I run my eyes over the twins.

"If this involves me dressing up as a woman, I'm out." Sawyer holds up a protesting hand. At least I think it's Sawyer by the fading burn on his wrist.

"Let me get Valerie. It's going to take two of us. And I'll need both of the twins. The rest of you pretend like you're at a party. When the time is right, Sawyer will come out and let you know. You'll need to gather as much of the crowd as you can by the pool. Maybe get your cameras ready."

"What do you have planned, little sis?" Easton sidles up to me.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned or a girl drugged against her will," I say mysteriously and run off to look for Valerie.

I find her chatting up Savannah halfway between the shore and the pool, which is some kind of perfect serendipity. "Hey, can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

Valerie has to drag Savannah, but I manage to sequester the two of them off to the side.

I address Savannah first. "Look, I want to apologize for not listening to you the other night. I was lonely and wanting someone I couldn't have, so I thought I'd hang with Daniel. That was a mistake."

She presses her lips together, but either my genuine regret or our mutual hatred of Daniel breaks down her icy barriers. "I accept your apology," she says stiffly.

"Oh, Sav, get the stick out of your ass," Valerie chides. "We're here to get Daniel back. Right, Ella?"

Savannah quirks an interested eyebrow in my direction and I nod enthusiastically. "Here's the plan."

After I explain the details to them, Valerie hoots. But Savannah looks skeptical.

"You really thing he's going to fall for this?"

"Savannah, the guy drugs girls for sex. He's not going to turn this offer down. It's a power trip for him and we're going to feed into that."

She lifts an elegant shoulder. "All right. I'm in. Let's take this jackass down."

Daniel is sitting on a lounge chair next to the pool with a Heineken in one hand and the thigh of a young-looking girl in the other. She has to be a freshman. A renewed sense of righteousness washes over me. Daniel has to be stopped. Like Savannah said, it's time to bring him down.

"Hi, Daniel." I adopt the most submissive tone I can muster.

His head jerks up and he scans the crowd looking for the Royal brothers. When he doesn't see them, he leans back, pulling the girl closer to his side, almost as if she's a shield. "What do you want? I'm busy."

I scuff the toe of my ballet slipper in the stamped concrete. "I wanted to apologize for the other night. I...I overreacted. You're Daniel Delacorte and I'm..." I fight back my gag reflex, "...a trumped-up nobody."

The girl shifts uncomfortably. "Um, I think I hear my sister calling for me."

She slips out from under Daniel's hand. When he protests, I jump in. "I just need Daniel for a minute and then he's all yours."

Daniel smirks. "Just a minute? I last a lot longer than that."

The girl titters and runs away. I get it. It's awkward as hell watching someone humiliating herself. The minute she's out of earshot, Daniel's careless smile turns into a glower. "What are you playing at?"

"I want another chance." I lean forward so that my cleavage is on display for him. "I made a mistake. If you'd just told me what you wanted, I wouldn't have overreacted." God, I can't believe I have to say this crap to him.

His eyes drop to my gaping neckline and he licks his lips like an awful pig. "The Royals didn't seem really happy."

"They were mad because I made a scene. They want me to shut up and stay out of sight."

"Yet you're here."

"Their dad makes them bring me."

He frowns. "So you want to get back at them? Is that it?"

"Honestly? Kind of," I lie, because I think sticking it to the Royals might be something that will appeal to him. "I'm tired of those jerks forcing me to act like something I'm not." I shrug. "I like to party and I like to have fun. I was trying to be all proper for their sake, but...that's not who I am."

Daniel looks intrigued.

"So let's stop pretending. Whatever you want, I'm down for and not just me." I point to some vague area behind me. "You know Valerie, right?" He nods, his gaze dropping back to my chest. "I told her about your friends, Zoe and Nadine. And she's interested. We thought..." I trail off and brace my hand next to Daniel's knee. I bring my lips close to his ear. "We thought we could show you what Astor Park girls can do. We're both dancers, you know."

