Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
FINN
I used to study my brothers with their instruments and wonder why I was different. Dutch bled over music. He would play until his fingers were busted and we had to drag him away from his guitar.
Zane hit those drums like they were his very own heartbeat. Steady. Loud. He would go on and on as if stopping for a second meant his heart would stop too. Meant he would die.
I never felt that way about anything.
Passion.
Lust.
Greed.
I’m broken, numb, but in a way, that frees me.
Emotions are clouds in a pristine, blue sky. Your mind is clear—another Sensei quote.
I don’t need much in life except my brothers and Sol. And I thought my mother felt the same about us.
“I can’t tell you where they are,” Mom responds tightly. Her voice crackles as the connection gets weaker. “But I can tell you that they’re safe. For now.”
For now?
This moment makes absolutely zero sense to me.
No matter what angle I approach it from, it’s too wild. Too crazy. Too unbelievable.
A dark, pulsing sensation rushes through the center of my chest.
I don’t like anything I’m feeling.
So I push it all away and narrow down on the one thing that matters—bringing Cadence and Grey home.
Glaring at the computer, I demand, “Is this about the inheritance?”
“What?” Mom gasps.
My head turns slowly to the side. I stare a hole into J, watching every inch of her delicate face as I speak. “Cadence and Grey are pregnant. Once they give birth, Dutch and Zane will qualify for Grandma’s inheritance. Is that why you took them?”
J’s eyes widen a bit too much. They flutter in astonishment. Her pale hands fling up to hide her mouth.
But it all feels forced.
And I would know. I’ve studied expressions for years.
J knows about the inheritance already.
That must mean she knows about Jarod Cross’s attempt to get his hands on it—starting with marrying Grey’s mother so Zane and Grey would become step-siblings and throwing Dutch in jail when he found out he was trying to get Cadey pregnant before our last semester of high school.
My certainty solidifies.
She’s Jinx.
She has to be.
“Honey, I need… trust me,” Mom begs.
Her words are cutting out.
“You can’t ask me to trust you and then kidnap people, Mom. Tell me where they are.”
“I….” White noise carries away the rest of her words. “Danger!”
What? What danger?
Is Mom insinuating that she took the girls to protect them? I inhale a deep breath and let it ease the knot in my chest. Mom is an heiress. She doesn’t need the money from Grandmother’s inheritance. Her taking the girls to protect them feels more true to what I know about her.
Or maybe that’s what I want to believe.
Maybe she’s as devious as Jarod Cross.
If she really was protecting them, we should have been in on it. Why go behind our backs and do this alone?
More crackling noises erupt. “… how this looks. But I promise you…”
Lips tightening in a frown, I growl, “Mom, I can’t hear you. You’re breaking up.”
“Tell Dutch and Zane the girls are—”
The line cuts.
I desperately try to save the connection, but it’s gone. She’s gone.
My heart climbs to my throat and beats faster than a Python download. I’d die for my family. Kill for them. I want to trust that Mom is doing this to protect Cadey, Grey, and their unborn babies, but without evidence, I have nothing to bring back to my brothers.
J brushes me aside, and in the chaos of my thoughts, I let her take the keyboard back. She hits the same block that I do and slams tiny fists against the desk, making her mouse jump.
“We’re locked out.” Her eyes burn as if she takes the failure personally. “I’ll try to reverse engineer the two-way connection. Maybe there’s a clue in the code.”
“Maybe.” I hold perfectly still. The emotions I can feel but can’t understand crowd my skull, fighting for dominance. It’s like being stuck in the middle of a storm with blind, relentless rain pounding down on your head and no clue where to turn for relief.
“Hey, don’t panic. You’re going to find them,” J says. The words are accompanied by the light touch of her hand on my knuckles.
It’s the same tone she used when she woke me out of the nightmare.
But this time, I don’t pull her closer.
I wrench back. “I’m not panicking.”
“Yes, you are.” Her eyes dart between mine, searching. “It’s all over your face.”
She’s lying.
Emotions don’t show on my face. Even when the feelings coursing inside are pleasant and I think I’m showing something close to a normal smile, it doesn’t compute.
Growing up, teachers constantly asked if I was okay because my expression never changed between the beginning of the school day, recess, or the last bell.
Girls who kept my attention long enough to worm their way into my bed would hold the sheet up to their naked bodies, hesitation in their voices as they asked if it was good. If I was satisfied. If I enjoyed myself.
Even my brothers stop looking to me when they want to joke about something, knowing they won’t find the big over-reactions that will make the moment more entertaining.
Jinx has the key to unlock doors no one should know about, but she cannot unlock me.
