Page 8 of The Ruthless Note

I abandon the guitar and leave it in his hands.

Sol sets it in the stand. “Dutch, your fingers are bleeding and your face looks like murder. What’s going on?”

Now I remember why it was so quiet when Sol was gone.

I stomp over to the mini-fridge and snag a bottle of water. Wrenching the cap off, I take a giant swig and feel the cold rush slip all the way down my throat.

Sol turns to Finn. “Is he like this because of your dad?”

“Could be,” Zane says, twirling his drumsticks around.

“It’s probably about a girl,” Finn says dryly.

Zane smirks. “So then… it’s either Cadence or Redhead.”

“Or both,” Finn says.

I don’t want to talk about those girls—thatgirl—right now. So I focus on something else that can and should be destroyed.

“Why do you think dad is back in town?” I grumble

Sol leans back. “Why are you suddenly bringing up your dad?”

The hell? Can’t he just flow with the subject change?

Sol stares intently at me.

Bastard.He wasn’t always this observant. In fact, he was more like Zane—loud, carefree, always down to make trouble. Did the psych ward turn him into a different person or did he just hide the mental crap better back then?

My phone chirps.

A chorus of equally loudpingsblares through the room.

I fish my phone out of my back pocket.

“It’s a message from dad,” Zane says, his voice subdued.

“I got the same one,” I growl.

Sorry I couldn’t stick around long today, boys. I’ve got a few more stops on my tour, but the moment I’m done, we need to have a chat. I have someone I want you to meet.

Finn folds his arms over his chest. “Anybody know what this is about?”

“Dad’s probably got a new girlfriend.” Zane turns his head away. His chin juts out with a hint of resentment.

I watch my twin carefully. At least I’m not the only one mid-downward spiral anymore.

Sol glances at each of us in turn. “What’s with the sulking? This isn’t your first time getting dragged into your dad’s love life.”

It’s not. I’ve been privy to dad’s affinity for younger women since he was married to mom. Back then, he kept his need for outside companionship under wraps.

The media wasn’t too kind to him playing the rock-and-roll douchebag when he had three kids and a wife at home.

Dad was desperate to make the marriage to mom work‚ not for her sake but for his career. One of the best things mom ever did was call him out on his crap and leave his cheating behind.

Unfortunately, her leaving hasn’t stopped dad from using her like armor. As long as the press keeps talking about their ‘amicable divorce’ and the fact that they’re ‘still friends’, no one looks any deeper into his activities.

“I don’t care what dad wants to do behind closed doors. It’s when he tries to drag us into it,” Finn mumbles.