Above and Beyond by Riley Morgan Page B

very happy.
                  “Look,” he said. “We have a week to figure this out. I don’t know what to do right now, and neither do you, but let’s take stock of the advantages that we have right now.”
                  “What advantages?” Lena said, holding up her empty hands.
                  “Right now,” Ramon whispered, “Zeus thinks that I work for him. He doesn’t know how close we are. He doesn’t know that we’re on the same team. And I know the compound’s entire security protocol like the back of my hand.”
                  “I don’t see how that helps us.”
                  “It means that Zeus is going to underestimate us. Have you ever in your life disobeyed him?”
                  Lena shook her head.
                  “That’s good. Its going to be hard, but you need to pretend to accept his decision. Be yourself. Act like nothing has changed. We need to catch him off guard.”
                  The truth was, that was going to be harder to do than they thought. Zeus was, by nature, suspicious. Ever since Lena had told him about Ramon’s imaginary flirting, he had kept a close eye on him, and he firmly believed that something was going on between them, although it was true that he was unaware as to the extent.
     

Lena
                  It was hard for Lena to hear what Ramon had to say. Anger had so consumed her that it was impossible for her to think of anything except taking revenge on her step-father. But she knew he was right. She was powerless against him, for now. She only had one shot. If she made herself an enemy of her father, there would be no second chances.
                  What was harder for her to accept was that she and Ramon must distance themselves immediately. His logic there was sound too, but it was even harder for her to imagine parting with him that it was to resist the primal urge to attack Zeus with any means necessary. In the last week, she’d begun to depend on Ramon in a way that she’d never felt about anybody. While Tia and Michaela had kept her safe and almost happy here, Ramon made her imagine something outside of these walls.
                  She’d waited eagerly for him to return when her step-father required his assistance away from Lena, and the idea of losing the relationship that she and Ramon had built made her sick to her stomach.
                  But her options were clear. A week apart, or a lifetime.
                  Lena had seen the way that Damien’s family kept its women. If she were betrothed to him, if she stepped foot in their family's home, the only way out would be in a casket. For a woman who had only begun to imagine a life of her own, the thought was nauseating.
                  “What do we do?” she asked.
                  Ramon was laying next to her, stroking her hair, his head resting against hers.
                  “Do whatever Zeus asks. Play along. You can continue to voice your objections, but make no real resistance. When it’s time to act, I’ll let you know.”
                  “So I just wait around until you tell me what to do?”
                  Ramon looked hurt. It had not been his intention to try and control or possess her, but he realized now that he had, in his own way.
                  “If you see an opportunity to get out of here, take it. In the meantime, I’ll use my position to try and find us some options.”
                  And so they agreed. They would be foes until the right moment came along for them to join forces and escape their gilded cage.
     

Ramon
    Ramon slipped out of Lena’s room wearing the mask of a man who had just done his job. He went downstairs and reported immediately to Zeus.
    He waited for a moment after knocking on the boss’s office door,