Nina sputtered and coughed. “You. Kill. Me. C . . . Cecily dies. I made sure of it.”
Somehow her words permeated through my anger. I squeezed just a little bit tighter for a little longer. The second I released her neck, my fist connected with her jaw. I didn’t break it, but it was going to leave an ugly bruise. Nina howled out in pain as I shoved her away from me.
Immediately, Nina brought her hands to her throat and cheek as she sputtered trying to catch her breath.
There was another commotion outside of the car. Several of Hahn’s men rushed over, and one of them whispered into his ear as I sat inside trying to rein in my rage. He looked down at me. “One of the men in the other car gave up the location of Ang’s girls. They’ve been located and our men are on their way to get them. We don’t have much time before the police arrive. Whatever you’re about to do with Nina—do it.”
“The cops aren’t a problem. Not with the government officials I have on speed dial. I’ll only need a minute with Nina . . . alone.”
“You got it.” Hahn closed the door as he stood guard outside.
I turned to her. “You know I’m already going to fuckin’ kill you, but I swear you’ll beg me to make it quick if any harm comes to Cecily.”
Nina’s voice was raspy. “That’s up to you.” She still clutched her burning throat. “You’re the only one who can keep her safe.”
“Just how exactly am I supposed to do that?”
“Withdraw your name from contention tonight.”
“You’re a sniveling little bitch! Don't you think I heard your screams? How the hell do you think you’re going to run this organization? They are going to chew you up and spit you out.”
“I don’t always need to use a gun to get what I want. Stand down Gina or be responsible for the death of your niece. I promised you if anything ever happened to me, Cecily would find out the truth. What I didn’t say, because I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this is, I’ll have her put to sleep—permanently. You might not believe I can do it, but do you honestly want to take the chance?”
I had to make a split-second decision. She was right; I couldn’t take a chance, not on Cecily’s life. “You’ve bought yourself a little more time, but that threat has a limited shelf life. I can’t believe we have the same blood running through our veins.”
Nina knew better than to say anything. Keeping my control around her was proving less and less possible. It could happen that I might blink only to find I’d blacked out and killed her. She silently watched me as I pushed open the car door and got out.
She may have won this round, but I couldn’t let her think this was over. It was far from over. I turned to Nina. “Walk lightly and sleep softly, little sister.”
One thing was for sure; I could no longer keep this madness away from Alexandro. I was going to have to call him.
As I started to walk towards our car, Hahn gave me a crazy look as if to say, kill her. He knew better than to say it. Instead, he asked, “What about the dude on the ground, not a good idea to leave him alive.”
“Leave him. His time will come just like hers.”
Hahn was left feeling confused but knew how to follow orders.
Chapter 9
The Meeting
We arrived at the nondescript building after making a quick pit stop. It was strange, an organization whose reach touched the Chinese government, organized crime, and billion-dollar corporations from all over the world were more or less invisible. No one had any idea that The Family Council was about to have a once in a generation meeting. Tonight, history was going to be made. A woman would be elected to lead this organization. I had no doubt.
Guns and bodyguards were confined to the lower level of the high-rise. I took the elevator alone to the top floor. When the doors opened, and before I could step off, security was in my face. I was patted down and wanded from my head to my feet then asked to take off my shoes. I followed their directions and walked through a body scanner. After being cleared for entry, I was then ushered into another room. When the door opened, sitting before me at a long marble table in a darkened room lit with over-sized candles were six men all dressed in white robes: Zheng’s father, Mr. Si Xei; Ang Woo; Leung Ng; Binu Yoshi; Wei Chan; and Eli Nakamura. Zheng was a member too, but he was in the running for the leadership position. My father would have been the eighth member and leader of this group. It was his seat that needed to be filled.
Nina and Zheng were also present, but even my glance was too valuable to be wasted on them.
Mr. Ng spoke first. “Now that we are all gathered, we can begin.” Another