"Yeah?" His eyes light up.

"And you can do whatever you want with us," I tease.

He seems more than interested now. "Anything?"

"Anything...and everything. Feel free to bring your camera. You might want to keep mementos."

"Where?" His hand slips between his legs. Ugh, is he feeling himself up right in front of me? I clamp my lips together so I don't ralph all over his lap.

"The pool house. I picked the lock. Meet us there in five minutes."

I waltz away without looking back. If I've misjudged Daniel, this isn't going to work and I'll have to eat crow to the Royal brothers. But I don't think I'm wrong. Daniel Delacorte has an opportunity to degrade two "trumped-up nobodies" and take pictures of them that he can show to all his pervy buddies. No way is he passing up that golden opportunity.

As I let myself into the small structure, Valerie pops up from one of the two chairs that she and Savannah dragged away from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Like the Royals' pool house, this one is nearly all glass so that the view from the house to the ocean is unobstructed, but there are shades and the two girls have drawn them all.

"I like what you've done with the place," I joke.

Valerie tosses me something, which I catch reflexively. A robe tie. "Thanks, we were going for minimalist. Savannah and I thought that it would display our artwork better if there weren't any distractions. You okay with the sash?"

Thinking back to the yacht and Reed, I tell her, "That'll work." I wrap the length around my waist. "Where's Savannah?"

"I'm in the bathroom," she hisses out.

A sharp knock on the door signals Daniel's arrival.

"Showtime," I whisper and then open the door.

28.

"I half thought you might be setting me up, but I just saw the Royals drinking. Reed looks ready to go balls deep into Abby tonight." Daniel runs his eyes insolently over me and then shifts to Valerie. "And you, Val. I never suspected you were such a dirty girl. But maybe I should've guessed."

Because you're both low class and trashy, I finish for him silently.

Valerie's mouth twists in a noticeable sneer. Since she isn't doing a good job of pretending to be hot for Daniel, I hurry over to distract him.

"What do you want to do first?" I stroke a hand over his shoulders and steer him toward the table in the middle of the room. It must have been too heavy for Valerie and Savannah to move.

"How about the two of you go down on each other?" he suggests.

"No lead up? Just straight to the action?" With a harder hand than necessary, I push him down onto the table. "I think you need a lesson in anticipation. Let us dance for you a little."

Leaning back against his arms, he gives us a superior nod of his chin. "Fine. But I want to see your hands on each other and lots of skin."

Valerie gathers herself and steps forward. "How about we give you a massage? You ever have one of those?"

"A massage? Sure, I get them at my dad's club all the time."

"But from two girls with a happy ending?" She wiggles her fingers. "Like Ella said, let's not rush things. We can give you a massage and then you can watch us do our thing. After all, you should get off first."

Daniel ponders this offer for a moment and then agrees. "Yeah, that sounds right. You bitches can wait your turn." He winks at the end to signal we're supposed to take his bitches comment as a joke. Neither of us laugh and it takes superhuman effort not to punch his smug face.

"Let's help you out of your clothes," I say sweetly.

Fortunately, Daniel doesn't suspect a thing. He'd be mistrustful of Reed or Gideon, but not two trashy girls who, if not for their rich relatives, would probably be selling their bodies on the streets anyway. That's how his mind operates, which is why our little charade is possible. Because he's Daniel Delacorte, son of a judge, lacrosse player, a guy with a sterling reputation who nobody would ever suspect of being such a douche. I don't doubt for a second that Savannah's cousin is probably from a less successful branch of the family.

Valerie and I steel ourselves to put our hands on his body, but to our relief he doesn't need help. He drops his shorts, pulls down his boxers and has his T-shirt over his head before we can take our next breath.

"Someone's eager," Valerie mutters under her breath.

Daniel licks his lips. "Where do you want me?"

