Sweet Deceit (Privilege 4)

She had until Friday to figure out how to stop Lexa Greene.

ALWAYS A WAY

Ariana sat in a comfy, cozy high-backed chair at the Hill on Wednesday night, feeling neither comfy nor cozy as she stared outside. The floor-to-ceiling windows were being pelted by heavy raindrops, the noise like a pair of rushing trains coming at her from both directions. In her hands was a latte, cold and untouched. Her eyes stung from being open and staring for so long, and when she blinked, her eyelids stuck for a moment before opening again.

There was no answer. No matter how many times she went over it in her head, she simply could not find a way out. Earlier today she had tried to talk Lexa out of meeting with the PI, saying it was a waste of time and money—not to mention a waste of a good party. That if the other Stone and Gravers hadn’t found out anything about Lillian yet, then maybe that meant there wasn’t anything to find out. But Lexa was unmovable. She even seemed excited. Apparently she was looking forward to playing a little cloak and dagger.

Little did Lexa know, however, that the moment this guy started to look into Lillian Oswald’s past, a chain of events would be set in motion that would inevitably lead to Ariana landing back in prison. She had to stop Lexa. At whatever cost.

But every time Ariana thought about what that meant, she started to squirm. Yes, Lexa was putting Ariana’s entire future at risk, but Lexa didn’t know that. And technically, the girl hadn’t done anything wrong. Yes, she’d been acting like a bitch lately, but she had a lot going on in her life, what with her parents’ issues and all the publicity and the stress of having a history-free tap in Stone and Grave—plus the suspicion that one of her best friends was dating her ex. When Ariana thought about it diplomatically, the girl actually had a lot of reasons to be on edge. Besides, being bitchy, in and of itself, didn’t warrant the ultimate punishment. If acting like a jerk meant getting offed, then half the population of this school would have been dead a long time ago.

Ariana groaned under her breath and placed her cup down on the carved oak table next to her chair. What was she going to do? How was she going to do it? And when?

“Anything I can do to help?”

Ariana looked up to find Jasper hovering over her with a cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant. The shoulders of his coat glistened with raindrops and his hair was completely soaked. She hadn’t seen him come in or go to the counter, but then, she had turned her chair toward the window specifically so she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone. She leaned back and sighed.

“No, thanks. I’m fine,” she replied.

Jasper placed his food down next to Ariana’s cup and sat on a footstool closer to the window to face her. “If you don’t mind my saying so, you don’t look fine.”

Ariana fiddled with her fingers. “It’s just . . . I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Jasper laughed and Ariana glowered at him. “It’s not funny,” she said curtly.

“Sorry.” Jasper ran his hand over his mouth and straightened his face. “The very idea of you not knowing exactly what you’re doing seems so implausible it made me laugh.”

Ariana stared at him as he unbuttoned his coat and shrugged it off, getting up to hang it on a coatrack in the corner. He came back and sat in the same spot, resting his elbows on his knees.

“I don’t understand,” she said.

Jasper rubbed his hands together. “Ana, you radiate this intense level of self-assuredness that basically intimidates everyone around you,” he said, his eyes sparkling. “Were you really not aware?”

A flattered blush crept across Ariana’s face. “Well, I haven’t felt very self-assured lately.”

“Could have fooled me.” Jasper reached underneath the footstool and inched it closer to her legs so that their knees were almost touching. “Tell me what the problem is. Maybe we can put our two evil minds together and figure out a way to fix it.”

Ariana laughed. Yeah, right. Like she could really tell him what was going on.

“I can’t,” she said. “It’s . . . private.”

A dark cloud passed through Jasper’s eyes, but it was gone even faster than it appeared. “Well, then, I’ll just give you a general bit of wisdom and you can do with it what you will.”

He reached out and took both Ariana’s hands in his. Her instinct was to pull away, but then she looked into his eyes. They were so blue, so intense, so determined, she found herself frozen. His skin was insanely warm, odd considering he’d just come in from the storm of the century.

“Any situation . . . and I mean any situation . . . can be twisted to your advantage,” he said, his voice low. “You are a creative, strong person, and you will find a way to not only fix the situation, but to benefit from it. The key, Ana, is to not give up. The key is to keep looking at this problem, whatever it is, from every angle you can possibly think of, until the answer presents itself.”

Ariana stared into those hypnotic blue ey

es, and just like that, her heart warmed, and she felt her uncertainty begin to melt away.

“The answer will just present itself,” she said slowly.

“It will,” he replied with utter confidence. He squeezed her hands, then released them and stood, gathering his food and drink. “Don’t give up, Ana. That’s the key. Never give up.”

Then he grabbed his coat, folded it over his arm, and walked away. Ariana turned in her chair to watch him go. Then she sat back in her chair and smiled.

He was right, of course. There was always a way. How could she have forgotten that? Look how far she’d come already. Breaking out of prison, traveling across the country twice, faking her death, attending her own memorial service, creating a whole new life for herself, landing in all the honors classes she wanted at one of the most prestigious schools in the world, winning the heart of the most sought-after guy on campus.