Page 34 of Regal Queen

Both Bourbon and I stilled, turning to look at her at the same time but she didn’t look at us, keeping her eyes locked on Penny. "I was kept in the same room as Ivan.”

"Who is that?" Penny leaned forward, placing her elbows on Luca’s desk, a curious and cunning look on her face.

"He was Dimitri's scientist, and the man responsible for creating ozone. He was being held hostage, just like me.”

A shocked silence descended on the room and Bourbon's hand tightened into a fist. I then realized that we'd been too soft on Rose. If we'd have questioned her earlier, we would've discovered this by now.

"And?" Penny's eyes were deep and penetrating. I now understood why Luca brought Penny into the room. He knew that Rose would be more willing to talk to her, instead of opening up to him. What a cunning little bastard.

"He--" Rose paused, lowering her face to stare down at her hands, “he figured out the signal that the Kings were trying to send me and made a way for us to escape, but he... he didn't make it. He kept the window covered while they shot him, so I could escape." Her voice broke on the last sentence, and Bourbon reached forward, wrapping his large hand over hers. She looked down at it, and when she looked back up, she stared at him with wide eyes. "He gave me his boots and coat so I would survive the cold and I found something tucked into the inner coat pocket. A piece of paper."

"What was it?" Now, Luca didn't betray his curiosity.

She turned towards him. “I’m not sure. It’s written in Russian."

Luca’s face snapped upwards and behind us. "Get me a translator."

"Yes, sir." The guard outside his room appeared, pulling out his phone and disappearing again.

"Now," Luca’s fingers curled over Penny's arm, pulling her back into his chest. She settled back in, practically purring as his fingers caressed the skin on her arm. "Would you trust us to give us this information?"

At this, Rose hesitated. "I will, but I want something in return."

A burst of laughter escaped Luca. "I like you.”

"No one asked if you liked her," Bourbon growled and that only made Luca’s laughter grow louder. Ignoring Bourbon, he nodded, a humorous twinkle in his eyes as he looked at Rose. "And what is it that you would like, Rose?”

"I want enough men to take down Dimitri."

"You should've asked for something else, because Bourbon and I both have already negotiated a price for men.”

“Plus half the profits if that piece of paper contains information on how to make ozone."

At this, Luca’s eyebrows furrowed. “Thirty percent."

"I agree." Rose's agreement was a little too quickly, and Luca’s scowl grew deeper. He now knew that he could've offered less and she would've taken it.

Damn, I was proud of this woman.

“And I want one more thing," Rose's fingers clutched to the edge of her chair as she leaned forward, "Or this whole thing is null.”

"And what is that?" Luca snarled impatiently. Penny's fingers wrapped around his chin, pulling his face to look down at her.

"Baby, remember, she's lost everything. This is the only negotiating power she has."

At this, his face softened and he took in a deep breath. When he looked back towards us, he had calmed down.

“Fine. What’s your final," he emphasized the word, "request."

"I won’t reveal it here, but would like a promise from you that when I need it, you'll provide it. I'll also swear that it won't require much from you. Nothing you wouldn’t readily be able to give.”

Luca leaned back in his chair, holding Penny close and stroking her arm, his eyes studying Rose. She didn't falter under his scrutiny, but held his gaze, not wavering.

"I trust her," Penny said and, after a moment, Luca nodded.

"Fine. I will agree to your demands, and give you my personal number to reach me when you have this request. But know the number can only be used once, for our protection, so only use it when you're certain you won't ever need to ask a favor from me again. After that, access to the number will be destroyed.

Rose nodded. "Thank you. I'll give the paper to your men as soon as we return to our suite.”

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