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Leighton frowned, his brows furrowing before he looked at me with sincerity plainly written on his face. "I feel the same way about you that I feel about a high-end steak." He said with a firm nod of finality.

"That's because this girl right hereisa high-end steak." Tiffany laughed, patting and jiggling my thigh.

I gave them both an incredulous look. "Ya'll are weird."

"Obviously, but it's my turn. Soma petit démone. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," I replied, scrunching my nose. I was sure whatever would come out of his mouth would be something I didn't want to do.

"Oh! Come with me then!" Leighton clapped, hopping from the bed and heading toward the door.

Tiffany and I followed him curiously through the manor to the garage. He motioned for us to wait while he slipped back outside. I couldn't help but wonder what he was up to; this didn't seem like any sort of dare for me.

"What is that little psycho up to?" Tiffany mused just as he reentered the garage with a bucket of paint.

"No idea," I shrugged.

Undeterred, he motioned for us to follow him and made his way to Az's Porsche. The same car I'd stolen the night of the chaos dinner. Setting the paint can down on the hood, he produced two paint brushes from his back pocket.

"What is this? You're not going to do something that causes me more trouble with Az, are you?"

"Never. I'll take all the blame."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I stared at him. He just shrugged and dipped his brush into the open paint can. Seconds later, I realized what he was up to as the letters AZ and a dash were boldly painted on the hood of Az's car. Snickering, I grabbed the second paint brush that had been discarded and helped Leighton finish the 'hole.' If I wasn't going to be blamed for it, I might as well enjoy it.

Just as we finished painting the insult Tiffany and I had coined for Az, Leighton's phone rang. He pulled it free of his pants pocket and frowned at the screen.

"Well, ladies, this has been fun, but it looks like I have work to do." He scowled. "Enjoy the rest of your girls' night."

He started toward his motorcycle, and I couldn't help but call out to him.

"Leighton!" he paused, turning to look at me. "You still have green mud on your face."

His hand reached up to touch his face before he pulled it away, his fingers coated in the green mask.

"I think I'll keep it on." He cackled. "But thanks for the reminder. You girls get back inside before you get yourselves into trouble."

Tiffany and I exchanged glances and fell into a fit of giggles as he strode from the garage. When we regained control, she grabbed his abandoned paintbrush and splattered some more paint on the hood of Az's Porsche.

"For good measure," she winked before dropping the brush and linking her arm with mine.

We returned to my rooms, both of us grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

"It's still your turn for truth or dare," Tiff said once the door shut behind us.

I flopped down on my bed, sprawling out across the king-sized mattress. "I don't think anything can top what Leighton did to Az's car. How about we put something on Netflix instead?"

"Whatever you want, babe." She smiled, flopping down beside me. "But none of those sappy romances you always make me watch. I want to laugh, not wreck my mascara bawling my eyes out."

The rest of the night was spent watching movies, eating junk, and gossiping about our social circles. Tiffany wisely avoided the topic of the guys. It was exactly what I needed after feeling trapped for so long, and when I finally dozed off in the wee hours of the morning, I felt lighter than I had since the Gala fire.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Az

"How the fuck did this happen?" Rich snarled as he paced the floor behind his desk. "Where were our men?"

One of our smaller warehouses had been attacked, but the real issue was that the attack seemed to be a distraction for a raid on one of our safe houses. Keeping a Jackal prisoner meant we were at risk of retaliation, but I wisely kept that thought to myself.