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)
Dima nodded. “Your mourning will be taken into account.”
“So when I saw Moni, I felt this massive sense of. . .peace and. . .I just wanted to keep her near me.”
Marcelo glared. “That’s no fucking defense for not calling Banks or me.”
“Later that night, I saw her dressed in this gown and. . .and it was then that I decided that I wanted her.”
Banks sneered.
“So, I pulled the handcuffs out that I’d already had in my pocket for her—”
“Handcuffs!?” Banks hit the table.
Chen raised his hand. “I would like to add something to explain the handcuffs.”
Dima nodded. “Go ahead, Chen.”
Chen adjusted his glasses. “Earlier that day, Monique had saw her father’s dead body, became so overwhelmed with grief, stress, and heartbreak that. . .she tried to jump off the building to commit suicide.”
Banks parted his lips. “What?”
Chen pointed to Duck. “My brother saved her, leaping off the cliff too right as she. . .well. . .he saved her. Please add that to the record.”
Banks blinked and looked at Duck. “She said something about Duck having her back, but she didn’t. . .break that down too much.”
“Surely, it is understandable that she didn’t want to admit all of that,” Chen continued. “When Lei and I saw this. . .situation, we rushed out onto the balcony and Lei. . .who had clearly been mentally unstable himself, put handcuffs on her wrist and his so she wouldn’t harm herself anymore.”
Dima opened his notebook and jotted down some words.
Gunner looked down at the table.
“Still. . .” Marcelo wore this sad expression. “All the more reason to call us once you knew, I could have—”
“By the time I knew,” I shook my head. “I didn’t want her to leave my side and wasn’t going to let her leave my side even if she wanted to go.”
Marcelo quirked his brows. “Excuse me?”
“You fucking heard me.”
Banks looked at Dima. “You heard that? His own statement says that is kidnapping.”
Dima turned to me. “Perhaps. . .you should. . .expound. . .”
“Aww.” I touched my chest. “You want me to further explain?”
“Yes.” Dima frowned. “And do so quickly.”
“I saw her. I wanted her. Very badly.” Glaring at Marcelo, I leaned forward. “And so I took her and I’m not giving her back to anyone. Ever.”
Now do something about it?
Banks pulled the toothpick out of his mouth and I knew deep in my core that he was ready to risk it all and fight me.
Violence radiated off him as he twisted that toothpick in his fingers from side to side over and over.
Knowing his right-hand man very well, Marcelo placed a hand on his shoulder.
That didn’t stop Banks from twisting that toothpick.
“Alright. Thank you for your. . .explanation, Lei.” Dima tapped his pen against the notebook. “However, I think that we are missing the most important part of this.”
“Naw, Dima.” Banks shook his head. “Motherfucker sounded clear to me.”
“He did.” Dima nodded. “However, did Moni want to leave. I think that is the bigger question.”
“It doesn’t matter if my cousin wanted to leave.” Banks voice rose. “Motherfucker wasn’t going to let her go anyway. He just said that. In fact, I sent men to the goddamn mountain to protect her and I still haven’t heard from them. Where are they?”
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “You mean you sent men into my territory without getting approval from me—”
“Chen okayed it.”
“Chen’s not the Mountain Master. I am and that was my fucking mountain.”
Marcelo sneered. “Where are my men?”
“Healing on that very mountain. Many of their injures should be good to go by the end of the month. In fact, God willing. . .” I grinned. “Most will even be able to walk.”
All three of them shifted—Marcelo, Gunner, and Banks.
I focused all of my attention on Banks. “Let’s be real about why you sent those men. You knew Moni didn’t want to leave, so you sent those men as a test just to show her that I was a monster.”
“And you passed that test, you fucking psychopath.”
“Here’s a little wake-up call for you, Banks. I never claimed to be anything but a monster. And once your cousin saw it, she accepted it.”
“Bullshit.” Banks looked at Dima. “Do you believe it?”
Dima spoke, “I agree with Banks on this one. The sort of woman that I am learning that Moni is, makes me think she didn’t take to kindly to that sort of display of violence.”
I gritted my teeth.
Dima wrote a note. “Did she want to leave in that moment?”
“Moni’s not a helpless damsel in distress. She took charge on that mountain and ended up positioning herself to be a Friend of the Four Aces.”
Dima looked up from his notebook. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Chen jumped in. “There was not a clear declaration from Monique that she wanted to leave in that moment.”