Page 37

T he next few hours are dull in comparison to my morning, but alas, it’s still nice to spend my mother’s birthday with her. She and my dad didn’t stumble home until almost 7 AM this morning, and I’m pretty sure they were both still drunk as the caterers served us all her birthday brunch, much to mine and Glinda’s amusement. It was a casual five course meal that was just as delicious as always, and then we did gifts and photographs. I bought her a Birkin, but my father had to overshadow me by buying her an island. Fucking show off. Then of course, my mother was once again gushing over my new girlfriend, taking selfies of them and posting them online. Aubree was still slack-jawed in my mother’s presence, while I was distracted by thinking about her mouth dripping with my cum. All in all it was a great brunch.

When we said goodbye it felt more bittersweet than usual, and I realized it’s because for once, I genuinely enjoyed being away from campus, and it’s all because of the girl I kept tucked into my side. My father told me she was a great choice, and my mother threatened to spank me if I broke her heart, so it’s safe to say Aubree won them over.

On the drive back to Fairfield she was quiet, fiddling with her phone in her lap, and though she won’t admit it, I know this whole Ben thing is weighing on her more than she claims. Not that she has to worry, I won’t be letting that fucking wanker within ten feet of her again. I spoke with the security team this morning and no one has seen him yet, which means I need to push Duchess a little harder for his whereabouts. He might be a fucking weasel, but he can’t fucking hide from me.

When we pull into the garage back at the house I’m in a pissy mood, because I know my friends are going to want to talk about this weekend, but all I want to do is drag my girl upstairs and have her ride my face. Yet the second I have our bags in hand, and am leading her from the garage to the front porch, someone calls out her name.

“Bree,” the feminine voice chokes out, and I feel Aubree tense beside me, as she turns slowly and comes face to face with her ex-best friend.

Valerie? Malorie? Who fucking cares?

I place our bags on the porch steps, and then turn to face her as she makes her way down the path, and it’s only now that I notice her car parked a couple of houses down. I see Aubree watching her approach, and I wish I could read her mind and work out how she is feeling about this. Does she need me to step in?

“How did you find me?” Aubree asks, her voice holding steady and strong, and Malorie pauses a few feet away from us, shifting uncomfortably.

“I went to see your dad, he said you’d be here,” she replies with a shrug, cringing slightly. “He wasn’t happy to see me.”

Gee I wonder fucking why?

Aubree scoffs at that. “Do you expect me to care?” she asks with a shake of her head, laughing a little, but I know she doesn’t find any of this funny. “What are you even doing here, Malorie? In case me blocking you wasn’t obvious, I have nothing to say to you.”

Malorie flinches at her words, but takes a deep breath. “It’s Ben,” she starts, and Aubree scoffs again, turning on her heel to leave. “Bree, please,” she cries, rushing forward, but I take one singular step, blocking her way to my girl, and her stare flicks between us both. “Please, Bree, I’ve never seen him like this, he’s lost his mind, he’s just so fucking angry,” she explains, and now it’s my turn to scoff.

Yeah we saw how fucking angry he was, all over her fucking car.

“Yeah, he’s not the only one who’s fucking angry,” Aubree mutters, stepping closer into my side, and I know Malorie tracks the movement.

“He sees you as his, you’re his property, you belong to him,” she tries again.

“She is no one’s fucking property,” I spit, startling her slightly, my rage intensifying inside of me, but Aubree places a gentle hand on my forearm.

“I don’t give a fuck,” she replies simply, and Malorie blinks back in surprise.

“What?” she stutters, looking between us again, and Aubree takes a step toward her.

“You heard me, I don’t give a fuck,” she tells her, repeating herself. “I don’t give a fuck about him, about you, about any of it,” she laughs with a shrug, and Malorie is shocked silent. “This last year has been the worst year of my fucking life, and you sat there with me when I cried. You comforted me and then what? Turned around and fucked my boyfriend?” she asks with another laugh.

