Page 139 of Kings & Corruption

He’d been gone when I woke up, the chair across from my bed empty.

Had I imagined it? Dreamed it?

I didn’t believe either of those things. I could still see him, could still hear his voice.

Go to sleep, Jezebel.

It had been real.

“Wanna talk about it?”

I looked over at Rock. “About what?”

He grinned. “Whatever’s on your mind, kitten.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. The bulge between his thighs was all too obvious in his jeans, and I remembered what it had felt like to grind against him in the car outside the Queens’ house. It always looked like his T-shirts were a size too small — in a good way — and I could almost feel the sensation of his smooth bare skin under my palms.

I hadn’t seen him naked yet, but I hadn’t spotted any tattoos so far, and there were no signs of piercings either. I was eager to explore the differences between him and Oscar, and I had a feeling fucking both would be a very sexy study in contrasts.

My body responded to the thought right on cue, my pussy clenching with desire.

Jesus. What a thirsty bitch I’d become.

“I’m good,” I said, because the alternatives were to tell him I’d been thinking about fucking him and Oscar at the same time, or that before that, I’d been thinking about Neo in my room.

He reached for my hand. “There’s a lot going on. It’s okay if you’re feeling off balance.”

I’d been feeling off balance for so long I wasn’t sure what the alternative felt like. Maybe this was my new normal — everything going to hell in a handbasket, as Nana Russo would say.

I squeezed his hand. “I'm definitely a little off balance, but I’m okay. Thanks for yesterday, and for this.”

Thiswas a trip into town for pastries and coffee at Cassie’s Cuppa. I’d needed the Saturday in bed, and ending it with trashy TV and greasy takeout was the cherry on top, but I had cabin fever.

I’d expected the Kings to fight me when I’d said I wanted to go into town for coffee, but Rock had just grabbed the keys to the Audi and ushered me to the garage.

“I’ll text you my order,” Oscar said as Rock closed the door behind him.

Neo had been quiet, expression tight, no sign of the moment that had passed between us the night before (it had been real, I knew it).

“It’s not a problem,” Rock said, opening his door. “Your wish is my command. Besides, I could do with one of Cassie’s bear claws.”

“You?” I laughed getting out of the car. “What about the additives? What about the grease? What about thewhite sugar?”

He smiled as he took my hand. “Make fun all you want, but someday when we’re old and gray, you’re going to thank me.”

Old and gray. Why did I like the sound of that?

Cassie’s was hopping, a long line forming at one end of the counter with people waiting to place their orders, a small crowd standing at the other end while they waited to pick up their coffee.

We got in line and I scanned the pastry case, my mouth watering over doughy eclairs, fried bear claws, and chocolate croissants.

“What’s good?” I asked Rock.

“Literally everything,” he said. “Cassie makes everything fresh every morning.”

“She makes everything herself?” The case was stuffed full of pastries that looked every bit as good as the ones I’d sampled in Paris.

He shrugged. “She might have a kitchen team, but everything is made here.”

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