"The Royals are going there tonight and told me to stay away."

"Why? Those parties are pretty bland as far as high school events go. They lock all the doors in the house because Brent doesn't want anyone having sex in the rooms. There's one bathroom that people are allowed to use and it's right off the patio. The pool house is locked, too. Brent has it catered and likes for everyone to show up like they're about to go yachting. He even wears his country club sports coat and all of the girls wear dresses. No exceptions."

Sounds terrible. If the Royals had given me this rundown, they wouldn't have even needed to warn me away. But they did, so that means something is happening that they don't want me to see or be a part of.

"Would Daniel Delacorte be invited?"

She considers it and then nods slowly. "Yeah. His father is a judge. I think Daniel plans to be one, too, and you can't have too many judges as your BFFs, right?"

It occurs to me then and there that this is why the rich get richer. They form these bonds in high school, maybe even earlier, and when they get older, they just continue to scratch each other's backs.

"Did something happen between you and Daniel the other night? I know you were hung over but Jordan said you were so trashed Reed had to carry you out of Farris's house. He didn't...do something?" She looks worried.

I don't want to tell Valerie about the awfulness of that night, but if she's going to be involved, then she deserves something. "He thought I was easy. I'm not. And the Royals don't like it when their maybe, not really, but kind of sister is messed with. Let's leave it at that."

She screws up her face. "God, what a douche. But why am I here if the Royals are already exacting revenge?"

"I don't know if they are, only that three of them told me I wasn't to come to the Worthington party tonight no matter what."

Valerie's eyes light up. "I love that you don't care what the Royals think." She hops off the bed and throws open my closet door. "Let's see what Worthington-approved dresses you have."

I drink the rest of my Coke as Valerie rifles through, and discards, item after item.

"You need more clothes. Even the Carringtons stuff my closet full of anything I want. It keeps up appearances, you know. I didn't realize Callum was that stingy with you."

"He's not," I answer, stung on Callum's behalf. "I had to go shopping with Brooke and the places she took me were too expensive."

"Everything around here is expensive." Valerie waves her hand. "Think of it as an extension of your uniform. Besides, if you look bad, then people will think the same thing I did-that Callum is being cheap with you. Ah ha!" She pulls out a navy sundress with tiny cap sleeves and a deep V-neck edged in white lace. I don't remember seeing it, which means Brooke must have picked it out when I wasn't looking. "This is nice. It has a deep neckline that says I'm sexy without saying I charge fifty bucks and I'd like my cash up front."

"I'm bowing to your better judgment." In my former line of work, you'd need a neckline a heck of a lot deeper than that to get fifty bucks up front. I cross the room and start to change. It's getting late and I want to make sure I head over to the party before the fireworks start.

"You okay if I borrow this dress?" Valerie drapes a white lace number against her body.

"Knock yourself out." She's an inch shorter than me and given the length of the skirt, the hem should hit her around mid-thigh. "Out of curiosity, how many dresses do I need?" Two seems plenty.

"A couple dozen."

I whirl around, but Valerie looks dead serious. "You're joking."

"I'm not." She hangs the dress back in the closet and starts poking up her fingers one by one. "You need afternoon dresses, boating dresses, clubbing dresses-both the country club and the night club kind"-my head is spinning- "garden party dresses, official school party dresses, after school dresses, wedding dresses, funeral dresses-"

"Did you say funeral dresses?" I interrupt.

Valerie points her finger and winks. "Just making sure you were paying attention." She laughs when I roll my eyes, and starts undressing. "You do need a lot more clothes than you have. Appearances are important, even to the Royals." Her voice is muffled as she pulls her shirt over her head. "Example-say even the most minor negative thing about Maria Royal and all her sons go crazy. Reed almost got locked up for assault after some kid from South East High called her a pill-popping suicide case."

"He accused Maria of killing herself?" I exclaim, shocked by that.

Valerie looks around as if expecting to see Reed jump out at her. Then she lowers her voice and says, "It's a rumor, and one the Royals don't like. They even sued Maria's doctor for malpractice."

"Did they win?"

"It was settled and the doctor left the practice and the state so...yes?"

"Wow."

"Anyway," Valerie continues, "they're fiercely protective of their mom, and I'd guess it would be important that people outside of the family believe they're treating you right."

A pang hits me. Is that what Reed is doing? Just making sure he upholds the family reputation? No, it can't be. All the things we did in here, on that silk blanket and under it, were private and had nothing to do with any Royal reputation.

I check the clock and realize I need to hurry. I change in a rush, but when I look in the mirror, I see a problem. "Val, this neckline is too low." I turn so she can see that the white bow of my bra is showing.

She shrugs. "You'll have to go without. Wear Band-Aids if you're worried about nipping out."

"I guess." Although being in the same zip code as Daniel without wearing a bra kind of skeeves me out.

It takes us another half hour to fix our hair and makeup. I actually do Valerie's face. She's astonished at the amount of makeup I've accumulated.

"You might need dresses, but your makeup kit is the bomb dot com," she exclaims.

"Thanks but you need to shut up now so I don't get lipstick on your teeth." I wave the lipstick brush at her threateningly and she closes her mouth obediently.

Once we're ready, we wait around for the Royals to leave. There's a general slamming of doors and scuffling of feet in the hall. At least one set stops at my door.

There's a deafening bang that makes me wince, followed by Easton's voice. "You okay in there? We'll be home earlyish."

"Don't care," I call back, pretending to be pissed. "And don't knock on my door again. I'm mad at you. All of you."

"Even Reed?" Easton jokes.

"All of you."

"Ah come on, sis, this is for your own good."

Suddenly I don't have to fake my anger. "You Royals wouldn't know what was good for me if it was shoved in your face by a Playboy Bunny."

