Page 197 of The Forbidden Note

A moment later, my phone starts buzzing.

It’s the principal’s office.

Hands trembling, I put the phone on silent and inhale a calming breath.

Harris isn’t stupid. He’ll be waiting for me to make a move against him. And if I don’t have a strong net to trap him, he’ll find a way to wiggle out and rain hell on me.

Thereneedsto be evidence in those boxes against Harris and all the cronies who were involved in The Grateful Project.

If not, it won’t only be my head on the block.

The Kings will be a target too.

“I don’t like this,” Zane growls, sitting at my right. He’s wearing a fresh T-shirt, torn jeans and his signature military boots. With those bruises and his hair loose and falling into his eyes, he looks absolutely dangerous.

“You didn’t have to come.” My eyes drop to the sling cradling his wrist. “You should be in the hospital right now.”

“And you should be anywhere but here.”

“This is the only way to get my mom to calm down.”

“There are other ways.”

“Yeah, like what?”

He shakes his head. “She can dislocate my other wrist.”

“She’d love to. Trust me. But even after breaking all your bones, she’d still send me on this date.”

He runs his uninjured hand through his hair and makes a sound of frustration.

I glance out the window. Quietly, I admit, “Maybe this is a good thing.”

The air in the cab shifts.

I know I’m playing with fire but I throw gas on the flames anyway because the only person who can draw a line in the sand is me.

“Maybe me and this guy hit it off. Mom knows me best after all. It’s possible that he’s my future husband. Crazier things have happened.”

Zane goes deathly quiet.

I glance over my shoulder and my heart lurches in my chest.

A dangerous look is in his eyes. “Try me, tiger. I’ll marry you tomorrow.”

My heart ricochets and I tell myself not to take it seriously. “What iswithyou brothers and declaring marriage like it solves everything?”

“It solves whether or not we have the right to be together.”

“We don’t have a right to be together. That’s the whole point.” I hear the frustration in my tone. “You’re the king of Redwood. Sure. Fine. But you don’t control the world outside of Redwood. In that world… there is no legal or moral grounds for us to stand on.”

“I don’t give a damn about laws and morals. I only care about you.”

My moral compass is so damaged, so screwed up, that his words send a zip of electricity straight between my legs.

For the briefest moment, I consider throwing off restraint, climbing into his lap and kissing him like nothing else matters.

But I don’t move.