Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
“Of course.” Leo crossed his arms over his chest. “I have a few things to say to TT, so you and Lei can go out in the hallway and say your goodbyes.”
My nerves flared. “What are you going to say to my sister?”
TT rose to stand. “It will be fine, Moni.”
That told me that Leo had probably been hanging with TT probably the whole cookout. It took a minute for her to be cool around strangers, but he had made quite an impression, possibly helping her solve the dagger puzzle map too.
Song gestured at me. “We need to hurry, Monique. If you’re going to say goodbye to Lei, then do it now.”
Damn it. This motherfucker really is going to kidnap me again. . .
Lei took my hand in his and led me out of the room.
And I could see from his expression that he had a plan to not let me go. It was all in his eyes. There was no way he would be okay with this.
However, I couldn’t get Barbara Whisker’s dead body out of my head and the way Dima continued to stroke her fur.
No. We better not play around with Leo tonight.
No matter what Lei said out in this hallway, I had to get him to understand all the things that were at stake.
The only problem was. . .would he listen?
Chapter forty-three
Tears
Moni
As soon as the door closed behind us, Lei pulled me into his arms.
Oh, baby.
His grip was tight and I could feel the tension radiating off him. “Moni, I can’t let you go—”
“You have to Lei—”
“Fuck no. We have to figure out a—”
“It’s one night. I’ll be fine—”
“You don’t know that.” Lei shivered. “You don’t fucking know that at all.”
Lei pulled back and I saw this haunting, heartbreaking despair in his eyes.
My breath caught in my throat.
His eyes were watering, on the brink of spilling over and my chest clenched, twisting with something I couldn’t even name.
My voice came out softer than I intended, barely a whisper. “Lei. . .I-I’ll be fine.”
He dropped his head, yet his grip was still firm on my arms like he couldn’t look at me. His body was shaking too. Tension radiated from every inch of him.
I could feel it all—the fear, the desperation, the weight of everything we had been through pressing down on him, on us.
Goddamn it, Leo.
Lei wasn’t just afraid.
He was terrified.
His voice came out shaky. “I can’t. . .let you leave. . .with him tonight.”
“You have to.”
“He might kill you.”
“He won’t. He wants a grandson named after him and I promised him I would do that. I’m the future, Lei. I fit into his plan.”
“Correct.”
“So. . .you understand?”
“Yes, but then, there’s the other thing that we have to consider.”
“What?”
He lifted his view to me and those tears were so close to spilling over his eyelids. “I can’t be without you. . .not even for one night.”
“Lei—”
“You’re my everything, Moni. I can’t. . .I won’t survive.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. Lei—the man who could stare down large groups of armed men without flinching—was trembling.
My heart pounded.
I knew he loved me but, seeing him like this—it was breaking my heart.
Lei looked back down. His hands tightened on my waist, as if he feared I would disappear if he let go. “We have to figure something else out. You’re not leaving the East with my father tonight. I don’t give a fuck about anything else.”
“Baby, stop.” I cupped his face, forcing him to look at me.
His jaw clenched.
“Lei, nothing’s going to happen. I’ll be fine. You have to trust me.”
“I can’t trust any of this.” His voice broke and a shiver ran through him. “You don’t know what he’s capable of—”
“Well. . .I’ve been paying attention and I think I do have an idea of what Leo is capable of.”
“He’s unpredictable—”
“I know—”
“The whole time with him you will be on the edge—”
“I know that too.” I sighed. “Honestly, I’m. . .kind of used to maneuvering around his crazy ass. I’ll be fine.”
“Moni. . .you can’t go. . .”
“I have to.”
“No. . .” The tears in his eyes glistened in the dim hallway light and for the first time, I saw the boy behind the Mountain Master. The one who had been shaped by pain and cruelty, but who still had a heart that beat fiercely for the people he loved.
Lei was fighting a war inside himself and it was killing him.
"Lei. . .” I pressed my forehead against his, breathing him in, feeling his warmth, his fear. “I have to go. We won’t let anyone die tonight just because you don’t want me to leave. That would be so selfish and that’s not who you are or who I am.”
He closed his eyes. “What if. . .”
“What?” I backed away from him. “What, Lei?”
“Maybe I should just let Dima and Rose die.”