Ruthless Princess (Mafia Royals 1)

I leaned into him. “Thanks, Z.”

“No.” Junior grabbed my arm. “You can have your fun later, but fair warning, bro, her kiss is poison.”

“What a good way to go…” Z said softly, making me actually want to cover up my breasts and lean into Junior, not because he made me feel safe but because Z looked at me like I was a thing.

And as much as I hated Junior, he’d only ever treated me as his equal, a match in every way.

I shivered.

“Maybe if you wore more clothes,” Junior hissed in my ear.

“You’re still here?” I snapped.

“Guys!” Ash clapped his hands between us. “Focus.”

We shuffled inside. Z shut the door behind us. The party was just getting started; maybe thirty students were scattered around the room.

And in the very middle.

Our thrones.

The music suddenly stopped.

Head held high, I waited as Junior and Ash escorted Claire and me to our seats. They were nothing special, just old velvet purple armchairs that had tall Victorian style backs.

Once we were seated, legs crossed, metaphorical crowns adjusted, the guys took their seats next to us while Breaker stood in front, making sure nobody approached without asking.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Sergio: Campus-wide email sent out to the school next door, they have five hundred students enrolled total—that’s small, even for a community college. Expect more than a dozen at best to sneak over. Be alert.

I quickly texted back.

Me: We’ve got this, run the facial recognition software.

Sergio: Done, I just sent the ones that were in our database.

I stared down at the two pictures.

A girl and a guy who looked like they had grown up in the perfect suburban home with a doctor for a dad and a stay-at-home mom.

The girl had a friggin’ red headband, straight dark hair, and happy green eyes.

And the guy looked about my age, similar build to Breaker, with blue eyes and reddish-brown hair. He had extremely striking features and would be easy to pick out.

“Uh…” Junior looked up from his phone. “Are we sure these are potential targets?”

“A sneeze could blow this girl over,” Ash joked.

Claire frowned and looked over Ash’s shoulder. “Maybe that’s the plan.”

I narrowed my eyes in her direction. “You mean, make them as non-threatening as possible?”

Claire shrugged. “Do you really think they’re going to come in here armed and ready to start a war?”

“Yes!” we all said in unison.

Claire just laughed. “Maybe ten years ago that’s how things went down, but warfare isn’t done in the light—it’s done in the dark now, through social media, cat phishing, pretending, it’s not as easy to see your enemy as you think.”

Something about the way she said it made me pause. “Claire—”

“Serena,” Ash interrupted me. “We’ve been over this. Claire’s proved herself, drop it.”

Claire sucked in her bottom lip, her eyes filled with worry. “I’m sorry I was just trying to help.”

“You did well,” Ash whispered, standing and walking over to give her an unnecessary kiss on the head like she was his pet.

I gagged and then set my phone back down just as the door opened again, Z let another twenty students in.

One by one, they walked by us, paid their respects by way of a head nod, and then went over to the alcohol.

“I think we need a secret handshake next year,” Breaker piped up. “The head nod feels weird.”

“Because it is weird.” Junior sounded bored. “And what makes us think they’re just going to waltz right into here and—”

“Well then…” Ash chuckled as Z let in five more students that were very much not ours.

The guy was tall, not one of the ones in the picture, but he was with the two that we’d just seen on our phones.

“Safety in numbers.” I cursed under my breath, and then I stood.

The music stopped.

Students approached us and waited.

“Who wants to party up here with us?” I asked in a sultry voice.

Everyone shouted.

“Aw,” I shrugged. “I can only pick five; you guys know the rules.”

Hands shot up, compliments followed, shouting.

Junior stood and moved next to me. “What the hell are you doing? We always wait for an hour.”

“I’m bored,” I lied. “And I want intel, don’t you?”

“Shit, you’re gonna get us killed.”

“Do they look threatening?” I hissed under my breath. “If that girl’s not named Karen, I really don’t know anything anymore.”

Junior smirked and then turned so that his back was to the crowd, his mouth near my ear. “What’s your play then?”

“Seduction.” He was far too close.

“Mmmm, them or us?”

“Both,” I said before I could stop myself. Any excuse to touch him, to make him want, to distract them, and to show them how good it feels—the power.

Junior’s eyes flashed as his fingers gripped my wrist. “I’m not… I can’t be…” He licked his lips and repeated what he always did when we had to perform, when we had to do our jobs. “I won’t be gentle with you.”