Fraud

CHAPTER ONE

Emily

Prep school is such a joke. The entire establishment, really. All grades from kindergarten through senior year.

We’re nothing more than carbon copies of our parents being churned out. A young generation educated, trained and mass-produced to take over when our parents die.

I’m still wearing the same uniform from when I was young, obviously with a size difference, but the style as never changed.

Grey pleated skirt. White button down blouse. A grey jacket with the school insignia stitched to the breast pocket. The only choice we’re allowed is our shoes, but even those are practically the same since they have to be all black with a smooth sole and no laces.

The guys aren’t much better with their grey pants, white button down shirts and the same jacket. Most of the students adhere to the strict dress code, all except the Inferno of course, because they can do whatever the hell they want.

Leaning against a locker, I wait for Ivy to pull out the books she needs. She’s dragging ass, as usual, her eyes flicking over to Gabriel Dane’s locker repeatedly.

When she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, I arrow my stare on the expression, suspicion churning in my gut because I know that look.

“What did you do?”

“Huh?” she asks, her voice distracted and her blue eyes turning my direction. “Nothing.”

My brow lifts because she’s definitely lying about that.

“He’ll kill you, whatever it is.”

Her lips curl at the corners.

“If he can catch me. Which, he won’t.”

Around us, the typical popular crowd waits for us to finish what we’re doing so they can follow us down the hall for bragging rights. 

Ivy, Ava and I are at the very top of the food chain, best friends since birth, but always willing to blend in with the other girls who come and go in school.

Esmeralda Chase is chatting up Jane Dougherty, and Ellie Maxwell is watching Amanda Stewart closely. Around them are another tier of gossiping hens, none of which know us well, even though they pretend to.

Eventually, Ava walks up and the crowd of girls part to let her through, her lips curved into a demure smile.

“I heard something interesting today.”

My eyes lock with Ava’s, worry creeping down my spine because there are far too many rumors in this school. Some true, many ridiculous.

Ivy is still too preoccupied to have heard what Ava said, her foot tapping against the ground awaiting Gabriel. I have no idea what she’s done, but it must be bad. She doesn’t always stick around to watch.

I’m not sure I want to know what Ava heard, but the question tumbles from my tongue regardless, slippery and wet.

“What’s that?”

Her brown eyes sparkle to look at me.

“I think you know. And if it’s true, you’re an idiot to go there.”

Damn it.

It’s not surprising to hear a whispered rumor is already breezing through the school halls after the party last weekend. I knew the mistake would leak. Had been sure of it after Mark Kingsley stumbled into the wrong room with Polly Hanes on his arm.

He’d mumbled a quick apology when he saw Ezra and me, but both his and Polly’s eyes took a good long look before ru

It was the first time we’d kissed, and I’d intended it to be the last, but the past few days have tossed more mistakes onto the pile, burying me in them each time my arm is grabbed and I’m dragged into seclusion.

Every time, I promise I’ll end it, but then his mouth brushes mine, his hand slides to forbidden places, and I can’t help but feel thrilled to break the promise my parents made for me before I was born. I also melt beneath a shiver of excitement I feel kissing him while knowing he’s dangerous.

Ava lowers her voice to a whisper, her body leaning into mine.

“Of all of them, he’s the last one you should be screwing with. You know how the twins are.”

Nobody can tell the twins apart, and to be honest, neither can I. Not fully. Not with enough assurance to know it’s always Ezra. But that’s who he tells me he is. I have no way to know for sure. They’ve been known to play a game of replacing each other.

“You need to stop,” Ava warns, but her words are lost when Ivy’s elbow nudges me, her chin lifting to tell me to look down the hall.

There they are.

The Inferno.

Not all of them, of course, because the entire group is rarely in the same place at the same time in school. Only at parties. But there are enough of them to make heads turn and people whisper behind their hands.

Gabriel and Ta

I have no idea where the rest of them are, but I really don’t care. My focus is solely on Ezra...or Damon...or both. I’ve been studying them for years, and I still can’t pick up on the small clues that a person can use to tell them apart.

The way they move, the way they talk, the aggression in their amber eyes and even the way they wear their clothes, it’s all identical.

But there has to be some secret I’m missing.

Their closest friends - the other members of their group - always know which is which.

“Here we go,” Ivy whispers, excitement and a touch of evil pleasure in her voice.

I know for sure she’s done something now. Her eyes only glimmer like that when she’s pranked Gabriel.

It’s a little surprising this war between them has gone on for so long. As far back as I can remember, they’ve been at each other’s throats.

What’s also surprising is that neither of them have figured out yet that they’re secretly into each other. The entire school sees it clearly. But if you were to ask Ivy or Gabe, they would swear it’s only hatred they feel.

Ivy isn’t one to hide, though.

Just as Gabe approaches his locker, she pushes past the crowd around us to ensure she’s front and center for whatever is about to happen. And when it does, she’ll be the person Gabe seeks out because he always knows it’s her.

“Oh, fuck,” Ava laughs, both of us moving past the small crowd to stand next to Ivy. “What has she done now?”

Laughing at something Ta

He should know better by now, should suspect that if she’s waiting patiently nearby, his day is about to get a hell of a lot worse.

Still, it’s not Gabe that steals my attention right now.

Already I’m flicking secretive glances at the two boys behind him, my gaze skating down one of the twins before riding up the other. I can’t make heads or tails of them, but then one set of amber eyes seeks me out, the intensity of that stare teasing my pulse to go faster, my heart a fluttering bird in my chest.

Ezra.

It has to be him.

So absorbed by him, I miss what happens that causes the entire hallway to burst out in laughter.

Gabriel is cursing up a storm, already threatening Ivy by the time I can drag my attention to his locker to see something shiny and wet spilled out, the puddle so slick that Gabriel is sliding around in it.

He attempts to get up but only falls back down, everybody laughing so hard they’re holding their stomachs and leaking tears from their eyes.

Even Ta