Page 16 of Kings & Corruption

“And then?” Drago asked, cocking a pierced eyebrow as he joined me on the third-floor landing.

“Neo came home.”

Oscar Drago’s physique was lean and defined as opposed to Neo’s sheer mass and Rock’s athletic muscle, and he had sex appeal that was all his own. Something about those dark eyes, all the piercings. and the thick black hair made me think about closing my fingers around it while he fucked me to next Sunday.

Ugh.

“Why do I sense there’s more to this story?” he asked.

It took me a sec to banish the image of Drago between my thighs and remember what we’d been talking about. “It’s just… Neo.”

He rubbed a thumb over his lower lip, and a flash of gold caught my eye. Yep. It was a ring just like the ones Rock and Neo wore, only Drago wore it on his thumb, and the stone in his looked like a ruby.

“You’ll get used to it,” he said.

“I don’t want to get used to it,” I snapped. This was good. Drago blowing off my issues with Neo was what I needed: a reminder that no matter how nice Rock and Drago seemed, they were still on Neo’s team.

And that meant I couldn’t trust them.

He nodded. “I get that. Thing is, we’ve been like brothers since we were kids.”

“I know,” I said. “I remember.”

“There’s no changing Neo, but he’s… not what he seems.”

“An asshole who hates me?”

Drago laughed. and when he shifted his shirt moved enough to give me a glimpse of washboard abs and a trail of dark hair leading under the waistband of his jeans.

Don’t look, Willa. DON’T LOOK.

“Okay, he’s an asshole a lot of the time, but he doesn’t hate you,” Drago said.

“Could have fooled me,” I muttered.

“You just have to get to know him.” He leaned down so that his face was just a couple of inches from mine. My pulse hammered out a beat in my veins, and it was suddenly a whole lot harder to breathe. “And I don’t care what Rock says, I know there’s a tiger in there. You can handle Neo.”

He straightened and started down the hall. I knew from Rock that Drago’s room was two doors down, with Rock’s on one side and Neo’s on the other (next to mine, of course, because if you were already in hell you might as well turn up the heat).

“Get some rest,” he said without turning around. “It’s going to be an interesting few days.”

I watched him disappear into his room, then opened the door to my own. I stepped inside and closed the door, then stood with my back to it for a minute.

Interesting was one word for it. And not just a few days — the whole year.

Matt brought up my bags and I spent the next two hours unpacking and checking out my new room. The meager amount of clothes I’d brought with me barely put a dent in the space offered by the dresser and the deluxe walk-in closet I’d found behind one of the doors, but it was nice to have everything out of my suitcases.

The room was perfect, the king-size mattress nestled inside an ice-blue upholstered velvet frame with expensive sheets and a pretty blue, white, and gold bohemian comforter that was exactly my stye. The sofa in the sitting area was plush and covered in a crisp linen-colored fabric. I could already imagine how nice it would be to read there with the trees swaying beyond the wall of glass.

Had the room always been furnished this way? It must have been, because the alternative was that it had been decorated for me, and that seemed too considerate for the three Kings, grilled cheese and bellhop service aside.

I couldn’t figure out how to open the glass doors leading to the balcony — there was no knob and no control panel that I could see — so I settled for standing next to it, staring into the trees and wondering why, for the first time in a long time, I felt relieved.

I shouldnotbe feeling relieved at Aventine.Especiallyin the Kings’ house.

I would have to be careful. I needed to remember that I was here to find out what had happened to Emma, if Neo, Rock, and Drago might know something about her disappearance. I couldn’t afford to get comfortable.

The bathroom was every bit as amazing as I’d imagined, almost identical to the one attached to Rock’s room, soaking tub included. I was surprised to find an extensive selection of high-end toiletries on the marble vanity, although I probably shouldn’t have been. I’m sure the few girls at Aventine were all vying for a spot in one of the Kings’ beds.

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