Page 4 of Cruel Hearts

I slept twelve hours straight. No wonder Quinn had time to fly to King’s Crossing.

I follow her up the stairs to a small, grungy breakroom, and she pours me a cup of coffee and adds milk she grabs out of a dirty fridge.

Issues of theKing’s Crossing Chroniclecover the stained tabletop, and I trace my finger over the thin paper, awed that after all this time information is once again within my reach. Ash didn’t give me access to the news or internet. What I know I picked up eavesdropping around the office. Anything I heard could have been truth or a lie.

She shoves me onto a metal chair and pushes a fast food bag at me. “Sorry. I didn’t have much notice, and I hit a drive-through on the way here. It’s all I could get my hands on.” She sinks into a chair across from me. “Stella, where have you been?”

I can’t answer. My mouth is full of cheeseburger and fries. I’ve never tasted food this good, though I can’t say I’ve never been this hungry. I have—plenty of times. I don’t speak until every last scrap is gone and I’ve washed it down, gulping my lukewarm coffee.

Understanding, Quinn waits patiently until I’m done, and she gently grasps my hand in both of hers and rubs her thumbs over my knuckles. Tears fill her eyes. “I missed you so much. Sofuckingmuch. I know we didn’t see each other a lot, and I told myself living in the same city was enough. Then rumors started circulating you ran off with an Italian prince, and it broke my heart you didn’t even bother to say goodbye—”

I interrupt her. I need to tell someone the truth. “Ashton Black locked me up. At Black Enterprises. He blackmailed me. Well, not me. I did it to protect Zane and Zarah.”

She blinks and her mouth opens, but no sound comes out. Finally, she asks, her lips trembling, “What? You’ve been in King’s Crossing all along?”

“Yeah.”

On the sticky tabletop, Quinn rests her head on her arms and sobs.

I grip her hand and let her cry.

This isn’t going to be easy. For anyone.

She lifts her head, and using one of the greasy napkins that came with my meal, she wipes her cheeks and blows her nose. “I should have looked for you longer, harder.Goddammit!” She slams her hand against the table. “I knew when you told me about those fucking Maddoxes. I justknewyou were going to get messed up in a pile of shit.”

“Shh. Calm down. I don’t blame you. Even if you’d looked harder, Ash made me disappear and there was no chance youcould have found me. Zane didn’t have anything to do with this.” I bite my lip. Well, if Zane hadn’t had such unshakable faith in his friend, he would’ve been easier to talk to.

Easier, hell.

I would have had a chance to say something.

Anything.

But there was no way he would have believed me no matter how much he said he loved me. I didn’t stand a chance against years of friendship between the two families.

Ash knew it.

Zarah knew it.

I paid for it.

“Then what happened? Can you tell me? Was it bad?” she asks, her voice shaking.

The industrial coffeepot still has coffee in it, and I stand and pour more. “All you need to know is Ashton Black is a liar. He used my love for Zane against me. Told me he would expose Zane’s parents. He said they were doing illegal black market arms deals, but I have proof it’s not true. Clayton Black is the one doing illegal shit, and a lot of it. I need to get a flash drive to Zane, and then I can take off. Hide. Change my name and pray Ash is too busy picking up the pieces, or better yet, in prison, to look for me.”

Quinn throws the fast food bag into a huge trash container near the door of the breakroom. “Then put it in the mail, and let’s get out of here. We can be on the next flight to New York. There’s not a better place to hide than in plain sight.”

The idea is tempting. To shove the flash drive into a bubble envelope, smack Zane’s address on it, and run.

“I can’t. I need to make sure he has it and understands what’s on it. Otherwise, I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering if it got lost in the mail or if he threw it away. This isn’t just about me and Zane. Someone needs to stop Clayton and Ash.”

“Then give it to me. Write a note, and I’ll deliver it to his building. You won’t have to put yourself at risk.”

She doesn’t understand.

“I want to see him, Quinn.”

“Fuck that. After he let you vanish into thin air? After he let you rot, letting those fuckers do God knows what to you.” She gasps and her palm muffles a moan. “Were you abused?”

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