Page 113 of Kings & Corruption

Interesting. Daniel Longhat must be a student at the state university one town over. A piece of paper stuck out of the textbook, and I opened it to find a syllabus for a class titledJournalistic Inquiry: The Written Wordresting between the pages.

I skimmed to the bottom of the syllabus and a section that had been highlighted:Mandatory participation in theGazetteis required. Students must submit a 10,000 word article showcasing investigative journalism skills as their final.

But it wasn’t the assignment that made me catch my breath, it was the note scrawled next to it in sloppy but bold handwriting:expose corruption at Aventine?

Holy fuck… Was Daniel Longhat about to write an article about the games at Aventine? Or did his reference to corruption refer to something darker?

Dread bloomed through my body as I thought about Emma, about how no one seemed to know anything about her at Aventine even though that’s where she’d last been seen.

I didn’t know how long I stood there before I remembered that I was trespassing, that Daniel Longhat was asleep upstairs. I forced my feet to move, backtracking out of the house and through the open sliding glass door before closing it carefully behind me.

This time my pulse raced not because of any imminent danger but because seeing the words written on Daniel’s class syllabus felt like validation. Maybe he was just talking about the games, about the way the administration looked the other way while students at Aventine behaved badly because of their connected parents.

But maybe not. Maybe there was something else going on at Aventine, something that had gotten Emma hurt or killed.

I felt sick as I slid back into the Audi’s passenger seat.

“Jesus, I was about to come in after you,” he said. “What took you so long?”

“I was just being careful.”

Rock looked more closely at me. “Everything go okay?”

I forced myself to smile as I met his gaze. “Everything was fine. I left the door unlocked like we found it.”

He leaned over the console and kissed me on the lips. “You did it! You fucking did it.”

I wanted to tell him what I’d found inside Daniel’s textbook as he started the car and pulled away from the curb. The fact that I didn't was a reminder.

No matter how much I liked Rock and Oscar, we weren’t on the same team.

Chapter51

Willa

I’d expected the crowd at the quarry party to be surly about our win, but everyone was pumped as Neo announced it in front of the bonfire. Maybe it was the sheer amount of alcohol that always seemed to be present at Aventine parties, but they all seemed happy that at least one house had gotten away with the medals, even if it hadn’t been theirs.

Word had spread fast once Rock and I got the medals back to the Kings’ house, aided by Neo’s picture of them on a nondescript background sent to the other houses from a phone that couldn’t be traced to him. But that only seemed to have primed Aventine’s student body for the formal announcement.

“To Rock!” Neo shouted, almost finished with his speech. He raised the medals, clutched in one hand, into the air. “To Willa, to the Kings, and tosangue oltre la famiglia!”

I didn’t know what I’d expected — everyone to refuse to say my name maybe? But they didn’t. They screamed it right along with Rock’s, and I found myself roaring the motto with everyone else like some kind of cult member, carried along by the excitement around the fire.

The acceptance felt good, like I’d taken one small step toward earning everyone’s trust. Pathetic? Maybe, but I couldn’t deny it was true.

“Now, let’s party!” Neo shouted.

Another roar went up from the crowd, the music was cranked, and everyone dispersed to dance, drink, and probably fuck.

I wished fervently I was one of them. On the fucking, that is. The last few days had me wound tight. Between the little gift from my stalker and the harrowing day stealing the medals, I needed some relief, and I’d been too distracted to play with my vibrator.

I eyed Oscar and Rock across the bonfire, their faces beautiful, almost harsh in the darkness, and I felt my underwear dampen. Then my gaze settled on Neo, talking to them both, his expression intense, and they got even wetter.

I had a flash of the moment we’d shared on the road, his mouth on my tit, how ready I’d been for his shockingly big dick when he’d spun me around to face the car.

“Having carnal thoughts about your roommates?” Claire said, suddenly standing next to me.

I looked down at her. “Can I plead the Fifth?”

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