Scandal

"Tell me I'm out of line, Roberts," Xavier murmured, his voice dropping to a rough, dangerous whisper as he backed me against the heavy mahogany desk.

I stared up into the dark eyes that had mocked me for four years. The air in the room was suffocatingly thick, heavy with the words we were both too terrified to say.

"Tell me this is just a strategy," he challenged, his hands tightening on my waist. "Tell me to let you go, and I swear to God, I will walk out that door."

My mind screamed at me to say it. To protect my campaign, to follow the rules, to remember that he was the enemy I was actively trying to destroy.

But my body had already made its choice. I didn't say a word. I just reached up, grabbed the lapels of his jacket, and pulled him down.

At Loyola High, student elections aren't about popularity-they are a cutthroat bloodbath of smear campaigns, secrets, and courtroom battles.

Sara Roberts is the school's ultimate political fixer. Fiercely idealistic and brilliant, she is determined to win the senior election and permanently dethrone the A.X.E.-a trio of wealthy, untouchable elite boys who rule the school's social hierarchy.

When a massive scandal rocks the campus, Sara leads the charge in the student council court to seek justice and secure the election. But standing in her way is Xavier Tannassa. Arrogant, lethally sharp, and backed by undeniable privilege, Xavier is the defense counsel determined to tear her case apart. He is also the boy she has despised since seventh grade.

But as the trial escalates, Sara's flawless case begins to fracture.

Realizing there is a much darker truth hiding in the shadows of the campaign, Sara is forced to do the unthinkable: cross enemy lines. She and Xavier forge a fragile, highly volatile secret alliance. The rules are simple-hunt for the evidence in the dark, and maintain their vicious, bitter rivalry in public.