Page 58 of Wild Card (Advantage Play 1)

“Good. Let’s start easy, shall we? Who are you working for?”

When he doesn’t answer right away, I lift the tiny hammer and slam it against the knuckles in his thumb. As soon as it connects, the bones surrounding his tiny joint shatter into pieces.

“Fuuuuck!” Marty yells with tears streaming down his face.

“No, I don’t think that’s the right answer. Try again.”

“P-please—”

Again, I lift the hammer and hit it against his hand.

His screams are piercing as he shouts, “Okay! Okay! I’ll talk! Please! Stop!”

“Answer the question, Marty. It really is that simple.”

“Burlone. I work for Burlone.”

I nod. “And what, exactly, were you doing on my grounds?”

With fascination, I watch his Adam’s apple bob up and down in his throat. “I–I was told to come here.”

“Why?” I grit out, my gaze narrowing.

His voice is stilted as if he can’t quite get his tongue to move how he wants it to. “B-because. Because I was meeting someone.”

“And who were you meeting?”

“I-I don’t know.”

Lifting the hammer, he squeals before I can drop it down to his hand for a third time, rambling everything I need to know like a fucking waterfall. “I swear, I don’t know! I swear it! All I know is that it was supposed to look like I was working for you, and that the Feds were going to pick me up. They promised they’d take care of my family if I went along with it. They told me they’d pay off my debts if I told them I worked for you. If I told them the girls in the van belonged to you. That’s all they said! I didn’t know anything! I swear! Just please,” he begs. “Please don’t hurt me.”

Looking over my shoulder to D, he gives me a short nod.

“Then it looks like we’re through here.” Stefan steps forward and shoves the barrel of a gun to his temple, pulling the trigger before Marty even has a chance to register that his life is about to end.

Bang.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” D notes. “He didn’t even make it past ten minutes.”

Stefan holsters his gun before pulling out a small roll of cash and handing it to Diece. “Yeah, yeah. Here’s your damn money. Boss, do you think you could drag it out a little longer next time?”

With a smirk, I say, “I’ll see what I can do. Get the cleaning crew here, and don’t forget to grab the plates off the van.”

“Already done,” Lou confirms.

“Then let’s get out of here.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Dex

When my phone sounds with a text notification, I’m almost scared to look at it. Burlone is vibrating with anger, pacing the small office like a caged beast. Curses flying, he chucks a book against the wall then continues tossing every threat he can think of at the girl who just schooled him in a game of poker, taking over three hundred thousand dollars with a single hand. It’s not the money he’s pissed about, though. It’s his pride.

“That bitch has no idea what she’s done,” he spits. “She thinks she can embarrass me? That she can fucking take my money? I swear…. Who is she, anyway?”

Sei’s dry laugh reverberates through the silent room. “Funny enough, I overheard her having a little conversation with someone before the tournament. Seems she has an interesting connection with a certain Romano prince.”

With furrowed brows, Burlone voices the same question filtering through my mind. “Kingston?”

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