Valerie gives me two thumbs up in encouragement.

Easton heaves a big put-upon sigh. "Of course I wouldn't be able to see anything if a Playboy Bunny was in front of me. I'd be too busy ogling her tits to pay attention to anything else."

Valerie can't stop herself from laughing.

"Don't," I hiss. "You'll only encourage him."

"I hear you and yes, I am encouraged," Easton calls out from behind the door. "We'll be home in a couple of hours. Wait up and we'll all watch a movie."

"Go away, Easton."

He shuffles off.

"Easton's adorable. If I wasn't so in love with Tam, I'd pursue Easton hard," Valerie admits.

"I don't think catching him is the problem," I reply dryly.

"No? Then what is?"

"Keeping him."

27.

Carrying our shoes, Valerie and I walk down the shoreline toward the Worthington place. "What stops people from crashing the party?" I ask curiously. "Can't anyone just walk down this beach and then up into the house?"

"They'd know you didn't belong just by the clothes you were wearing. Plus, the only people who have access to this beach live on it, and unless you can afford a ten million dollar pad, you won't be on this sand."

"Will we be turned away?" The thought hadn't even occurred to me because I've never encountered parties like this before.

"Nope, because you're Ella Royal and even though I'm a poor relation, my last name is still Carrington."

We don't even get far enough in to be confronted by Brent Worthington, because the five Royal brothers are clustered together at the edge of the property. They're cooking something up, just like I knew they would. And it's definitely a scheme to get back at Daniel, because who else could they be targeting?

If anyone deserves to get revenge, it's me. I stomp right up to their group and they don't even notice.

"Hey big bro, what's going on?" I poke Gideon in the back.

Reed swivels around and chastises me first. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay home."

"So did I." Gideon looks down at me with a tight-lipped frown.

"Me, too." Easton tosses in his two cents.

"And you two?" I look pointedly at the twins, both of whom are dressed in identical khaki shorts and white polo shirts with an alligator over their left pec. They blink innocently at me. There's no way to tell them apart tonight, which might be exactly what their girlfriend enjoys. I'm going to have to mark one with lipstick before the night is over. "Well, newsflash, I'm not a dog. I don't just sit and stay because you order me to. Why was I supposed to stay away anyway? Are the drinks drugged here, too?"

Behind me, Valerie gasps, which sends five annoyed glares in my direction.

"No," Gideon says, "but if something bad goes down, Dad wouldn't be as angry if you were home and tucked in your bed."

"Or making out with Valerie," Easton pipes up. "But in bed and at home were the important things," he adds hastily when it's his turn to get a number of condemning stares.

"You being here might tip off Daniel that we're planning something," Reed says, his scowl deepening.

Valerie steps to my side. "If the plan was to not be suspicious, then Easton should have his tongue in someone's mouth, Reed should be whispering sweet nothings to Abby"-gag me-"Gideon should be doing college stuff and you two," she waggles a finger between the twins, "should be pranking people because damn if I can tell you apart."

Easton covers a laugh with a fake cough while the twins pretend to be looking anywhere but at Valerie. Reed and Gideon exchange a long look. When it comes to the Royal brothers, these two are in charge. At least for tonight.

"Since you're here, there's no point in making you go home, but this is Royal business." Gideon gives Valerie a pointed look.

She's quick. "Suddenly I feel very thirsty. I think I'll go shake down the hosts for a glass of champagne."

After Val leaves, I rub my hands together. "So what's the plan?"

"Reed is going to start a fight and beat the ever loving shit of out Daniel," Easton informs me.

"That's a terrible plan."

They all turn to me again. Being the single focus of five Royals is kind of overwhelming.

I focus on Reed and Gideon, the two that I need to convince. "You think you're just going to goad Daniel into a fight?" Both brothers shrug. "And I'm sure you think it's going to work because all of you would fight to defend your name. But this guy has no honor. He's not a fair fighter. He's the type of guy who drugs a girl because he wasn't confident or patient enough to win her over. He's a coward." I wave a hand over Reed's insanely ripped body. "Reed has twenty pounds on him and fights regularly."

"She knows about the fighting?" Gideon interrupts. Reed gives an abrupt nod and Gideon flicks both hands at us as if he's done with our high school asses.

"He's still going to want to defend himself," Reed argues.

"I bet you a hundred bucks he'll laugh and say that he knows you're going to win. Then if you try to push it, you'll look like the bad guy."

"I don't care."

"Fine. If all you want to do is beat him up then just go and do it." I point to the back lawn, which is getting crowded.

"Reed can't throw the first punch," Easton interjects.

Puzzled, I look from one brother to another. "Is this some kind of fight club rule?"

"No. Dad caught Reed fighting a few months ago. Said if he caught him doing it again he'd ship the twins off to military school."

Wow, that's diabolical. I know that Reed wouldn't care about going to military school-or at least not care that much, but he'd hate it for the twins. Callum is constantly surprising me.

"So you can't hit anyone ever?"

"No, I can't throw a punch unless I'm defending myself or a family member from imminent harm. Those were his exact words," Reed says through clenched teeth. "If you have a better idea, spit it out."

I don't and they all know it. Gideon shakes his head and even Easton looks disappointed with me. I stare at the dark blue sky, then at the ocean, up at the house, and then back at the brothers. An idea sparks.

"Do the Worthingtons have a pool house?"

"Yeah," Reed says warily.

"Where is it?" The Royals' poolhouse is made almost entirely of glass so you can see the ocean from one side and the pool from the other. I tug on Reed's arm. "Show me."

Reed helps me up over the rocky ledge and onto the back lawn. He points to a dark structure standing just to the edge of the concrete deck around the large, rectangular pool. "Worthington keeps it locked."

"So no one can have sex in there. Valerie told me." This is all so perfect.