Page 84 of Pretty Secrets

“That makes two of us,” Oliver hisses, glaring at the folder in Alaric’s hand.

“So, you’re here why?” I question.

“I think that’s plenty obvious,” he states, placing his hands on Eden’s shoulders.

She doesn’t flinch away, or call him a caveman, or tell him he’s playing a different game than the rest of us. She just lets him do it. The longing that conjures terrifies the shit out of me. “We need to take that back to the Hall,” I say, pointing at the folder. “We’ll come up with a plan.”

“You aren’t allowed to help,” Eden reminds us. She walks up to Alaric and takes the folder from him. “He said we’re supposed to do it on our own.”

I take the folder away from her. “He meant physically, as in not doing it for you. We can brainstorm together.”

She rips the folder from my hand and stuffs it up her shirt. “You can’t help.”

I eye her. “If you think that’s going to keep it away from me, you’re very, very mistaken, Little Astor.” But to show her I’m not always thinking about sex, I add, “Just take our help, at least mine. It’s the smart thing to do. You don’t think I’ve broken into places on behalf of the Knights before?”

“You mean on behalf of the Jarvises?” she throws back.

Sometimes, I don’t know where that line ends and the other begins. Grandfather likes to blur it a little like heisthe Knights.

“Just take my help,” I order, sick of arguing with her.

“He’s right,” Barclay says. “We’ll help. That’s our job. We won’t do it for you, but let’s go back to Jarvis Hall and think about our next move.”

I don’t know whether it was Alaric’s words or my own, but Eden backs down, returning with us to the residence hall to plan a heist that could send her further into the Knights’ snare.

33

Oliver

Sometimes it pays being a royal whose face is splashed all over the tabloids. Especially when all those tabloids are available in the doctor’s office that you’re trying to steal information from.

Eden and I have memorized the contents of Vincent’s folder. Leo and Alaric wanted us to learn how to break the security system and enter the medical office at night like ninjas, but that seemed a little tooMission Impossiblefor Eden and me.

We concocted our own plan that those two twats think is ridiculous—and it is—but I wholeheartedly believe it will work…by just using a little ingenuity.

“You ready?” I ask.

Eden fires off a text that I catch the last couple words of. She’s been trying to reach her dad since last night with no luck, and his lack of response is pissing her off. Which is good. She can use that for fodder in there. “Yeah, I’m ready,” she says. “Keep a straight face or this will never work.”

I chuckle already. We once used a similar ruse to get us out of one of her parents’ boring parties. They’re particularly hard on Eden because of all the fake ass smiles, but I’m used to that kind of hell.

I jump out of her Jeep and run around to the other side, helping her out of the seat as she doubles over. We walk like that until we get to Northside OBGYN, the name inside the folder. She stumbles, but she doesn’t turn it on in full force until we get inside.

“God… Jesus… This hurts,” she groans as soon as we step inside.

The receptionist opposite a glass partition immediately looks concerned. “Are you okay, Miss?”

Eden leans into me, lashes fluttering.

I have my dark sunglasses down over my eyes as I peer up. “She needs help. Can you get a doctor?”

“You should probably go to the—”

Eden groans, falling, but I stop her at the last second before she hits her knees. “Please?” I ask desperately. “I was just walking by, and she was lying on your sidewalk. Something about a—”

“My tampon!” Edie yells. “It’s stuck. It hurts so damn bad.”

Two more nurses appear in the doorway that leads into the back of the medical practice. They take in Edie’s slumped form and start asking her a million questions.

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