Page 57 of Bitter Queen (Advantage Play 4)

Dex tears his gaze away from the damage and makes my blood run cold. “Sei.”

Regina sits motionless as the name slips out of Dex’s mouth before she takes a deep breath and encourages the kid to look at her.

“Hey,” she whispers. “Is that true? Do you know Sei?”

The kid shakes his head back and forth. “He didn’t tell me his name.”

“Okay,” Regina concedes with a quick glance toward Dex. “Can you tell me what he looked like?”

Lower lip quivering, he confides, “Long, dirty hair. A diamond tattoo on his cheek. Gross teeth. Smoked a lot.”

“Yup, that’d be him,” Dex announces, looking like he ate something sour. “Can you tell us how you met Sei?”

Will swallows, then pushes himself up to give Regina a few inches of space as if his fear is finally receding. “I came home from school, and he was in my house.”

“What was he doing there?”

“He was trying to get into my dad’s laptop. I…I think he killed him.”

“Him? Your dad?” Kingston prods before his gaze darts over to Dex.

“Yeah,” Will returns. “There was blood all over my dad’s floor. He asked if I knew the password, but I told him no. I wasn’t allowed to mess with my dad’s computer.”

“Then what happened?” Regina prods.

“Then he got spooked, grabbed the laptop from the desk, and took me”—he swallows—“took me with him.”

“And did you help him figure out the password?” Kingston inquires.

He nods. “Yeah. Yeah, we figured it out.”

“Then what?”

“Then, he locked me in a room.”

“Did he hurt you in any other way?” Dex asks, trying to keep his tone even. But I know what he’s asking. And so does everyone else in this room. He wants to know if he tortured Will the same way he tortured Q. My fists clench as I wait for his response.

“N-No. Just my arm,” Will mutters with his gaze in his lap.

A collective sigh of relief reverberates throughout the room. Then Kingston continues trying to piece together the mess in front of us. “Do you know what was on that laptop?”

“Not really. Just work stuff. As soon as we figured it out, he locked me up.”

There’s a grunt of frustration from Kingston before Will adds, “But he wanted me to give you a message.”

Knuckles white, Dex finishes wrapping the bandage around his arm. “And what message is that?”

“He wanted to thank you for taking care of…Burlone? I think that was his name. He wanted to thank you for taking care of him after he betrayed him, and that he…”—his brows furrow in concentration—“that he knows where she is? And that he’ll be seeing you soon.”

Regina blanches but stays quiet as her fear seeps from her pores. She might not know Sei as well as Dex, but it’s apparent she’s familiar enough with the bastard to take his threat seriously.

And so do I.

“Regina, can you take Will upstairs for me?” Kingston asks.

“I think I’d like to stay and chat if that’s okay?” She keeps her voice even in hopes of not freaking out the kid in her arms, but she doesn’t hide the silent plea shining through her eyes, begging Kingston to trust her. To let her stay.

Kingston doesn’t answer right away. Jaw tight, his attention shifts from one face to the next before finally coming to a conclusion. With a wave of his hand, he mutters, “Fine. Lou, will you take Will upstairs, then grab Jack? He can stay in one of the guest rooms. I’ll have someone bring up some food as soon as we’re finished here.”