Page 64 of Belle Amour

“But they are.” Bastian disagreed. “Wasn't Zeke in the Human Genetics program? And Eddie is a lawyer.”

“Yeah, but Eddie thinks he's smarter than everyone else. Pretty sure they all think that way, and it's why they're all friends.”

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On the drive back to the hotel, he filled Benji and Peter in the text Maribelle had sent him. Peter thought the same way as Robert about it, but Benji, who was driving, met his eyes in the rearview mirror. When he parked, they took their time getting Bastian's golf bag out of the car, letting Peter and Robert walk ahead of them so that they could talk privately.

“I saw some things in the screenshots that Greg sent us that spiked my curiosity, and I've been doing some digging. I think I know what's going on. Benji shut the hatch on the SUV and locked the car as they walked toward the hotel. “Want to grab a drink?”

“Yeah,” Bastian’s curiosity peaked, and he really wanted to hear what Benji had found out. “Let me put the clubs back in the room and check on Maribelle. Meet in the bar in fifteen?”

“Sure thing.” Benji nodded.

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Bastian dropped his golf bag off in the hotel room and checked the pool for Maribelle when he didn’t find her there. She wasn’t there either, but he assumed she must have gone somewhere with Eleanor and the girls, so he texted her as he left, letting her know he was back and grabbing a drink with Benji in the hotel bar.

“So, what did you find out?” He asked as he sat across from Benji, who pushed a glass of scotch to him. “Thanks.”

“No worries,” Benji smiled at him and leaned closer. “In one of the screenshots, Casey says Eddie might not be the father of her baby, right?” Bastian nodded. “I did a little digging into the friend group's social media, and there are only two guys with enormous noses: Julian Filipeli, who has a large hawk nose. And Zeke Lehman, who has a large bulbous nose. Personally, I'm leaning toward Zeke because he's on the fairer side. Julian is more olive-toned, Mediterranean-skinned, and Eddie is white, like in the sun for two seconds, and he's burnt to crisp white. Plus, he and Eddie have the same hair colour, and she was only concerned about the nose, so...”

“It's probably Zeke.” Bastian nodded in agreement, wondering how the hell Zeke could sleep with his best friend’s fiancée and then stand as his best man at the wedding without any remorse. “No proof?”

“Well, I wouldn't say that.” Benji grinned. “I hacked Casey’s email and may not have logged off properly, so I checked her sent folder; she emailed Zeke three months ago and told him she was pregnant and that it could be his. He did not respond well, to say the least. He told her it was practically rape since he was pretty much blackout drunk and wouldn't have touched her otherwise. She threatened to tell Eddie and his wife he took advantage of her.”

“If he was blackout drunk, I don’t know if I’d call it practically rape.” Bastian felt his stomach twist unpleasantly. “If he told her no at any point or if he was unconscious, it was rape.”

“She does say he started it.” Benji shrugged. “And he doesn’t deny it. I went through the screenshots, her email, and her social media. Casey is blackmailing three other guys in the friend group. She did the same thing every time: got them drunk, slept with them, and threatened to tell Eddie and their wives they took advantage of her. Apparently, she made her way through the whole friend group in college, and there was lots of... experimentation amongst them all. None of them chose her as their forever person; they all married or are with another woman, and she's pretty bitter about it. She's been working through them, trying to sow discord through the group. Eddie bit, and she reeled him in.”

“And you have all the proof?” Bastian sat back and stared at Benji in disbelief as he nodded with a smug smirk. “Benji, when did you have time to dig all this up?”

“Combination of Lila and Caroline being attached at the hip and Perth being twelve hours ahead of New York, noon in Perth is midnight in New York, so I work a lot of nights,” Benji explained. “I was going to add it to the virus package, but with the allegations of rape and threats, I figured I should talk to the lawyer about it.”

“This could be a serious legal matter, and I don't know if we can send it out in an email blast. Accusing someone of rape has a lot of consequences for everyone. If it was just about the cheating, but rape accusation threats...” Bastian trailed off as he considered their options.

“We have the proof that it was consensual, and most of the wives talking divorce anyway; we'd just be putting her general horribleness out there.” Benji pointed out. “And to beperfectly honest, I don't have much pity for these guys. Drunk or not, cheating on your wife is a choice, and they all made it.”

“True.” Bastian sat back and considered the options once more. The virus would be coming from Casey’s email, so it couldn’t come back on them, and Casey definitely needed to be exposed. “Add it to the virus package. I really can't thank you enough for all this.”

Benji shrugged. “Honestly, it's kept me busy. I go to sleep around four in the morning and wake up around noon. Lila is usually out for the count by ten at the very latest. She and Caroline are trying to start an online bake shop and are either in our kitchen or Caroline’s kitchen by six. So having something to keep me occupied while she sleeps has been great.”

“How long have you and Lila been together?” Bastian asked curiously.

“Ten years. Three of those years were long distance, her in New York, me in Perth. We met at a computer security conference in London.”

“She was in computer security, too?”

“No,” Benji huffed out a laugh. “She was staying at the hotel where the conference was being held and crashed the welcoming party.” He smiled. “We met in the buffet line, and I didn't turn her in when I realized the security company she had written on her name tag had been shut down for three years. I got her one with my company on it, and we spent the rest of the evening together and most of the next four days. We kept in touch and then started visiting each other every two or three months. We got married after three years of long-distance, she applied for citizenship in Australia, and we lived there until last year. She really missed her family, so we ended up moving here when I proved I could do the job remotely.”

“You don't miss your family?”

“Just my dad left, and he travels a lot. He shows up every so often.” Benji smiled and held out his arms as Lila came in and hugged him. “Hey Darlin', how was shopping?”

“It was great! So many small little stores full of interesting things and trinkets!” she grinned. “Hey, Bast!”

“Hi, Lila. How are you?” He smiled as he looked the couple over. He thought there was a height difference between him and Mira, but Benji and Lila had them beaten by a wide margin. Lila might be five feet, while Benji easily cleared six feet, four inches.

“Ready to go home, but otherwise great! Where's Mira?” She looked around like she expected Mirabelle to pop up and surprise her from behind a chair.

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