Page 83 of The Puck Player

“He’s upstairs with our captain,” Josh replies, and the girl, Elle, doesn’t even turn to the men at her side when she nods her head.

The two of them move in unison, stalking around her and heading up the stairs without a word, and it only adds to my confusion.

“There’s a car waiting for you outside, it will take you to a private medical facility so you can be checked over,” Elle states, turning toward me fully for the first time, before flicking her focus to my dad. “Once we have removed him from the house, we’ll have someone come in and clean and fit it with a new security system. You don’t need to worry about anything, we will take care of it all, and I promise he will never come near your daughter again.”

My dad’s grip is still steel tight around me as he ingests her words, before he asks, “And why should we trust you?”

I see Josh open his mouth to cut in, but Elle steps forward, like a queen ready to address her court as she replies, “BecauseI was the girl in the sheet once, I know what it does to you, and now I do everything in my power to ensure others don’t feel the same.”

“And what kind of power is that?” Daemon spits, still standing protectively in front of us, and fresh tears spill on my cheeks, yet Elle isn’t deterred by his question.

In fact, she smiles freely, as she gives him a once over, before she replies, “The kind that even Jasper Forbes is afraid of.”

Daemon flinches ever so slightly. “You know my brother?”

Elle nods. “I work closely with the Hallowed Crows, so we’ve crossed paths,” is all she says by way of explanation, just as Archer comes down the stairs, Nova hot on his heels.

“Who are the two psycho hotties upstairs?” he asks, and for the first time since I opened my eyes here, I smile a little, as Daemon scoffs at his words.

“That’s Lincoln Blackwell and Asher Donovan,” Josh answers him, his eyes still on my dad, as he takes a step toward us. “You can trust them, Coach, I promise, they helped me with my dad,” he adds, holding his stare, and I’m not really sure what that means.

I don’t know much about the former mayor of Fairfield, but his words have my dad relaxing a little, as he looks down at me in question. “What do you want to do, baby girl?” he asks, searching my stare, and I wish that being here, in this house with him again, was for a happier reason, but still I force a smile, as tears cascade down my face.

“Let them deal with it, Dad, I just want to go home,” I croak, and his eyes fill with emotion as he nods in agreement.

Alexander is back at my side in an instant, pulling me into his arms, ensuring I stay wrapped up, sharing a look with my dad, who surprisingly lets me fully go. “Come on, Trouble, let's get out of here.”

I nestle my head into his chest, breathing him in, knowing that no matter what I’ll be safe now. He has me, my dad has me, their team has me, and even with the tears on my face I smile up at him.

“Thanks for saving me, Prince Charming, I knew you would.”

My leg has been bouncing the entire ride here. Nova is driving, I was too angry to even think, Coach too. He’s in the front next to Cap, and Josh is in the back with me, still tapping away on his phone. Archer and Daemon are in the car behind us, breaking just as many speeding laws as Nova, but I think all of us are past the point of caring. We left Coach’s house not even two minutes after Duchess made her discovery, and the girls were pissed we were leaving them behind. But we couldn’t have them here, not for what I have planned.

When Cap pulls up across the road, I’m out of the car before he can even come to a stop. The street is dark since it’s past midnight now, most of the houses asleep for the night, and I mildly wonder if any of them noticed the lights on in Aubree’s.Didn’t they think it was strange that someone was there? Thoughts that have me cracking my neck as my feet pound up the porch. I hear Coach and Cap call my name, but I’m too far gone. I only pause long enough to silently try the door handle, slipping inside when I find it unlocked.

Downstairs is mostly dark, just one lamp on in the corner, all the furniture covered up like Coach said, but I can hear music coming from upstairs. I head that way instantly, keeping my steps quick and light, cringing a little when I hear one of them creak, but then I hear her voice.

“Ben, stop, please,” she shouts, and the sound of her panicked plea has me rushing in the direction it came from.

When I stalk into the room, I find the last thing I ever wanted to see. Aubree is half-naked on her bed, legs spread wide, with Ben settled between them, his cock pressed ready at her entrance.

“You son of a bitch,” I roar, storming toward them and ripping him from on top of her, throwing him to the floor with all the force I can manage. When I see his pathetic hard cock, I can’t stop myself from bringing my foot up and slamming down into it, relishing in his sharp cry of pain. “I’m going to fucking kill you,” I promise, as Coach appears at the door, but I pay him no attention as he moves to help my girl.

No, my only focus is on the piece of shit rapist who was about to fuck my girl.

I throw myself on top of him, punching him harder than I did that night in my room, cracking his cheekbone by the sound of things, but it doesn’t stop me, nothing will. I’m mildly aware of my teammates’ arrival but my focus remains on him. I hit him again and again, cracking more bones until his face is unrecognizable, and I don’t care about any of the consequences. I don’t give a fuck if Jeremy and my parents can’t save me from this, as long as I can save Aubree from this fucking prick.

Only when my hands are too slippery with his blood do I stop, closing my hands around his throat and squeezing tightly, savoring the sounds of him choking on his own blood. “I’m going to fucking kill you for this.” My words are not a threat, but a promise, as he gargles and splutters beneath me.

If tonight I become a killer, then so be it. Anything for my girl.

The next coupleof weeks pass in a blur. I can still feel the phantom effect of his blood coating my hands even now, something I don’t think I will ever forget. The cries of his pain, the choking on his own blood, all of it seared into my mind, along with the fear and relief in her eyes when I walked into that room.

Coach and I took Aubree to the medical facility, as much as she tried to refuse, saying she was fine, we still wanted to get her checked over. I could tell they both felt out of place in such a high-end facility, but still the doctors were quick, and more importantly, discreet. Aubree only had a slight abrasion on her cheek from where Ben smacked her, and seeing it and hearing how she got it, only made me wish I could go back and break his jaw again.

Apart from that she was fine, like she said, we got there just in time to stop things from becoming worse than they already were. A fact that I wish could make me feel better, but all I can think is what if I arrived just one minute later? What if Duchess didn’t check the house? What if we didn’t find them? The thought has me flexing my hands, wishing I could cover them in his blood again, and even the sharp pain that shoots through me at the action doesn’t deter my mind from going there.

The doctors also checked my hands, finding a slight fracture to my knuckle, one that under any other circumstances would have had Coach reaming me out for being so careless. But after what happened, what I did, we are way past that now.

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