Page 21 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

I’m terrified right now. I’ve been hiding for a reason. I haven’t revealed my name because it would only put me in more danger, if that’s even possible. But this? Knowing the connection we have? I can’t do this to him. I can’t lie.

I bite my tongue until the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.

“Tell me, Little Bird.”

The truth tumbles out of me before I can stop it. “I know your brother.”

His mouth opens an inch before closing again. Then he looks me straight in the eye as his defenses slide back into place. “What? How?”

“We were practically raised together.”

With narrowed eyes, his suspicion spikes. “What’s your name, Little Bird?”

Touching my lips and breathing deep, I tell him the truth. The one I’ve been hiding since he opened my prison door and slid off his shirt to keep me covered. The memory feels like so long ago, yet it’s been less than a couple of weeks.

“My name is Regina Romano, the princess of the Romano family. I’m Kingston’s little sister, and I’ve been taken to get back at him for screwing up your boss’s plans.”

A tense silence fills the air as he registers my words, staring at me as if I’m a ghost coming to haunt him.

Sucking my lips between my teeth and pulling them into a thin line, I wait for him to say something. Anything.

Minutes later, he utters one word while staring me straight in the eye.

“Shit.”

Chapter Fifteen

Dex

“Do we have everything in order?” Cigar in hand, Burlone sits behind his desk and asks his question through a puff of smoke.

I stay quiet because I have nothing to do with the tournament. My only job is to keep the fruit from being spoiled. Too bad I failed epically on that one. But he doesn’t need to know that. He also doesn’t know who he has in his basement. Unless he already does, and I suspect he might.

The real question is, how the hell do I figure out the truth without drawing attention to the fact that I know Little Bird’s true identity when Burlone has exhausted so much effort to hide it from one of his closest men. My gaze shoots to Sei. Does he know? Is that why he’s so interested in getting to her? I almost laugh. Of course, he knows. He was the one ordered to bring her in. How the hell has he kept it a secret, though? I shake my head as my mind tries to piece everything together. Sei has spent more time traumatizing the other passion fruit than he has with my Little Bird. But why? Maybe it’s because he knows her true identity and understands what would happen to him if Burlone found out he spoiled her before his plan could come to fruition. Maybe that’s why he’s been so focused on the other girl. Because he knows she’s a nobody while my Little Bird is the exact opposite.

“As far as I know,” Sei offers with a shrug, bringing me back to the topic at hand. “It’s not like you tell us much.”

Burlone glares, narrowing his eyes. “Want to say that again, Sei?”

Sei has the decency to look bashful, and I don’t blame him. Burlone’s in a shit mood. And no one is safe from his wrath when he gets like this.

“No, sir,” Sei mutters. “I just meant that you only give us pieces to work with but not the whole picture, which makes it difficult for us to know if everything’s in order. That’s all.”

Shifting his gaze to me, Burlone asks, “And how’s the fruit?”

“Ripe for the picking.” The lie slips past my lips without a hitch.

“Good. And since Sei is feeling out of the loop, would you both like to know a little secret?”

We lean forward in our chairs in the middle of Burlone’s office, ears perking up. Is this it? The moment where I find out if Burlone knows who he has in his custody? Or is this the moment when I finally understand his plans for her so that I can figure out how to get her out of it?

“The passion fruit is going to be picked in front of everyone after the tournament finishes.” Burlone’s twisted laughter interrupts his comment before he can even get the entire statement out.

Sei and I look at each other in confusion before Sei asks, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that we’re going to make Kingston watch a group of men take his girlfriend and his sister over and over again before slitting his throat and making them bathe in his blood.” With an arrogant smirk, he takes another puff of the cigar, rolling the stogie between his fingers.

My blood runs cold, but I know I need to extract as much information as I can from the sorry sack of shit in front of me even if it makes me sick to my stomach. It’s the only hope I have. The only hope we have.

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