Page 10 of Kings & Corruption

“How do you know?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t, but the other three rooms on this floor belong to Neo, Rock, and Drago, and all the rooms on the second floor are assigned to guys like me.”

I looked up at him. He really was cute, with perfect teeth and that chin dimple that managed to be both sweet and sexy.

The cut biceps didn’t hurt either.

“What do you mean, guys like you?” I asked.

He shifted on his feet. “Just… you know, normal guys.”

I laughed a little. “Is anyone at this school really normal?”

His smile widened. “Good point.”

“Besides,” I said, smiling up at him, “normal is underrated.”

Was he blushing? Just when I thought he couldn’t get any cuter.

“You think so?” he asked.

I nodded. “I do. So, uh… do you think it’s okay for me to go in?” I asked, looking at the closed door.

“Sure,” he said. “I mean, Rock told us to make you comfortable, so…”

I opened the door, then forced myself to hold back a gasp of shock as the room came into view.

First of all, it was huge. Like, massive, with enough room for the king-size bed that dominated one wall plus a sitting area with a sofa, side tables, and a ginormous TV hanging on the wall over a modern fireplace, not to mention all the other furniture, like the dresser and nightstands.

Even with all that stuff, there was plenty of room to move around, but the thing that really got my attention was the wall of glass that overlooked the trees at the back of the property. At first I thought it was a giant window, but when I walked toward it, I saw the almost-invisible seam of a door. The balcony that jutted beyond it was so well integrated it was almost invisible from inside the house.

“This opens?” I asked.

“Yeah, the third-floor rooms all have balconies,” Matt said.

“Wow.” I felt a little dumb. I’d probably said the word more times in the half hour since my mom and Roberto had left than I had in the previous year.

Matt chuckled behind me and I turned to smile at him. “It’s nice,” he said. “I don’t blame you for being impressed.”

“Let’s just keep that between us, okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “Trying to play it cool, huh?”

“Something like that.” In our world, everything was power.

Pleasure. Pain. Knowledge.

Everything.

“You got it.” His gaze lingered on my face, and I felt the familiar pull of sexual tension. “I’m really glad you’re going to be here this year.”

“Me too.” I kept my voice friendly but neutral. It wasn’t hard. Every woman I knew was practiced at the technique. It was essential when trying to set boundaries with strange men, and as attractive as Matt was, I didn’t know him at all.

More specifically, I didn’t know if he would be friend or foe, and I couldn’t afford to find out the hard way.

Besides, I was here to find out what had happened to Emma. The last thing I needed was to get involved with one of the criminals-in-training who might have had something to do with her disappearance.

“The campus is big,” Matt said. Had he stepped closer? He seemed closer than he’d been a couple minutes ago. “And there’s Blackwell too. Maybe I could show you around. We could grab some dinner and — ”

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