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)
Why did Monique have to be connected to Rowe Street Mob?
My head throbbed. I rubbed the temples with my free hand. “You stay with me until I’ve killed my father.”
Shocked, she muttered, “What?”
“It won’t be long until that happens.”
Monique looked down at the bloody carpet and then she stared at the handcuffs. “Will I be attached to you the whole time?”
“That depends.”
“On what?” She looked up.
“Are you done trying to kill yourself?”
She nodded. “It was a dark moment. I just lost it on the balcony. I just wanted to give up. I just. . .”
“And now?”
“I’m. . .okay.”
“We’ll see.” I dragged her away.
Chapter ten
Heal Me, I’ll Heal You
Monique
Daddy. Mommy. What. . .next?
We rode the elevator down.
Due to the handcuffs, Lei stood next to me.
Chen and Duck were behind us with several other men.
I must’ve looked like a zombie. My mouth was parted. I didn’t have the energy to shut it. My eyelids slowly drooped. I was hunched over because my broken heart weighed two tons.
What do I say to Jo, Chloe, and TT?
I scanned the space and thought of how much I’d changed since getting on the elevator earlier.
Before I’d been one-type of Moni.
Now I was different—broken, devastated, and covered in blood.
Chen spoke, “We should take her to any family she has in Glory.”
A dark edge laced Lei’s words. “We will, when she’s better.”
Will I ever be better?
So many emotions fogged my head and left me in a haunted daze. My thoughts swam in between cracks of past memories of my father. Faded moments where he’d made me smile. The times we laughed. The times we cried. The times I thought I couldn’t live without his love, his hugs, and the confirmation that he cared.
Chen whispered, “Lei, it will take her a lot of time to be better.”
Lei growled, “Then, so be it.”
“As your Deputy Mountain Master, I must explain that it will take her a lot of time. It could be past our dealing with Leo,” Chen explained. “It could be well past everything that we have to do in the East.”
Lei growled again, “You think I don’t understand that?”
“I don’t think you’re properly considering any of this.”
Duck chimed in, “I wouldn’t mind if she were handcuffed to me. I will take on the responsibility. I messed up. I dishonored you, Mountain Master.”
Lei gritted his teeth. “Shut up, Duck.”
My head kept replaying the last time I saw my father—the day of Mom’s funeral when I told him to never come around us again.
I shouldn’t have said that. I thought I had time to forgive him. Time for us to heal.
Guilt seeped into my darkening soul.
But life. . .it’s so fragile. . .so fast. . .
Tension tightened around my throat like someone was choking me. This heavy force pressed down on my chest.
I messed everything up by going along with Leo.
I’d thought I’d been living right, following God, and being a good person. I figured things would eventually get better for my sisters and me. I just had to keep the faith and work hard. But life kept kicking me hard in the ass. And with Dad’s death, my life would forever be turned upside down.
“She’s not one of your strays, Lei.” Chen sighed. “She’s an adult woman.”
Duck chimed in, “I’ll do a better job of protecting her from now on.”
“Gallant effort, Duck, but unnecessary,” Chen said. “I’m sorry, but we are not in the business of dealing with suicidal—”
“I decide what business we’re in.” Rage rode Lei’s voice. “And we don’t mention suicide again!”
“Can we mention kidnapping?” Chen said. “Because that’s what this is. It’s kidnapping.”
Lei snorted. “You’re worried about the police?”
“I’m more worried about someone in the South getting involved due to you having their relative, thus possibly giving Marcelo an excuse—”
“We’re done talking.” Lei turned my way and studied me.
Any other time, I might have looked down. Maybe, I would have been too shy.
In this moment, I was desperate. I directed my gaze into Lei’s deep, dark eyes, hoping for him to save me. Praying that he would give me some sense of salvation.
Help. . .
I swore he heard me.
He took my hand and gently pulled me closer to him. My arm pressed against his. There was a soothing affection through this physical closeness. Warmth came to the cold parts of my soul.
In one moment, I felt like I was freezing.
In the next, I felt like I had just stepped in front of a heater.
Lei squeezed my hand, triggering more comfort from our skin-to-skin contact. It anchored me, made me feel more balanced. It cocooned me, giving me some sense of calm.
The elevator stopped.
The doors slid open.
Drowning in sorrow, I didn’t even think I could walk forward. “No.”
“Don’t worry.” Lei looked back at me. “I have you.”
Duck walked around us and put his foot near the doors to block them from closing.