Page 17 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

Annoyed, I send my response.

Me: Hey.

Sei: So me and the boys were talking.

I roll my eyes before grudgingly taking the bait.

Me: And?

Sei: And we have a little wager going.

I grit my teeth then send the same message from seconds ago.

Me: And?

Sei: And we wanna know if you spoiled the fruit or not.

This is borderline dangerous. Anything in writing can be traced, and with how closely the Feds are sniffing around, it isn’t safe to talk candidly in text. I guess I should be impressed that he’s at least still using the code words even though he’s always thought they were bullshit.

Me: Why do you ask?

An image pops up seconds later, and the sight makes me squirm. Shit. With sweaty palms, I type out another question.

Me: Where did you get that?

As I wait for his response, I pull the image back onto the screen. I hadn’t seen it before now. It’s one of the pictures Frank took of me and my Little Bird to send to potential buyers. The picture is focused solely on her blazing green eyes as she watches my hand caress the creamy skin on her shoulder, toying with the black strap of her bra. The lust in her gaze is so potent I can still feel its heat nearly branding the back of my hand. The only part of me that’s visible in the picture is my forearm, but my tattoo and weathered hands are a stark contrast to her unblemished skin. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I’m the one touching her.

And Sei isn’t exactly a genius.

Sei: They went out a few days ago. I’m surprised Burlone let you keep your hand with how adamant he is about her keeping her virginity.

Careful, Sei, I think to myself. That text was way too incriminating for me to justify continuing this conversation. I might deserve to end up in prison for the shit I’ve done, but that doesn’t mean I want to hand myself over to the Feds with a big red bow.

Me: If you want to talk, come find me later.

Hitting send, I lean my head against the wall in Sin’s basement. My ass is getting sore from sitting for too long on this shitty folding chair, but I’m too exhausted to stand. I’m too emotionally drained to care. Too tense with anxiety to sleep. Too overwhelmed by my feelings for a little bird who has way too much trust in me.

When I hear the sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway, I turn toward the noise to inspect who the culprit is.

“When I said, ‘later,’ I didn’t exactly think now,” I note, addressing Sei. His jaw is still sporting a light bruise from when I punched him. My mouth twitches at the sight.

He saunters over with his hands in his pockets before pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his lips.

“Maybe I wasn’t finished talking.” Lighting the cancer stick, he puffs out a cloud of smoke in my face. I almost laugh at his immaturity but restrain myself because I don’t want to pick another fight with him. Burlone doesn’t allow fighting between his men, and whether I like it or not, I still consider myself one of them. Besides, our last fight was enough to curb my frustration for the time being. However, if he keeps being an asshole, I have no idea how long my renewed patience will last.

“Then talk,” I push.

“You fuck her yet?”

My eyes widen in surprise before I school my features to one of indifference.

“Why would you think I would even consider that, Sei? Especially after our little”––I motion to his bruised face––“disagreement. I might do a lot of shit wrong, but I always follow orders, which happens to be one of the reasons why Burlone trusted me with the fruit in the first place. Because unlike you, I understand the meaning of restraint.”

“The picture says otherwise,” he spits.

“Why do you even care?”

“Because I’m sick of Burlone putting you on a damn pedestal and treating you like you’re a god. That’s why. Just tell me the truth. Did you go against Burlone’s precious orders? Did you touch her?” Sei is seething. Hell, I’m pretty sure a vein near his right temple is about to burst from frustration. Yet here I am, still sitting in that damn folding chair when Sei takes advantage and tries to intimidate me by crowding me in it. Just like last time.

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