Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,10

as we walk outside and step up the curb. It’s an unwanted passenger as my car pulls up and Scott runs around to open the back door.

She doesn’t need to say it. I already know.

I ask Scott to take us to Sakura, a trendy sushi place up the road. Settling against my seat once he shuts the door, I brace myself again.

It’s coming, the truth perched on the tip of Ava’s tongue waiting to be unleashed.

“Why in the hell would you agree to that? Are you insane?”

Cringing at the stern tone of her voice, I want to tell her the entire story. I want to admit how badly I screwed up. Not just the fact I’d gone to Tanner for a favor on our last day of high school, but also what I did to need the favor in the first place.

Nobody knows. Tanner made sure of it. And now I’m paying for that mistake while using my handy shovel to dig my hole even deeper.

At this point, being chased through the woods doesn’t sound so bad. Sure, I’d probably lose my mind like everyone else who refused to pay their price, but would that be worse than betraying my dad?

That’s the other problem. What Tanner wants, I have. My father isn’t a saint like he makes himself out to be.

We all have secrets.

I have no choice but to beat these guys at their own game. To somehow trick Gabriel into helping me out. Of all the guys, he’s the worst choice for what I need. But he’s all I have.

Maybe it won’t be so bad. The years could have tamed him. He seems different, and I’ve been feeling him out in the texts we’ve exchanged. It’s possible he’s changed.

“He hasn’t changed, Ivy.”

Damn it...

Ava sighs as the car smoothly pulls forward to leave the mall parking lot.

Beyond the windows, the city moves past us in a blur of steel buildings set against small patches of grass, the well-manicured trees dwarfed by the shadow of the looming structures. Above that, the sky is a mottled grey, dappled sunlight breaking through the heavy clouds in shimmering streamers.

I seek out those bright patches, reach for them like the sporadic beds of flowers that add a pop of color to a cement and steel landscape.

A few seconds of tense silence passes between us, Ava’s soft voice breaking it on a confession.

“Listen, I shouldn’t be telling you this, and I wouldn’t if I wasn’t afraid of what might happen if you get involved with them again.”

Turning to her, I run my eyes down the length of her blond hair. It’s darker than mine, more golden, but the perfect shade to pop against the whiskey amber of her eyes. Unfortunately, those eyes are looking out the window instead of at me, and I worry about what she will say.

The car comes to a stop in traffic just as she sighs again and glances at me.

“They’re still running the gauntlets. Except, instead of the stupid games they played in high school, they’re playing for real this time.”

Of course they are. Why would they ever grow up?

“The gauntlets? You’re joking, right? They’re still running people through the woods?”

She shakes her head. “No. Not since Yale. But, honestly, the woods would be preferable to what they’re doing now.”

Ava gets quiet, her gaze flicking away for only a brief moment.

“They’re screwing with people’s lives, Ivy. Not just to bully them, and not just to be dicks like they were in high school. This isn’t the typical popular crowd bullshit anymore. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. Mason hasn’t told me all of it. I just know it’s serious.”

The fact that he told her anything is surprising. “Did Mason tell you they’re screwing with my life? Or that they’re planning to?”

I mean, it wouldn’t be a total shock to find that out. But beyond the pranks I pulled in high school, I haven’t done anything to deserve it. Can Gabriel really hate me that much?

She shakes her head. “No. Until you told me you’re going on a date with Gabriel - like an idiot, I might add - I had no idea you were involved with them again.”

“Then why are you so worried?”

Shame shadows her eyes, her expression tight as she shifts in her seat to face me. “Because I just helped them play that game on another woman.”

“What?”

The question volleys from my throat much faster and louder than necessary. But I can’t help it. If anybody would refuse to