She places her hands on her hips and pretends to consider the question. "How about there?" She points to a nest of pillows situated right in front of the windows.

Daniel strides over and kneels down on the soft cushions. "Don't forget to keep your teeth to yourself. Maybe cover them with your lips."

That's the last instruction he's ever going to give me, I think, and then I nonchalantly swipe a fruit bowl off the table and hit him over the head with it.

He rears up with a shout. "What the hell!" Stunned, he clamps one hand to the back of his head.

"I told you the bowl was too weak," Savannah says, bursting out of the bathroom. Before Daniel can leap away, she whips up a bottle of hairspray and sends a stream of stinging solvents straight into his face.

"Motherfucker! You three are dead meat!" Daniel roars. He stumbles to his left and bangs into the windows.

The three of us laugh.

"I don't want to kill him, just maim him," I remind Savannah. "How about the candlestick?" I swing the heavy silver weapon and strike Daniel in the shoulder. Savannah brings the matching one down on the top of his head, and Daniel slumps over.

Valerie picks up one sash and tosses me the other one. "You're right, Ella. This guy is a creep."

As quickly as possible, we truss him up like a turkey. With Daniel momentarily dazed, it's easy for us to secure his hands behind his back, tie his ankles together and then loop a length of sash between the two sets of bindings.

"Too bad we don't have tape." I pick up a banana from the floor and toss it in the air. "We could tape this to his ass."

"That'd be awesome," Valerie crows.

Savannah scowls. "I have something to stick up his ass." She stomps over, draws back her leg and delivers the harshest kick I've seen outside a movie. Apparently smashing a five-pound candlestick into his skull didn't quite lessen her anger toward him.

The impact of her delicate foot to his butt is surprisingly hard. It jolts Daniel from his stupor, and he releases a yowl of pain. An ugly smile stretches across Savannah's face. Valerie and I watch as she bends close to whisper something to him, something that makes him shudder.

Then she straightens up and runs a hand over her hair, smoothing all the strands to lie flat against her pretty head. "I'm ready. I don't want to spend another minute with this piece of garbage."

"Hold up," Valerie says. We turn to see her throwing an apple up in the air.

A grin slowly spreads across my face. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask. The plan is so evil. I love it.

Savannah starts laughing and is almost laughing too hard to help us pull open Daniel's mouth and shove the apple inside, but one dazed, naked boy is no match for the three of us.

"Let's go." I run to the door and find Sawyer there. "We're ready."

"So are we," he answers with a grin. "Did you kill him? Because that yelp back there sounded bad."

"I think Savannah wanted to but we held her back."

"I've always liked that chick," Sawyer says.

I lean back and gesture for the girls to exit. Savannah and Valerie slip out the sliding doors leading to the beach. Once they're down at the shore, I hit the lights and the button for the remote control curtains. The Worthingtons made this whole thing easy for us. As the lights flicker on and the curtains part, Sawyer and I haul ass after the girls, who we find standing with Sebastian.

Once we arrive, Seb places a hand on the shoulders of Valerie and Savannah. "Can't believe we're missing the show," he says glumly.

I'm bummed too, but we decided it wasn't a good idea for me and the girls to be part of the crowd during Daniel's unveiling. If any of his buddies figure out we were behind it, they might turn on us. The twins are down here serving as our bodyguards in case that happens.

We stand and wait, straining for the sounds that will mark the reveal of Daniel-tied up and on display like a pig at a luau.

The first noises we hear are a chorus of gasps. There's a shout that we can't make out and then a moment of silence. After what seems like a long time to me, but must feel like an eternity to the naked and bound Daniel, there's a shout of "Oh my God!" and "Holy shit, is that Daniel Delacorte?" Other voices join in until it seems like every guest is commenting on the scene before them.

There's clapping, whistling, and screaming, and for some reason I start shaking. I tremble so hard I have to lean against Sawyer. He puts an arm around me and rubs a hand against my side.