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)
“But do the handcuffs work?”
“Of course they work, but that is not the point. I like these handcuffs better.” Chen let out a long breath. “They say. . .kidnapping but with opulence. Elegance. A sensual flair of luxury that—”
“But they work. Right?”
Chen glared. “Yes.”
“That’s all I care about.” I flung the box on the bed, pocketed the jeweled handcuffs, and headed for the door. “Make sure Monique never leaves my side again. Anything could have happened to her. My father is still out there—”
“Lei!”
I paused and spoke through clenched teeth, “What?”
“Everyone is elegantly dressed, including Monique. In fact, she’s shimmering and even. . .smiling. Which is heartwarming for me because I know that she has had a nightmarish day.”
I stilled. “Okay. And?”
“The dinner is now a festivity of food, warm lighting, and lavishly dressed guests. Let us keep this theme going with you taking a shower and getting out of clothes that you have been wearing for three days.” He gestured to a rack of several dark blue designer suits. “I have provided options.”
Groaning in annoyance, I turned around and headed to the rack. “Did you get that horror movie?”
“The one called the Caretaker?”
“Yes.”
“I found someone to download it. You will have it soon.”
“Good.”
“Why do you want it?”
I scanned the designer suits. “Get the herbs too.”
“Herbs?”
“The ones for lucid dreaming.”
Chen let out a long breath. “Fine. I will send men to get the herbs.”
“Good.” I grabbed one of the suits and took it off to the shower. “Make sure I have that concoction immediately. I must finish that dream.”
“And since we are on your having possession of Chanel’s dead body—”
“We were not on that, and we will not discuss it—”
“Lei, we have to give her body back to the Killer Crows and apologize for—”
“I am not done with her body yet—”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I don’t need to explain myself.”
“No, Lei. You do.” Chen held the side of his head. “You really do.”
I ignored him and went into the bathroom.
Chapter nineteen
The Case of the Dead Body
Lei
I showered, dressed, grabbed the blood-stained wooden dagger and jeweled handcuffs, pocketed those two objects, and then headed out of the suite, needing to be near Monique.
Without her by me, that hollowing emptiness returned.
My men followed.
Chen hurried to my side. “Love, grief, and loss are potent emotions.”
“Whatever point you are going to try and make, I don’t want to hear it.”
We stopped at the elevator.
Chen pressed the button. “These emotions can guide people towards selfless acts of compassion and kindness, but they can also drive them to commit actions that defy societal norms and expectations.”
I groaned in annoyance.
Chen fixed his glasses on his face. “All of this brings us to the case of your stealing Chanel’s body—”
“This is not some detective case, and we are not talking about this right now. I already told you that I do not have to explain myself.”
“I regret helping you do it.” Chen scowled at me. “I was heartbroken like you with her death and thought maybe you could say goodbye to her. For some reason, I figured this could be closure. I don’t know. . .but now we just have her body and it is getting weird. Do you know how much energy has been put to simply keeping her cold as she lays out there in the van?”
“I don’t see the problem.”
Chen’s voice shrieked toward the end. “You don’t see the problem?”
“I plan to eventually give Chanel back—”
“Lei, this is the highest level of macabre and bizarre, and it underscores the depth of human emotions and the lengths to which a grieving heart may go to find solace.”
“What?”
“We must give the body back.”
“Not yet.”
The elevator’s bell dinged, and the doors slid open.
I stepped on.
Chen and my men followed.
The doors closed.
Chen pressed a button and cleared his throat. “You have unresolved feelings of love and longing.”
“Oh, do I now?”
“Chanel was the main source of your happiness and fulfillment. Now her absence has created a void in your life that you are finding to be unbearable.”
“And the sky is blue, and grass is green.” I turned to him. “Also, dogs bark and cats meow.”
“By physically possessing her body, albeit lifeless, you are trying to reclaim a part of the happiness you lost. This is some desperate attempt to preserve the illusion of her existence.”
“Stop psychoanalyzing me.”
“You are struggling to accept the reality of her death—”
“I said stop psychoanalyzing me.” I glared at him. “That is quite enough.”
“I am your Deputy Mountain Master—”
“Yet, your job is not to state the obvious.” I put my view back on the elevator. “In fact, you should have been preventing our aunts from drugging me. You usually are several steps ahead of everyone. How did they slip by without your knowing?”
Chen kept quiet.
I quirked my brows and glanced at him. “You knew they were going to drug me and sat back and let it happen?”