I couldn't remember when Bellamy had left the night before, but I knew that I hadn't really slept. I was exhausted and must have looked it, because when I showed up for brunch Delilah pulled me to the side.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes crinkling in concern.

I quickly wiped beneath my eyes with my finger. Sure enough, they felt puffy. "I'm fine," I lied. "Just couldn't sleep last night."

She raised an eyebrow, not convinced. "Do you need to take a rain check today?" she asked. "I can ask Ms. Enders. It'll suck, we won't get another chance to leave before the party, but I'm sure she'll–"

"Leave?" I asked, confused.

"Yea," she said. "You didn't know? We're going into town today."

Had I known that? Probably. "I'm sorry, I forgot. No, you don't need to talk to her. I'm fine." I brushed past her and made my way into the lounge where the tables were preset, and everyone was already in their own designated seats. I went to my table, feeling Delilah's eyes on my back. It was only the twins and I today. It looked like the only other girl who shared our table was either sick or had decided to skip brunch.

Ms. Enders entered the room, looking the picture of regal grace in a sheath dress and short kitten pumps. She addressed the ladies from the front of the room, her naturally severe, yet beautiful face flushed as she relayed her excitement. We were going into the upscale, small town of Pineville in order to get fitted for our dresses for the cotillion – or pseudo-cotillion. At this point, I couldn't find it in myself to care what it was called.

When Mr. Wallace entered the room, I almost slapped myself. I was here for a reason, and that reason was not to mope over my own stupid choices. I was here to find a criminal – a blackmailer...a potential rapist. There had already been one suicide. I looked around the room at the girls. I didn't know all of them. Hell, I didn't know ninety percent of them, but I still felt responsible for them. I straightened my back and resolved to finish this up – and quickly if I could. We were already halfway through this camp. I looked around, seeing if Margarie was nearby. Now, knowing that she was his daughter, I wondered why she chose to work for Ms. Enders rather than attend with the girls. Another thing Delilah had pointed out to me earlier in the week was that even though the etiquette courses sucked big time, they were a good way for the girls to network. These girls weren't just ordinary teenagers. They were the daughters of rich and powerful people. They would likely end up going to the best colleges, marrying into the upper echelon of any community they chose. Their connections and friends were a network of the wealthy, famous, and powerful.

"Ladies," Ms. Enders called across the room. "As you all know, you will be going on a little trip today. Well, I have a wonderful surprise for you. Unfortunately," I watched as her face tensed slightly while Mr. Wallace remained completely unreadable, "I won't be able to join you as I usually would. Mr. Wallace has agreed to see you into Pineville. I hope that you'll all give him your attention and mind his regulations. We do ask that you stay together in groups. You are, after all, young ladies and under our care. Please take care not to stray from the group and to keep Mr. Wallace aware of your whereabouts if you choose to take some free time and shop at the local boutiques."

Ms. Enders finished with a few reminders on table manners as we would be staying in town for dinner at what Isador and Natalia called La Maison, a French restaurant. I glanced at Mr. Wallace out of the corner of my eye. Delilah had said he was militant with his boys. I would be surprised if he didn't quiz us on our table manners and the proper use of utensils. I looked down at the silverware with irritation. Thankfully, though, brunch ended without a Mr. Wallace intervention and we were all escorted into several stretch limos to head to town.

The seats were warm leather and some of the girls popped a bottle of champagne and poured the glasses. "Um, aren't we all underage?" I asked. Even Natalia, Isador, and Delilah laughed.

"Don't worry," Delilah said, handing me a glass. "No one is going to tell."

"I'm so glad Mr. Wallace went with the other limo," Isador said, leaning back against the door as she put her heel clad feet on her sister's lap.

Natalia grimaced and shoved her off. "Silk, Isa," she snapped. "I'm wearing silk." Isador laughed but didn't put her feet back up as she sipped her champagne.

I stared down at my glass of champagne and, remembering how sore my muscles had been after the "extra training" Knix had ordered, I lightly handed it off to someone else, hoping Natalia, Isador, and Delilah didn't notice.

"Me too," one of the other girls, whose name I didn't know, said with a groan, responding to Isador's relief. "He's old and a stick in the mud."

