"Oh my God! What did you do to yourself?" she asked, gaping at Ariana's back.
Ariana winced, cursing herself for neglecting to cover herself up with a robe. She had been so distracted after reading her mother's quote that she had forgotten all about the ugly, jagged cut in the center of her back.
"Horseback riding mishap," she lied quickly, leaning back in her chair so that Briana Leigh would stop staring. "I was thrown and dragged. Only for a few seconds, but the damage was done."
Briana Leigh sucked air through her teeth. "That's nasty, Emma. You should have it looked at."
"I did. They said it's healing fine," Ariana lied. Time for a subject change. "So, Briana Leigh, where are your parents?" she asked casually.
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She felt Libby Lane flinch, and the maid, who was now walking away, picked up the pace.
Briana Leigh stared straight ahead at the pristine blue water in the shimmering pool.
"My parents are dead," she said, her tone clipped.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" Ariana said with a gasp. "What happened?"
Ariana caught a warning look from Libby as she began moisturizing Ariana's feet. Clearly Libby knew the scandalous story. At least the one the public had been fed--that after Briana Leigh's mother had passed away of cancer a few years back, Briana Leigh's father had started up a sordid affair with the very young Kaitlynn Nottingham. And that when Mr. Covington had tried to break it off, Kaitlynn had snapped and killed him. Little did these people know they were actually tending to the real murderer--a girl who'd offed her father just to get her inheritance sooner.
"I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to...," Ariana said, faking chagrin.
Briana Leigh sniffed and picked up the oversize W magazine. "No. It's fine. My mother got sick a few years ago and passed away, and then my dad died in an accident a year later," she said, as she flipped past a photo shoot of Katie Holmes. "Not the most interesting story."
Libby gaped up at Briana Leigh, and Briana Leigh shot her a silencing stare that sent her right back to work on Ariana's feet with renewed vigor. Ariana stared at Briana Leigh's profile. An accident? Right. That was one way to put it. Clearly Briana Leigh didn't trust her quite yet,
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considering she hadn't even shared the lie with her--that Kaitlynn had murdered Mr. Covington.
"I'm so sorry," Ariana said, her voice dripping with sympathy. "That must have been awful for you."
Briana Leigh lifted both shoulders. As if losing her parents was no big deal. Ariana had just suffered a similar fate up in her new bedroom a couple of hours ago, and she had a feeling her heart was never going to recover completely. Yet here this girl was, cold as stone.
"But anyway, I'm not alone. I have my grandmother," Briana Leigh said. "Of course, she is a total dictator, as you saw firsthand, so it's good that she lives in the guesthouse. If she was up here all the time I'd have no
life. But I do have the staff...."
At this she looked around vaguely at the man tending to the potted plants on the other side of the pool. The maid standing off to the side at a respectable distance, waiting for her next marching orders and looking bored. Briana Leigh got a far-off, almost sad look in her eye, and Ariana was surprised to feel her heart respond. What was that about? She shook her head slightly and immediately quashed the sentiment.
Suddenly Briana Leigh sat up straight and cursed under her breath. "Tabitha! My God! What are you trying to do? Boil me? Turn down the goddamn heat on this thing!"
Ariana glanced at the temperature knob for the hot tub. It was well within Briana Leigh's own reach. Yet the maid pushed away from the wall and practically sprinted over to adjust it. "Sorry, miss."
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"You can pay for my skin graft," Briana Leigh snapped.
Ariana couldn't believe the extreme shortness of Briana Leigh's fuse and reminded herself that it would be best to avoid pissing her off.
"So tell me about this party tonight," Ariana said, deftly changing the subject again.
"It's going to be intense," Briana Leigh said, instantly calm again. She leaned back into the contoured seat of the hot tub. "It's the launch party for this new band from Dallas, Renegade Conmen. Their first album is gonna be huge."
"Are we meeting up with your friends?" Ariana asked, remembering how Kaitlynn had wondered who Briana Leigh was hanging out with these days.
Briana Leigh averted her gaze, focusing intently on the W cover. "No. Well, everyone's away for the summer."