Page 11 of Dark King (Advantage Play 2)

“What?” I ask, defensively.

“How long have you known her?”

“A few months? We met here at the diner and clicked, but we didn’t really talk about our personal lives, which is probably why we got along so well.” I laugh. “Our backgrounds are so screwed up that we decided to connect over things like bacon and eggs.”

“Sounds like a pretty good friendship,” he admits, surprising me with his sincerity.

“It is.” I smile. “But I’m sorry I can’t give you very many details that would help find her.”

Shifting in his seat, he releases a sigh. “I’m afraid that whatever information you could bring to the table might not help anyway. I have an idea of where she could be, but you’re not going to like it.”

There’s something about his apologetic voice that makes me nervous.

“Tell me, D,” I push. “I need to know.”

“Do the math, Ace. If she was close to you, then I’m going to say it’s possible Burlone or his men knew that.”

My knee starts to bounce beneath the table, my palms growing sweaty, and my eyes welling with tears. “How possible, D?”

Leaning forward, he puts his hand on mine as it rests on the table.

“Pretty fucking possible.”

Burlone wouldn’t…would he? Drag an innocent girl into human trafficking all because she knows me? The answer is glaringly obvious and serves its purpose by acting like a dagger to my chest.

He would. And I think he did. The realization is crippling.

I want to cry. I want to hit something. I want to run away. And I want to hurt Burlone all over again. My emotions are all over the place as tears well in my eyes, and I brush them away angrily before grimacing when my cheek throbs in pain.

I hate him. I hate him so much. He needs to pay for so many things. The knowledge that Kingston’s sister is enduring terrible things at the hand of Burlone was unbearable. And now there’s a possibility of Gigi enduring the same treatment. I need to fix this. How the hell do I fix this? I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life as I’m transported back to when I was a little girl, and he would hurt me just for the thrill of it. Stomach rolling, I remember all the things he put me through while recognizing that there’s a giant possibility that he’s doing the same things to my best friend.

And the only reason she’s in this position is because we regularly sat together in a diner and ate breakfast at two in the morning.

I squeeze my eyes shut, another salty tear rolling down my cheek.

“Ace. You okay?”

It’s a stupid question. Diece knows that. I know that. But it seems to pull me back from my fucked-up past long enough to help me get hold of my emotions. I release a shaky breath before staring blankly at the empty table in front of me, speechless.

Dottie still hasn’t come around with our food, but it doesn’t matter, anyway. There’s not a chance in hell I could swallow a single bite.

“I’m not so hungry anymore,” I admit.

“Then let’s get you home, Ace.” D opens his wallet and tosses a few twenties onto the table before sliding out of the booth and waiting for me to join him. When I do, we walk side by side back to the car with a Texas-sized stone in the bottom of my gut.

Chapter Seven

Kingston

The garage door slams, tugging at my curiosity. I walk down the hall to see my right-hand man following behind a petite blur who just disappeared up the stairs. When D looks at me, I can see the helplessness written across his face. The overwhelming need to follow her drives me to step toward the base of the stairs, but I stop myself and turn to the only man who knows what’s wrong.

“What happened?”

With a look of sheer exhaustion, he murmurs, “Her friend is missing.”

“And do we know where she is?”

His laughter has a sharp edge to it as he looks toward the ceiling. “We have an idea.”

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