“Oh. My. God!” She clapped both hands over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming again. “You’re a... I don’t know! A fucking goddess. Holy shit.”

I looked down, swirling the material between my fingers. “It works?”

Slapping my arm with half anger, half laughter, she said, “Girl! You’re going to kill it. Let me get your horns and pitchfork so people know you’re there to lead them back to hell with you when they inevitably follow you out of that party.”

I laughed, but deep down, I knew this was one of those bad decisions I’d regret by morning. I was sure of it—I was regretting a lot of things the mornings after. Brent would be in attendance at the party; they were celebrating the upcoming baseball game along with getting ready for Halloween.

Despite texting him for help, I didn’t want to see him. Things were too complicated for me. He wasn’t just the toxic playboy everyone whispered about; he was something darker, more dangerous. The man was judge, jury, and executioner in his world of underground dealings, and I had willingly stepped right into the middle of it.

But why me? What drew him to me in the first place? His family business and its relationship with mine felt like the perfect reason to string me along to make sure things went smoothly. If he took over his company, hitching himself to me even closer than his grandfather was to my mom made perfect sense. It was all just business.

Garrett had known who I was all along, yet he claimed his intentions were pure. He never told me he knew what my inheritance was and that pissed me off. It felt like everyone had a hidden agenda these days, and I was the one walking blindfolded into the fire.

Then there was the issue of the conspiracy to take the company out from under me, pulling the rug to send me crashing to the ground. Whoever was involved, it was a long con that had been carefully plotted, and I was desperately trying to catch up. Five years behind, and now everything—me, the company, my future—was dangling by a thread.

I couldn’t shake the anxiety that constantly gnawed at my core that everyone around me was in on a secret that I wasn’t privy to. They’ve been in the loop while I’ve been blissfully ignorant waiting for a group of thieves to steal it all away, leaving me in the wreckage I could have never seen coming.

The frat house was alive with flashing lights, smoke machines, and costumed students. Skeletons, witches, clowns and more laughed, drank, and danced under the all too spooky lights. The party flickered with warning signs I refused to acknowledge.

As we walked up the pathway, a few mummies chased each other around with rolls of toilet paper, throwing streamers, and squirting silly string everywhere.