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“Down to fuck,” he says with a wide grin.
“You guys?” Gulliver asks Thorn and Kip, who both nod that they’re ready to leave, despite the fact that we’ve been here less than ten minutes.
The moment we’re all in the limo and the door is shut, Gulliver turns to me. “What happened?”
“Penelope came to talk to me.”
“What the fuck did she say to you?” he growls.
“She hates it,” I cry. “She hates the money, our parents, the will’s stipulations, all of it. She hates it all.”
“Did she tell you that?” Kip asks suspiciously. “Because I can’t see her admitting that to you, even if it was true.”
“No, but I saw it in her eyes. I know her, even if I don’t like her that much. She’s my twin, and I could feel how miserable she is,” I pant, patting at my chest like I can show them where I felt her pain.
“She’s the one in control, Izzy. She could easily refuse to play the game, but she doesn’t. In fact, I’m fairly sure she loves it. I think she might be playing you. Did she say anything about you going home?” Hawthorn asks, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“No, I told her I was done, that I’d sacrificed enough, and she didn’t try to persuade me to change my mind. But I felt it, she’s miserable, and as much as I hate the person she’s become, we have to help her.”
The guys all look at each other, like they’re trying to decide who gets to tell me I’m acting crazy. “I know this sounds like I’m getting played, but I saw the look in her eyes. I heard the unspoken words, and now that I know, I can’t just leave her to her fate.”
38
GULLIVER
Glancing between my friends, we all look at each other, none of us wanting to be the one to tell Izzy that her sister is manipulating her and toying with her emotions, that she’s acting, but it’s the truth. Penelope Rhodes is almost as ruthless and conniving as her parents, and I’m pretty confident that she’ll stop at nothing to get that money and the power that will come with it.
Izzy’s begging us with her eyes to believe her, to believe that there’s something beneath all of the bad in her twin, and for her sake, I wish it were true, but it just isn’t.
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Little Ghost. Your sister…” I trail off, reaching for her hand and entwining it with mine while I try to think of the best way to tell her the truth.
“This isn’t wishful thinking or me being naïve. I saw it. I saw the way she looked. She wants out just as badly as I did,” Izzy insists, imploring me with her eyes to believe her, to trust her.
“Then she can get out. This is much easier for her than it was for you. All she has to do is refuse to play the game, and it’s over. I hope you’re right and that she makes the right choice, but until she does, our plan needs to stay the same. We force their hand, we make sure everyone knows who you are, we make you untouchable,” I say soothingly, rubbing my thumb in a circle on the pulse point on her wrist.
She nods, her eyes sad and resigned. “Okay.”
The rest of the week passes in a blur of school, dinners, and parties. We go to every single social engagement we can find and make sure that every single person in our school, including the teachers, knows exactly who Izzy is and that we’re engaged.
Penelope doesn’t go to school for the rest of the week, and with each day her sister is absent, Izzy gets a little more determined. She’s got it in her head that Penelope is as manipulated and blackmailed as she was. That she wants out, that she would rather walk away from the inheritance than live the rest of her life controlled by a dead man’s wishes, but I’m not convinced.
On Saturday night, Izzy and I climb into my town car and let the driver ferry us to Peter Colesworthy’s annual “Let’s Get Fucked Up” party in his parents’ penthouse. One weekend a year, his parents go out of town and give him free rein to throw a ridiculous party, which usually ends with everyone crashing at his place.
Fitzy pulled it out of the bag when he dropped off tiny denim shorts, a black lace bralette, and yet another soft leather jacket for Izzy to wear. Most of the girls tonight will be in similar tight designer dresses, but my girl will shine in her more casual, yet sexier outfit.
I even fucking love the heeled Doc Martens boots she decided to wear instead of the sky-high pumps Fitzy left for her. She looks sexy and tempting, and if we were in a limo instead of the town car, I’d be fucking her already.
The guys are all coming tonight too, but as we’ve been a united front all week, I didn’t think we needed the impact of arriving as a group. Glancing to the girl on my right, I rest my hand on her thigh and lean in for a kiss. Without a thought, she presses her lips against mine, and I fucking preen at how easy this all feels.
How is it possible that three weeks ago I didn’t know she existed, when now I don’t know how I’ll survive if she tries to walk away when all of this is over? Fuck, the idea that this might be over soon guts me. I don’t know how long Penelope will be able to go on maintaining her grades without Izzy’s help. If she slips up on the first test, I could lose my Ghost in the next few weeks, or maybe her parents will bribe the school and I could keep her until graduation.
Or maybe forever, a small voice inside of me whispers.
How did this happen? How did I go from being so repulsed by the idea of being engaged to wanting all the lies we’ve told to be true with my Little Ghost?
When she lets out a quiet sigh beside me, I know why I’m considering forever. Izzy is so different from the vultures that are part of our circle. She’s strong and resilient and so fucking sexy I can barely keep my hands off her. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything else, and even though we’ve had more sex in the last week than I’ve had in months, I’m always craving more: more of her attention, more of her.
When the driver slows to a stop at the curb outside Peter’s house, I’m not ready to share her. She’s the first person I’ve ever felt selfish with, and that feeling is so alien, it’s unnerving. Even as the door is opening, I want to pull her back and keep her to myself. She’s mine, and an overwhelming sense of possessiveness is demanding that I keep her close, that I protect her.
