Kings & Corruption

Kings & Corruption Aventine University Book One Sadie Hunt Blackthorn Press Contents Kings & Corruption Note to Readers 1. Willa 2. Willa 3. Willa 4. Willa 5. Willa 6. Willa 7. Willa 8. Rock 9. Willa 10. Willa 11. Willa 12. Willa 13. Willa 14. Willa 15. Willa 16. Willa 17. Willa 18. Willa 19. Willa 20. Willa 21. Willa 22. Willa 23. Willa 24. Willa 25. Willa 26. Willa 27. Willa 28. Willa 29. Willa 30. Willa 31. Willa 32. Willa 33. Willa 34. Willa 35. Willa 36. Willa 37. Willa 38. Willa 39. Willa 40. Willa 41. Willa 42. Willa 43. Oscar 44. Willa 45. Willa 46. Willa 47. Willa 48. Willa 49. Willa 50. Willa 51. Willa 52. Willa 53. Rock 54. Willa 55. Willa 56. Willa 57. Willa 58. Willa 59. Willa 60. Willa 61. Willa 62. Willa 63. Willa 64. Willa 65. Willa 66. Willa 67. Willa 68. Willa 69. Willa 70. Oscar 71. Willa 72. Willa 73. Willa 74. Willa Epilogue Links Kings & Corruption Aventine U Book One Sadie Hunt All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Copyright © 2022 by Sadie Hunt aka Michelle Zink and Zink Media All rights reserved. Dear Reader, I’ve written over 60 books and not one of them is like this one. I don’t mean that in a this-book-is-special kind of way — although I think it is because I’ve been obsessed with it in a way I haven’t been obsessed by one of my projects in a long time — but in a this-book-isn’t-for-everyone kind of way. Neo Alinari, Oscar Drago, and Rock Barone aren’t bad guys — but they aren’t good guys either. All of which is to say, please DON’T CONTINUE READING if you like your books sweet with a side of angst and a generous helping of equality in your power dynamic. That is… not this book. You’ve been warned! Content warning: bullying, stalking, peeping, stepbrother, violence, one attempted SA (foiled by the “good” guys), and other themes and situations you may find uncomfortable. For those of you who choose to continue…happy reading! Xo, Sadie Chapter 1 Willa I shouldn’t have come home. That’s what was going through my mind as I watched everyone milling around the reception venue. Some things never changed. It was pretty much the same crowd that had been at every wedding, baptism, and funeral since I was born: dark-haired men packing heat under their suit jackets while their overly made-up wives gossiped, holding champagne glasses carefully so they didn’t mess up their freshly manicured nails. The men were talking business — they were always talking business — but they were also watching the younger women in the crowd while they pretended like they weren’t. Probably scoping out a round of new mistresses. Ew. I caught the bride watching me and forced a smile. She smiled back, but it wasn’t happiness I saw in my mother’s eyes. It was relief. I guess that’s what happened when your ex-husband informed to the Feds and you got a chance to redeem your name with the biggest Mafia don on the East Coast. That would be Roberto Alinari, the man standing at my mom’s side. I had to admit, he looked handsome and elegant in a tuxedo, more like a trust fund billionaire than a Mob boss notorious for his brutality. I suppressed a shiver when I realized he was staring right at me, regarding me coolly while pretending to engage in conversation with a couple I didn’t recognize. “How are you holding up, Willa?” The voice came from my shoulder, and I turned to find my best friend, Mara, standing next to me. “Oh, you know,” I said, “my sister’s still missing, my disgraced mother just married the most infamous Mafia boss in the country, and thanks to my dad, I’m a social pariah, but otherwise, life’s just grand.” “Oooookay,” Mara said. “Someone needs more champagne.” She plucked a glass from a passing tray carried by one of the uniformed waitstaff and handed it to me. I drank greedily, even though I’d promised myself I was going to be responsible at the wedding. I’d done enough partying in the year I’d been traveling to last a lifetime. What could I say? Everyone processed grief differently. My mom had barely been able to get out of bed when it became clear that my sister, Emma, was really missing, and I’d run for the nearest airport the second I’d turned eighteen. I felt ashamed of it now. I probably shouldn’t have left my mom alone, even though she’d seemed more than happy to let Roberto Alinari help her pick up the pieces, but at the time, I’d been drowning in my own grief. Grief and the deeply felt sense that something very bad had happened to my sister at Aventine University. Running, leaving it all behind in a trail of jet fuel and far-flung beaches, had seemed like the best way to forget. It had worked too — until my mom’s engagement to Roberto Alinari had broken through my party-til-you-forget haze. Mara scanned the crowd, her curly brown hair brushing against her shoulders, which were bare under her violet off-the-shoulder dress. She hadn’t changed at all in the year I’d been gone, and I could still see shades of the apple-cheeked kid she’d been when we became best friends in first grade. She froze, her brown eyes lighting with interest.