Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
ZANE
When Grey walks back in with Finn, everyone pounces to their feet. On the outside, Finn looks back to normal. He seems totally unbothered by dad’s call, wearing his usual bored expression.
But it’s not fooling anyone. There’s a lot going on that Finn isn’t sharing.
I exchange a look with my wife. Grey offers me a soft, assuring smile that makes me want to back her up against the wall and kiss her senseless.
Her nose scrunches like she can read my thoughts.
The clock on the wall ticks away the seconds.
Everyone is staring but no one is speaking.
The silence gets awkward really freaking fast.
“Uh,” I break the ice since I have never been afraid of awkwardness, “this is usually the time I’d insert a joke. So let’s pretend I did.” I move around the conference table towards my brother. My voice is as grim as my face. “I don’t know what dad is planning, Finn, but screw him.”
“Yeah, screw’im,” Sol agrees.
“Screw him,” Dutch growls.
Finn looks at me and then at Dutch. The glint of cunning determination returns to his eyes. Eyes that aren’t blue or hazel or even shaped like ours, but hell, you couldn’t convince me we have different DNA.
I watch as Dutch moves over to us. He sets a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “I’m not attending this meeting unless it’s with both of my brothers.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” I agree.
Finn dips his chin. “I’ll drive.”
Sol spreads his hands out. “I’ll gather supplies in case you want to set fire to something when you’re done.”
I smirk.
Dutch rolls his eyes.
Finn just shakes his head.
Everyone leaves the room. Grey starts to follow them, but I hold her back.
She turns to me, her sweet brown eyes inquiring.
“I wanted to tell you something.” I glance back and forth to make sure we’re truly alone. Lowering my voice, I admit, “I recognize that man in the video. The one Slavno traded Sloane to.”
“What?” Her eyes bug and she turns fully to me. “How?”
“He’s the same one who tried to break into the house.”
“Are you sure?”
“I recognize the tattoo on his neck.”
I watch the shock plummet through her and feel a keen sense of helplessness.
Gripping her upper arm with my good hand, I say firmly, “Come with us to the house.”
“No.” She shakes her head.
“Grey.”
“I want to go through the files on the flash drive and I don’t want to do that when your father is two feet away.”
“Is that all?” I drill my stare into her. “Or are you avoiding Marion?”
Guilt crosses her expression.
“Your mom won’t be there. Dad wouldn’t want her to overhear his secrets.”
“My mother and I aren’t in a good place, but this isn’t about her.”
“Grey…”
She slips her hand out of mine. “After years of searching, after years of having doors shut in my face and being told I should just let it go, I’ve finally found a solid piece to the puzzle. I have actual evidence someone else was involved in Sloane’s murder. Even if I don’t know who’s behind The Grateful Project yet, the video proves that Slavno didn’t kill Sloane. He was working for someone else. This alone could blow the case back open.”
“If you know that, then don’t you think they know that too?” I hiss. “It’s not a coincidence that Sloane’s real killer showed his face when we’re so close to the truth. Dad is calling us out tonight. That means he wants me far away from you.”
“Or he just wants to talk.”
“Last time my father and I had a ‘talk’, he abandoned me in the desert while you almost drove off a cliff.” I grind out the words, still haunted by the memory of her car rolling through the air. “I can’t take the chance again. I can’t let anything happen to you.”
A deep wrinkle appears between her eyebrows. “Zane, you can’t be with me all the time. That’s not how it works. If someone is determined to hurt me, they’ll find a way. You and I can’t stop what’s coming.”
The door suddenly bursts open. Dutch glowers at me. “Answer the damn phone, Zane. We’ve been trying to call. You coming or what?”
“Gimme a second, Dutch.”
My brother grunts and shuts the door hard.
Brow furrowed in concentration, Grey takes my phone and holds it next to hers. She taps something on both devices and waits a few seconds, typing in information.
“What are you doing?”
“Here.” She hands my phone back to me.
It’s open to a tracking app.
“That day at the park, Cadence told me she and Dutch fought because he wanted to plant a tracker in her. And although that is never going to happen with me,” she gives me a pointed look, “I think this is a better alternative.”
She’s wrong. There are plenty of ways to subvert a phone tracker. For one thing, any kidnapper with common sense can toss her phone in a trash can or hand it over to someone driving in the opposite direction.
But I don’t point that out.
Because this isn’t about a silly tracking app or access to her location.
It’s about trust.
Grey finally trusts me.
Stepping forward, I gather her in my arms, fingers careful on her. Gentle, so I don’t break her. So I don’t break her trust, which is like a fragile diamond. One wrong move and it’ll shatter.
“What are you doing?” Her eyes widen and she looks worriedly at the door. “We can’t do this now. Your brothers are waiting.”
I smirk as she stumbles back into the wall and braces herself.
Pressing two fingers into her jaw, I pull her head down and place a kiss on top of her forehead.
“What did you think I was going to do, Miss Jamieson?” I arch a brow.
She clears her throat and wipes her hands over her skirt. I can’t see the blush steal over her skin, but I can tell she’s flustered.
“Go,” she croaks, shoving me.
I press my hips into hers and wait for her eyes to meet mine. “I don’t care how jacked my wrist is. As soon as I get back, I’m taking the strongest pain killer I have and I’m taking you to bed.”
“To sleep?” She bats her eyelashes with fake innocence.
My fingertips graze her neck. “You’ll enjoy a nice, deep sleep when I’m done. Does that count?”
Her teeth traps her bottom lip and her breathing staggers.
Dutch pounds on the door. “Zane, get off my sister-in-law and get out here!”
I mime a punch at the door.
“I think that’s payback.” Grey laughs softly. My arms ache when she slides away from me and opens the door to a smug Dutch.
I flip my brother off and he smirks evilly.
Damn him.
As we walk Grey to her room, I inform her, “Don’t be freaked out if you see a guy standing here later. I’ll have someone guarding your room.”
“Hall?” Dutch asks.
“Hell no.” I scowl. “I don’t mind him being our lackey at school, but I still don’t trust him with Grey. I know the head of security at the hotel. They make accommodations for the right amount of cash.”
Grey shakes her head, clearly disagreeing with the fuss I’m making, but I don’t care.
We stop in front of our hotel room.
Grey opens the door.
I stop her with a touch on her shoulder. “Put two chairs under your lock. If there are any weird noises, call me and then call the head of security. I’ll text you his number. Apart from me, my brothers and Sol, don’t open the door for anyone.”
“Yes, Mr. Cross ,” she says in a sarcastic voice.
A thrill goes straight to my pants.
I’ll have her repeating that name until her throat burns.
Dutch catches me ogling my wife and grabs my shoulder, physically turning me around and shoving me down the hallway.
Grey wiggles her fingers and locks the door. Good girl.
“Wait.” I plant my feet in the carpet. “I forgot to show her how to access the fire escape.”
“Miss Jamieson can handle herself,” Dutch grunts.
“What about?—”
“The faster we get this meeting over with, the faster you come back to your wife, Zane.”
He’s got a point.
I stop fighting and look around. “Where did you park the car?”
While I jog off, I hear him murmur, “And Finn called me pathetic.”