Page 24 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

My pulse kicked up several notches as the man behind the mask came into view and I found myself face to face with Professor Kingston.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

ELEVEN

zac

I STOPPED BREATHING.

The second King’s face filled my vision, my ears began to ring as shock overwhelmed me.

His was a face I’d looked at so many times, studying his features when he wasn’t looking. Skin the color of smooth, rich mahogany, close-cropped black curls, and a jaw line that could cut glass, even with the perfectly styled hair that lined it.

And those eyes. They were a dark, mysterious brown, carrying secrets I’d never imagined would lead me into…a basement? No, that wasn’t the right description for this place, and the stillness of East beside me told me just how surprised he was at the turn of events.

“I heard you were looking for me,” King said, and my gaze snapped back up to his.

My cheeks immediately warmed, partly from embarrassment but mostly because I’d never seen him look at me with such intensity before. King was an intimidating guy as it was, always commanding attention when he walked in a room, but this? Now?It was a miracle my knees weren’t buckling.

“Yes,” East said, finding his voice before I could think to answer. “We were?—”

“Stop talking.”

To my amazement, East immediately shut his mouth.That might’ve been the first and only time that had happened. Ever.

King looked between us. “Down here, you don’t speak to me until I tell you to. Understood?”

It was insane the way his rich timbre shot straight to my cock, but I didn’t dare move other than to nod my agreement.

East, on the other hand, tensed, his lips parting like he wanted to respond to that, but then he also gave a clipped nod.

“Understandably, you have questions,” King said. “Remember that anything you see or hear should never be discussed outside of these walls and that you signed a strict NDA to prevent you from doing so.”

Oh God.

With those words, gone was any anxiety over something unwanted happening here tonight. In its place came an anticipation that coiled low in my belly before making its way to my cock.

“We’ve brought you here because each of you possesses qualities that would be beneficial to our cause. In time, you’ll learn more about who we are and what your place among us could be, but for now all you need to know is that we’re men with a common goal. The pursuit of power, money, and influence.”

My gaze dropped to the clasp at King’s neck, the same ornate symbol that had been on the wax seal, only in gold. So this was a sort of secret society, then? And he was, what, the leader?

What the hell was happening right now? I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down in a handful of seconds. The only thing that was even slightly normal was East, andthatwas scaring the shit out of me.

“With your graduations on the horizon, we decided now would be the perfect recruitment period for the two of you. A trial, you might say, before you can be initiated as members.”

Recruitment? Trials? Jesus, who knew what that might include? And considering we were standing in a locked cavern, I didn’t imagine it was a presentation at a board meeting with the higher-ups.

Oh no, the higher-ups were all standing behind King, shrouded in cloaks and mystery, their faces still hidden from view as East and I stood all but paralyzed in place. The only things they were missing were daggers.

Unless they were hiding them.

“Questions?” King said. “I know you must have many, but right now you get one each.”

He expected us to speak? I wasn’t even sure I remembered how to.

“So this isn’t a sex club?”

I whipped my head in East’s direction, hardly believing my own ears, as someoneotherthan the three of us muffled what sounded like a chuckle.

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