Page 80 of Kings & Corruption

I felt bad about lying to her — and I had to literally force the wordstepsisterfrom my mouth — but the last thing I needed was everyone at Aventine gossiping about Frank Russo’s daughter sleeping with the Kings.

“If you say so.” She didn’t sound like she believed it, but she linked her arm with mine and dragged me through the high-ceilinged foyer toward a staircase. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

She led me up the stairs and into her room on the second floor. At first, I was a little worried — the room had two double beds and was clearly occupied by two people — but Claire explained that her roommate was out for the night.

That was a relief, because I was determined to talk to Claire about Emma, something that would have been difficult with a hovering roommate given Claire’s caginess on the subject at Game Night.

We dropped my bag in her room and she showed me around the house, which was a beautiful old Victorian with original moldings, polished wood banisters, and a large renovated kitchen. It was more like what I’d imagined the Kings’ house would be, minus the beer-soaked carpet.

She introduced me to other residents of the Queens’ house as we went. Erin and Quinn were there, plus a few other girls I’d seen at Game Night or around campus. I hadn’t realized how much I’d gotten used to seeing the different crime families separated into groups, but even after only a week at Aventine, it felt strange to see the Italian girls I’d grown up with laughing and talking with members of the cartel, Irish, and Russian families.

It was nice, like a big family, complete with two girls who were having a loud fight over leftovers in the fridge. It made me realize how much I missed Mara. The Kings had been nicer than I’d expected, and other than Neo and Enzo, the other guys in the house had been welcoming, but I’d missed hanging with a bunch of girls.

Every now and then, I’d catch one of the Queens staring at me, but it was mostly friendly curiosity, and they asked questions about how I was settling in at Aventine and my year of travel instead of my family.

Claire and I spent time talking to a few of them in the kitchen, then settled into the living room.

The next two hours flew by. I learned more about Claire, like the fact that her family was a high-ranking one in the Irish Mob out of Boston. She had five brothers, and she talked about all but one of them fondly. Apparently three of them had already been at Aventine, one had chosen not to attend college, and the fifth had been working in Dublin and was due to start next year.

According to Claire, they were annoying and overprotective, which sounded about right for any family in our world. There were more women in positions of power than there used to be, but protecting us seemed to be coded into the male Mafia DNA.

Claire’s phone buzzed and she looked at it, then widened her eyes in surprise. “It’s after eight! Let’s order Chinese. Unless you want something else?”

“Chinese is good,” I said.

She ordered online and we wandered into the kitchen to talk to some of the other girls while we waited for it to be delivered. This time Alexa was there, holding court with the two girls who seemed to be her main sidekicks. We’d been introduced at Game Night, and I was pretty sure the blonde was Anya and the brunette was Natalie.

They were both gorgeous of course, although not gorgeous enough to take the focus off Alexa, which was probably the point.

Alexa’s cool gaze flickered over me as I came into the room with Claire. I forced myself not to shrink under her icy analysis. I didn’t consider myself a shrinking violet, but she had a way of making me feel about half an inch tall.

No way was I letting her know that though.

“Leave it to you to bring Judas into the house,” Alexa said to Claire.

Claire just gave her a patronizing smile. “Aw, where’s your hospitality, Lex? Willa is our guest. You don’t want everyone saying the Queen of Queens’ house is a royal bitch, now do you?” She put a hand over her mouth and widened her eyes in mock surprise. “Oh wait… too late!”

I shifted uncomfortably, half expecting Alexa to subject Claire to some kind of medieval torture right there in the kitchen.

Instead, Alexa just rolled her eyes. “No talk about the game.”

“Duh,” Claire said.

I already knew the rules. Rock had been very clear on the ride into town, right before he’d delivered my earth-shattering orgasm in the car: absolutely no discussion with the Queens about the game. Claire and I could be friends, but in the game, our houses were competitors, and the competition wasn’t all in good fun.

Whoever won would hold the power over the game next year. Plus, they’d get the rings, something that was apparently a very big deal.

I exhaled my relief when Alexa flounced off with her minions in tow. I had zero interest in trying to win her over, but I also didn’t love being her target, if only because it drew attention. Finding Emma meant blending in, being just another student at Aventine.

My dad had already made that difficult. My sister’s disappearance made it next to impossible.

The last thing I needed was to become a source of amusement for Alexa Petrov.

We talked to the other girls while we waited for our Chinese food, but one by one, they peeled off to other parts of the house. I understood why a little while later when the sound of multiple blow dryers drifted down the stairs, the scent of body wash and perfume lacing the air: it was Friday night, and that meant everyone was going out.

I thought fleetingly of Rock and Oscar, wondering what they’d do while I was gone for the night, if they’d bring another girl back to the house, to their beds, but an answering roar of jealousy forced me to shut down the thought.

I didn’t own them, and I couldn’t afford to be attached to them.

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