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Ariah has turned our hometown on its axis since she and her family were suspiciously extended a coveted invitation to the gated community.

“Maybe if you all had treated a certain someone like this, you wouldn’t be in this predicament with Ariah now,” Colter adds, dousing gasoline on the flames of Lev’s patience.

Tensing at the rebuke, Lev’s nostrils flare as anger flashes in his eyes. “We’re not discussing Ariah,” he hisses, yanking his laptop open. His fingers flit across the keyboard before he continues. “You have access to the cameras on campus and everyone in this suite. All of them will stream directly to any device you have set up.” Then, he refocuses on the computer screen.

Color me surprised he didn’t have some witty comeback.

“How are things with Samantha?” my brother asks, poking the proverbial bear.

Refusing to be baited, Lev taps at a few more keys. “You’re all set. Now you two can kindly fuck off,” he snaps, storming out of Eva’s bedroom.

I tip my head in Colter’s direction. Neither of us speaks until we hear the front door slamming.

“You probably shouldn’t have done that. I’m quite sure we’ll need his assistance in the near future,” I sigh.

Colter smiles. “Where’s the fun in that?” he challenges, amusement dancing in his icy blue stare.

“Sometimes I question how we’re identical twins,” I mutter, and his grin morphs into a full-on laugh.

“Don’t give me that shit, Coop. I’ve seen your search history. We’re both on every government agency’s list.”

Chuckling, I shout into the room, “Hey, Chad. I promise not to do the last thing I looked up.”

“At least not until we’ve done the others first,” Colter finishes. He shakes his head and snorts. “Only you’d name a federal agent Chad.”

“It was that or Connor,” I jest, putting my tools away.

My phone beeps, and the alarm I set alerts me that we need to speed this up.

“Time to go?” Colter questions, and I nod.

“The party is in full swing. Eva should be feeling extra good right about now,” I gloat. “Let’s see what our little flower is up to.”

Colt and I pack all our shit, ensuring to leave everything as we found it, sans the picture frames. I can’t wait to see if she notices.

We’re striding to the door when I pause, peering at the room next to Eva’s. “What did we find out about the last-minute roommate addition?”

“Campus Housing error. She was always in this suite,” he replies, nudging me to keep going.

Halting for a moment longer, I weigh his words and then shake off any lingering doubt.

Colter pulls Eva’s suite door closed and locks it.

Part two begins now.

4

liam

Music pumpsthrough the speakers as I move from my spot in the corner to search for my brother. Locating the tall fuck shouldn’t be this difficult. He’s about four inches taller than me. His six-foot-seven frame should be towering over the raucous crowd.

Twisting, I step around a group of giggling sorority girls rushing for the pool out back based on their bikinis.

We’ve only been in Groveton College for three weeks. My brother and I both play sports. Mason’s tall ass plays soccer, and I’m a wide receiver for Groveton’s football team.

After our dad’s company was outbid, taking all the potential opportunities with some of the biggest names in business, his investors withdrew their support.

Chaotic. That’s the only word to describe the last three months. My parents scrambled to salvage what they could, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough. With the loss of big investors?—