Scandalous Prince (Mafia Royals 2)

I rolled my eyes. “Guys, parents have sex. Trust me, I wish I could unsee and unhear about ten years’ worth of moans.”

Serena shuddered like she needed a shower. “Fine, fine, I’m over it, sort of. So, I guess now all we need to do is go hunting?”

“And the best place to hunt…” Junior grinned.

“Campus.” They high fived each other.

Ash’s smile was forced.

I put an arm around him. “I know it’s soon. You don’t have to—”

“Ah, maybe sex will fix my broken heart. God knows the booze, pills, and fighting are doing jack shit.” He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.” He eyed me up and down. “You need to wear a beanie and sunglasses. You still look too much like your older, weaker self.”

“Gee, thanks,” I grumbled. “I wasn’t weak. I was trying not to draw attention.”

“By having sex with everything that walked?” Junior nodded. “Solid plan, really, can’t believe you thought of that all on your own.”

“Are we doing this, or are we talking about my sex life? Because this one over here still wants to kill me for—”

“Sleeping with my sister,” he said through clenched teeth.

“That.” I pointed.

“He’ll never let it go, just get used to it.” Serena grinned. “And I know exactly where to go. There’s a small party later tonight to celebrate the end of the Fall Semester.”

“Where at?” Ash asked.

Serena shrugged. “You’ll see.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Junior whispered under his breath as we all made our way up the stairs, me hobbling, Ash wincing, and the other two giving us shit for walking so slow.

I had a bad feeling, too, though it had nothing to do with the current situation but what would happen after the fact.

She said, one more night.

I killed Breaker Campisi.

But I wondered if she understood the power she had—to kill Valerian Petrov, to kill the remaining parts that needed her more than she would ever know.

This time my life was in her hands.

And I was so damn terrified that she was going to pull the knife, sink it deep into my back, then make sure I saw her face as I took my last few breaths.

The thought haunted me still, even two hours later, as we drove into downtown. Ash had spent that time bandaging me up, so I wasn’t a walking talking bloody wound. My back had been patched up with surgical glue, and once I washed the blood from my face, I actually looked half-human even though I still had bruising on my eye and jaw compliments of Ash’s right hook.

I tried talking to him a few times about doing this, being with a girl so soon after Claire, but the minute I said her name, he got this empty look in his eyes and told me to drop it, and I had to because I knew what it felt like to lose what you loved the most. I couldn’t imagine being in his position even though I could imagine loving someone who wanted nothing to do with you, even when you save them.

I sighed and looked out the SUV window. We were a few blocks from campus, and some of the upper-class dorms were moved to that location as the school continued to expand, but I didn’t actually know anyone who lived there.

Then again, I’d never really cared, so…

Junior parked in the garage while Serena made a call. “Yeah, we’re here, awesome, we won’t be long.”

“Where are we, exactly?” Ash asked once we went into the apartment building. The lights overhead flickered. “And why does it feel like a horror movie?”

Serena laughed. “Chill cousin, it’s an old building, but all the apartments are lofts that have been refurbished. No murderers here except for the ones walking down the creepy hall.”

“I prefer the term assassin,” Junior grumbled.

I shook my head at him. “You would.”

The click of Serena’s heels on the hardwood floor echoed off the hallway walls as we walked past doors that had been painted a dark navy blue. The sound of music got louder the farther we went. At the end of the hall, near another set of stairs, Serena stopped in front of the last door.

Room 729.

She knocked twice.

The door flew open, revealing Tank.

He looked so different from the first time we’d met him when he’d been undercover. He was stocky, wearing a black beanie, and had a cocky grin on his face as he crossed his bulky arms over his chest.

“Huh,” Serena winked at him. “You’re even wearing designer jeans, I’m so proud, I could cry.”

He just snorted out a laugh and rolled his eyes, then opened the door wider, turned around, and shouted, “Our king needs a few concubines.”

The best part was that he was dead serious, even if it sounded ridiculous. A few gasps were heard as someone turned down the music. I was surprised girls weren’t clawing at each other in an effort to get to Ash. He was even more popular now that his eyes were dead—probably because every woman saw him as a project, a man they could fix, a man they could love back to life. But the problem was, every girl thought she was the exception—and none of them would be able to replace Claire.