Page 44 of The Silent Note

I turn away, giving her my back. “I’m not returning to the hospital tonight. Go home. Sleep in your own bed for once. You deserve the break and that hospital cot wasn’t good for your back anyway.”

“Wait, Gracie…”

“I’ll call you in the morning, mom.”

I hang up.

“Whoo! Good for you, girl. I never thought I’d see the day you’d grow a pair.”

I glare at my best friend.

My dead best friend.

Who’s grinning at me like she’s very much alive.

Earlier, I did my best to rationalize Sloane’s presence, but it’s way too late, I’ve had far too long of a day, and I’m too exhausted to remind myself she’s not here.

“I’m a piece of crap.” I turn the phone around and around in my palm.

“No, you’re an adult. There’s a difference. A slight one, but…”

I choke on the feeling of guilt, as familiar to me as my own breath. “She’s going to freak out when she sees me tomorrow.”

“Then let her.”Sloane shrugs.

I shake my head and press my palm against the wall. Mom is a little… much, but she’s got a good heart. All outsiders see is the high maintenance and controlling side of her, but I know the truth. She did her best with what she was given and she’s always,alwaysprotected me.

I still remember her turning up the music in our crappy apartment when the police sirens were raging outside after another homicide. The way she’d sing and smile for me, so I wouldn’t be scared when footsteps—of the police or gang members—thudded down the hallway.

I still remember her promising to protect me. ‘You just focus on your studies, Gracie. My smart, little girl. I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”

She was my rock, my refuge, my… my umbrella in the rain.

“But you’re not in the ghetto anymore. You’re living in a mansion with drivers and housekeepers. Your dad is THE Jarod Cross?—”

“Step-dad,” I correct her.

“Ah, yes. You marrying Zane would be way creepier if Jarod Cross was your actual father.”

“Can you not?” I snap.

The muffled voices of The Kings leak under Zane’s bedroom door. My attention wavers there.

Soon, Cadence, Dutch, Sol and Finn are going to leave.

And then it’ll be just me and Zane.

Sloane laughs and brushes blonde wisps away from her face.“Nervous?”

“No.” Why would I be nervous? It’s not like I’m a virgin. I know what to expect.

“What are you going to do about the lingerie?”

I give Sloane the side-eye but she persists.

“I vote you borrow something from Cadence. I’m sure she has a thong. She seems like the thong type.”

“I am not going to borrow athongfrom my student,” I hiss.