"You're just mad that you can't bat your eyes at him and get whatever you want like you do with your daddy, Lindsey," Delilah snapped. The girl in question wore an expensive, floral, wrap dress with nude heels with red bottoms. She rolled her eyes at Delilah and drank more champagne.

It didn't take long for us to reach Pineville. Apparently, other than the larger cities, the majority of upper New York was a hunter and fisher's paradise. Pineville was quaint but sequestered. Though it was upscale, which was obvious in the whitewashed buildings and classically antique little houses here and there, it was still quite small. The limos pulled up at the end of the main street – the street with the most shops and businesses – and everyone got out. Several of the girls from our limo teetered on their heels including Isador and the other girl, Lindsey, both of whom were obviously already tipsy.

My gaze shot to Mr. Wallace as he stepped out of his limo. His hard eyes and enigmatic face were stone cold. Delilah gripped my hand and tugged me after her. I was starting to feel very thankful that she had taken me under her wing when I arrived. Having a friend was good for blending in, yes, but really, sometimes, I needed someone who was much more knowledgeable about all of this stuff than I was.

"Come on," she called behind her, "they get free time first, we're heading to the shop first to get fitted."

"Hi Angel," Delilah said with a bright smile as we entered through the tinkling glass front door. The shop was a small boutique with an elegant African American woman at the counter. The place smelled like coconut and lavender and I loved it the moment I inhaled. There were fabrics on every wall, tapestries bearing obviously hand-woven scenes.

"Good to see you again, Dee," the young woman – Angel – said. "Who's this?" She graced me with a smile that seemed to shine right out of her face.

"This is Harley," Delilah introduced. I blinked, confused for a moment, then nearly stumbled over myself to offer my hand as I recognized my pseudonym. After the night before with Bellamy, my whole brain had apparently been fried if I couldn't even remember my fake name. It was only two letters off from my real name for God's sake!

"Hi," I said hesitantly, offering my hand. Angel took it and then held it for a moment.

"Wow," she said. "I've never seen eyes with gold in them before."

"What?" I blinked.

"Your eyes. They're brown, but you've got these interesting light swirls of gold in them. They're quite pretty." She let my hand go.

"Oh," I said dumbly. "Thank you." I felt a flush rise to my face and Delilah laughed. Thankfully, the twins saved me from further embarrassment.

"Angel!" Isador cried, diving head first across the counter to hug the other woman. Angel chuckled as she hugged the girl back and then set her down. When she rounded the counter, Natalia was next.

"We haven't seen you in forever!" Natalia said with a pout. "I thought I told you to call us the next time you were in Barcelona. I have it on good authority that you were there last winter."

Angel smirked. "Who told you I was in Barcelona?" she asked. "I was in Milan, not Barcelona."

"Milan?" Delilah asked. "What were you there for?" Her face brightened with excitement. "Oh, my goodness! Did you get the contract?" Angel smiled and nodded, and Delilah whirled to me. "Angel's a model," she gushed. "She's been working out a modeling contract with an international agency for months." She swung back to Angel. "Why are you here if you got the contract?"

With a shrug, Angel moved towards an open doorway with a gold chain linked across. She unhooked it and we followed her into the room. "Gran is having some surgery. I offered to help since I'm in the states for the next few days. You actually caught me at a great time. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Oh?" Delilah bounced alongside her as we entered a long hallway that had a couple of smaller rooms on either side. Angel withdrew a key and unlocked one before letting us in. "Do tell, where are you going?"

Angel moved towards a tall elegantly carved wardrobe as the twins collapsed on a purple cushioned settee. As I glanced around, I realized that the entire room was an eclectic mix of colors. The walls were an antiqued, floral lined wallpaper. Not one of the chairs and settees were the same color or shade. In the middle of the room, there was a short, white circular stage set in front of a tri-fold mirror edged in what looked to be pure bronze. Somehow, it all worked together to create a unique and homey space.

“I’m heading to NYC,” Angel said. “So not far, but in a couple of weeks I’ll be flying to London for a photo shoot.”

“Wow, how exciting,” I said.

Angel threw a smile over her shoulder at me before turning back to rummage through the wardrobe. “I’m not as well traveled as I’d like to be,” she admitted. “I’ve only been out of the country a couple times and only to Italy.”

