Page 70 of The Arianna Arrangement

Potter rubbed a hand through his hair, sighing. “I had the same thoughts. However, doing it on a weekend could also be a red flag. I’m thinking we need a system where someone monitors it from somewhere and keeps me updated through code words. Maybe I can pull Apollo in and teach him what he’d need to know to do my part and he and dad or Zephyr can take care of it that day. That way we all have an alibi.”

“Other than Apollo and whoever helps him.”

“Not necessarily. We know they frequently go to the clubs and spend the whole day doing office work behind their closed office doors. If they did that, it would all appear normal.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I still wanted us to all meet for this and poke any holes in the idea. But for now, we needed to move on to the most important part. “What’s the story we’re going to have them air?”

Potter smiled like the damn Cheshire cat. “Your wife and brother-in-law have come through majorly for us.”

Chapter 34

Arianna

Leyla had been pouting all morning. Jack was out for a college tour today and from how she was acting, you’d think he’d dumped her.

“Cheer up, Ley. He’ll be back tomorrow. And Tuck agreed to let you, Jack, Pot, and a guy of his choosing come over to hang out by the pool, drink, and get laid so your dry spell will be over.”

That brought a smile to her face for the first time all day.

The bell rang for lunch and we walked out of Mrs. Baker’s class ready for a reset. Something about having to do math right before lunch just sucked.

When we rounded the corner right to bring the cafeteria in sight, I knew our day was going to get worse before it got better when I saw Bradley standing there, leaning against the wall, smirk firmly in place when he saw us.

Bradley pushed off the wall heading right for my bestie. “Leyla. Baby.” He grabbed one of her hands and brought it to his lips, but she pulled it away before they made contact.

“Don’t fucking touch me. And I’m not your baby.” She moved to walk past him, but his hand swung out and grabbed her arm, halting her.

There were too many witnesses, so I couldn’t whip out my gun and threaten him again. “What did she just say about touching her?”

He rolled his eyes at me and if this motherfucker wasn’t six feet under by the end of the day, I may end up in jail myself for his murder. “Cool your tits, mob brat. We’re in public now, after all.” He leaned down to whisper, but it was loud enough I knew Leyla heard him too. “Not like you can pull a gun on me now. Especially with Daddy dead and not able to cover your tracks.”

Leyla jerked her arm away and shoved him. “You keep fucking around and you’ll find out, douche canoe. Let’s go, Ari.”

The crowd around us was growing, so Bradley wisely, for once, decided not to push the issue any further.

Leyla and I headed into the cafeteria, and once we were around the corner, I rounded on Christian and Lewis. “Didn’t feel the need to step in back there? What’s the point of you fucking coming to school if you’re not going to do your goddamn job?”

Christian just smiled. “Need me to come to your rescue now, princess? I thought you liked taking care of shit on your own.”

He was right. I hated men jumping in to protect me. But it wasn’t me I’d been worried about back there, it was Ley.

But like the ride or die she truly was, she scoffed at my guard. “She’s a mother fucking queen and you better never forget it.” Grabbing my arm, she turned us and we headed to our table. Her voice dropped low and I knew no one else could hear it because I barely could. “What the fuck was he talking about back there? When did you pull a gun on him and why didn’t I know?”

I sighed and matched her voice level. “It was out of my hands. The order came from your dad.”

We sat at the table, Potter already beating us there, but otherwise it was empty. “That’s no excuse and you know it. We’re fucking best bitches forever. My dad doesn’t get to come between that.” Her eyes whipped to Potter, whose eyebrows shot up and he looked a little nervous. “Did you know about her run in with Bradley that apparently had her mafia princess side coming out?” He pursed his lips and that was all the answer she needed. “Of fucking course.” She looked between the two of us. “Is this why we have guards now? Did Potter not actually get jumped and robbed in town? That story never did make sense.”

I’d hated lying to her so much and she was right: I never should have let her dad make that call. “I’ll tell you everything later. When we don’t have to worry about prying ears.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

Potter breathed a sigh of relief. Leyla was not one to trifle with when she was pissed. “So what brought that up?”

“Bradley tried to stop her to talk. Grabbed her by the hand, then again by the arm after she told him not to touch her. When I tried to intervene, he decided to spill our secret in front of her. Probably thought she knew.”

“I should have known.” The tone of her voice told me she wasn’t going to let this go anytime soon.

Bradley should have already been taken care of and the fact that we were still sitting here apparently twiddling our thumbs was putting me on edge. I’d passed off the info from Sandro a week ago and still… nothing.