Page 25 of Kings & Corruption

I thought about all the people who’d stared as we walked through town, about the anonymous hate mail my mom had gotten after word got out that my dad had turned informant.

My peers at Aventine would play rough. No doubt about that. But I didn’t need a bodyguard to go to Walgreens.

He rubbed his thumb along his lower lip in a gesture I was beginning to recognize as one he used when he was considering something. “Tell you what, I’ll check out their anemic DVD section. Scream if you need me.”

“There’s a movie section at Walgreens?” Why was I keeping this convo going? I should be happy to send him on his way, not making small talk and looking up at him while my heart fluttered in my chest like some kind of Victorian heroine about to swoon.

“It’s not comprehensive by any means, but it’ll keep me busy for a few minutes while you pick out some mascara and lip gloss,” he said.

He turned around and walked away before I could say anything else.

I sighed and headed for the makeup aisle. Whatever. Everything I did here was about Emma. Drago was just being nice by giving me a ride into town. Once the school year started and the guys got busy with their own lives, they wouldn’t have time to follow me around.

Chapter12

Willa

Iformulated a plan as I headed for the makeup aisle. I’d dug into the welcome packet while I’d gotten ready to leave for town and discovered that the welcome ball was held in Aventine’s ballroom, which happened to be on the ground floor of the administrator’s building.

Dean Giordana’s office was upstairs on the second floor. There would probably be some commotion when I first arrived, especially since I would be arriving with Neo, Rock, and Drago, but if there was one thing I knew about my peers, it was that they were inherently self-absorbed.

Eventually, everyone would go back to reuniting with their friends, sharing stories about their summer, getting drunk, and hooking up.

Slipping away after that would be easy, and I‘d have plenty of time to do some exploring in the administrative offices upstairs to see if I could find out anything about Emma. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I had to start somewhere.

I wasn’t all that surprised to find the makeup section empty. Most of the girls at Aventine and Bellepoint had all summer to plan for their return to school. They’d gone to Bergdorf or Bloomingdale’s in the city, or had bought makeup online or in Paris on their summer vacations.

All the better for me.

I scanned the brands as I made a mental note of what I needed and stopped in front of the foundations and CC creams. I was testing one of them on my jawline to make sure the shade was right when a voice sounded behind me.

“It’s too dark for you.”

I turned to find a pretty girl about my age with red hair and sparkling hazel eyes studying my face.

“Excuse me?”

“That shade,” she said, walking toward me. “It’s too dark.”

I hadn’t been sure looking at the picture I’d taken of myself on my phone. I watched as she plucked another shade off the shelf.

She handed it to me with a smile. “Try this one.”

“Thanks.” I unscrewed the cap on the test bottle and rubbed a little on my jawline, then took another picture. She was right. It was so seamless I couldn’t even tell where I’d rubbed it in. “Wow, you’re good.”

She laughed. “I’m a makeup whore. And you’re Willa Russo.”

I sucked in a breath and braced myself. She seemed nice, but lots of peopleseemednice in our world — right before they cut off your tongue and dumped your body in the Atlantic.

“Guilty,” I said. “Of being Willa Russo. Nothing else, despite what everyone seems to think.”

She grimaced sympathetically. “That bad huh?”

“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure,” I said. “I guess we’ll find out tonight. I’ve been kind of hiding out for the past year, and I haven’t seen too many people on campus yet.” I studied her. “Actually, how did you know I was at Aventine?”

“Oh, it’s all over school,” she said with a laugh. “That was inevitable, especially once it got out that you’re living with the Kings.”

Right. The other guys at the house. Even if Neo, Rock, and Drago had kept quiet, the other guys probably wouldn’t, not necessarily out of malice but because we were all young, and some of us were way too eager for drama.

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