Page 54 of Power Play

Duke Harrison was catfished.

Okay, maybe notcatfished, but he was screwed over. One-hundred percent. How did I not know about this?

My brain quickly sorts through the information. This happened ten years ago, which means that I would have been sixteen and . . . completely consumed with helping Dad with the cancer treatments. Keeping up with celebrity gossip had been dead last on my priority list, if it had been on the list at all.

But that still doesn’t explain . . . “How in the world has that story disappeared from the Internet? And what the hell happened to the Cup?”

Gwen gives me a dirty look, like I’ve interrupted her story time. “Good PR agents, a number of lawyers, and more than a handful of lawsuits. Keep in mind that this was just at the beginning of social media hitting it big. It was a lot easier to shut things down when you only had to worry about contacting certain websites.”

I silently concede that this makes sense. Today, no amount of lawsuits would stop the spread of naked Duke Harrison pictures from blasting across the Internet. One minute his photo would be popping up onTMZ, and in the next, that sucker would be arriving in Australia for all the Aussies to ogle.

“And the Cup?” I ask. “Where did they find it?”

“At a strip club in South Boston.”

“Classy,” I mutter.

That feeling of being ill returns. Raking my fingers through my kinky hair, I ask, “How do you know all of this?”

Gwen shrugs one delicate shoulder. “He told me.”

Ah. And yet he didn’t tell me. For some reason, that bothers me more than anything else. But in the same breath, can I blame him? While we’ve certainly gotten to know each other, it’s not as though I’ve revealed my inner secrets.

I haven’t revealed how strongly I feel about him.

I stand up, my mind made up. “I need to find Duke.”

Gwen’s gaze flicks to mine. “Hope you’re ready to fail.”

People change over the years, but Gwen will always be petty. “I need you to take that printed paper and approach whatever news outlet that you think will print it.”

With a shake of her head, she says, “Still looking out for only yourself, I see.”

“I made an amendment to the end,” I tell her, flipping to the last page of my feature on Duke. “I like him, Gwen. I like him a lot. I can do this with your help or without, but I’d prefer to remind you of a time long ago when you cried on my shoulder all night after your boyfriend broke up with you. He’d been sleeping with a girl in BU’s marching band, right?”

Her eyes narrow into slits, and I know I’ve caught her. She drops onto the settee dramatically. “You’re manipulating me.”

“No,” I drawl smoothly, sliding the papers toward her again, “Not manipulation. It’s called a power play.”

Chapter Sixteen

It takestwo weeks for the plan to be set into motion.

Two weeks of pacing my studio apartment, gnawing on my nervousness.

Two weeks of sending out job applications to newspapers, and only getting nibbles in return.

Two weeks of pure, unadulterated silence from Duke.

But today is the day.

I’ve already run through my lines in my head, having practiced on Casey, Caleb, Mel, and Jenny more than once during the last fourteen days. At this point, they’ve done a better job of memorizing my apology to Duke than I have.

Not that I haven’t tried. It’s just my jitters. They’re making me edgy.

“You owe me for the rest of your life for this.”

I barely spare Gwen a glance because I’m suddenly not quite sure that I can do this. I’m in the conference room at her PR agency in the heart of Boston’s financial district, seated at a wooden table that could easily house fifteen people but currently holds only me.

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