“Hey, Harley,” Natalia called, “have you ever been out of the country?”

“Uh, no,” I admitted. “This is actually the first time I’ve been out of the Carolinas.”

“Oh, really? Your dad’s never taken you with him on any business trips?” she asked, glancing at Isador. “Our dad took us all the time when we were younger.”

I barely resisted the urge to flinch. “No,” I said quietly. Thankfully, Natalia and Isador fell into a different conversation and Angel and Delilah did the same. I sat in a wing-backed chair in the corner and watched the four of them chat.

I was exhausted by the time the girls were done with their dresses. Even I had one, apparently. It was a long shimmering purple sheath dress with a beaded back. I suspected it had been Marv who had called to order it to be made. The moment it settled over my curves, I had loved it, but I had to remind myself that this was all make believe. It was just pretend. I wasn’t really going to a cotillion – those things were meant for southern belles anyway. It was just an excuse Ms. Enders used to get these girls together and prepare them for their real world. And their real world was vastly different than my own.

“Are you okay?” Delilah asked as we exited the shop, waving goodbye to Angel and wishing her well on her lucky travels.

“Yea,” I said, shaking my head to get rid of some of the fog that had started to form. “I’m fine. Why?”

Before she could answer someone was calling out. “Hey! Harley! Harley!” Shocked that someone would be calling out my fake name, I turned and nearly swallowed my tongue.

“Oh my,” Delilah gasped, “please tell me that’s your brother. If that’s your brother, I can marry him.” After what had occurred the night before with Bellamy, I should not have been entertaining jealousy. But in that moment, I wanted to put a paper bag over Marv’s gorgeous head so that Delilah and the twins would stop looking at him like they wanted to eat him alive. Isador and Natalia were on the curb, looking behind them with knowing smiles and a bit of envy as Marv came up to us, huffing and puffing.

He looked the picturesque version of the handsome gentleman in light khakis with a brown leather belt and a white and blue checkered dress shirt neatly tucked into his waistband. He bent slightly to catch his breath, then stood up to his full height and yanked me into a quick hug. I shivered at the sensation of his arms closing around me and I could have sworn I heard the girls all sigh behind me.

“I knew that was you,” he said as if he didn’t know that I was supposed to be here. “What are you doing here?”

“Uhhh...I’m attending Ms. Enders’ Etiquette Camp,” I said dumbly. The smell of dark roast coffee permeated all but his hair, which smelled of floral hotel shampoo. When he finally released me, I teetered on my heels as if I had drunk some of the champagne I had been offered earlier.

“So that’s why Knix brought me here,” Marv said with a ‘huh’ look on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him, but quickly schooled my expression as Delilah introduced herself and Isador and Natalia ambled back over, doing the same. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, producing a million-watt smile. “I’m a friend of Harley’s cousin,” he took their hands in turn, “Marvin Carter.”

A part of me wondered why he didn’t use a pseudonym, but then I realized it would probably have been a moot point. His parents were wealthy, someone would eventually recognize him if he continued to hang around or if the girls described him to someone back at the villa.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Isador said, batting her eyelashes. I wanted to rip those eyelashes off and shove them down her throat. When Natalia stepped forward and Marv took her hand as well, I blinked at myself, shocked at my own thoughts. I didn’t own Marv. We weren’t dating. After what I had done with Bellamy, I had no right to my jealousy. Still, the little green monster remained as the girls made small talk with Marv for the next few minutes.

“Well, it was really wonderful meeting you ladies,” he said, “but I saw Harley and I couldn’t resist saying hi. Do you mind if I steal her away?”

“Oh, we’re supposed to be meeting at La Maison for dinner at five. Why don’t you join us?” Delilah offered.

“Oh, I couldn’t.” Marv waved his hands as he spoke. It was so unlike him that it took me a moment to realize he was playing a character. Just because he had to use his real name didn’t mean he had to be his real self. “I’m actually in town with Harley’s cousin.” He shot me a look that I knew the girls were watching. It was full of amusement and something sneakier, concern. “The jerk didn’t even tell me why we were hanging around here and I was getting bored. Had I known it was for Harley…” His words trailed off and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Marv was laying it on just a bit thick. One glance at the girls, though, and I knew it was working.

