Page 133 of Shameless Royalty

I move toward the library, keeping my head down, but snippets of a conversation float past me.

“Did you see him?”

“I knew they’d come back eventually—”

“Oh my god, Connor Cunningham is here. That means the others must be back too—”

I slow my pace slightly, frowning. My pulse is already fucked from my run-in with Connor, but now something uneasy curls in my stomach.

“They’re so hot, I swear—”

“And terrifying.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t mind being terrified if it meant getting wrecked by one of them.”

A chorus of giggles follows that, and I roll my eyes, shifting my books in my arms as I finally glance over at the group of girls sitting on one of the stone benches near the path. They’re scrolling through their phones, whispering in that excited, gossipy way that means nothing to me.

I almost keep walking. I should keep walking. But something about the way they said his name—about the way they reacted like his presence here meant something—sticks in my brain.

I hesitate for half a second before stepping closer. “Hey.”

They glance up at me, their laughter cutting off as they take me in. I’m used to that—people looking at me like I don’t fit here. The oversized sweater, the dark jeans, the hair that still falls into my eyes no matter how many times I push it back—it all screams outsider in a place like this.

One of the girls, blonde with perfectly glossed lips, tilts her head. “Uh… hey?”

I shift my books in my grip, clearing my throat. “What were you saying about Connor Cunningham?”

They exchange looks, their brows furrowing slightly. The blonde speaks again. “That he’s back?”

I nod once, biting the inside of my cheek. “And… that means somethin’?”

They stare at me like I just asked if the sky is blue.

One of the others, a brunette with cat-like eyes, blinks. “Are you serious?”

“Do I look like I’m jokin’?” I roll my eyes, already regretting this conversation.

Her lips part slightly, like she’s still computing the fact that I exist. “You don’t know what he is?”

“Clearly not.”

A moment of silence, then the blonde leans forward slightly. “What about The Five Crowns?”

I shake my head, frowning. “What the fuck is that?”

They exchange looks again, this time tinged with disbelief. Then a third girl, dark-skinned and gorgeous, sits up straighter, eyeing me like I might be fucking with them. “How do you go to Willow Bridge and not know who they are?”

I breathe out a sigh, because fucking hell. “I haven’t been here long.”

The blonde cocks her head like she’s trying to figure out whether I’m worth explaining this to, before sighing and flipping her hair over her shoulder. “The Five Crowns areit,” she says. “The heirs to five of the biggest criminal families in the world. They run this school. No one touches them, no one crosses them, and if they do, they either disappear or regret it fast.”

“Disciplinary hearings mean nothing to them,” the brunette adds. “Professors don’t even look at them the wrong way. They could kill someone on campus, and it would be covered up before the body hit the ground.”

My blood runs cold and I feel like I’ve been punched in the ribs.

Connor isn’t just the son of a small-time mob boss. He isn’t just the shameless, cocky bastard who kissed me like he owned me, who left me aching for something I never should have wanted.

He’s going to inherit an empire.

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