Page 72 of The Puck Player

Duchess - I have a few leads

Duchess - I need to see you

Alexander - I always knew you needed me

Duchess - Don’t make me bring back all the stuff to tarnish your digital footprint

Duchess - It’s a lot of work, but I’ll do it

Alexander - Consider me King George waving his white flag

Alexander - When do you need to see me?

Duchess - Tomorrow. Skip class. I’ll be there at 2

Alexander - How do you know I have class then?

Duchess - Don’t insult me rich boy

Alexander - See you tomorrow your highness

After that I spent the rest of the day with Aubree, drinking tea and catching up on our homework, and by the time we go to bed, I may have made her come three more times on my tongue, while I fucked her pretty throat, I’m nice like that. And when she falls asleep, I make a mental note of all the ways I want Duchess to ruin Ben’s life tomorrow.

Before we leavefor class on Monday morning, I remind Aubree that she isn’t going anywhere alone, briefing Evie, the guys, and the security team about the same thing, and I’m not ashamed to say I threatened them all. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help me feel any less calm about leaving her, and I must text her at least twenty times before she tells me to fuck off.

The rest of my day passes in a quick blur, and it isn’t long until I am heading back to the house to meet Duchess. I know all the guys will still be in class, so we won’t be disturbed, and once I arrive, I’m not surprised to find her already waiting.

“Come on, rich boy, time is money,” she calls from her perch on the hood of my car.

“Yeah, and I pay you a bucket load of it every month,” I toss back, storming toward her and tugging on her ankle. “Now getoff my car, you heathen,” I demand, and she snorts a laugh, sliding down and following me inside the house.

Duchess and I have been friends for five years now. She's beautiful, talented, and also a little crazy. The night I met her in jail, I was complaining and asking for my phone call, and she told me to stop acting like a battery operated dildo and get a grip. I hired her on the spot. Some people may say finding employees in a cell isn’t good karma, but she outranks them all, so I doubt she cares.

As I lead her to my room, I see her surveying the house in wonder. “I still can’t believe you actually live here, and not in some ridiculous mansion,” she muses, as if I didn’t buy her a whole fucking warehouse two years ago, and paid for her to have it completely kitted out as her home.

“I like living with the guys,” I reply with a shrug, not bothering to mention the mansion and two penthouse apartments I do own. She already knows. Instead I head straight to my desk and turn on my laptop, guiding her to the chair and gesturing to the screen. “Show me what you got,” I demand, wondering what is so important that she felt the need to come out here.

“Okay, so I was tracking the pastor, looking into his accounts and stuff,” she starts, pulling up a bunch of different windows, her fingers flying across the keyboard. “Found your usual stuff, pitiful earnings, no hopes or dreams, and an ungodly amount of porn.” With that, she turns to me and smirks. “Did you see what I did there? An ungodly amount of porn,” she laughs, and when I just glare at her she rolls her eyes. “Men like you are exactly why I am a lesbian,” she mutters.

“Just tell me where he is, I need to know if he is going to go after Aubree again,” I demand, scanning the screen in front of me.

“That’s just it, I don’t know,” she replies, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her say that before. “It’s like he knew where to slip out of town, he headed in the direction of the woods behind the lake and then just… disappeared,” she huffs, leaning back in my chair to look at me in frustration.

“Show me the last footage you have of him,” I direct her, dropping to my knees beside her, and turning her chair back to the screen.

She clicks away for a few seconds, pulling it up and hitting play. It’s a few clips she has stitched together, but we see him vandalize Aubree’s car, right after the night guard leaves the building. Then he escapes down a side street, past a couple of shops, and cuts down toward the lake. At no point does he hesitate in where he is going, as if he has taken the route before and had planned it exactly like this.

“Study surveillance for the same route and surrounding areas, from the night they broke up until the morning he vandalized her car,” I command, and she instantly starts tapping keys and doing what I ask.

He’s made a mistake somewhere, we just have to find it.

After spending the last four days with Alexander by my side, it feels a little weird to be without him. Which I know is ridiculous, and it’s not like I’m reliant on him or anything, but as I make my way to my last class of the day, I’m no longer in the mood to be here. Every girl on campus has been glaring at me all day, and when I made it to lunch I figured out why. Both Hallie and Maddie were there, gushing about the pictures of Alexander and me on Saturday night, and it left me feeling anxious. I’m not scared of Ben or anything, but given what he has already done, I can only imagine the photographs will make things worse. Especially if the reaction of the female population on campus is anything to go by.

It’s a thought that has me changing direction, and instead of heading to class I decide to go in search of Alexander. I knowhe’s supposed to be in class too, but one of the guards confirmed he went home already, so that’s where I’m heading. It feels kind of weird having someone follow me around, but they’ve been polite enough, so I can’t really complain. My dad has also been checking in non-stop, and fully supports having the guards around me, so there was no way I was getting out of it.

Once I reach the house, I knock at first, but there is no answer, and then I feel a little weird about knocking, considering I’ve been staying here and all my stuff is here too, so I push inside. Downstairs is empty given all the guys are in class, so I can only presume Alexander is in his room, or maybe I have missed him. I head upstairs to check anyway, and as I get closer I hear muffled voices, one belonging to Alexander, and another belonging to a girl.

Given recent history and discoveries, I can’t stop myself from storming inside, flinging the door open, and startling them both. The girl, whoever she is, is beautiful, because of course she is, and she is leaning back in Alexander’s desk chair while he is kneeling at her feet. Their position is too close to be casual, and a wave of betrayal washes over me, especially when he turns and looks at me in confusion.

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