Page 55 of Brutal Prince

He frowned. “My hands are clean. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, is a different story. But I suspect he’s not involved by choice.”

“More blackmail? So, who’s behind it all?”

“There’s more than one player and they’re virtually untouchable.”

“Are they really? Just give me the name of the ringleader.”

“It’s not me.”

“Wrong answer. Do you know who it is?”

He hesitated again.

I leaned forward drilling him in the eyes, “Has the ringleader got something over you?”

“Not exactly, he’s just…powerfully influential and has plenty of supporters.”

“So, you’re keeping your mouth shut.”

“I’m afraid it would be unwise for me to divulge.”

I stood to leave. “I’m betting it’s you,” I warned, pointing my finger at him, “and you’ve created a phantom to take the heat off you.”

“You can think what you like,” his voice followed me as I strode up the aisle to the double doors. “There’s a narrow line between truth and lies, and reality and fantasy.”

“Whatever.”

As soon I was back out in the warm summer sun, I sent a message to Mathias: If it’s not him, he knows who it is.

I snapped my head up when I got distinct impression someone was watching me. It was a calm warm day and University Square was ablaze in sunlight. I held my hand over my face to shield my eyes from the sun so I could see properly. A group of students wandered past chatting about their upcoming summer break and some students were sitting on park benches having lunch. The sun was high in the sky and the only shadow cast was from the library, draping it in a cold grey.

That’s where I spotted the watcher, on the steps of the Edgar Allen Poe Library directly opposite University Square. As soon as our eyes connected, he trotted down the library steps and turned right, disappearing from sight.

It might not have been the smartest decision in the world, but I decided to follow him. Why? Fuck knows. I had a class in ten minutes and I should’ve gone there instead. My already average grades were falling due to my recent distractions and I didn’t have coach on my back like we did in football season. Coach always harped on about setting prime examples by studying hard and getting good grades. Hawks can’t afford to fail.

I jogged across the square and darted between the library and main admin building hot on the watcher’s trail. He was walking in no great hurry with his hands in his sweat pockets and bag flung over his shoulder weighed down by books. It looked like he was going to his next class, nothing suspicious. Or so it seemed.

Yet I couldn’t sweep away the intensity of his stare when I noticed him watching me. Did he think I was up to no good, since I’d just stepped out of the Athenaeum?

I pulled back when I realized that I’d be late for class and I didn’t want to poke an already grumpy bear with a stick.

A heavy hand landed on my shoulder and I swung around to wrestle him off. Two guys dragged me down a narrow space between two buildings while I tried to fight them off.

“You fucked Dom off,” one of the guys said and punched me hard in the face. Three big guys wearing black balaclavas and each took turns punching me in the guts.

“Learn your lesson,” the same guy growled, as they were leaving. “Keep your mouth shut.”

It was nothing but a warning and they could’ve done a lot worst. I pulled myself up off the hard ground winded with sore ribs and a bloodied nose, most of all I was confused.

“Dom wants me to a learn lesson?” I mumbled to myself. “About what?”

The only thing I could think of was when I was fucking Gretta in room 23, I warned the masked man who was giving her a rough finger job to ‘take it easy’.

I crossed a line.

As soon as I said it, the guy tilted his head to the side and hit me with a murderous look through the holes in his mask. I knew there’d be repercussions for speaking out and it looked like I just received it. A broken nose and bruised ribs for my efforts. Asshole.

“I’m getting tired of this shit,” I breathed, wiping a dribble of blood from under my nose with the back of my hand. “Real fucking tired.”

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