Page 144 of The Ruthless Note

Zane takes another swig of water. “Knows what?”

“About your history with her.”

Zane looks horrified.

“Honestly, all throughout that dinner, I got the feeling dad was doing this intentionally,” I admit.

“Getting married in general or getting married to Marian?” Zane clarifies.

“Getting married to Marian. He’s not usually into older women. Don’t get me wrong. As beautiful as Miss Jamieson's mother is, she doesn’t fit the age bracket. Plus, marriage? That’s big. It's like he wanted this to be sharp enough, sensational enough, to make a splash.”

Zane’s eyes turn wide. “Is dad so devious he’dmarrysomeone just to get back at us? That’s all kinds of messed up.”

I pull my lips in to keep quiet. They have no idea what dad is capable of. And I’m in no rush to enlighten them either. It’s not a great way to live, walking around knowing the full breadth of your father’s twisted mind.

“We’re not saying he did it intentionally,” Finn explains, trying to calm Zane down. “We’re just looking at all the options.”

Silence falls on the room. I lean back on my hands, my mind churning. I know one thing for sure. Now that dad is working at Redwood Prep, it means he has business in town. Messing with us is just a bonus.

What pieces of the puzzle are we not seeing?

Zane pops up and walks to the window. He looks wrung out and defeated.

“It’s not the end of the world, bro,” Finn says.

Zane roughly rubs a hand over his face. “You don’t know what it’s like, man.”

“She’s just some girl,” Finn challenges.

“That’s the thing. I thought that too.She’s just a girl.We didn’t exchange names that night, but I felt…” Zane blows out a thick breath. “Like I’d found something when I was with her, you know? Something different.” He licks his lips. “Then she showed up at Redwood as my freaking teacher. And I knew I couldn’t have her. Iknewthat. But at least—”

“At least there was hope,” Finn finishes for him.

“That step-sister, step-brother stuff—we’ll never recover from that.” He turns around and looks at us like a drowning man. “If dad really set this up just to get back at me, he did a damn good job.”

I wish I could do or say something to make Zane’s heartache ease. But whatever the magical pill for easing that pain is, I have yet to find it.

My mind returns to Brahms. Her taunting little smile. Her sass. Her infuriating need to always have the last word.

And that marriage proposal?

I’d marry you.

Damn.

Why the hell did I say that?

Zane glances down at his shoes. “If thisisa punishment, do you think the crime is that we played at Bex Dane's concert?”

“We thought dad was too quiet after finding out we made a deal with his arch nemesis,” I murmur.

“A hell of a punishment,” Finn says, looking at our tortured brother.

Zane nods at me. “It also explains why he helped Brahms out. He knew how much Dutch wanted her gone.”

At the mention of Cadence, I go stiff.

Finn notices with his eyes that see everything. “What's going on with you and Cadence?”