“Aw, how sweet.” Delilah turned big eyes on me. “Go with him, Harley. We’ll tell Mr. Wallace that Angel needed some extra time to fix your dress.”

Before I could accept or protest, Marv’s arm wound around my waist and he pulled me to his side. I practically saw the twins melt with wistfulness. “Thank you so much, Delilah,” Marv said graciously. “I promise, I will have her delivered to La Maison by 5 pm.”

Delilah and the twins nodded in turn as Marv began walking, tugging me along with his arm around my back. “Smile,” he whispered. I did so despite the incredible urge that was building within me to slap his hands away.

“What’s going on?” I whispered back.

“Not yet.” He turned his head and waved behind him at Delilah and the twins. When I craned my neck, I realized they were still standing in the same place and waving back excitedly.

“They’re going to tell everyone that they saw you,” I hissed as he turned a corner and urged me across a side street.

“It’s fine.”

I whipped my head to look up at him. “Why would it be fine?” I asked. “What happened to keeping a low profile?”

“Not yet,” he said as we entered what looked like a bed and breakfast. Was this where the guys had been staying? But no, we passed right through the lobby and the strangely empty kitchen and out the back door into an alley. How had he known there wouldn’t be anyone there to stop us? Or at least ask us what the hell we thought we were doing walking through someone’s place of business. The kitchen, at least, was private property, right?

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter anymore to my confused brain because the moment we cleared the alley I recognized the compact crossover car that Knix had rented from the airport to drive from Buffalo to Ms. Enders’ villa. Marv quickly opened the backdoor and urged me into the back before practically sprinting around to get into the front passenger seat. I froze as I was putting my seatbelt on when I realized who was driving. Bellamy flicked me a glance as Marv slid in and buckled up.

“What are you waiting for, Harlow?” Marv said. “Buckle up, come on, we gotta hurry and get you back soon.”

I finished clipping my seatbelt and then trained my gaze directly on him. “Why are you here?” I asked, deciding to ignore the riot of emotions cascading through my body at seeing Bellamy so soon after last night. “What’s happened?”

“We’re heading to the hotel,” Marv said. “Sorry, I know it was a shock to see me. You did really well though.”

“Why didn’t you text me and let me know what you were up to?” I finally directed my gaze to the back of Bellamy’s head, wondering why he hadn’t said anything the night before.

“We just sort of decided it this morning. We’ve got some new info and we need to debrief and update the group on everything. That includes you. Don’t worry, I was there when Knix went to talk to Ms. Enders’ the other day. She knows that I’m in the area. Knix is still playing the dutiful cousin. Ms. Enders even asked if I would be so kind as to come to the cotillion.”

“Fake cotillion,” I reminded him.

He shrugged. “Both Knix and I have been invited.”

I sighed and sat back against the leather interior of the car. Even though my muscles were tense from the shock of Marv showing up unannounced, it felt good to be back with the guys. Delilah and the twins had been great, and I had even enjoyed meeting Angel, but I missed being me. They all saw me as Harley Hampton – not Harlow Hampton.

“So,” Marv turned around and eyed me up and down, “how has it been? Are you okay?”

Bellamy grunted. Marv turned to him. “What?” he snapped.

“Let’s wait until we get to the hotel,” Bellamy said.

Marv frowned at Bellamy and my muscles tensed again, but neither said anything more. I watched the buildings fly by through the tinted windows. Though neither of them said as much, I could tell that Bellamy was avoiding the main street and staying clear of any areas that the other girls and people from the villa might be. The hotel was a short distance away, only about a ten-minute drive. When we arrived, Marv jumped out and immediately opened my door for me. I sighed as I descended onto the sidewalk. Soon enough, I would forget how to open my own doors.

I glanced up at the Hotel Charmisa, a tall, square, golden structure with glinting windows every few feet. Marv put a hand on the small of my back, urging me forward as the car rolled away. "Let's go," he said.

"What about Bellamy?" I turned to glance behind me as Marv pushed me through the glass front doors of the hotel.

"He's parking the car," Marv assured me. "He'll meet us up in the room."

I let Marv lead me towards the double elevators, not unlike the elevators that we had used when the guys had lived in the condos a few months ago. He pressed the button and I smirked as his foot tapped impatiently until the doors slid open. We stepped into the empty space and Marv pressed the button for the top floor. He noticed me watching and turned, pressing me back against the furthest wall. I gasped, my eyes widened as I looked up at him in shock.

