Page 3 of Black Jack (Advantage Play 5)

“Yeah.” That same wide grin is stretched across his face. Like the idea is sounding better and better by the minute. “If you marry Bianca, then I’ll promise to testify against Reed and clear your name. Like you said, I’m a dead man anyway. But at least my sister will be safe if she’s stripped from this life and marries you.”

“I’m not interested in some messed up arranged marriage—”

“Then I’m not interested in sticking my neck out for you.”

“How is marrying a Fed any better than disappearing into the witness protection program?” I demand. This guy has lost his damn mind.

“Because if a Fed’s wife goes missing, it’ll make national news and whoever dared to touch her will have a target painted on their back. If a random nobody is murdered, then it’s just another sob story that goes unsolved and they’ll get away scot-free, especially if she’s connected to the mafia.”

Nostrils flaring, I search for a solution that doesn’t end with me marrying a freaking stranger. But I can’t find one.

“Take it or leave it,” he adds with the same fake indifference I’d been spewing only moments before. He knows I’ve lost.

And so do I.

1

Jack

A few weeks later...

“We’re going to need you to turn yourself in,” Kingston’s voice rings loud in my ears.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“If you want to honestly go through with Dominic’s idea, then you’re going to need to turn yourself in,” Kingston repeats.

My gaze bounces around his office where Diece, Stephan, Dex, Kingston, and I are all seated. But none of them come to my defense and call out the head of the Romano family for his insanity. Because turning myself in for a crime I didn’t commit is exactly that. It’s insane.

Gritting my teeth, I turn back to Kingston. “You can’t be serious.”

“If you want Reed to come out of hiding and meet with Dominic so we can get the evidence we need to clear your name, then you need to remove yourself as a threat to the bastard and have a solid alibi,” he explains. “What better alibi is there than to be behind bars?”

“But I didn’t do it––”

“We know,” Diece consoles before pushing himself away from the far wall he’d been leaning against. “But you still ran when they tried to bring you in for questioning.”

Tugging at the collar on my shirt, I exhale and search for a semblance of patience. “They were arresting my ass, D.”

“Same difference.” He plops his giant ass down onto the seat next to mine. “But if you turn yourself in, then it’ll also help clear your name. An innocent man wouldn’t have run.”

“But I am innocent.”

“We know that, but your buddies in the Bureau don’t.” Kingston leans back in his chair, studying me carefully as he clicks the ballpoint pen in his hand.

The bastard has a point. I replay that moment over and over again every night. If I hadn’t run. If I’d let them take me in for a crime I didn’t commit to prove I had nothing to hide. But if I had stayed and let them arrest me, I would’ve never made the deal with Dominic or the Romanos, which means I wouldn’t have anyone in my corner to help me build my case against my boss in the FBI, Reed.

Without their help, Reed would get away scot-free for being involved with one of the most powerful men in the human trafficking industry. Burlone. And I would’ve taken the fall all because of Reed’s fucking cell phone that was planted in my desk. Hell, I still might take the fall if Kingston’s ludicrous plan doesn’t work. And this is absolutely insane.

“And if I do turn myself in…,” I mutter, “what then? What’s the plan?”

“You trust us to follow through and catch Reed with his pants down,” Dex answers, scrolling through his phone like we’re discussing the weather instead of my precarious future.

“Yeah, but what if,”––I clear my throat––“what if Reed doesn’t agree to meet with Dominic after I’ve already turned myself in? I’d be screwed.”

With his elbows on his knees, D replies, “He’ll agree, Jack. Especially if we use Q as bait to lure him out.”

Q is D’s girl. She’s also the only innocent witness who can connect Reed with Burlone before he died. Because of this, Burlone kidnapped her and planned to sell Q as a sex slave before the Romano family rescued her and gave her a place to stay. That’s when she fell for Diece. The burly bear would do anything to keep her safe, which is why I’m so damn confused right now.

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