Page 39 of Kings & Corruption

His gaze hardened and that nerve jumped in his jaw. “Wanting to know isn’t the problem. You broke into the fucking dean’s office. If I hadn’t come in when I did, the guard would have caught you. You would have been expelled. How would you have helped Emma then?”

My face heated with shame. He was right. I had to be more careful.

“What’d you think you’d find?” Oscar asked.

I looked down at the island and traced the veins in the marble with my index finger. “I don’t know. I was just hoping for something… Dean Giordana’s office seemed like the best place to start.”

“Well, it wasn’t,” Neo said.

I shot daggers at his stupid gorgeous face. “I’m getting that.”

Rock leaned over the island and tugged on my braid. “You should have asked us for help.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “I didn’t think that was an option.”

And also, I don’t trust any of you as far as I can throw you. Even if you are stupid hot.

“Of course it’s an option,” Oscar said. “You’re staying with us so we can look out for you.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Right.”

“Why else would you be staying with us?” Rock looked genuinely confused.

My eyes slid to Neo. “Probably so my newstepdadcan keep an eye on me through stepbrother dearest here.”

“That’s not why,” Neo said. He was standing with his feet apart, his humongous arms crossed over his equally humongous chest, all of it stretching the seams of his expensive shirt like he was a bouncer at some high-end club. “And don’t call me your stepbrother.”

“Isn’t that what you are?” I asked, staring at him.

“Technically.” His voice dripped with disgust.

“Well, there you go,” I said. “And trust me, I’m not any happier about it than you are.”

“The point is, you need to be smarter,” Neo said.

I ignored him and looked at Rock. “What would that look like? Asking you for help?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Just ask, dollface.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s it? No strings?”

A wide smile cracked his face. “I wouldn’t say no to a shot at making you scream my name, but it’s totally not required.”

I looked at Oscar. “What about you?”

He met my gaze. “I’m all in, tiger. Whatever you need.”

I took a deep breath and looked at Neo. “Let me guess, you don’t help traitors.”

“Normally,” he said, his eyes cold. “But if you get caught snooping around while you’re living here, it makes us all look bad. So…” He shook his head. “I’m in too."

His reasons made sense, but I almost couldn’t believe it. I looked from Neo to Oscar to Rock and put my finger on what was still bothering me.

“Why didn’t you do this before?” I asked.

“Do what?” Rock asked.

“Look for Emma,” I said. “See if you could find out what happened to her.” I pinned Neo with my eyes. “You made it sound like you knew her. If that’s true, why haven’t you been trying to find out what happened to her?”

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