"Are you really okay?" he asked, his eyes roving over me as if checking for visible injuries.

"I'm fine," I said with a sigh. I put my hands against his chest, but he refused to move back. "Marv..." I silently urged him with my eyes. "I'm fine, I promise. They've treated me just fine. I mean – the table manners and ballroom dancing lessons are torture, but other than that, it's been rainbows and sunshine."

His eyes darkened as he continued to stare down at me. I didn't know if he even heard me. If he did, he wasn't showing any signs of it. He pressed forward again, pushing me firmly against the wall. What was he doing? The buttons at the top of the elevator doors dinged as we slowly rose to the top.

"Marv?" I cursed my shaky voice, but I couldn't help it. My heart was racing. It beat in time with his – which I could feel through the fabric of both of our clothes, as close as he was.

"Sunshine..." he whispered, and his mouth descended. My eyes closed of their own volition as his lips touched mine. His were soft. They were like coming home, rubbing teasingly over the seam of my mouth. My lips parted, and I was the one who initiated further contact this time. I could have freaking kicked myself, dammit, but I couldn't help it.

Enticing, his scent enveloped me, and Marv slid both of his arms around my back, pulling me firmly into his chest. My head tilted to the side as his tongue tangled and danced with mine. Was I breathing hard, or was he? Maybe we both were. My pulse thrummed in my veins, fast and expressive. Couldn't he understand how irresistible he was? I pressed against him, some part of me sought what I had felt the night before with Bellamy and when Marv's hands clasped me behind my legs and jerked me up, I felt it.

My feet left the ground and I wound my legs around his hips. One of his hands reached out and slapped against the emergency stop button. There was a loud noise, but it was drowned out under the feelings coursing through me as Marv pushed me back against the wall and kissed me like I was the last girl on Earth – the last woman on Earth. It felt like the entire world could end right then and there, and neither of us would have noticed.

Sparks of electricity danced under my skin everywhere his hands roamed. He cupped my sides, rolling downward, squeezing my ass. I gasped as he rubbed me between my thighs. Blinking my eyes open, my fuzzy vision cleared as I realized he was looking down at me. His eyes were animalistically dark – the normal, light gray darkened into a deep storm. It would have been scary if it hadn't been Marv, but it was Marv, and I knew he would never hurt me.

One of his hands rose and brushed back my hair as he stroked my face. "We can't do this here," he said through gritted teeth. "But soon, Sunshine."

I didn't reply, but he must have seen something in my face, because he nodded and put me down. I stood there for several shocked moments, confused by my own reactions as Marv reached over and hit a button to restart the elevator. As I adjusted my clothes and smoothed out my hair, I had to ask myself and not for the first time, what the hell was I thinking?

* * *

As I walked into the hotel room, I could swear the guys knew what Marv and I had done in the elevator. But it was obviously just my imagination because if they knew then one of them would have said something. Texas shot a smile my way over the mound of computers set out in front of him, on the table in the corner of the room. Knix paced back and forth in the space between the flat screen television and the twin, queen beds.

"Bell?" Knix asked when we entered, shooting the question to Marv.

"Parking the car. He'll–" Just as Marv was about to finish, the door beeped and opened again, and Bellamy stepped through, closing it quickly behind him.

"Good." Knix nodded his way. It didn't escape my notice that he barely spared me a glance until that point. When his eyes finally met mine, I realized something was very wrong. "Harlow, why don't you take a seat?"

I did as he asked, but as soon as I was seated on the bed, I couldn't keep quiet anymore. "What's happened?" I demanded.

Everyone else spread out; Bellamy against the wall, Marv on the bed with me – he put his hand on my back and I tensed. Bellamy and Knix both noticed, but neither said anything. Instead, Knix squared his shoulders and faced me. "There's been some new developments." I had figured as much, but had hoped that it wasn't anything major. With the gravity etched across Knix's face, I knew it was very serious.

"What's happened?" I asked again, grateful that my voice was steady.

Knix turned and it was then that I realized he had a remote control in his hand. He flicked on the television. "Texas," he prompted.

