Page 66 of Kings & Carnage

The cafeteria was a riot of noise and conversation, the dark wood-paneled walls and high-end dining tables and chairs no match for a bunch of hormonal twenty-somethings reunited after weeks spent with their parents and siblings.

We got in line and I grabbed my favorite Cobb salad while Oscar got a burger and fries, then we made our way to my usual table with Claire, Erin, Quinn, and a handful of other girls who were friendly but not friends.

I expected Oscar to peel off and join Rock and Neo at their usual table with the assortment of groupies who routinely draped themselves over the Kings, but when I looked over, their table was empty.

I didn't get a chance to ask why, because a second later Oscar looked past Claire, Erin, and Quinn at the other girls at our table.

"Time for you to go," he said to them.

I gaped up at him. "Wow, you really are rude today. You can't just order them to leave.”

"I can. I did." He looked back at the girls. "Nothing personal.”

"I'm sorry," I said to the girls as they gathered their things and stood to leave. It was already clear from the tone in Oscar's voice that it wasn't a request, and even on a good day, no one was eager to defy the Kings.

He took one of the open seats and I claimed my usual place next to Claire, who was staring wide-eyed at Oscar.

"I mean, you're always welcome at our table, but what's the occasion?" Claire asked.

"The occasion is we sit here now." The answer came from Neo, looking scary as fuck as he slid into the vacant chair next to Oscar.

I was glad the girls had left when they did. Better to face Oscar than Neo, who looked more than ready to take on anyone who so much as looked at him the wrong way.

Rock came next, ambling over like he didn't have a care in the world despite his broken arm, all tanned blond gorgeousness and blindingly white teeth.

"Hey there, ladies," he said, sitting next to Neo. "You don't mind do you?”

"Would it matter if we did?" Quinn asked, her dark brows raised in amusement. Her curls were pushed back from her forehead with one of her colorful scarves, her makeup on point as usual, highlighting her perfect bone structure and gorgeous brown eyes.

"No, but I try to be polite," Rock said.

I sighed and turned to Quinn and Erin. "Hey. How was your break?”

"It was fun," Erin said. Her short hair had grown out a little since I'd seen her last, giving her elfin features an adorably shaggy frame. "We went skiing in Park City.”

"That sounds fun," I said.

"I was in Bermuda until two days ago," Quinn said.

"Lucky bitch," Claire said.

I laughed. “Seriously.”

The only thing better than being on an isolated windswept island with the Kings would be being on a tropical beach with warm water and umbrella drinks with the Kings.

"You're just in a bad mood because Liam is working at St. Andrew’s," Quinn said.

"Wouldn't you be in a bad mood if your brother was working at the town sex club?" Claire asked.

“Oh I’d kill myself," Quinn said.

"I just don't understand why they would transfer him from Boston to Blackwell Falls," Erin said. "Isn't that, like, some kind of demotion?”

Erin and Claire both came from Irish crime families. They'd grown up together, which was probably why they bickered like sisters most of the time.

Claire rolled her eyes. "It's not a demotion. They're just cycling him through RAA’s holdings. They do that with everybody. You know that.”

It took me a minute to register what she'd said. Then, I wondered if I'd imagined it.

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