“The playground rules you operate by at Corvus don’t apply out here in the real world,” he scoffs. “Documents were signed. Money changed hands.”
The condescension in his tone makes something dark and violent stir in my chest, but I force it down and draw a steady inhale.
“You made a poor investment, Voss,” I say, keeping my voice even. “Which I’m sure you realized when you saw our tag permanently inked on her skin. You should’ve returned her then and there, but instead chose to tamper with Kings’ property.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line, the two of us at a standoff.
“Tell you what,” I add lightly. “We’ll settle her debt. Refund the purchase price, and we can all just walk away from this.”
A quiet chuckle hums through the line. “I’m afraid her price has gone up.”
My grip tightens around the phone.
“The most recent bid at auction,” he continues pleasantly, “was more than four times her original purchase price.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep a curse from slipping out.
Of course she drew bidders. Not only is Ava a hot piece of ass, but her affiliation with my family name is more thanenough to attract attention on its own. Add in the extra prize of her virginity, and it’s like tossing meat into a tank of starving piranhas.
“I’ve made my offer,” I say after a beat, voice dropping into something colder. “Considering you can’t step foot on this campus to reclaim what you lost, I’d strongly consider taking it and moving on.”
The silence on the other end persists. Then Voss exhales slowly, like a parent disappointed in a stubborn child. “I’d hoped we could handle this amicably.”
A humorless laugh slips from my throat. “We still can.”
Another pause, heavier this time. Two predators circling each other in the dark.
“We’ll see about that,” he finally replies, his tone clipped.
The line goes dead before I can respond.
I keep the phone pressed to my ear for a second longer, then slowly lower it, staring down at the darkened screen. Then I toss it onto the bed and push to my feet, storming for the door.
If Damien Voss thinks he can threaten us into compliance with a phone call, he’s out of his fucking mind. We’reKings.
We don’t bend. We don’t negotiate from a position of fear. And we sure as hell don’t hand over what’s ours because someone else thinks they have a stronger claim.
The tension in my shoulders builds as I cross the room, wrenching the door open so hard that the hinges rattle.
“Ford! Wes!” I bark out, bare feet slapping against the hardwood as I move down the dark hallway.
The apartment is dead quiet, everyone seemingly asleep, but beneath the stillness I swear I can still hear the faint echo of Ava’s moans. The sounds she made earlier crawled underneath my skin and stayed there, buzzing in the back of my skull all night while I fought for sleep.
Seems fair thatherrest be interrupted, too.
I flip on the hallway light as I approach Ford’s door, turning the knob and kicking it open with more force than necessary. It rebounds off the wall with a sharp crack, harsh light from the hall flooding inside.
Ava jerks upright with a startled gasp, scrambling to clutch the sheet to her chest. Her hair is a tangled mess around her face, cheeks flushed, eyes still heavy-lidded from sleep.
Or something else.
The sheet slips just enough for me to catch a glimpse of her right nipple before she yanks the fabric over, my gaze lingering for half a second too long.
Fuck.
Ford sits up beside her with far less urgency, squinting against the light with a lazy kind of irritation. His hair’s just as wrecked, a satisfied smirk tugging at his mouth.
“What’s up?” he asks, voice rough.
