Page 146 of The Ruthless Note

“How the hell is this a good thing?”

Zane glances at Finn. “Do you remember how frantic he was when he couldn’t find Redhead?”

Finn nods.

“The girl you caught feelings for didn’t disappear. She attends Redwood. Sure, you treated her like absolute crap, but you had a good reason.”

Finn tilts the chair back on its hind legs. “He’s got a point.”

“Now I know you’re both insane if you think Zane isn’t full of crap.”

Finn smiles. “I get that you’re angry. You've been fooled by her, but she’s also taken a lot of hell from you. Technically, you’re not even yet. She could still do more damage.”

I glare at him.

“Come on, Dutch,” Zane says, “at least she’s not your new step-sister.”

I shudder at the thought.

“Do you really think sleeping with her once will be enough?”

I glance away. The only people I can be totally honest with are my brothers. If I can’t trust them, I can’t even trust myself.

But somehow, admitting that out loud feels like it’ll take the last of my reserves.

“Look, I’m not saying what she did was cool. She fooled you. Lied to you. But did you really expect her to pop out and say ‘oh by the way, I wear a wig and makeup and turn into another person when I play piano’?” Finn reasons. “You’d been spending so much time trying to kick her out of Redwood. Was there any other path she could have taken?”

My eyes fall shut. Just like that, I’m back on the rooftop. When I made the call to kick Cadence out of Redwood, she was right beside me. A freakinginchaway. That sure as hell would have pissed her off and made her hate me even more.

My stomach’s in knots and I wish my brothers would just shut up already.

“Dad brought Cadence back to Redwood to mess with your head. What if we get her on our side instead?” Finn points out. “Isn’t that better than moping around, trying to force her to like you?”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Then let Sol have her,” Zane says, a grin on his face.

Anger sweeps over me, sharp and destructive.

That’s when I force myself to face the truth.

I’ve never felt anything like this before. It’s like if I don't pull Cadence closer, I'm going to fall apart.

She’s in my mind.

In my heart.

Under my skin.

Long before I found out she was Redhead, I was drawn to her. Now that she’s the culmination of the two girls who threw me off my game, it’s a no-brainer.

She belongs to me.

“His thinking face is on,” Zane points.

“He’ll need to do a lot of thinking and begging to get out of Redhead’s bad books.”

“Maybe we can start by getting on her sister’s good side,” Zane says. “Winning her over will be a piece of cake.”