“It wasn’t like that,” Malorie rushes out, tears spilling down her cheeks, but Aubree waves her off with a hand.

“I don’t care what it was like. I don’t care about him. I don’t care about you. I don’t care about any of it. Not anymore.” Her words are loud and clear, and fuck I’m so proud of her. “So, leave, go home, go find Ben, whatever you need to do, I don’t care, just don’t be here. We’re done,” she tells her firmly, before turning to me with a soft smile, and brushing past me to walk into my house.

Malorie and I both watch her leave, and before I join her, I turn back to Malorie and take one more step forward. “Come near her again and I’ll fucking ruin you,” I warn her, before nodding my head toward the guard who approached behind her. “Take out the trash for me,” I tell him, before grabbing mine and Aubree’s bags and heading inside.

I expect to find Aubree pacing or anxiously waiting, but by the time I enter, she is already embraced in Archer’s arms, who no doubt ambushed her the second she came through the door.

“Hey, get your own girlfriend, Gray,” I tease, and the chaotic little wanker smirks.

“Can’t, I only have boyfriends now,” he replies easily, pulling back, just as Daemon rounds the corner.

“Boyfriends huh?” he asks, and Archer whips his head around.

“No, baby, that’s not what I meant,” he rushes out, but Daemon is already dragging him against him.

“You’ll pay for that later,” he mumbles against his mouth, before turning to Aubree and I. “Everything good?” he asks, searching my stare, and I know his need for answers, it’s probably almost as high as mine given his past, and I offer him a firm smile.

“No new updates,” I confirm. “Where’s everyone else?” I ask, pulling Aubree to the kitchen, and my two teammates follow.

“Cap and Mads are at Diana’s, and Evie and Jake are having date night,” Archer tells me, which means he and his boyfriend have had a free house.

“I’m about to make tea on this counter, do I need to clean it first?” I ask, glaring at them firmly, and the wanker smirks.

“Maybe,” he laughs, and Daemon reaches under the sink for the cleaning supplies, passing them to him as I roll my eyes.

They both make quick work of cleaning up, and then I make us all a pot of tea and give them a quick rundown of the weekend.

“Yeah, my mom saw your guy's picture in the society pages this morning,” Archer tells me. “You were looking good, Troublemaker,” he adds with a wink at Aubree.

I lean forward and flick his nose. “Stop flirting with my fucking girl, you sex maniac.”

“I thought you were the sex maniac around here,” he claps back, before tossing another wink to Aubree. “Although not anymore, right?” His eyes flick down to her purity ring, but he finds her now empty finger instead, and then snaps back to me. “Or maybe you’ve been worshipping someone new,” he teases, making Aubree blush, and when Daemon sees it, he starts pushing him out.

“Alright, time-out for you,” he tells him, much to his dismay, but then he whispers something in his ear that has him scrambling away from him and up the stairs.

“I think you’re my new best friend,” I tell Daemon, and he rolls his eyes, but I see him hide a smirk, as he follows after his boyfriend, leaving Aubree and I alone.

Fucking finally.

I pour us both another cup of tea, passing one off to Aubree, and she has barely even taken it and placed it down, before she lunges forward and kisses me. I capture her lips with my own, kissing her swiftly, before pulling back and looking at her in confusion.

“What was that for?” I ask, and she shrugs.

“I just felt like it,” she shrugs, and fuck if I don’t love her, especially when she leans in to kiss me again, but I stop her, batting at her hand when she places it on my thigh.

“Well keep those lips of yours to yourself, Trouble, now is not the time for fraternizing, it’s tea time, we can’t sexualize it, it’s sacrilege,” I tell her sternly, and she sits back with a knowing smirk.

“Are you my teapot daddy now?” she asks, holding her cup out for a clink, and I meet it with my own.

“You better believe it,” I tell her, cheering our cups. “Now be quiet and drink your tea, while I silently plot how to ruin the pastor and his whore’s life.”

I fire off a few messages to the security team and Duchess, and she replies instantly.

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 leave for 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 get off 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.