"Right!" Texas hit a few buttons from his computers and the screen of the television shifted, changing to what appeared to be lists of numbers scrolling past the screen. "Hold on," he said. "I'm bringing it up."

He scrolled a bit more. "There," he said, stopping. "So, it looks like Mr. Wallace has had some interesting transactions in his accounts. If you'll look at this–" Texas used the mouse icon to circle a rather large number, "every month, on the same day, someone deposits a couple thousand dollars in his account."

"It's not the same as what the girls are being blackmailed for," Knix said.

I turned my neck and craned up to look at him. "You know how much they're being blackmailed for?" I asked.

He paused for a moment as if deciding if he wanted to tell me. Then he sighed and nodded. "Marv has been in contact with Mr. Spencer continuously while we've been up here," he said. "And the man has noticed that, like clockwork, about 5K a month has been disappearing from different accounts. It took a few months for him to notice because sometimes it was from his wife's account, sometimes his stepdaughter’s, sometimes his and sometimes the house or business accounts."

"The stepdaughter is the one getting into those accounts?" I asked.

He nodded, but Marv was the one who answered. "He keeps all of his account information locked in a safe in his office. He hadn't realized it, but apparently Sarah found his passcode. She's been slowly siphoning money from each account to keep it quiet."

"She must be so scared," I said. I couldn't imagine it, having to steal from my own family just so someone wouldn't release pictures of a private...my thoughts immediately went to the word shame, but that wasn't right. These girls had no reason to feel shame. What had happened to them, if it had in fact happened, wasn't their fault.

Knix nodded. "We weren't able to track the money, but the money that shows up in Mr. Wallace's account occurs on the same day as when the money disappears from Mr. Spencer's various accounts."

"Okay...but..." My mind was working in overdrive. I stared hard at the numbers on the screen. "The money doesn't match up."

"The numbers, you mean?" Texas asked.

I nodded. "Yea, you said that it's five thousand that she pays every month. He's only receiving two."

The screen scrolled down again. "Yes, but two days afterward, he receives another three thousand."

I shook my head. "No, that still doesn't make sense."

Knix watched me with intelligent eyes. "Why do you think that is?" he prompted. I think he already knew and he was urging me to figure it out on my own. Even when in the middle of a job, he was a teacher in every way. I sighed, shifting away from Marv as I sat further on the edge of the mattress.

"Sometimes companies will take a couple of dollars from an account for large payments and then a few days later, take the rest. But it's just a couple of dollars. I've never seen anyone take a couple of thousand and then a couple thousand more. Aside from that, we have established that Sarah isn't the only girl, right?" I looked to Marv for reaffirmation.

His hardened face told me I was right, but I waited for him to nod anyway. I turned back to Knix. "Then how much is he blackmailing the others? Is it the same amount? Is he changing it per family? There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered."

Despite the tension in the room, Knix smiled. "We need to get you into college at some point, Little Bit," he said with a wink before turning back to the TV. "But you're right. We still can't figure out where the rest of the money would be going. Texas is looking for other avenues of payment he might be seeking to keep his nose as clean as possible. Wallace certainly has the information he needs on these girls and their families. He has access to all of Ms. Enders' files and it was clear that she trusts him completely when Marv and I visited the villa."

I bit my lip, wanting to ask about it and why I hadn't seen them, but I kept my mouth closed and my thoughts to myself. They had probably been trying to keep a low profile. The only reason Marv had revealed himself today was because he had to. I bit a nail as Texas closed out the bank accounts window on the screen. I didn't even want to consider how illegal it might be to go through someone else's bank account information. I didn't want to ask how Texas had even gotten that information. Still, my eyes drifted over to him as his hands played across the keyboards behind his screens and wires. His head popped up once more.

"Okay, so here's the list of possible targets we've come up with," Texas said.

I returned my attention to the TV and read through them. Some of the names I didn't recognize, others – like Delilah, Natalia, and Isador – I definitely did.

"Okay," I said, "what's the plan then?"

