Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 112567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112567 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
I felt crazy and weak. Guilty and so sad.
That won’t happen again.
Even though it was hard to deal with the pain, I would figure out a way to survive.
Also. . .everything must change.
I refused to step back into that apartment. I couldn’t look at any of it anymore. And I couldn’t go to that damn strip club, put another ugly ass wig on my head, and carry jerk-offs their drinks in six-inch heels.
And I was done with my side job at the chicken plant too. No more cracking bones on an endless conveyor belt.
God, are you really there? Will you help me figure it out?
Lei’s dark voice filled the car. “The money in the briefcase is yours. My men have it now. We’ll get it to you this evening.”
Maybe, there is a God.
I exhaled the pressure rising in my chest. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” Lei rubbed his head. “That was from my father.”
I blinked at the mention of Leo. “Did he. . .”
Lei raised his eyebrows.
“Did your father really do all of that in the penthouse?”
“He did most of it. However, Uncle Song probably hung them from the chandeliers.”
I blinked. “Why do you say that?”
“That’s his thing. Long ago in Shanghai, my uncle discovered their mother after she hung herself. He was a teen. Because of that, he doesn’t talk much. He can be silent for months without one word.”
What? Song was talkative today.
Lei continued, “When he or my father kills, he will always hang the bodies up.”
I focused on Lei’s words, needing to escape into any reality that wasn’t mine. “And Song is your uncle?”
Lei nodded. “As well as Chen and Duck’s father.”
I sat there stunned.
Sighing, Lei rubbed his face and looked out the window. “I don’t know why my uncle joined the fight. It was already going to be hard enough to kill my father. Now my uncle brought in his psychotic monks to protect father.”
“Why do you want to kill your father? Is it because he’s a murderer?”
“In my world, being a murderer is fine.” Lei gave me a sad smile. “I would never hurt him for that.”
I widened my eyes. “Then, why?”
“My father killed the only woman that I have ever loved in my entire life.” Lei fisted his hands. “He took her away from me.”
My heart twisted. “He murdered your girlfriend?”
Lei frowned. “She wasn’t my girlfriend.”
“I’m sorry. Your wife.”
Lei shook his head. “We were never. . .anything.”
“But you loved her?”
“With all my heart. Her name was Chanel.”
“Did she know how much you loved her?”
Lei looked away. “I don’t think so. Maybe.”
What?
I reached out for him, but then stopped myself. “You never told her?”
“Never.” He kept his back to me as he gazed out of the window. “I tried to show her many times, but. . .”
Stunned, I gaped at him.
How could he have not said anything?
He whispered, “I was too afraid to tell her.”
How could he be afraid of anything?
Lei was tall and handsome, strong and fiercely powerful. Men followed his orders. They were willing to serve him. He had guns and knives that I was certain he absolutely knew how to use. He had an army with him. Even now, there were several blue vehicles following behind us as if he was a politician.
How could he be afraid?
Lei turned and caught me staring at him. “I should have said something, but I was scared.”
Still shocked, I held my hands out. “Of what?”
“Her rejection.”
I pursed my lips.
“I imagined her rejection being sharper than the world’s deadliest sword. I was certain it would cause more damage than any bullet.” Lei touched his chest. “I didn’t think I could have survived her telling me that she didn’t love me. I might have been just like you on the balcony today, leaping to some form of freedom. Trying to escape the horror of reality.”
I froze.
No words left me.
“I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s too soon. I shouldn’t have said that.”
I looked down at my fingers. “No. You’re right. I was trying to escape. I’m glad Duck saved me. It was so stupid. . .I’m sorry.”
“You were broken-hearted, never apologize for that. Just don’t do it again.” Lei studied me. “When you ran to that ledge, my heart imploded within itself. I could barely breathe.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“Of course you weren’t. Too much had happened.”
My eyes watered, but no tears came.
Lei raised his eyebrows. “Have you ever lost anyone before today?”
“My mother passed last winter from cancer.”
He frowned. “My mother passed last fall from a heart attack.”
“Oh my God.”
“Unfortunately, we have a lot of sad shit in common.”
“We do.”
“Now that. . .” He stopped speaking and shook his head.
“What?”
“Now that you’ve lost your father, I wonder. . .is dealing with death. . .easier?”
“Not easy at all. With my mother, I was a little prepared. This time I’m devastated.”
He nodded. “I’m hoping that with my father’s death, my anger will heal any pain. I’m hoping it will be. . .easier. That. . .I won’t miss him at all.”