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)
He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes. “I love you, Moni. Do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll take care of your sisters. I’ll have all of Rowe Street Mob in the Palace if necessary. I’ll take something to sleep tonight to get that rest. I’ll train all day tomorrow. I’ll be ready to fucking kill him at that feast.”
“Good.”
“And you will listen to my father?”
“I will.”
“Don’t give him any reason to. . .” More tears left his eyes. “You are the major key to his plan. Remain in that position. No arguments. Not too many questions. Just fucking do it.”
“I will be the dutiful daughter-in-law—the very fucking essence of whatever plot he needs executed.”
“And then tomorrow night I will fucking kill him.” A sneer spread across his face. “And that will be the end of this.”
“Correct.”
“And you will never be gone from my side.”
“Never.” I wiped the tears off his face.
The door opened.
Song stepped out into the hallway. “If you want to say good bye to TT, then you will have to go in the room while Lei stands out here. We don’t want TT to see. . .”
Song pointed up to the ceiling.
“Okay.” Sighing, I kissed Lei really quick and then left him. I didn’t even look back because if I did, I knew the sight of his pain would break me in two.
Jesus.
Epilogue
Psychopath
Moni
I stepped into the room, feeling the weight of everything that had just passed between Lei and me hanging heavy in the air.
My heart ached, but I pushed it aside.
I had to be strong for TT now.
For all of us.
Alright. Now it’s time to say goodbye. . .
The moment I spotted TT sitting back on the floor, with her little legs crossed beneath her, my chest tightened.
She was still assessing that damn puzzle.
Fuck.
There she was tracing her fingers along the connected daggers with the kind of concentration only a child could muster in the middle of such chaos.
But then I realized something even more important.
I looked around and all I could see were her bed, drawers, mirrors, and those dragons painted on the ceiling. But there was one thing missing.
I blinked. “Where is Leo?”
Finally, she looked up and a bright smile spread across her face. “He went through the closet.”
I blinked again. “Through the closet?”
TT nodded. “Yep. He showed me the secret passageways earlier. There’s tons of them in this house—even in the living room. It’s a painting that takes you to the basement. But the coolest one is in the library—there’s a door hidden behind the bookshelves.”
I raised an eyebrow. “He showed you all of that?”
“Yep. It’s like one of those spy movies. This house is so cool.”
Walking over to her, I forced a smile, even as my stomach twisted at the thought of Leo showing her around the house’s dark, secret corners. “You’ll have to show me when I get back, okay?”
“I will.” She put her view back on the map.
I lowered myself to the floor beside her, kneeling so I could be at her level. “Hey, TT. I have to. . .I have to go with Leo.”
She didn’t look up at first. “I know.”
I looked down at the puzzle map. “You did a great job with this.”
“Leo helped.”
“But did he bother you in anyway? Did he say something crazy? Threaten you? Hurt you or—”
“No.” She looked at me. “He’s a nice man, although. . .”
“Although what?”
“I think he might be a psychopath.”
Terror surged through me, cold and immediate.
My skin prickled and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “W-why would you say that?”
She tilted her head slightly, as if contemplating whether or not to continue. “I read about it in one of those books in your closet. The really thick ones you keep in the box.”
“My old college books?”
“Yes. There’s one about psychology and stuff.”
“Yeah. I’m sure that was from my Behavioral Science course.”
“It said that psychopaths. . .they can be really charming. They know how to say the right things, make you feel safe, even when they don’t actually care. It’s like they put on this mask and most people don’t even notice.”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah. That’s correct. . .”
She was talking about this like it was some casual fact, like Leo’s charm and coldness were just another puzzle piece she was putting together.
And well. . .that was better than her being absolutely terrified like I currently was.
She touched the puzzle and then glanced back at me. “The book said that not all psychopaths hurt people, at least not in obvious ways. They’re good at hiding it. I read that psychopaths don’t feel emotions the same way we do. It’s like they. . .know how they’re supposed to act, but they don’t actually feel it. It’s just. . .mimicry. Like pretending to laugh at a joke they don’t think is funny or being sad when they’re supposed to be sad.”