The White Queen (S.Rogers)

Chapter 33

Brooklyn could see him getting angry with every word Hams was saying. The payment for her part in the warehouse was clutched in his hands, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. Junior's voice was in her ear, but she only heard about half of what he was saying.

"....Pops says you might be needed to help with the next shipment. It's pretty much confirmed that its going to be girls. Pops feels that at the very least, a female face when we find them, will go a long way towards keeping them calm long enough for us to move them."

Steve had a curious expression of blank anger on his face. He was trying to keep from blowing up in front of Hams.

"I'll talk to you later, Junior. Thank your father for me." She ended the call, letting the phone drop to her side, reaching up to clutch at her robe, unease shivering through her. She thought they were going to have a good day. Her plan was to tell Steve as little about her involvement in Freddie's disappearance as possible. She didn't intend to lie to him, just not tell him the whole truth. But then Junior had called.

She had tried to tell Junior when she first answered the call, that she would arrange to pick up her payment, later, when Steve was not around. But he had informed her that Hams was already on his way.

The knock on the door told her she had run out of time.

And now Steve thought she had lied to him, again.

Brooklyn was well aware of the fact that Steve wanted her as far away from the Marino's business as possible. That his concerns were legitimate. If things went very bad, she could end up losing Juliana, as well as her freedom and her anonymity. That whatever she gained, monetarily, was not worth what she could lose, if she was found out.

But she was still pissed at him for accusing her of cheating on him, just because she had done too well, sucking him off, earlier. She was still trying to wrap her head around it, how in his head that worked.

Hams left, and Steve slowly shut the door, the click of it shutting barely making a sound, before he locked the door and turned to face her. His cheeks were already red, as were his ears. A clear sign his blood was up. His eyes glittered with suppressed anger.

Holding up the money, she could tell he was trying to keep a neutral expression. "So. Do you want to tell me what you were REALLY doing, while I was gone, Babydoll?"

She flinched. She couldn't help it. She was caught in an odd position. She didn't want to disappoint him, ever. She never wanted to cause him a reason to turn from her, because somehow, someway, he had become very important to her, in her life.

But at the same time, she had to make him understand that now that she knew for sure that the Russians were trafficking girls, as well as taking girls from the club, she couldn't step away. That they had taken the girl of one of Junior's crew, that they had struck at the Marino's personally, meant that this was most likely going to go to a War. That they had tried to take her, meant that she couldn't step aside.

Too often, she had let things happen to her, around her. She had tried to shield her Papa, as much as she could. She had tried to protect her siblings, where she could. But now, now she had to stand up for something. People were being hurt, and she had the ability, the skills, to make sure that it ended. Or at the very least, curbed.

"I helped them take them. Freddie and Diamonte." She admitted. "But they were still alive when I left."

He stalked towards her, his head tilting, his eyes piercing her. "You helped them take them?"

She swallowed. "I knocked Diamonte out, so they could get her in the SUV."

"Did you kill them?" He asked, his voice dropping, going guttural.