Page 126 of The Ruthless Note

I glance at the device again. Cadence practically propped up her cell phone with the back camera facing us. The clothes she threw on top of it would have worked as a disguise if they were more substantial. But that slip of a dress was barely covering her body. It’s not doing much to hide her cell phone.

I slice my hands through the water. The air is cold and, since we’re in the shallow end, the entire upper half of my body isn’t submerged.

“You can’t stay over there,” I say, watching her cling for dear life to the iron bars that bracket the steps.

“Why not?”

“You can’t swim if your feet are glued to the stairs.” I jut my chin down. Beneath the water, her toes are planted firmly on the raised steps.

She licks her lips nervously. The water is barely swallowing her middle, giving me an unobstructed view of her practical black bra and panties.

So much skin on display.

I want to scrape my tongue against every inch until I know her the way I know my guitar. Until I can pluck chords with a gentle touch, knowing exactly where to stroke to get the sound I want.

She’s temptation in the water. A siren of destruction.

Pure, flawless ivory skin. Legs for days. My body’s already aching for more and I haven’t even touched her yet.

Cadence takes an uncertain step forward. And then another. The water reaches up to mid-torso now. She can stand comfortably and yet her eyes hold a hint of fear.

She must not be over what happened with Christa the last time.

I wrap my fingers around hers and try to lead her forward.

She resists me.

“Here.” Her eyes dart to the phone before jumping to me. It’s quick. Subtle. If I didn’t already know what she was doing, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it. “Let’s stay in the shallows.”

I stare down at her and watch the nervous flick of her tongue against her bottom lip. She’s trying to play me again. Trying to use me for her own purposes.

I’m running out of patience.

I said I would let it pass.

But not anymore.

I want to teach her a lesson.

And I want that lesson to hurt.

I lead her further into the pool until she’s submerged up to her neck.

“I can’t go any further,” she hisses, trying to disentangle her hand from mine.

Facing her, I take note of the wig on her head. She didn’t take it off when she was stripping out of her clothes. The orange suits her just as much as the red did, but she doesn’t need it.

Grabbing the wig by the embedded headband, I toss it to the side of the pool.

Cadence gasps.

“You don’t need to pretend with me,” I tell her darkly.

Before she can protest, I smooth my hands under her and heft her up so she’s floating on top of the water.

“Dutch!” Her frightened voice bounces off the walls.

“Sh.” I place a steadying hand on her shoulder. “The tenser you are, the more likely you’ll drown. You gotta trust that the water will hold you up.”