Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 104141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
One of my guards snickered.
I smiled. “Those kids are adorable.”
He nodded. “The short one is my daughter, Mei.”
“Aww. Mei. That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl.”
He beamed in pride. “She knows I’m here during the day and likes to see if she can spot me with her cousins.”
My heart warmed.
“She also. . .is a bit fascinated with you.”
“Oh really?”
He nodded. “She’s drawn pictures of you and me at your side with a gun, protecting you.”
“Oh, I love it. I would love to see the drawings and thank her personally. . .of course. . .if that’s okay with you.”
He widened his eyes. “That would make her entire year and have my wife talking about it with her friends for the next ten years.”
“Oh, then we’re doing that today.”
He chuckled.
“And your name?”
The glow on his face left and his chuckling died down.
The other guards watched him.
He cleared his throat. “We are not to give our names to you.”
“No? Why not?”
“At the Dragon’s request.”
I sucked my teeth. “Well. . .we’ll see about that.”
He blinked.
“If you all are to protect me, the least I can know is your names.” I leaned back on my gold and black heart cushion.
The cart continued along.
Wind moved through the trees on either side of the path. Workers bowed as we passed. My guards bowed back without slowing. I was learning what it felt like to be carried through this island the way Kenji was carried—untouched, observed, treated like a force of nature people made room for.
Then I saw the second cart, rolling toward us on the opposite track. It was a simple white one with four people aboard.
Oh shit. Is that Kiko?
She was in the middle. Two men in white medical coats flanked her. The man next to the driver held his gun out openly with the barrel resting against his thigh.
He kept his gaze on Kiko as if making sure she didn’t try anything funny.
Damn. They’re already taking her to the DNA test?
My back straightened.
Kenji and Reo move fast.
As the cart approached, I noticed that Kiko was crying so hard that her shoulders jerked a few times.
Her mouth moved fast in Japanese. The words spat out of her like she was trying to set the air on fire. I couldn't catch a single word, but I didn't need to. The volume told me everything. The pitch told me more.
She was furious.
She was scared.
She was being driven somewhere she had not agreed to go.
Then, the carts came parallel.
For a few suspended seconds, Kiko's eyes locked with mine.
Her face shifted. Murderous rage rose in that gaze. The Japanese stopped. Her mouth opened around English instead, sharp and loud enough to carry across the gap between us. "This is your fault!"
Be cool.
I held her gaze and refused to let any emotion hit my face.
"You’ll see!" Her voice cracked as she pointed at me. "And now you will regret this! Once the Dragon understands what I carry, he'll ship you back to America!"
Her cart kept moving.
So did mine.
I glanced back.
Kiko craned her head over her shoulder to keep her eyes on me until the trees finally swallowed her from view.
I let out a slow breath.
Once the Dragon understands what I carry, he’ll ship you back to America.
The ugly line repeated itself in my head. She'd said it like her belly was a loaded gun and the babies were the bullets to bring my death.
Girl, bye. Had I not been raised by my grandmother. . .you would have been dead already.
I exhaled and kept my gaze forward.
The cart rolled on.
I had almost gotten my heart rate back down when I saw the next thing.
Now what the fuck is this?
Up ahead, at the bend in the path, a knot of bodies moved across the gravel in a tight cluster. Five men. They had a sixth man between them, and they were dragging him against his will. His feet were sliding. His arms were locked behind his back as he screamed in Japanese and cried.
There’s never a boring day on this island.
I leaned forward to get a better view.
Oh shit. That’s Tet. Right? Kiko’s cousin.
I sat up.
The five men hauled him sideways down a narrow side path that branched away from the villas. He struggled against them and looked exhausted. His shirt was twisted at the collar and blood dripped from one side of his mouth.
He didn't see me.
I watched until the trees swallowed them too.
Then I turned to my guard. "What are they doing to him?"
"I do not know."
"Can you ask Reo to let me know? I’m. . .intrigued."
The guard nodded once and pulled out his phone. His thumbs moved fast. He held the screen low in his lap and waited.
I faced forward.
What the hell are they going to do to Tet?
The path curved.
Hiroko's villa came into view at the top of the slope, all clean lines and expensive restraint.