Page 55 of Kings & Carnage

He shook his head and rubbed his jaw. "I'm confident you’re covered here. It's everywhere else I'm worried about."

Chapter27

Willa

If someone had told me four months earlier that I'd be happy to be back at the Kings’ house, I would've told them they were insane.

But I couldn't lie. It felt like home.

I dropped the few things Neo had bought for me at the mall on the floor of my room and collapsed on my bed with a sigh. My bedroom felt huge and luxurious after being crammed into one bedroom with three giant guys.

Not that I was complaining about the bedroom part.

I'd had a whole week of the best sex of my life with three of the hottest guys on the planet.

And not just sex.

We'd talked and laughed and done jigsaw puzzles and cooked in the tiny cramped kitchen and it had felt more like a much-needed getaway than a necessary hideout.

We'd also gotten a lot of sleep without TV or other distractions, something our wounded bodies had seriously needed. Rock's arm was still in a cast but the gunshot wound on Neo's chest and the one on Oscar's thigh were getting better.

We were all still a little banged up, but our bruises and cuts were healing, and I was happy to look in the mirror and see that my own face wasn't quite as battered. Best of all, I could breathe and laugh without my chest hurting.

We’d survived Roberto's attempted assassination, thanks to the Kings’ preparation and Daisy's help.

Now we just needed to figure out who else had been involved with the missing girls.

Then we had to bring them down hard.

I sat up with a sigh and stood to strip off my clothes. I padded barefoot into the bathroom and turned on the hot water in my luxurious shower, moaning with pleasure when I stepped under the powerful spray.

Daisy's house had been a godsend but the water pressure sucked and as much as I'd loved being fucked in the shower by the Kings, being alone in my spacious private shower felt like the ultimate luxury.

I shampooed my hair and soaked my body with the fancy products stocked in my bathroom, inhaling their delicate scents. I'd lived with the cheap stuff when I’d been traveling, so it wasn’t like I was some kind of product snob, but I'd gotten used to living the high life with the Kings and I had to admit, after a week of roughing it, it was bliss.

I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off with one of the thick bath towels stacked in my bathroom. Then I wrapped my hair and pulled on my softest velour tracksuit. I added my thickest socks — it looked like it was about to snow again — and collapsed on my bed. I was asleep in seconds.

When I woke up hours later, my room was cast in a faint blue glow, the winter sun nearly set.

I had a moment of disorientation before I remembered I was back in my bedroom at the Kings’ house. I lay there for a few minutes, reveling in how clean and comfortable I felt after my shower and in my own clothes.

I’d been off-grid for over a week. Claire and Mara would be worried, especially Mara. It was rare for us not to text on the daily and we'd already had sparse communication from the island.

I wondered if the new phones Neo ordered had arrived. Part of me wasn't ready to rejoin the real world — I knew what carnage awaited us — but I also didn't want to worry my two closest friends.

I threw off the covers and sat up, reluctantly getting out of bed. My stomach was rumbling and I felt crazy dehydrated. I needed food and the biggest glass of water known to man.

I made my way down the back stairs, comforted by the sound of someone in the kitchen and the smell of cooking meat. I assumed it was Rock, but when I stepped off the staircase and into the kitchen I saw that it was Reva.

She looked up when I entered the room. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!”

I lunged for her and squeezed her tight. "I'm so happy to see you!”

I might have been a little overenthusiastic.

She staggered backwards a step and laughed, tightening her hold on me. "You sure know how to make a girl feel welcome.”

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," I said, releasing my hold on her.

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