Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

ZANE

By the time I park the car and walk into Redwood, Grey has been flocked by female teachers. One reaches out a coffee cup to her.

"Three packs of sugar and two cups of cream, right?" The woman's lips stretch in a fake smile that would make dad proud.

"Uh…" Grey's eyes dart back and forth.

"Why didn't you tell us you were related to Jarod Cross?" Another teacher asks, playfully nudging Grey with her shoulder.

"I love your hair. I could never make curly hair look so good," a third one croons.

The plastic compliments are followed by laughter that peals through the hallway, scratching at my ears.

I feel a presence behind me and turn slightly.

Dutch is staring at Grey and her adoring colleagues. "Interesting."

My attention returns to my wife.

"You two got a Jinx post the moment you drove to school." My twin seems slightly impressed.

"Did I beat your record?"

Dutch shrugs and adjusts Cadey's purse on his shoulder. My twin refuses to let his wife carry her own bag, as if she'll break an arm if she tries.

Yes, I'm jealous.

I wish I could carry Grey's bag around for her.

"I honestly thought the school would be turned upside down," Cadey muses. She's wearing her hair in a simple braid down her back. Like all of us, she's dressed in yesterday's clothes. "Jinx basically confirmed that you're in a serious relationship with a teacher."

I snort.

"Is that funny?"

"Cadey, Cadey, Cadey." I shake my head slowly. "One of the benefits of always being the center of a sex scandal is that no one is surprised when I'm the center of a sex scandal."

Cadey glances back and forth and steps close to me. "Yeah, but this scandal is actually true ," she hisses.

A cheerleader passes by, giving me mournful eyes. "Hi, Zane."

I ignore her.

"See?" Cadey flails her arms. "You didn't even flirt with her. You always flirt."

"You're making me sound like a douche," I mumble, recalling Grey's accusation during the drive to school.

"It's so obvious you're taken, Zane. You're very much acting like a married man who's faithful to one wife."

"So?"

"So you should have seen how people were crying when Dutch confirmed we were married. There was an actual mourning period."

I laugh. "Maybe I'm not as popular as your husband, Cadey. Ever think about that?"

"Oh-ho. I know for sure you're more popular with girls than Dutch."

Dutch wraps an arm around Cadey's waist and kisses her temple. "He can win that competition if he wants. I only need one girl."

"Get a room!" I pretend to hide my eyes.

Dutch gives me a look full of murder. "We tried. And guess who still interrupted us?"

I glance up, pretending there's something interesting on the cathedral-like ceilings. He is never forgiving me for that, is he?

"It's still weird to me though," Cadey muses, cupping Dutch's jaw with her palm as he kisses her cheek again. "Jinx isn't hammering you and Miss Jamieson the way she did with me and Dutch. It's almost like…"

"Like what?"

Cadey's eyes lift to my wife. "Like she's protecting her."

Her words give me pause. Jinx? Protecting one of us? Impossible. The secrets trader is the type of blood-sucking leech that will toy around with you using your shame and desperation as collateral. From the way she's always targeted me, Dutch and to a lesser extent, Finn, I get the sense that she has it out for us in particular.

"I doubt it's that serious," Dutch says, lifting his head to look at me. "Zane's reputation precedes him. It's totally on brand for him to be banging a teacher."

"Hey, I'm banging my wife . Get it right."

Dutch flips me off.

Cadey laughs. "You're probably right. Zane would have to do something more outrageous than usual to keep Jinx interested. Even if he came out and said he was off the market, it wouldn't change a thing. No one in Redwood believes Zane Cross will ever stick to one girl."

Normally, I'd get annoyed by an observation like that. But the only woman I want to believe in my intentions is Grey and, from the way she was looking at me this morning, I think I'm doing a great job convincing her where my heart really lies.

"Thank you, so much… uh, for the coffee." Grey's strained tone brings my attention back to her. I instantly stiffen when I see the little vein of distress appear on her forehead.

The teachers are still crowding around like vultures.

"What are you doing for lunch? We heard of this cute, little bistro that opened up close by. How about we buy you lunch and we all get to know each other better?"

Cadey snorts. "Miss Jamieson's been here since first semester and now they're being friendly?"

I take a step forward, determined to rescue Grey from that circle of snakes dressed in sweater vests and granny slippers.

As if she senses my intentions, Grey meets my eyes and subtly shakes her head. It takes everything in me to respect her wishes and remain with Dutch and Cadence.

"Aren't you going to rescue her?" Cadey asks.

"Not yet."

"What do you mean not yet?"

"You ever hear of Romeo and Juliet?"

"You cannot seriously be asking me that question."

"Grey lives in a different world than me. If I step into her universe the way things are, I'll destroy it. I'm okay with burning our worlds down, but she isn't."

"Aw. Zane, that's actually emotionally mature of you." Cadey's smile is soft and approving.

"Since when do you talk like that? Who the hell are you?" My brother looks horrified.

I smack him on the back.

The memory of Grey asking me to show her a world where she can love me rings in my head.

I'm going to do it.

Somehow.

All while I catch Sloane's killer.

And find out who broke into our house.

And get Finn to admit what the hell is going on with him these days.

"Since when was Miss Jamieson so popular with the teachers? I thought they were all jealous of her?"

Cadey jumps at the voice.

Dutch narrows his eyes.

I grin when Sol appears beside me. After last night, it's good to see him in a Redwood Prep sweater vest over a crisp white shirt and black pants. He looks more like the normal, non-murderous Sol I know. I can almost pretend last night never happened.

"They are jealous of her," I inform him, grinning and massaging his shoulders.

