The French doors opened, and Lexa’s mother peeked her head out. “Lexa! Briana Leigh! What are you doing out there without coats? It’s freezing!”
“We’ll be right there, Mother,” Lexa said, sounding, thankfully, normal.
“Good. There are some people here your father would like you to meet,” Mrs. Greene said. Then she closed the door with a bang.
Suddenly a tear spilled down Lexa’s cheek. She clutched her arm and looked at Ariana, sucking in a broken breath.
“Everyone wants me to be normal,” Lexa said. “But I don’t know how I can be, Ana. I don’t know . . . if I can live like this.”
I don’t know if I can let you live like this, Ariana thought, then flinched. The very idea of it pumped ice-cold fear through Ariana’s veins. She didn’t want to hurt Lexa. Lexa had been a good friend to her. And she didn’t want any more blood on her hands. Not if she could help it. Especially not when she had finally gotten every last thing she wanted. She didn’t want to have to do these things anymore. She wanted to live a normal life.
“Lexa, you’ll be fine. I promise.”
Lexa ducked her head, wiped her eyes with her fingertips, and speed-walked back toward the house. A stiff wind blew a pile of leaves up into the air, where they swirled for a moment before settling again around her feet—over Kaitlynn’s grave.
Ariana turned her back to the house, clenched her jaw, and stared down at the ground, imagining Kaitlynn smiling up at her. Laughing at her.
“You’re never going to stop causing me problems, are you?” Ariana said under her breath. She stomped once on the ground, seeing Kaitlynn’s face beneath her stiletto boot. Then she turned on her heel and, feeling only marginally better, rejoined the party.
Unfortunately, she knew that she wasn’t going to enjoy one second of it from that moment on. Because now she was going to spend the entire morning obsessing over plan B—a plan that she had yet to fully consider, hoping she wouldn’t need it. Ariana sighed as she closed the door behind her and stepped into the warm parlor. Stupid Ariana. You should know by now. You always, always need a plan B.
Ariana stood near the fireplace, sipping her mimosa as she watched Lexa socialize with their friends. The tears were gone, and she hadn’t looked back toward the garden once.
Still, Ariana had made progress on her plan B. If she could find a way to make it all come together, she would have a safety net if the world of Briana Leigh Covington came crashing down. But that didn’t mean she’d given up hope for plan A. Unfortunately, that plan involved Jasper, and he was nowhere to be found.
“Hey.”
Suddenly someone grabbed Ariana’s arm and whirled her around and through the open door to the dining room. The lights were dimmer in the wallpapered space, and as Jasper tugged her into the corner, Ariana felt suddenly closed off from the party.
Speak of the devil, Ariana thought.
She glanced past his shoulder toward the far end of the room, where Keiko and the chef were just disappearing through a pair of white doors leading to the kitchen. She and Jasper where completely alone.
“What are you doing?” Ariana demanded.
“I need to talk to you,” Jasper replied. He stepped back, putting some distance between them, and Ariana felt slightly more comfortable. He was wearing a light blue shirt under a dark blue sport coat and jeans—the only jeans at the party—but at least he’d had the good sense to wear a pair of Brooks Brothers shoes and not sneakers.
“Good,” she said, standing up straight and clearing her throat. “I need to talk to you, too.”
Jasper hesitated, pressing a fist into his hand. His eyebrows arched, intrigued. “Okay. Ladies first.”
“Okay,” she said. She glanced back toward the door to the parlor, considering all the delicate ways she could put this. But then she remembered she was talking to Jasper. And Jasper always appreciated the straightforward approach. Besides, it would be better to get this over with. “Soomie wants to ask you to the ball. Any interest?”
Jasper blinked. His hands dropped to his sides. “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Yes,” Ariana replied. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So do you like her or not?”
Slowly, Jasper’s lips stretched into a sly smile. “Are you . . . jealous?”
Ariana’s jaw dropped. “No, I’m not jealous,” she replied. “I actually think it’s kind of annoying how you’re always flirting with me. Especially considering that I have a boyfriend. And because, apparently, you like someone else.”
Jasper took a step closer to her. The look on his face was one of pure self-satisfaction. “No,” he said, “I do not like Soomie.”
“Well, why not?” Ariana asked, frustrated now. “Soomie’s incredible. She’s smart and she’s sophisticated and she’s—”
“Not. You,” Jasper said, carefully enunciating each word.
Everything stopped. Ariana looked into his eyes, and then her gaze flicked to his lips. She recovered quickly, but if Jasper’s grin was any indication, he had seen her eyes shift.