Page 41 of Kings & Corruption

Ugh. These guys were turning out to be a bigger mystery than I’d expected. I’d figured by now it would be obvious we were mortal enemies, we’d steer clear of each other for the next nine months, and that would be that.

Instead, I had two charmers on my hands, plus one dickwad, none of whom I trusted even though they’d offered to help me figure out what happened to Emma.

I exhaled and punched the comforter down with my fist. Not trusting people who were supposed to be helping me was a problem, but having no one to help at all was a bigger one, as evidenced by the fact that Neo had caught me in the dean’s office.

If we’d been working together, I would have known about the guard’s patrol schedule. I could have had someone watch the door from the hall. I probably would have known not to bother at all.

So… yeah. I didn’t trust them. But I still had a better shot of finding out what happened to Emma if I worked with them.

And then there was the problem of my missing earring. I told myself I could have dropped it anywhere — on the dance floor or by the bar in the ballroom or even in the Hummer — but I kept seeing myself in the dean’s office, bending over his desk, digging through his files.

I sat up in bed with a sigh. This wasn’t working. This whole sleep thing.

I tapped my phone on the nightstand.

3:32 a.m.

Dammit.

I got up and briefly considered putting on more clothes — my panties and theHalt deinen Mundshirt I got in Berlin didn’t cover much — then headed for the door.

Fuck it.

It was the middle of the night. I was just going to make a cup of tea.

Assuming these savages had tea in the house.

I stepped into the hall and headed for the back stairs. The house was still quiet when I got to the kitchen, and I put the kettle on and opened several cupboards until I found a surprisingly varied assortment of tea.

Rock’s doing, no doubt. I needed to stop underestimating him.

I poured boiling water over a bag of lavender chamomile and dipped the tea bag in and out of the water before picking up the steaming mug and wandering into the hall. This was the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at the rooms on the first floor.

I was making my way down the hall when I heard voices coming from the closed door of the media room.

I obviously wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.

I opened the door and was greeted with a grainy image on the big screen: a blonde woman with poofy hair and smoky eye makeup.

“Can’t sleep?”

I followed the voice to Oscar, slumped over in one of the cushy chairs facing the screen. He was shirtless over flannel pants, and I had to force my eyes away from his sculpted chest, the corded plane of his abs.

I shook my head. “You either?”

He raked a hand over his face. “No, but that’s not unusual.” He patted the seat next to him. “Want to join me?”

“What are you watching?” I asked.

He lifted his dark brows. “Does it matter?”

“I guess not.” I stepped into the room and made my way to his row of seats.

I settled carefully next to him and took a drink of my tea before setting it on the little table next to my seat.

“It’sAnd God Created Woman,” Oscar said. Goddamn. He smelled like rumpled sheets and sleep. “The black-and-white version is better. I hate the way they fucking colorize everything now.”

“She’s pretty,” I said about the woman on the screen.

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