get some rest.”

Her finger taps the ‘end’ button.

“You too.” Grey looks sternly down at me.

Exhaustion is trying to pull me under, but my mind is strikingly clear. And the stern ‘teacher’ tone of hers really makes me want to get her naked.

“If you want me to sleep…” I pat the bed.

She glances at the space beside me and wavers.

The need to touch her is overwhelming but when I reach for her, she eases back. Her shoulders sink and I know whatever she says and does next will be to draw the line between us.

Her voice is strained. “Zane, about tonight… in the classroom, I—”

“You know what? Iamtired.” I press the button and my bed starts flattening.

Grey’s eyes remain on me, cloudy and conflicted.

I close my eyes, but I can hear her soft, labored breathing.

In the darkness, I assure her, “I know what you’re scared of, but you don’t have to be. Nothing that happened tonight was a mistake and if I have to spend the rest of my life proving that to you, I will.”

“I’ll take it that the meds are talking and you won’t remember a word of this tomorrow.”

The meds have me feeling like I’m sinking into the mattress, but my mind is still sharp. In fact, the truth is clearer than ever.

Grey is mine.

She became mine the moment our eyes met in the bar.