Page 44 of Duke
He’s not wrong, but I ignore that and instead dive right into what I want to know. “You weren’t at a meeting with your advisor, were you?” My lips twist, anxious curiosity blooming in my mind.
“Nope.” His jaw clenches hard.
I raise my brows, resting my hands on the back of one of the chairs. I hope I’m making it abundantly clear to him that I’m not backing down.
He inhales deeply, then lets it all out. This is beginning to feel like a clusterfuck. He wets his lips, shaking his head a bit. “Look, I need to tell you something about those photos.”
My head jerks sharply. “Later. I want to know what you, Mason Mikaelson, spent all day yesterday doing—and in the library of all places. You don’t do libraries. You hardly do college. Spill.” I stare him down in a way that leaves no real room for argument.
“Fuck, you’re intense when you want to know something.” He lets out a long sigh. “I can’t let Hunter continue to goad me. The fucker’s been texting me like a fucking lunatic, dropping all sorts of hints and clues, but it’s all just rubbish. That’s what I was rereading when you and Duke came into my room.” He rubs his hand over his face, then pins his eyes on mine. “I’ve been researching every last fucking bit of my father’s trial. Looking at everyone involved. Everyone from the jurors to the judge and everyone in between. My asshole brother dropped the bomb on me yesterday that they found ‘him.’ Whoever the hellhimis.”
My mouth slowly drops open and my shoulders slump. “I wish I had known. I would have helped.”
“You were busy.” He holds up a hand when I flinch, his eyes drifting closed. “And it’s fine. You guys needed that time alone.”
“A lot of good it did,” I mutter. And while I definitely want to speak to Duke again, that’s not where my focus needs to be right now.
He gives a slight shake of his head, then forges on. “I have a list of the major players. I was here all day looking up news articles and taking notes. And I think my next step is to see if I can pinpoint a connection between any of them.”
“Right. Because we still don’t know what sneaky plan they have to spring your dad, huh?” My brow furrows. “You should see if there’s a link between any of them and Elliot.” I still don’t like that some poor girl got dragged into whatever the OG Bastards are up to. Like she was a pawn, only important to them for a short time, then cast off for some reason. She’s actually lucky she ended up being taken by my guys. I wonder what the end result would have been if everything had gone as planned. I can’t begin to fathom.
“Yep. She’s on the list with a big fucking question mark, even though she was freaking five at the time of the trial. I really don’t know how she’d be involved, but it’s the only scrap of information the OG Bastards have deigned to give us.” He scrubs his hands through his hair, and I can see it in the anger in his eyes—he’s close to losing it. “Dammit. Everything will be so much fucking worse if they succeed in getting my dad out.” He lets out a heavy sigh, and I go to him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
I’m terrified for Mason’s mental well-being if his father is suddenly roaming around. With my mind working overtime with worry, I meet his wild-eyed gaze. “What are they going to do, do you think? Bribe someone?” They certainly have the funds to do it, I would think. “All that dirty money put to use.”
He snorts, gripping my shoulders lightly. “I think that’s a reasonable assumption when it comes to the OG Bastards. Just has to be the right motherfucker that puts everything into motion. That’s who I’ve been looking for—a person they could potentially blackmail or bribe to do their bidding or someone who could orchestrate them getting their way.”
I swallow past the huge lump in my throat. “I feel it in my bones that they’re at the bottom of everything that’s been happening to me. And when I figure it out, those assholes are going to get what’s coming to them.”
His warm, chocolate-brown eyes connect with mine. “No doubt in my mind, Kintsukuroi.” He grinds his teeth as he holds my gaze, then tugs me tightly against his body. “They’re behind it. And I will do everything I fucking can to help you take them down.”
I suck in a breath at the rabid determination behind his words. “You will?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I will.” He huffs out a disturbed laugh, tearing his eyes from mine and letting go of me to pace the floor.
I know he’s nervous about his dad being released from prison and mad about the way the OG Bastards continue to run their lives and how they’re likely the ones behind everything I’ve suffered since coming to Bainbridge Hall—including the latest with those naked images of me appearing all over campus—but it goes beyond all that. Something isn’t right. I’m worried. “So these photos all over campus… where do you think the camera is?” I drag in a ragged breath as I close the distance between us again and pry the ball of papers out of his hand. I bet he hadn’t realized they were still there, he’d been gripping them so tightly.
“Lennon, what are you doing?” he grits out while I manage to separate one from the rest and look objectively at it.
My head tilts to the side, and I squint, nibbling on my lip. I study the photo from different angles, then shake my head. “Maybe if we go up into the attic we can find the damn thing. The camera, I mean.” I glance up to find Mason looking like he’s going to throw up on his shoes.
“I need you to know something. The way you looked that day? You were beautiful to me. So fucking strong to have allowed me to take out my frustration on you.” He runs a hand through his hair again, and I swear I see in his eyes what looks like guilt swamping him. “Lennon, I took those photos of you.”
TWENTY-THREE
BEAR
Ever since Dukeand I returned home from my doctor appointment earlier, I’ve been trying to convince myself that the doctor is right, and my shoulder is going to be just fine. It needs to be rested. I don’t know the guy, but he seemed to know his stuff and had been very reassuring. Doesn’t make the choice I have to make between telling the team doc or not any easier.
I’m on my way upstairs after eating a snack when I hear a car pull up out front. I stoop so I can see out the window next to the door. Correction. Not any car. A police cruiser. What the fuck?
Anxiety rolls through me. Mason and Lennon aren’t back from classes yet, and it’s well past time that they should be. Did something happen? A riot on campus? A shooting? A car accident? My mind drifts through a host of possibilities before the terrors become more specific. Did Lennon get locked in a bathroom again? Shoved in a locker?
I stand stock-still on the stairs, undecided as to what I should do. Finally I shake myself out of it. “Duke!” I shout as loudly as I can, my bellow echoing from the high ceilings of the entryway.
Unfortunately, the noise I make also draws the attention of several other members of the brotherhood who’d recently come home from classes. Brendan and Kai scoot down the hall from the kitchen, wide-eyed and curious, then Tucker and Quincy make an appearance from opposite sides of the upstairs balcony. Pierre, Warren, and Arik are unaccounted for, and obviously, so are Mason and Lennon. My throat goes dry. I don’t wish anyone harm, but I also really, really fucking hope that this has nothing to do withmypeople.
There’s a sharp knock at the door just as Duke hits the top of the stairs and barrels down them. He stops one step above me. “What’s going on?”
