Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Aunt Min put up her sword. “We will take care of them, Lei. Just. . .get some rest this evening. In the morning, you and I will spar to get ready for Leo.”
I blinked. “You and I?”
“I’m the only one that always beats him. You might as well learn my tricks now that. . .” She looked away. “Now that even I want him dead.”
I nodded.
Everyone began to head out.
Duck departed with everyone else, clearly making sure everything went well.
I carefully put my feet down on the last step, turning to face Dima, who remained behind after everyone had left the room.
Fuck. I have to talk to him. But. . .what can I say?
Chapter five
Guesses in the Dark
Lei
Dima’s shirt still bore the bloodstains of Barbara’s death, dried and cracked on his sleeves. It was a grim reminder of what had gone down tonight.
His hands were tucked into his pockets but I could feel the haunting tension rolling off him in waves.
I swallowed. “Dima. . .I’m sorry. I liked Barbara Whiskers.”
“He didn’t have to kill her.”
“He didn’t.”
“I want him dead, Lei.”
“I know.”
“Can you get the job done?”
“I can.”
“You say that but people keep dying.”
“I will bring you his head.”
“You won’t need to bring it. I will be at the feast and this fucking battle.”
“You will not. This is an East matter—”
“It turned into a Diamond Syndicate matter when he took a Rowe Street Mob family member and then killed my cat—an absolute member of Flower Mafia.”
“Dima. . .he could use you against me.”
“He already did.” Dima leaned his head to the side. “In fact. . .I’m surprised Rose and I are still alive.”
“What?”
“Leo’s keeping me was clearly to force you to let Moni go.”
I pursed my lips.
“I’m surprised you didn’t let me die.”
I shivered.
“I know you must have wanted to for just. . .a second. . .or two.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.” Dima took his hand out of his pocket and ran it through his hair. “You’re a better man than me.”
“Meaning?”
“For Rose. . .I might’ve. . .”
I swallowed.
“Basically, I was scared on that carousel.”
“Even if I wanted to do it, Moni wouldn’t have let me.”
“That I hoped for too.” For a moment, Dima stood there in silence as if lost in thought.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded shaky. “Lei. . .do you think Barbara Whiskers is in heaven with Viktor, Romeo, and Chanel?”
I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift.
The question was so simple yet loaded with deeper layers I hadn’t expected from Dima, at least not tonight. But then again, Dima had always been like that, complex in ways most never understood.
“Is that stupid for me to ask?” There was something behind his eyes, a kind of uncertainty that seemed so uncharacteristic for him. “She was just a cat, but. . .”
I took a deep breath, not really knowing what to say at first. I wasn’t used to these conversations. Hell, none of us were, but Dima had a way of focusing on things others might overlook.
I cleared my throat. “I think. . . well, maybe she is with Viktor. If heaven’s out there, why wouldn’t she be?”
“I didn’t want to lose her.”
“I know.”
His gaze shifted to somewhere past me, perhaps on the stairs behind me. “I’m tired of losing people that I love.”
I could see him struggling, the flood of emotions he rarely let out threatening to overwhelm him.
For someone like Dima, who thrived on control and logic, feelings were messy, unpredictable, and something he couldn’t always prepare for.
Dima ran his fingers through his hair. “I shouldn’t have brought Rose or Barbara here tonight.”
“Don’t do that. You held it together this evening. You kept Rose safe. She’s still here.”
Dima didn’t respond immediately but I could see the gears turning in his mind, the way he was trying to reconcile what had happened.
He put his view on me. “Duck gave me the monks that helped your father keep us on that carousel.”
“They’re yours to deal with.”
“You do understand what will happen with them?”
“I can imagine.”
His expression hardened and went ice-cold. “I’m going to torture them until they pray for death and then. . .I’m going to torture them some more.”
His words hung in the air like smoke from a smelly cigar, choking and inescapable.
A cold chill sliced through me.
“You need us more than you think. I will be at the feast tomorrow night with three of my trusted men. Banks and Marcelo will be there too. I will make sure they limit their men to three also.”
“No guns or other weapons.”
“I’ll respect that.”
“Stay quiet and at the back tables. The closer you are to my father’s table, the more you’re someone he can kill, just to get my head out of the game.”
“You said he wants to die—”
“He wants me to kill him. That’s a very different thing.”