Zane’s motorcycle is already parked outside of Redwood when the driver pulls to a stop. He’s leaning against it, eyes glued to his phone.
Dutch is nowhere in sight which means he’s probably not here yet. I doubt he rode on the back of Zane’s bike. Neither of us are fans of the way Zane tears up the highway.
I open the door and pop out.
J remains in the car, her eyes glued to Redwood Prep’s stony architecture. Impatiently, I rip her door open and jerk my chin at the sidewalk in an unspoken command to join me.
She moves gingerly, her eyes so focused on the school that she misses the raised sidewalk and nearly does a face-plant. I see her falling and grab her arm to keep her upright.
“Watch it,” I bark.
She glares at me like I stuck my leg out to trip her and then goes back to gawking at the school. Once again, I get the impression that J couldn’t care less about me, despite being a “fan.”
I’ve decided that I won’t let her multiple personalities unnerve me. Jinx is certifiably insane. The particular brand of insanity isn’t as important as what that insanity can do to help me and my brothers.
“Wow,” she breathes. “It’s even bigger than the pictures.”
I leave her as she mutters to herself about Redwood Prep’s rising steeples and stained glass windows.
Zane moves out of the shadows to meet me halfway. He’s wearing a motorcycle jacket, black pants, and his dark hair is messier than I’ve ever seen it.
“Hey, man.” Zane jerks back once he gets close. “What happened to your face?”
I remember the bruises Kurosaki put on me. Was it only a few hours ago? Meeting J in the hospital room made me feel like I’d entered a completely different dimension.
“You don’t look so good yourself,” I say, noting his blood-shot eyes.
Before he settled down with Grey, Zane had a drinking problem. There would be nights my brother would stumble home, smelling like perfume, Jack Daniels, and body fluids.
I haven’t seen my Zane look this busted in a long time.
“Yeah, but yours is worse.” My brother eyes me intently. Unspoken questions bubble in the air. He and Dutch know that I’ve submitted myself to the yakuza. But they haven’t asked me what the price of entry was, and I haven’t informed them either.
Some things are better left unsaid.
Zane’s lips curl up in a strained smile as he does what he always does in an awkward situation.
He makes a joke. “Don’t tell meshedid that to you?” His attention whips to Jinx before landing back on me with a question mark in his eyes.
“If I said she did, would that make you feel better?”
He shakes his head, the smile puttering out. “Nothing will make me feel better. Not until I have Grey next to me.”
“We’ll find her,” I promise.
“I know.” Zane exhales shakily. He’s doing better than I thought. I expected him to be bouncing off the walls, cursing at the skies, and trying to run his motorcycle off the nearest cliff.
He notices the way I’m watching him, and his lips curl up. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Worry about me.”
“Who said I’m worried?”
“Aren’t you?” He arches a brow.
I glance away rather than admit it.
