Page 82 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

Plopping down next to him, I watch the rest of the hand play out before Kingston gathers the cards and shuffles them together. Once he’s finished, he gets to the point of our impromptu meeting that couldn’t wait.

“As you know, Jack has reason to believe his ex-boss was working with Burlone. We don’t know to what extent, but I think it’d be beneficial to find out. Unfortunately, he hasn’t tried to contact Dominic’s cell yet, but that might have something to do with the fact that he was trying to frame Jack with the burner.”

“What if we pretend to be Dominic and tell him we have information on Q?” I offer. “Maybe he set up iMessage or something and can read the messages through a computer too?”

My brother goes rigid beside me, and I glance over at him to assess his odd reaction. “If we mention Q, he’ll know we have her and might come after her.”

“We don’t know that,” I mutter.

“Then why the hell would he be looking for her if he didn’t want her?” D seethes. “After the hell she’s been through, she deserves to stay hidden, and we owe that to her.”

Trying to placate him, I raise my hands in surrender. “If Dominic’s contact is Jack’s boss, then he already knows Q doesn’t work for the FBI, which means he won’t believe that we put her in the ground like Kingston had told every single person at the tournament.”

“We need to know why she’s so important,” Jack interjects.

“Agreed,” I concur, shifting my gaze back to D, who’s growing more and more frustrated by the minute.

Gritting his teeth, he stares darkly back at me. “I’ve already spoken with her. She doesn’t have any answers.”

Kingston leans forward, setting aside the cards as he addresses his right-hand man. “Maybe I can help jog her memory.”

“I already told you that’s a terrible idea.”

“And I already told you that she doesn’t have a choice. And neither do you.”

Growing frustrated, he shakes his head. “She’s scared, King. She doesn’t respond well to men in general. There’s no way she’ll be able to answer your questions.”

“She seems to respond fine to you,” Kingston points out.

With a glare, D mirrors Kingston’s position, resting his elbows on the table until the testosterone in the room is suffocating. “It’s a bad idea.”

“And I don’t give a shit. I need to talk to her, D, and that’s an order. I need to find out if she remembers anything out of the ordinary from her disappearance. I need to find out who she really is because her story isn’t adding up, and if she wants my protection, she needs to be honest with me.”

My attention bounces between the two men going head-to-head over an innocent girl who found herself in a screwed up situation that’s affecting so much more than a single person. It’s affecting the Romano’s entire operation, and she just might be the key to solving all of it. Then again, she might be the key to bringing it down too.

My brother doesn’t back down under Kingston’s scrutiny. Every muscle in his body is tense, ready to spring into action at any second, and I’m afraid I’m seconds away from having to dive between the two of them to keep him in check. Which isn’t going to feel good if I rip any stitches.

“She’s stronger than you think,” I tell D, trying to placate him. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Then I stay when you interrogate her,” he growls, staring Kingston down from across the table. “And you promise not to touch a hair on her head. Understand?”

The air pulses with that same violent testosterone as Kingston debates whether or not he should throw out a direct order that could possibly require D’s hand as payment for breaking it.

“Fine,” Kingston returns coolly. “You can sit in on the interrogation, but if you intervene before she has a chance to explain herself, there will be consequences. We clear?”

Jaw tightening, D spits, “Yeah. We’re clear.”

“Good. Next order of business. Jack, your face is plastered all over the news. Thankfully, they haven’t found any connection between you and the Romano family, but you’re officially on house arrest until we figure this shit out. I don’t need the Feds knocking on our door with an arrest warrant for you. Understand?”

He nods. “Yeah. If I can help while still staying under the radar, I’m your man.”

“Good. It seems that Jack’s face being headline news is rocking the boat a bit with Burlone’s previous associates, so we’ll need to smooth things over. Dex, this is where you come in. I don’t care what you have to say; I don’t care what you have to do; you will not let any of this messed up situation blow back on us.”

“I won’t,” I promise, my voice ringing with determination.

Sensing my resolution, Kingston nods his approval. “We won’t be reaching out to Dominic’s contact until I speak with Q, but that doesn’t mean I’m not keeping it as an option if we need to move forward with it. Stefan, do you know if Leo has located Sei yet?”

“What?” D shouts, interrupting Stefan from responding.

---