Page 56 of The Puck Player

He blinks back a little at my question, searching my stare again, before he asks, “Do you want me to stay?” I nod instantly, and his answering smile is fucking blinding. “Then yes, of course I’ll stay with you, love.”

I excuse myself to get ready for bed, grabbing some pajamas and slipping to the bathroom to wash up, and when I return Alexander has tidied away the box of toys, cleared away our books, and is standing shirtless beside my bed. My eyes feast on his bare skin, as I move toward my bed, and his trail over me from head to toe, completely predatory, and I should probably feel something akin to fear. His eyes track me as if he owns me, yet all I feel is worshipped, so maybe I’ve found a new god, one who actually makes me feel wanted and worthy.

“Stop looking at me like that, Trouble,” he warns as I reach him, and he pulls back the covers and guides me into bed.

“Like what?” I ask, my voice a little croaky from the screaming, and he smiles at the sound of it.

“Like I’m the answer to all your prayers,” he muses, slipping in beside me, and before I can worry about whether we will cuddle or not, he pulls me in by the waist, tucking me into the curve of his body. I don’t respond because I might say something stupid like I think you are, especially as his nose finds my hair and he sighs deeply, completely content.

“Goodnight, Alexander,” I breathe, reaching up to turn off the lamp, and I feel his smile against my back.

“Goodnight, Trouble.”

I don’t remember falling asleep, and I’m pretty sure I didn't move all night from Alexander’s arms, so when someone pounds on the door the next morning, it startles me completely. Alexander is already pushing out of bed before I can even open my eyes fully, and when I turn over he is pulling on his jeans and grabbing his shirt. I quickly follow suit, grabbing his jersey from where it has sat on my desk for weeks, dragging it over my head before I follow him out of the room. Alexander is already opening the front door and as I come up behind him I find our new building manager looking regretful.

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Reign, but we have a situation,” he starts, flicking his eyes to me, as he notices me approaching, and Alexander looks over his shoulder, meeting my confused stare.

“Give us a minute to get dressed,” he sighs, and the building manager nods, before Alexander closes the door and heads back to my room to grab his shoes.

The wheels start turning in my head, and it doesn’t take me long to come to the very obvious conclusion. “Someone new took over the building not that long ago and kick started all theimprovements, it was you, wasn’t it?” I ask him sternly. “You bought the building.”

Alexander finishes tying his shoes and sighs again. “Yeah, I bought the building,” he replies without shame.

“Of course you did,” I laugh, shaking my head as I move to grab some jeans to throw on, before sliding my feet into some boots. “Well, come on then, landlord, let’s go see what the issue is,” I snap, not sure whether I should be angry at him for keeping it from me, or grateful for him caring enough to do it.

When I rip open the front door, the building manager is pacing and when he sees me, he once again looks to Alexander, as if searching for permission. The latter doesn’t even spare him a second glance, as he pushes past him and grunts, “Let’s go.”

Locking the door behind us, I quickly follow after them both, heading down all four flights of stairs and toward the front door, but before we can exit, the manager pauses. “Maybe, Miss Callows should wait inside,” he states, his tone tense, and Alexander’s back straightens, yet before either of them can stop me, I barge past them both and stomp outside.

It takes me a few seconds to notice the issue, but then my eyes land on my car and I gasp, slowing my steps, as I move toward it in utter shock. The black paintwork is now tainted in red with the word ‘whore’ sprayed across the side in big huge letters.What the fuck?

Alexander is at my side in an instant, his stare flying between the car and our surroundings, with his phone already at his ear. “Jeremy, it’s me, I need a restraining order drawn up immediately,” he snarls down the phone, and I don’t think I have ever heard him so angry. He pulls me into him, covering my body with his, as he continues to glare around our surroundings. “I need two guards at the house as soon as possible, make sure they're armed.” The last word jolts me a little, and I find my own eyes flicking around, as if they will land on who did this. “Yes,no, no, yes, okay, get it done,” he adds in a clipped tone, clearly answering questions from whomever is on the line, before ending the call and quickly making another. “Duchess, I need all the security footage you can get me from around Aubree’s building, I don’t care what you have to hack, just fucking get it for me.” He once again listens to whatever the person is saying, before he adds in deathly tone, “Fucking find him.”

Him.

Fuck. Is it really him? Did Ben do this to my car?

Alexander cuts off the call, his furious stare finding mine, as his hands come up to cup my cheeks. “Aubree, don’t worry about the car, it will be replaced by the end of the day, okay, love?” His eyes search mine, checking if I'm okay, but I honestly don’t know.

“Did he really do this?” I ask, knowing he won’t lie to me, and he sighs deeply, dropping his hands and putting a little space between us.

“I don’t know, I’ve had a friend of mine keeping tabs on him and he hasn’t been at work all week,” he admits slowly. “I thought he was just licking his wounds somewhere, but apparently not,” he adds, his jaw grinding as he once again looks at the word sprayed on my car, and I can’t help but follow his stare. “I’m really fucking sorry, Aubree.”

My eyes flick back to his and he is watching me solemnly, as if he thinks this is somehow his fault. “Stop apologizing for that fucking idiot, he doesn’t deserve it,” I whisper, throwing his own words back at him, and he smiles at me knowingly, and I can’t stop my hand from reaching up to caress his cheek.

I want to kiss him, this beautiful and infuriating man, who burst into my life and demanded space. I want to kiss him so fucking badly, but not here, not like this. I get why he walked away on my mom’s birthday, and during truth or dare, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel it, that my heart doesn’t race in hispresence. I can try to deny it, hide it, but the truth is, from the moment I met him, I have felt more alive than I ever have before.

Maybe that does make me a whore? Maybe this is me being punished for my sins? For kissing someone who wasn’t my boyfriend, but I’m learning you can’t help how you feel, and when it comes to Alexander Reign, I feel far too much.

“We need to pack you a bag so you can come and stay at my house,” Alexander states, leaving no room for argument, and when I look at my car again, I can’t find any in me anyway.

Alexander leads me back inside my apartment, pacing back and forth on his phone while he waits for me to pack up my stuff. I grab all my toiletries, enough clothes to last me a few days, and all my books for class. He excuses himself a couple of times to take some calls, and is pretty much tapping away on his phone the rest of the time too. Only once I’m done does he pocket his phone, giving me his attention, immediately grabbing my bags and then leading us downstairs, not letting me move from his side.

The security guard, who has recently been working during the night in the building, is now back here, looking apologetic, and he and Alexander share a few quiet words that include the phrase ‘calling the police’, before he leads us out of the building and into a dark SUV. It all seems a bit much to me, but the tension radiating off Alexander has me going along with whatever he needs to once again find his calm. I’m sure it will all blow over easily enough, but until then, if he needs to do all this to feel better, then I’m going to let him.

When we reach his house, the guard does a quick sweep as Alexander leads me straight up the path, and when we enter, I’m surprised to find the house full. Evie is sitting with Jake, Daemon, and Archer at the kitchen island, Maddie and Nova are on the sofa, and Josh and Hallie are sitting opposite them. I lookbetween them all in confusion, as all their stares hit us, like they were waiting for us to arrive.Why aren’t they all in class?

“Bree,” Evie breathes, jumping off her stool and rushing toward me, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so fucking sorry, babe, are you okay?” she asks, her words being grumbled against my hair, before she pulls back and holds me at arm’s length, checking me over.

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