Page 108 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

“He is a businessman, Carina, but he isn’t heartless. And he knows he can’t risk losing any of you.” He kissed my hand again. “Especially you.”

“How…” My voice faltered and I tried again. “How much are we talking?”

King snagged a piece of paper from his desk and held it out to me. The figure written on it was staggering. It was more than I ever could have hoped for, enough so I wouldn’t have to consider whether giving a blow job was worth it in order to come up with my portion of the rent without digging into my reserves.

“There’s one for each of them,” he told me, patting a stack of folded papers at his side.

I blinked and shook my head. “King…”

“I want you to tell them,” he said, pressing his lips against my knuckles. “I want them to understand this wouldn’t have happened without you. Your persistence. Your cunning.”

“My relationship with you.” I looked away.

He pinched my chin, dragging my face back to his. “That,” he said before pecking his lips to mine, “is an added benefit for me and me alone. Despite what you might think, your pussy had nothing to do with my decision to speak to Mr. Leonetti. Your heart, though…”

“King.” I gripped his hand, though I couldn’t bring myself to remove his hold on my face.

“Yes, my darling?”

My throat tightened, keeping the words from spilling across my tongue. I think falling in love with you. Instead, I gave him a smile, one he wiped off with a searing kiss. He slid his hands behind my neck, holding me to him as he plunged his tongue into my mouth and swirled it with my own. When he pulled back, my chest was heaving, my knees shaky, and wetness had pooled between my legs.

“Go. Tell them.” He wiped under my bottom lip with his thumb. “I’ve had Cole round them up. They should be waiting for you in the dressing room.”

“You did what?” How much trouble would I be in if I slapped my boss? Especially after a kiss like that?

Spinning out of his grip, I rushed out of his office and down the long hallway to the dressing room. Sure enough, Cole was standing guard outside their door, as if the girls were prisoners rather than employees with every right to leave this place and all its troubles behind.

Before I could reach the doorway and push Cole out of my way, King gripped my arm and swung me around to face him. “You forgot something.” He held out the stack of papers, his dark eyes twinkling in the dim overhead light. He winked. “You might want to give them these.”

“I swear to God, Kingston?—”

He leaned forward, cutting me off as he pressed his mouth to my ear. “You might want to fix your hair, darling.” He nipped my earlobe, and I had to stifle a yelp. “You’ve got that just-fucked look, and I didn’t get to have any of the fun.”

When he stood up, any lust I might have hoped to see was gone. His gaze was directed over my head, and he lifted his chin.

“That’ll be all, Cole. Thank you.”

As Cole lumbered away, I stepped toward the dressing room door, only for King to yank me back again.

“Good luck.” He smoothed his hands over my hair, then dropped a kiss to my lips, stunning me into silence. “Come see me when you’re done. I can’t stand to see you so speechless. I want to give you something to moan about.”

With another kiss that had my mind spinning and my heart fluttering in my chest, King left me where I stood, flabbergasted as he rushed back to his office and closed the door. I blinked after him, then glanced down at the life-changing papers in my hand.

There’s one for each of them.

With a stealing breath, I grabbed the knob and stepped through the dressing room door. My heart sank when I saw what awaited me, and I had half a mind to hunt King down and give him a piece of my mind.

The girls were scattered around the room, arms wrapped around themselves and some of them close to tears. The minute I closed the door, Evie rushed to me.

“Carina, what’s going on?”

I wrapped her in a hug, smoothing a hand down her long black hair. “King’s an asshole, that’s what,” I told them all, trying to make eye contact with each of them.

Leni took a tentative step forward, her head tilted slightly and her face pinched. “What’s he done?”

Edging back from Evie, I put my hands on her shoulders and gave her a smile—not the sickly sweet one that netted me what I wanted, but a genuine smile for the girl who’d been here with me for longer than any others.

“He made a bad decision on how best to break some wonderful news.”

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