Daniel's words should have sounded sweet and loving. But as Ariana caught a glimpse of Sergei
across the room, looking naked and vulnerable without his camera, she couldn't help but hear
them as a threat.
267
WHAT IF ARIANA OSGOOD ESCAPED?
WHAT IF SHE RE-ENTERED THE WORLD WHERE SHE BELONGS?
THE WORLD OF WEALTH, SECRETS, AND
PRIVILEGEWOULD ANYONE BE SAFE?
Turn the page for a sneak peek of PRIVILEGE, a new series from the author of the bestselling
PRIVATE series, coming December 2008.
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[This Page Is Blank.]
269
NEVER
"Its not fair."It wasn't a whine or a complaint, just a statement. A statement of the obvious, as far
as Ariana Osgood was concerned. As she stared out the window of the Brenda T. Trumbull
Correctional Facility for Women, past the maddening check pattern of translucent lines etched
into the glass, it was all she could think to say. Outside, the leaves on the trees swayed lazily in the
warm summer breeze--a breeze she would be allowed to feel against her skin for exactly fifty-five
minutes during midday recess. Recess. That was what the warden called it. Who ever heard of a
seventeen-year-old girl looking forward to recess?
"It's just not fair."
Across the wide oak desk, her "therapist" (Ariana added mental air quotes every time she thought
of his title) smirked. Shifting in his seat, Dr. Meloni leaned back, forcing his expensive leather chair
270
to let out the loud creak that he knew made Ariana's skin crawl. Just outside the fence that
encircled the grounds, about a hundred yards from where she now sat, Meloni's precious
Doberman Rambo barked nonstop, as always. The inmates of Brenda T. Trumbull listened to that
damn dog bark all day long, every day. It was as if Meloni was trying to remind them that he was
always there, always watching, even when they weren't in session with him.