Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 391

"Drake, I’m afraid I can't tell you that."

If she revealed her master's identity, it would scare them to death. There was no way she'd just casually drop that name—doing so would only invite a mountain of trouble.

"Fine, fine. If you don't want to say it, keep your secrets. So, what kind of deal do you want to make?"

Drake knew the rules of the underground. People rarely gave up their masters' names. Just like Nina; to this day, no one had any clue who trained her.

"I heard that three years ago, an old man named Todd borrowed from your loan sharks. When he couldn't pay it back, he had a hand chopped off and was chased out of Port City. Is that true?"

Drake's posture stiffened as he eyed her defensively. "Who are you, and why are you asking about this?"

Stella answered truthfully, "You used to run an underground lending operation. I found out the old man borrowed money from you three years ago, so naturally, I came to ask you."

"Your information is wrong. I've never met any old man named Todd, and I don't know him. Leave."

His face went entirely cold. All his previous interest vanished, replaced by a complete lack of desire to continue the conversation. He gestured toward the door, ready to kick her out.

Stella opened her mouth to press further, but Drake was already done talking. He turned his back to her, staring out the window, projecting a dark, unapproachable aura.

Given his background as a loan shark, when he turned cold, he genuinely carried an intimidating presence.

Refusing to give up, Stella pressed, "Are you really not going to tell me anything? I came to you with genuine intentions, and I really do want to help you beat Nina."

Why was he acting like this? Flipping a switch and shutting her out in a split second!

"I don't need your help. A loss is a loss, and I can take it. Are you leaving? If you don't walk out that door right now, I'm going to have you thrown out," he growled, issuing a final warning.

Seeing that he was completely stonewalling her, Stella had no choice but to say, "I'll be back. I hope you'll reconsider and help me. I've been looking for him for a very long time."

He ignored her entirely.

They had spent the better part of the day staking out the cafe just to corner Drake, and neither had eaten a proper meal.

"Sounds good." Business was business, but she wasn't about to starve herself just because things hadn't gone perfectly to plan.

One way or another, she was going to get the truth about her grandfather out of Drake.

The two of them found a nice-looking restaurant nearby and sat down for a meal.

But as they walked out after dinner, they ran right into the heavily tattooed thug who had harassed Stella on Trinity Lane the day before.

Spike had five or six cronies flanking him. It was painfully obvious that he immediately recognized the couple.

"Well, look who it is."

Spike pointed a tattooed finger at them and sneered. "Yesterday, I did you a favor by giving you the time of day, and you threw it in my face. And you—you actually laid a hand on me. Today, both of you are going to get on your knees and apologize."