Now, his skin was so very pale. It was hard to believe that not so long ago, lips that once kissed life into mine now lacked any hint of warmth or color. My chest tightened at the sight of him. I wondered how it was possible to feel such a wealth of emotion after only being with him for a short period.
He’d been so strong earlier, and now I wasn’t sure, as I sat in the chair next to him, if he would make it through the night. Come on Brody. You’re strong. Don’t you die on me!
I took his hand in mine. This was my fault.
I leaned over and whispered softly into his ear. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you know I don’t use that word often, if ever, and when you wake up, if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.”
I shut my tired eyes for a moment. I should have known better than to let my guard down and get involved. Brody and I were supposed to be about explosive sex and nothing more. Then he went and got all alpha male and decided at the last minute to come with me to Guilin. If it was too dangerous to tell Hahn where I’d been staying, then it was too dangerous to let Brody follow me home.
Frustrated with myself that I allowed the intoxicating feeling of being taken care of get the better of me, I wallowed in it. I was completely immersed in it and just wanted to bask in the feeling for a little while longer. Nothing that happened with Brody had been planned, but if I had any doubts about not getting involved with him, this situation proved all the reasons why.
It made me weak worrying about him, and I only had forty-eight hours to resolve cataclysmic issues before a decision was made regarding the leadership of The Family Council. If anything, the events of today made me want the position more. No one would challenge me once I’d established power.
I rolled my shoulders to release some tension. It didn’t work. There was no time like the present to contact Brody’s parents, so I pulled my cell phone out of my back pocket. It was time to make that dreaded phone call to Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Windham.
Just as I was about to dial the number, another one came through.
I answered. “Gina.” Then glanced over at Brody while listening to the voice on the other end of the line as I checked my watch. “I can be there in twenty minutes.”
Chapter 4
Nina Lee-Xiou
Ang Woo’s home looked as if it had been caught in the cross fire of a war zone. When Nina walked tentatively inside, she couldn’t help but tiptoe carefully over broken furniture, glass, and lifeless bodies that were strewn about everywhere. Quickly, she covered her nose and mouth. She’d never seen such gruesome images in real-life only in movies.
It had been a bloodbath with pieces of human flesh and blood splattered against the walls and floor. There didn’t seem to be any space that hadn’t been touched by the carnage. Her involuntary reaction to vomit was strong, but too many eyes were on her. Too many people questioned her ability to do what was necessary to get the results she needed, so Nina kept her gag reflexes in check.
Initially, she remained behind in the van with only one of her hired guns while everyone else did the dirty work until they gave the all clear to come inside the house. Securing the place took longer than what she would have expected. The sitting and waiting were the worst. It was beyond draining; for all Nina knew minutes could have been hours. She was both relieved and anxious to get this over with.
Almost immediately after entering the premises, Nina was handed a telephone to call Mr. Woo. His wife, Shar, had been dragged, screaming, into the living room by her hair. Her arms were pulled painfully behind her back. She was terrified and had good reason to be. Unfortunately for her, she married the wrong man. Shar looked like a raccoon as her mascara stained tears streamed down her face, while she sobbed and pleaded for her life. It was a waste of time.
Nina’s demands were met with what she had expected—anger filled rants, blathering, and stuttering. The reality was that Mr. Woo was utterly helpless.
Good. She needed him to be since he was all that stood in the way of her being named to lead The Family Council. If Ang valued the lives of his daughters, he’d better follow orders.
Once Nina finished her call, she handed the phone off to Jonah. When she moved to leave the kitchen, he cautioned, “Watch the blood,” as he wiped down the phone for fingerprints. The wave of nausea hit her all over again. He didn’t have to tell her twice.
Nina was careful as she stepped over Mrs. Woo’s lifeless body, so as not to walk into the pool of dark sticky red liquid that poured out from the wounds in her head and chest.
“Where are the girls?”
“They’re not here.”
Nina stopped dead in her tracks and turned completely around. “What do you mean they’re not here? They were when we arrived.”
“They were here, and now they’re not. Someone must have tipped them off when we entered the property. Maybe they exited through a panic room or something.”
Somewhat panicked, she wrung her hands together. “I’ll lose whatever advantage I have if we don’t find those girls. You’ve got