It's easy for me to joke around and pretend everything's okay. I've been doing it all my life. Grey is the only one who's ever called me out on it.

"But news got around that her mom is married to our dad," I add. "So now she's getting the Cross treatment."

Sol's eyes widen. "Whoa. You can finally say you two are step-siblings without breaking into tears!"

I feign a punch which he dodges with a smirk.

Back then, dad announcing his marriage to Grey's mom felt like my world was crumpling. But now, it's just a fact of life.

I can't change that we're step-siblings any more than I can change how I love her.

Grey is my wife.

I married her. Legally.

Dad's plan to keep us apart failed.

"Dad must know you two are married by now," Dutch says quietly. "Among other things. He'll summon us soon."

I shrug. "And we'll be ready."

He grunts.

I hear murmurs from the students passing by. For once, Redwood isn't looking at us, but at someone behind us. I glance over my shoulder and see someone that instantly sets my teeth on edge.

"The hell?"

Dutch spins around too. He sees who I'm looking at and pulls Cadey behind him. "Hall."

Theodore Hall is standing a few feet away, his eyes on the ground and his body trembling. I quickly search out Grey and see that she's walking off with the teachers.

She hasn't spotted him yet. Relief makes my shoulders sag.

"Who told you that you were welcome back at Redwood?" Dutch's tone drips with a dark, cold threat.

"I did." Sol steps forward.

Dutch scowls.

Cadey frowns.

I look at Sol and realize that pretending last night didn't happen was a mistake. The best friend I once had is gone. Something new is in its place. Something not quite human.

"Sol," I grab his shoulder and speak quietly, "you want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Revenge," Sol says, waving his hand like a magician after a magic trick.

And then he laughs.

A shiver runs down my spine. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Didn't you all stage an intervention last night? ‘ Oh, Sol. Breaking into houses and holding knives to people's throats is wrong' ." He clasps his hands together, his voice tuned to a high, female-mocking pitch. Then he drops to his usual voice. "I promised I'd back off. This is me backing off."

"This is not—" I begin.

"I wanted to break his wrist and leave him for dead," Sol interrupts calmly. "You all said no. I wanted to punch him twice for every one punch he and his goons landed. You all said no. So I kept an eye on him while Zane was too busy screwing Miss Jamieson into next semester?—"

"You call stalking and attempted murder ‘keeping an eye on things?" I hiss, intentionally ignoring his dig about my relationship.

Sol shrugs, eyes numb. "This is option b."

"And what is option b exactly?" Dutch growls.

"Humiliation." Sol walks over to Hall and grabs him by the back of the neck. The junior jumps in his skin. I can literally see his heart pounding in his chest. "Theo here did such a good job fetching our toy last night, I thought he could be more useful if he came back to school for a more full-time position."

Dutch scowls. "You don't make decisions like this alone."

"So I need permission from you?" Sol arches a brow.

Dutch stares him down.

I get between them. "It's not a bad idea, Sol. Hall proved his worth to us last night. But he came after Grey. Tried to do something unspeakable. There's no forgiving that."

"He won't bother your wife, Zane."

I frown.

Sol shoves Hall forward. The junior stumbles in front of me.

"Tell him," Sol says darkly.

"I-I'm sorry. I won't talk to Miss Jamison again."

I snarl at him. "You won't even look at her."

"I-I won't even look at her."

I glance back at Dutch. "We only have one semester left. It's not like we have to stare at his face forever. And Grey would prefer this too, compared to the alternative." I swing back around. "As long as he stays in his place."

Cadence looks frightened, but Dutch considers Sol and then me.

"It was you and Sol's blood he spilled," my twin says. "You two get to decide how we take our price."

Sol's lips arch up.

Dutch looks at him, darkly. "I don't care what you do in your private life, Sol, but decisions like these," he gestures to Hall, "we make together. "

"Fine," Sol agrees, lifting his chin.

Cadence opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but then she seems to think better of it and shakes her head instead.

The musical bells chime.

Dutch draws his arms around his wife's shoulders. "We're going to class."

"Bye, guys," Cadence says, her eyes sad.

Sol waves sloppily. I notice that he's not quite meeting Cadey's gaze.

I press my hand into Sol's chest. "Remember, keep your rat away from my wife."

Sol nods and motions to our new lackey. "Go to class. We'll call you if we need you."

Hall darts off.

Sol juts his chin forward. "Come on. You going to class or what?"

"Yeah." My eyes catch on his hand. Unease spreads through me when I notice the dirt under Sol's nails.

Has he been setting more fires?

" Hi, Zane."

"Hi, Sol."

We're getting more attention as the hallway floods with people heading to class, but we both ignore the calls. It's like the girls don't even exist.

"Sol…" I say uneasily.

"Damn, Miss Jamieson really turned you into a decent human being, didn't she? Shut up, Zane. I know what you're going to say." Sol chuckles and, for a moment, the sparkle is back in his eyes. "And you don't have to worry. I'm not going to lose it completely, I swear."

"I have your back either way. The Kings will never change."

The smile gets harder on his tan face. Sol stops in the middle of the hallway and stares at me. "You're wrong, Zane. You and Dutch have wives now. Those girls are your everything. Of course I don't expect The Kings to stay the same." He slaps me on the back and walks ahead of me. "And I kind of like the way things are changing now."

My heart beats hard against my chest. Anxiety is an unfamiliar feeling, but it's coming out in full force, crashing into my lungs and choking me.

There are some changes I like.

Dutch being happy with Cadence? I like.

Us surviving all of dad's attempts to hold us down? I like.

Grey Jamieson taking my last name? I really, really like.

But whatever's happening with Sol is frightening.

And there's no way that it ends well.