Defiant Princess (Boys of Oak Park Prep 2)

“Still leaves the question of who did do this,” Finn said darkly as Mason and I stared at each other. “’Cause someone fucking did.”

Certainty hit me like a cold block of ice.

“Adena,” I whispered. “It was Adena.”

From the moment I had realized what the falling sheets of paper outside contained, my focus had been on finding the Princes, getting them to listen, making them understand that I hadn’t been the one to sabotage them like

this. Up until Finn spoke, I’d barely thought about who had been responsible for creating and distributing the copies of my notebook pages.

But two memories had been bouncing around in my head, just waiting for me to focus on them to make the connection.

“The other day,” I said softly. “When she and her fucking minions all crowded around me in the quad—one of them must’ve stolen the book from my backpack then. And when she threatened me again later that afternoon, she probably slipped it back in my bag. She didn’t want to keep it long, because if I’d realized it was gone, I would’ve been suspicious. I would’ve warned you.”

“Fucking hell.” Finn raked a hand through his hair, glancing down the corridor like he might see Adena and Preston come walking up any second. “That cunt.”

“How did she know about it?” Elijah asked.

Now that they’d established it wasn’t me who’d made the copies, the entire tone in the hallway had shifted. Anger still seethed around all four of them, but I could see them shifting into damage-control mode, trying to figure out where to go from here, how to deal with the fallout, and what to do about Adena.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head, wracking my brain. I had carried the notebook everywhere with me because I’d thought it was safer that way—there was no chance someone could break into my locker or sneak into my room and steal it.

But… Adena had seen me writing in it once. I was almost positive she hadn’t read anything over my shoulder when she’d approached me, but maybe she hadn’t needed to. Maybe she’d just seen how quickly I’d snapped the little book closed, how carefully I’d guarded it, and had decided she wanted whatever was inside.

Then a new thought occurred to me, and my stomach dropped.

“When—when she threatened me the other day, she said something about how you guys couldn’t keep me safe. That you couldn’t stop her. I thought she was just talking shit like always, but she must’ve meant this. She knew she was going to take you down.”

“We’re not down yet, Legs,” Finn reminded me with a grimace that tried to be a smile. “We’ll figure something out. We’ll deal with her.”

I nodded, but cold worry prickled my spine.

Adena had already been almost untouchable.

With the Princes scrambling to deal with the repercussions of their spilled secrets, who would be left to stop her?

Chapter 25

The aftermath of Adena’s stunt wasn’t fiery and explosive. It wasn’t like watching a grenade go off. It was more like watching poison spread. Inch by inch, slow moving and deadly.

One thing did happen fast though.

The school staff and administrators worked like lightning to gather up and destroy every piece of paper Adena and her minions had released into the quad. They may be slow-moving on some things, but having the dirty laundry of one of their biggest donors, not to mention, several other prestigious members of the community, aired on school grounds lit a fire under their asses.

By the time the Princes and I left Craydon Hall, the cleanup was already well underway.

Not that it mattered.

Like I’d told Cole, once you put something out in the world, you can’t take it back. Dean Levy might round up every last sheet of paper he could get his hands on, but I was sure there were pages already stashed away in backpacks or documented on cell phones. It was out. And there was no taking it back.

Adena stood in the middle of the quad with Preston beside her, a group of followers surrounding them. Her triumphant gaze tracked us as we walked across campus, though I thought I saw anger flare in her eyes when she noticed me walking between Cole and Elijah. I was sure she’d expected them to blame me, especially since the notebook had been put back in my bag. She’d probably hoped to take down all five of us at once, to send the Princes after me like bloodhounds bent on revenge while she and Preston stepped in to fill the power vacuum they’d left behind.

But none of the Princes even looked her way.

They would deal with her later, but until that moment came, none of us had anything to say to her.

When we reached Clarendon Hall, Finn led us around the outside to the back, where several large trash bins were enclosed by a cement wall. He tugged a silver lighter from his pocket and handed it to me.

“You wanna do it, Legs?”