Page 84 of Kings & Corruption

Once we were inside, Rock opened the door leading to the back stairwell, careful to press the metal bar quietly in case someone was making their way up or down the stairs.

But it was empty, and we continued up the stairs, pausing in the second-floor vestibule to peek into the hall to make sure no one was there. I waited while Rock opened the door, sweat slicking the back of my neck, breaking out on my hairline as I thought about the possibility of being caught.

I wouldn’t be expelled — not as Roberto Alinari’s stepdaughter — but it would be humiliating and disappointing for my new stepdad. He would make me pay for that, and it wasn’t like Neo would come to my rescue by admitting the Kings had roped me into the game.

“Come on.” Rock waved me forward and I followed him into the hall, my heart pounding like a parade drum in my chest.

The hall was empty, but I could hear the clatter of someone working in one of the rooms as we crept toward the juncture leading to the next hall. Every time we passed an open door to one of the rooms, I felt dizzy with panic.

Except for my travel rebellion, I was the good girl in the family. I didn’t break the rules, especially not the big ones. That was Emma’s job. Beautiful, wild Emma, who’d never thought the rules were for her, who’d left Bellepoint to party with the people who hated us most and probably never in a million years dreamed they didn’t want her here.

We’d reached the bend in the hall, the final stretch leading to the lounge, when Rock shoved me back into a tiny vestibule leading to one of the rooms.

It happened so fast — one second we were walking side by side and the next we were crowded into the narrow vestibule, Rock’s body pressed so tightly against mine I could feel his muscled chest through his shirt, not to mention his hard dick pressing against my stomach.

Adrenaline flooded my body — and not because of the hard dick, although I was more than aware of it — but he just smirked.

“Someone’s coming,” he whispered.

He turned around, his wide shoulders blocking my view, and a minute later I heard the rattle of something I assumed was a cleaning cart.

“Did you get the bathrooms?” The voice belonged to a guy, someone under forty by my guess.

“Yep. And I got them last time too,” a woman replied. She sounded young-ish, maybe even around my age. “Those are on you next time.”

Rock shifted and I caught a heady whiff of his cologne that went straight to my pussy. I didn’t know what was worse, standing there in the vestibule praying we wouldn’t get caught or standing there in the vestibule realizing I wanted nothing more than for Rock to turn around and finish what he’d started in the car outside the Queens' house.

“Fuck that,” the guy said. “You’re the rookie.”

“Are you seriously pulling rank on this shitty cleaning job?” the girl asked. There was an easy camaraderie between them, like they’d known each other forever.

“Seniority rules, baby.” The guy’s voice was right on top of us. I couldn’t see past Rock’s gargantuan body, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if the guy was right in front of the vestibule.

“Do you know how much it sucks to have someone say that to you every day of your life for twenty-two years?” the girl asked.

Every day of your life? So they were siblings. Had to be.

“I don’t make the rules,” the guy said. “I’m going to hit the lounge. You start on the first floor.”

“Fine,” the girl said. “But if I have to do another set of bathrooms, you owe me breakfast when we’re done.”

His laughter echoed through the halls, but he was farther away now, probably heading for the lounge.

The cleaning cart’s squeaky wheels rattled down the hall, the sound getting more distant. A few seconds later, I heard the ding of an elevator. I hadn’t even realized the admin building had one. It must be tucked away somewhere.

Rock turned around to look at me. “It’s just the two of them. We need to get to the lounge, make sure the guy has the keys to the case.”

“What?” I hissed. “No! We know he’s the one who cleans the lounge. Let’s just… I don’t know, wait here or something.”

“No way.” Rock’s voice was resolute. “We’ve come this far. We have to make sure he’s actually got the keys. Plus we’ll get a better look at him up close.”

I couldn’t refute the logic. As much as I didn’t want to get up close and personal with the guy cleaning the lounge, I didn’t want to have to go through this again either.

I swore. “Fine.”

He flashed me a grin, then lowered his mouth to mine, capturing my lips in a kiss that made me forget all about the fact that we were trespassing. By the time he broke away, I was breathless, my underwear wet and sticking to my jeans.

He lifted his eyebrows suggestively like he knew exactly what my body was up to. “Let’s go.”

---