Page 54 of Bitter Queen (Advantage Play 4)

His fingers are laced in front of him and rest on the top of his desk as Kingston questions, “Then why did Burlone do it? He wasn’t known for selling women who were employed by someone in the business. That’s not exactly discreet.”

“I….” I pull my lips into a thin line, then glance over at Diece. His pained expression nearly cripples me.

Sensing my reservations, Kingston continues with his interrogation. “Tell me about the night you were taken.”

“I-I don’t know,” I lie again.

“Then think.”

With my head in my hands, I block them out and try not to pass out from hyperventilating.

I can’t tell them. He’ll kill me.

D reaches over and rubs my back, bringing me back to the present as his rich voice rolls over me. “You can do this, Q. Talk to me.”

“I can’t.”

He sighs but continues to comfort me with his touch.

“You can trust me, Q. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

It’s the plea on his tongue that does me in. The memories of our moments together. The trust that he’s managed to gain despite my best efforts to push him away. All of it.

Before I can stop myself, the truth tumbles out of me, gaining momentum as each word rolls off my tongue until I’m not sure I can stop.

“Two men showed up. It was out of the blue. Mr. Johnson had a lot of visitors, but it usually wasn’t when I was there. That’s just what Will would tell me. I was upstairs putting him to bed when someone started pounding on the front door. Mr. Johnson answered it, then they shoved themselves inside and started talking.” My voice trails off, and I cover my ears, praying I could take the memory away.

“What were they talking about, Q?” D murmurs beside me.

“Someone died, and they needed to get rid of the body. A rat in the Romano family had been found, and they couldn’t find a new one. The men were too loyal. But they didn’t know what the rat said before he was…taken care of. I don’t know. It didn’t make any sense at the time.”

“And you’re sure you heard Romano?”

“Like the cheese,” I answer with a pathetic laugh. “Yeah. I’m positive.”

“Any other names?”

“V-Vince? I think? He was the rat.”

“Yeah. We killed him a couple of weeks before you were taken,” Kingston confides, like admitting to murder isn’t that big of a deal. “What else?”

Still reeling from his confession, I stutter, “I-I don’t know.”

“Try, baby,” D encourages, continuing to rub his massive hand up and down my back. “Think hard. You can do this. Do you know who the men were?”

Brows pinched, I answer, “Burlone was one of them.”

“And the other?”

“Mr.…Mr. Reef? Reams?” My face scrunches as I scour my memory. “Reed? Yeah, Mr. Reed.”

Kingston’s gaze darts over to Diece, and a silent conversation passes between them before Kingston keeps his tone gentle and asks, “Then what happened, Q?”

“Then they saw me at the top of the stairs, and Reed lost his mind.” I gulp. “Told Mr. Johnson he was supposed to be alone. Mr. Johnson argued that he didn’t know they had a meeting that night, and it wasn’t his fault.” Closing my eyes, I get lost in the memory and admit, “I can still see the barrel of his gun pointed at me.”

“Who’s gun?” D whispers.

I force myself to open my eyes. “Mr. Reed’s. He pulled a gun on me, but Burlone stepped into the line of fire and told him that he had a better idea. One that was more…lucrative,” I choke out. “I freaked out and tried to run to the door, but Reed stopped me and hit me with the butt of his gun. Then I blacked out and woke up in Burlone’s office. That’s it. That’s what happened to me.”

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