Page 105 of Devious Gambit

“Yeah,” I groaned, running my fingers through my hair. I didn’t want to lie to her, I was already walking a tightrope with her. “Someone contacted me with identifications on the rapists.”

She gasped. “Do you know this person?”

“No. The message was sent anonymously. They want to meet me in person.”

She made a growling sound at the back of her throat. “Jace…”

“Yeah, I know it sounds shifty, right?”

“Why can’t they message you the names?”

“Well, that’s the strange thing about it. So I’m going prepared and arranged for Cody to watch my back.”

She wrinkled her cute little nose. “What if he’s one of the guilty party?”

“What? No. Cody might be a man-slut, but he’s no rapist. Besides, he was with me that night.”

“But it was like a hazing ceremony, though. So it’s not necessarily about needing an eff.”

“Eff? Jeez, Rhys. Do you mean fuck?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?”

“The girl I had Christmas dinner with in Kilbernie Hall was that girl.”

“Really?” She proceeded to tell me about the girl’s boyfriend who’s phone was stolen and the rapists contacted her that way. “What’s the boyfriend’s name?”

She hesitated.

“Rhys, his name might help.”

“Police already know about him.”

“Rhys!”

She was running the tip of her finger along the rim of her glass. “Benson.”

“Vanderbilt?”

“You know him?”

“A little. He’s in the Snake and Chalice. A senior.”

“I didn’t find that when I searched him online.”

I tapped the side of my nose with my finger. “Secret society, Rhys, secret.”

She rolled her eyes and all I could think about was getting in her panties. “Anyway, I don’t want her identity known, so don’t tell anyone about him as it will lead back to her.”

“Deal.” I winked again as her foot found my crotch under the table. “No sex on the first date.”

“What?” she looked horrified.

“Nah. Sorry babe, I’m proving a point. It’s you I want. All of you. Not just your body, but your mind and soul as well. I don’t want you just for sex, but as a companion, a fighter, a lover. Someone to share my darkest secrets, recite poetry and watch football with. Someone to cuddle up with when it’s cold, lie under the stars when it’s warm, to tell me when I’m acting a fool…”

“Wow. I’m stunned.”

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