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)
“No, Moni. I want to fight him tonight. I want to kill him.”
A terrifying shiver ran through me. “Lei. . .”
“He has to die tonight. Not tomorrow. Not next week or next year. Tonight.”
“I know, but. . .I can’t lose you in the process.”
“You won’t lose me.”
“I can’t, Lei.” My heart ached. “I fucking can’t.”
“I promise I’ll win but understand this. If we just run away, he’ll spend his days hunting us down—and honestly, I’m sure he already has things in place on this mountain to stop us from escaping anyway.”
I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I knew Lei was right. Leo had planned all of this years ago. Therefore, he had surely thought of different angles and possibilities for how Lei would react.
Lei sneered. “I kill him tonight and end all of this.”
“Well. . .” I stiffened. “I tried to sneak guns in my gown. I wanted to help.”
A dark chuckle left him.
The trees around us grew denser.
“Leo grabbed them.”
“Of course he did.” Lei brushed his lips against my cheek. “Remember the first time I saw you, when you were in that church long ago praying for my father’s soul?”
“Yes.”
“You had this gun that Uncle Song had given you and I asked if you were a gangster.”
“I told you no.”
“Now what would you say?”
I widened my eyes.
Damn. So much has changed.
Lei chuckled to himself. “My Mountain Mistress tried to sneak guns into a sacred battle. You’re so perfect, and all mine.”
My heart warmed.
He carried us further down the path. “We’re almost there.”
This thrill in my chest rose.
Where is he taking me? And what does he want to say?
His voice broke slightly. “I missed you, Moni. You have no idea.”
“I have a good idea.” I winked. “You’re pussy whipped so. . .you were probably missing me something serious. . .”
He didn’t laugh at my joke.
Instead, his expression turned serious. “I missed you so much that I got on my knees and prayed for your return. I begged God. I. . .sobbed. . .”
Oh shit.
I didn’t even know what to say or how to react. I couldn’t think of any man that had ever prayed for me or even shed a tear.
I swallowed.
The path began to narrow, and the tall trees on both sides began to close in on us, creating a canopy overhead that filtered the moonlight above.
"I was terrified for you, Moni."
My heart tightened at his confession.
I reached up, cupping his cheek with my hand. “I ended up being okay.”
Keeping us steady on the path, he turned into my touch. "I've never felt that much fear before."
"I'm here now and we're together, but I missed you too, so much. All I could do was make sure I got back to you."
“And you did.” Lei frowned. “He fucking made you kill and you did so without hesitation.”
I looked away, pissed that Lei and the rest of the world had seen that.
“Moni.”
I kept my gaze averted.
“Are you okay? How do you feel?”
“My killing all those men was fucked up and. . .the East is cheering my name and thinking I’m some hero when in the end I really feel like a fraud.”
“You’re not a fraud.”
“Your father set it up. It was all a game to him.”
“But you still had to win.”
“I didn’t even know those guys.”
“I knew them. In fact, I grew up with many of them.”
I closed my eyes.
“They were beyond loyal to Yan. And because of that they would have killed you if they had the chance. Thank God you didn’t give them that chance.”
"I know what you’re saying, but it’s also hard not to think of them as human beings.”
"They made their choice. Yan’s men that chose to be loyal to me after her death, reintegrated into the East and was at home with their families last night. Many hadn’t seen their parents in years due to living in Shanghai with my sister. However, the ones that were still enraged over Yan’s death, the ones that still wanted blood and revenge. . .well, they stayed on Mount Utopia and plotted in that tent."
"I still didn't want to kill them."
"No one wants to kill, Moni, but in our world. . .it is necessary."
Soon, we broke free from the thick, tree-canopied path, stepping into a world that felt like a dream rendered in color and light. It was a flat, grassy meadow, breathing with life and stretching to the edge of a cliff that opened to infinity.
The air here was different. Warmer than it should have been, as if the space itself defied the chill of the night.
Oh my God. This is beautiful.
Lei finally stopped, setting me gently on my feet, yet his hands lingered on my waist, grounding me as I took it all in.
My breath hitched.
The cliff itself was a stage for a showstopping visual performance.