Page 116 of The Forbidden Note

I twist my neck to stare out the window.

Everyone is watching us.

Everyone saw.

“Do you know what you’ve done?” I whirl on Zane, my eyes darkening. “I’m trying to keep a low profile, and this stunt just ruined everything. ”

“A low profile. Is that why you’re dressed in that oversized curtain today?”

I glance down at my baggy shirt and the shimmery gold skirt that goes down to my ankles. “This isnota curtain.”

“Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but you’re wearing my grandmother’s drapes. Problem is… you could be wearing a garbage bag and half the guys at Redwood would screw you.” He shakes his head with an aggravated twist of his lips. “You’re hot as hell either way, so just wear what you want.”

The fact that he called me ‘hot as hell’ doesn’t even register in my brain.

I scoff at him. “I wore this because my reputation is totally trashed, and it’s the only way to get people to respect me again—”

“You think they respected you before this? You think they cared?” His smirk is all kinds of cold hell. “Take it from me, tiger. They were chomping at the bit to turn on you. And from the way you’re caving to them, they’re winning.”

“I’m not caving. I’m being a responsible adult.”

“And that’s your problem.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“You can’t let public opinion control you. Especially at Redwood. They’ll praise you one day, and kill you the next. So why give them that kind of control?”

“You don’t understand because the world revolves around you.Youdecide.Youcontrol. You play with people like toys. The rest of us can’t afford to make really stupid decisions and get patted on the back for it. Life isn’t a game unless your last name is Cross. Now, where the hell are you taking me?”

Zane suddenly slams on the brakes. His arm shoots out, banding over my stomach and absorbing my forward thrust. I’d have cracked my head on the headboard if not for his fast reflexes.

The car stops completely.

I glare at him. “Are you trying to kill me?”

He undoes his seatbelt and leans over my seat. The heat of my breath and the tension crackling between us gets hotter as his fingers brush my arm.

“You were so busy arguing you never put on your seatbelt.”

Our eyes lock, my brown ones on his darkening stormy sea blue.

“Safety first, tiger,” he growls, his voice reminding me of the very animal he keeps referring to.

Except this tiger isn’t docile.

It’s vicious, sly, and on the hunt.

I shiver, even though the air conditioner isn’t that cold and the sun is baking the windshield. The click of the belt locking in place snaps through the thick, hot silence.

“Now you can go back to yelling at me,” Zane says.

“Uh… did you guys forget I’m in the backseat?” Sol grumbles.

I crane my neck to look in the back of the car.

Sol is glaring at us. “Next time, I’m taking the bus.” He hunkers down. “You and Dutch are both so freaking obnoxious.”

Zane smirks at the rearview mirror.

---