Page 64 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

I drop my voice low. “This might seem like a relatively private location, but I’m not stupid. Follow me, or I’m out. You decide.” Sauntering back to the exit, I don’t wait to see if he joins me because I already know he will. Weaving between people, I step through the front door then down a small set of stairs before rounding the side of the house. The sound of footsteps follows me, confirming my assumption that Dominic’s a good little dog who knows how to obey orders.

Once we’re out of sight from the regular party-goers, I pull him to the side.

“What are you doing?” he asks, his gaze darting around the grassy yard like a deer during hunting season.

I lift my chin toward the shed tucked to the side of the estate. “She’s in there.”

Jaw dropping, he asks, “She’s…she’s in there?”

“Yeah. Head inside. I’ll pull a car around, and we’ll take her wherever you want.”

“B-but I have no idea where we’d need to take her yet. I—”

“Do you want her or not?” I grit out, feigning frustration.

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Then get your ass in there. She’s already drugged out of her mind. I guarantee she won’t make a fuss, and you’ll have plenty of privacy if you want to spend a few minutes to sample anything….” I let my voice trail off, giving him a chance to let his imagination run wild. I’ve dealt with scum like him in the past. For too long, if I’m being honest, and I know that it doesn’t take much for their judgment to be clouded when given the opportunity to sample the fruit beforehand.

Sick bastard.

“Oh. Uh…sure. I’ll just…go check then.” He walks toward the shed door before glancing over his shoulder. He’s close to backing out as his self-preservation instinct starts to rear its ugly head, so I march toward him and seethe, “Don’t forget to hold up your end of the deal, Castello. I’m not putting my neck on the line for an asshole who can’t deliver. We clear?”

His eyes darken. “Yeah.”

“Good. I’ll go get the car. The door is unlocked. I checked on her a few minutes ago and left it unlatched for you. Like I said, she isn’t going anywhere, but stay quiet. I’ll be back in ten.”

Then I storm off, banking that he’ll do as I ask.

Once I’m out of sight, I count to ten before heading back to the shed. When I step inside, Stefan has his hand over Dominic’s mouth and is wrestling him into the chair that sits in the center of the empty room. I’ve never been here before, but it looks almost exactly as I would expect it to. The floor is gray cement with a slight slant that leads to a drain in the center of the room. It’s conveniently located beneath the chair to help clean up any messes that inevitably happen here. Along the back wall, there’s a locked cabinet that I assume holds a variety of instruments needed for pulling information out of any of Kingston’s guests. The walls are metal too, made for easy cleaning with a power hose and a little elbow grease. I can only imagine the scenes they’ve hidden from public view, but I have a feeling I’ll get front row seats tonight.

Stepping toward Stefan as he continues to wrestle with our guest of honor, I pull out my Glock and press it to Dominic’s head.

“Stop fighting, or I’ll blow your brains out. We just want to chat.” The lie is delivered with smooth indifference like I don’t care which option he chooses. His eyes practically cross as he looks down the barrel of my gun before nodding his head up and down. After shoving a more compliant Dominic into the metal chair, Stefan cuffs his wrists to the arms and makes sure he can’t go anywhere.

Kingston watches with his arms crossed from beside the cabinet. Once he deems Dominic situated, he retrieves a key from his front pocket and opens the gray cabinet.

“Nice to officially meet you, Dominic,” Kingston says conversationally while sorting through his stash. “I’m so glad you received our invitation and decided to attend the gathering. Our good friend, Dex, says you had a proposition for him. Care to talk about it?”

Dominic’s mouth stays firmly shut, encouraging Kingston to glance over at him before turning his attention back to the cabinet that holds an assortment of instruments used for extracting information. The variety is staggering. Tiny bottles with indistinguishable liquids. A brand new baseball bat. Knives of all shapes and sizes. Hammers. Screws. Hell, there’s even a saw in there and a cigar cutter.

“Interesting…. Dex said you were awfully chatty with him, but you seem pretty quiet to me. Dex,” he addresses me. “Think you could get this boy talking?”

His question surprises me, especially when he’s known for being the king of interrogation. Still, I’m not about to point that out to him, and who knows? This might be another test.

“Sure thing, Boss.”

I don’t bother to grab any of Kingston’s nifty tools. Instead, I raise my closed fist, cock my arm back, and nail him square in the nose. The crunch confirms it’s broken, causing a smile to stretch across my face. Dominic’s head snaps back as blood flows like a faucet over his lips and down his chin, staining his once white button-up shirt.

“What the hell?!” he screams.

“You’re surprised?” I laugh. “I’m a Romano, Dominic. Bribery won’t be changing that. Now, we can do this the easy way, and you can start talking, or we can do this the hard way, and I can have Kingston show me how handy his little cabinet is. What do you say?”

He shakes his head, so I hit him again.

And again.

And again.

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