Page 141 of The Ruthless Note

I turn fully and take another sip. “Go ahead. We’re lying in the same bed, Miller. I’d be happy to implicate you too.”

His smile is dark and seedy, but I’m not scared. I prefer those kinds of smiles to dad’s psychotic grins. Miller’s goals are obvious—money, power, ambition. He’s the kind of man who’ll do anything and step on anyone to get what he feels belongs to him.

But dad…

I don’t get what his motivation is for the things he does. It’s why I haven’t formulated a plan to get back at him for Zane’s sake. As much as I hate him, there’s a part of me that fears him too.

Miller leans back in his chair. “Alright, I’ll play along. What is this visit about?”

“The ultimatum you gave to the three scholarship students. I want it revoked.”

His eyebrows arch. “Is this about that Sol boy?”

I remain silent.

“Haven’t you gone to the moon and back for your friend already? Is he really worth this much of a fuss?”

I curl my lips into a smile, completely at ease. I don’t expect someone like Miller, who would throw the knife in his own brother’s back if it meant getting ahead, to understand.

“Let me give some advice, Dutch,” he says in that condescending way that adults do when they’re about to talk down to someone.

I find it amusing the way people think that age and wisdom are synonymous. I know a hell of a lot more about how the world works than someone like Miller. Yeah, we both grew up nestled in daddy’s bank account, but I never became a slave to it.

Miller taps his finger on the table twice. “You should know when to cut your losses and move on. There’s no need for all this,” he waves at me, “breaking and entering if you learn this lesson from a young age.” He stares into his glass. “Some people are only with you for a short time. Some will take you to the promised land. Deciding which is which will get you far.”

“I didn’t come here for a life lesson, Miller. I came to make a deal.”

His eyebrows arch. “Oh?”

“I heard the position of chairman will be up for grabs next year.”

A shadow passes over his face, cutting off that sanctimonious smile he’d held on to during the entire conversation.

“My father moving into Redwood Prep as a guest lecturer isn’t a coincidence. He wants that seat.” I swallow a huge chunk of the whiskey and hiss in pleasure. “And you know it.”

On the table, Miller’s hand forms a fist. He can’t hide it. That greed. That need to always be on top.

I lean forward. “Ease your foot off the scholarship kids’ necks.”

“And in exchange?”

“You’ll make an ally instead of an enemy.”

He laughs. “You’d go against your own father?”

I give him a cold, businesslike smile. “I don’t want Jarod Cross anywhere near Redwood Prep. Neither do you.”

“And what happens if I say no and do whatever the hell I want anyway?” Miller crosses his arms over his chest. Tilting his chin up, he gives me a challenging stare. “You’re nothing but a kid.”

“Who knows all of Jarod Cross’s secrets.”

That gives him pause.

I tilt my head to the side, studying the picture of him, his wife and Christa on the desk. “Family is a complicated thing. Isn’t that why you’re keeping the truth about your outside kids from your wife?”

Miller’s nostrils flare and he digs his fingers into the table. The way his jaw is flexing tells me he’d like nothing more than to jump over the table and strangle me.

“I don’t want to fight, Miller.”