Page 20 of Black Jack (Advantage Play 5)

I let her go and scrub my fingers through my hair, tugging at the roots in hopes they disperse the anger pulsing through me. Unfortunately for Bianca, it doesn’t work.

“Providing for you and drowning in debt because your taste is too expensive are two different things,” I growl.

“Relax.” She pats my chest like she would a good ol’ golden retriever. “It’s month-to-month and fully furnished. Once we sell your shit from your old place, you’ll be fine.”

Pacing the almost black hardwood floor that’ll be a bitch to clean, I demand, “Do you have any idea how infuriating you are?”

“Do you have any idea how dramatic you are?” she counters.

“Have you ever had to earn a damn thing in your life?”

As if she’s been slapped, she jerks back before her upper lip curls with disgust, and she digs through her purse for something. “You have no idea about the things I’ve done to earn my keep.” With a loud smack, an old-school flip phone skids across the ebony granite countertop. “Kingston told me to give this to you. It’s a burner phone. And because you’re not in this line of business, I’ll spell it out for you. Don’t use your personal phone to contact Kingston or anyone else connected to the mafia. If you do, you’ll wind up right back in your jail cell, and I’m not going to waste any more of your money bailing you out.” Then she storms off, leaving me dazed, confused, and more frustrated than I’ve been in a long ass time.

How the hell does she even have access to my bank accounts so that she could put a deposit down in the first place?

My jaw tightens as I pick up the burner phone and dial Kingston’s number. It rings a few times before a familiar voice filters through the speaker.

“How’d it go?”

“Fine,” I grit out, glancing toward the hall Bianca disappeared through.

“You don’t sound fine.” I can hear his amusement, and it only grates on my nerves.

“I’m….” My voice trails as I replay the last thirty minutes and squeeze the back of my neck.

“Let me guess. Bianca giving you a headache?”

“Possibly.”

“Figured.”

“What do you know about her?” I ask.

His hesitation rings louder than a siren. Removing the phone from my ear, I check the screen to make sure the call is still connected. It is.

“King?” I murmur. “You there?”

“Yeah. I’m here.”

“Your silence isn’t exactly comforting.”

“I’m nothing, if not honest,” he counters on an exhale.

The hallway is still empty and makes me bold enough to ask about Bianca behind her back. “Tell me about her.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything?” I suggest with a grimace. It sounds so pathetic, but I don’t see Bianca opening up to me anytime soon, and I was too distracted by the shitstorm I was walking into to ask Dominic before I agreed to this ludicrous idea.

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” Kingston returns.

“Is her family wealthy? Because she’s spending money like it’s water.”

He chuckles dryly, then throws me a bone. “The Castello family was wealthy before Dominic started maintaining the books. He has a gambling addiction that got their entire family into debt up to their eyeballs. Then a few years ago, money started rolling in. I’m not sure where it came from, but I assume it had something to do with Dominic’s connection to Burlone.”

“So, Bianca’s used to frivolous spending,” I surmise. “Great.”

He laughs. “How much do you need, Jack? I can help you out.”

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