"We're going to flush him out at the cotillion." Bellamy pushed away from the wall. Somehow, I had expected that and nodded. His jaw clenched, and I watched as he flicked a glance at my side before continuing. "Marv is going to escort you, and Knix will escort Delilah." That's why he looked so upset, I realized. There was nothing I could say. Even if I did know what to say, I certainly couldn't do it right here in front of the guys. I struggled to keep my gaze from falling to my lap. At some point, I knew, I needed to talk to the guys. I needed to tell them – Knix and Bellamy and Marv...maybe even Texas, he was part of the team as well. They all deserved to know what was going on. Maybe if I nipped whatever was happening between the guys and me in the bud sooner rather than later, it wouldn't explode in my face later.

With that resolved in my mind, I knew that right before a major operation wasn't the right time to bring it up. It would have to be later, when we all went home. Maybe as soon as we got home. Even with the riot of emotions inside my head, I listened intently as Bellamy and Knix explained the plan. My nerves were a mess and we were still a few days away from the cotillion. I knew it would catch up to me at any moment.

When Bellamy dropped Marv and I back off in the same place, behind the Pineville Bed and Breakfast, he leaned out the window and called me over once more as Marv headed for the back door of the building. I stood outside of the car, nervously wanting to chew on my lips and bite my fingernails as he opened the driver's side door and got out. His dark, soulful eyes looked down at me and I felt like he could see me stripped bare. All the way down to my fears.

"Are you okay?" he asked, lowering his voice. I nodded once. "I mean it, Sweetheart. About last night..."

"I'm fine," I said quickly and then with a rush of expelled breath I looked at my feet. "I mean, yea, I'm embarrassed. I liked it...a lot. I've never...done that before, but things are complicated. I don't think we should have done what we did."

"I don't regret it," he said. "I don't want you to either."

I looked back up at him. "I didn't say I regretted it."

His shoulders sagged, and he backed up, his hand reaching for the car door. "You didn't have to," he said. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"Bellamy–" I reached out. My hand touched his arm, wrapped around his bicep. "Stop it. I don't regret it," I snapped. "I like you." The words flowed from my mouth, shocking even me. "I like you a lot. I don't regret what we did, but I've never had..." I kept my voice as low as possible, "sex before..."

My hand fell away as Bellamy turned. "You don't have to be scared," he said. "I'd never hurt you. I'll wait." He gulped as he said that last bit and my lips twitched at his obvious discomfort. "I'll wait for you if you need me to."

"Harlow?" Marv called from the back door of the Bed and Breakfast. "Come on, we have to go. Bell, quit teasing her. We have a schedule to keep."

"I have to go," I said, pulling away.

"Can I call you later?" Bellamy asked.

I blanched. "Wait," I said. "Let's just get through this first and then we can...talk." We would all have to talk. He seemed to relax at my words and nodded. He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to the top of my head before getting back in the car. Marv looked at me strangely, but took my hand anyway, fingers twining with my own. I felt like the worst kind of person – a liar, definitely – as he led me through the Bed and Breakfast's kitchen and lobby and back out on the street.

When we arrived, several minutes behind schedule in front of the La Maison, Delilah was waiting out front. "Oh, thank goodness," she said. "There you are. Mr. Wallace has been asking for you."

"Thanks for covering for her," Marv said with a wink, easily slipping back into character. He pulled me close for a quick hug and pecked me on my lips. It was chaste and barely there, but the kiss still sent sparks tingling through me.

"No problem," Delilah replied with a dreamy sigh. For the first time, I was on the exact same page as her. First Bellamy and then Marv, back to back. I still needed to remember that I had kissed Knix too, or he had kissed me. Did it really matter who had kissed who? All I knew was that I was seriously confused and probably in love with multiple guys. My eyes widened. I did not just think the word love.

Before I could consider it further, Marv waved goodbye and Delilah grabbed my hand, practically dragging me into the restaurant. Mr. Wallace, it seemed, was quite upset that I had been missing for so long. When he saw me taking my seat with Delilah though – since we were permitted to sit with whomever we liked while outside the villa – he visibly relaxed and then continued to check through the rest of the girls before, finally, he sat down for his own meal.

My mind was mush. I couldn't remember anything I said to the twins and Delilah as they gushed about Marv and peppered me with questions about what we did and where we went. I couldn't tell them the truth even if I wanted to and I found myself desperately missing Erika and my mom. As soon as I got home, maybe before I talked with the guys, I wanted to talk to them – at least my mom. Maybe she would know what to do.