Because not even I have the power to do that.
“I’ll help you in any way I can,” she says, blinking innocently.
“Do you mean that?” I ask.
Her eyelashes flutter and her delicate throat bobs. “Do I mean… what?”
“Will you do anything…” I move into her space, noting the way she inches back. But I don’t let her get far. Grabbing her by the waist, I press my nose on top of hers and breathe over her lips. “I tell you to?”
Her nostrils flare.
The watch wrapped around her wrist blinks yellow. I’ve been noticing that watch for a while now. It’s a monitoring device. The yakuza doctor alluded to her heart rate being “crazy,” so I’m guessing it monitors her pulse. What happens if I send her heart rate spiking too far?
J balls her fingers into fists and pushes me away. I don’t budge. She’s a dangerous trader of secrets, but right now she’s just a sick girl in a hospital room. She has no power to stop me, just like I had no power to stop my father’s lieutenants.
Suddenly, J glances at her watch and stops fighting. With flat, emotionless eyes, she looks up at me and asks, “Do you want to screw me?”
My eyebrows quirk.
My heart skips a beat.
Anticipation? Fear? Desire? Unease?
It’s like staring into a mirror and not seeing a reflection. I know the feelings are there, I just don’t know what they are.
So I study her expression instead. Her eyebrows are pinched, and her mouth is forming a thin line. She doesn’t seem upset or scared anymore. More like… what’s that expression on her face? I’ve never seen it before.
J sees me studying her, and she chews on her bottom lip. Like a switch going off, she mechanically closes the distance and kisses me. This second kiss is another flat meeting of the lips. Her mouth moves a bit more this time. Mechanical. Robotic. Almost like someone fulfilling a duty.
I freeze in shock at her boldness.
She’s the one who moves away first. Her jaw tightens when she slips her fingers under her hospital gown and works her panties down her legs.
My pulse races.
I fling her away from me.
She stumbles back, her quick intake of breath echoing through the silence. Is she absolutely insane?
As Jarod Cross’s son and a member of The Kings, I’ve had plenty of experiences with fans eager to undress in front of me. Girls have snuck into my hotel room, danced in my lap, gotten on their hands and knees and worked themselves to a frenzy to have me.
But they never looked at me with such disgust in their faces.
J stands off to the side, her face flaming red, her eyes filled with angry tears, and her underwear sagging around her ankles.
Did I make a mistake messing with her?
Before they got married, both Cadence and Grey hated my brothers. Dutch and Zane toyed with their future wives in worse ways than this, but the girls never gave in.
They fought.
They got pissed off.
They scratched and bit.
I wanted to see what Jinx was made of, but now I realize I’ve never encountered anyone, anywhere like her.
This puzzle is a little more than I can handle alone.
Turning without a word, I stalk to the sofa where my clothes are folded neatly and set on the arm of the chair. Her footsteps patter behind me.
“You’re leaving?” she asks flatly.
I turn to look at her. For someone who just tried to have sex with me, she doesn’t seem too upset that I’m taking off.
“Do you die if you leave the hospital?” I ask, refusing to look at anything but her face as she works her underwear back on.
“Why? This hospital room isn’t romantic enough for you? You want to screw me in a hotel or something?”
My lips tighten. I should not have started this game. “I don’t want to have sex with you.”
“Then?” She arches a brow, looking annoyed.
I need to figure out what Jinx wants quickly, and I need to tell my brothers everything I’ve learned tonight. Two birds, one stone.
I keep staring at her, noting the way she opens her eyes a bit wider to give the appearance of innocence. She looks totally harmless in her hospital gown, pixie-like face, and loose blonde hair.
Disarming her victims with her fresh-faced beauty. Bludgeoning them with their own secrets when they least expect it.
Jinx is used to wielding her delicate appearance like a weapon. Who would want to antagonize the poor, helpless, sick girl from the hospital? Who would ever think to find the master puppeteer locked inside her timid disguise?
Unfortunately for Jinx, her mask is off. I won’t be disarmed by her big blue eyes or her sneaky attempt to get close to me.
She’s a snake slithering in the grass, poisonous fangs ready to sink in and steal all my secrets. She’s gone after Dutch and she’s gone after Zane. Now, I’m standing right in front of her.
My secrets are mine.
I won’t let her feed on them and suck me dry.
“Have you ever been to Redwood Prep?” I ask her.
Jinx’s eyes widen, and I can tell that I stumped her. “R-Redwood?”
I’m taking her straight to the belly of the beast and keeping my eyes on her.
As Jinx herself always says, keep your enemies close and your secrets even closer.