Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 90852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“S-she. . .called me Moni?”
“Yes.”
“My mother called me that.”
“I’m sure she did.” Leo ran his shaking fingers through his hair. “Jing had been planning on coming up with some big scheme to get you all to the East. She thought that your sisters and you would thrive here, but. . .”
“What?”
He began to pace. “I told her no. I didn’t think it would make sense for the East. No visitors. There were rules to this life. We argued. . .a lot about. A lot.”
Then, my father wasn’t the only one who broke her heart.
Leo kept pacing, making me super nervous. “I should have said yes. We should have just. . .moved you all here. Jing would be here. I’m not an idiot you know. I know that. I do. I fucking know that.”
I stayed silent.
“Then. . .Jing died.”
I hugged myself.
“So. . .as I planned for everyone’s death—mine, Chanel’s, Romeo’s—I planned to finally do right by my wife and bring your sisters and you here. At that moment, I still did not think you would be Mountain Mistress yet. . .no. . .” Leo began pacing faster.
I moved my head from side to side following him go back and forth.
Then, he stopped in the center of the room. “Guilt. Blood. Death. Cold bodies. So many.”
My entire body tensed up.
The silence hung thick in the air as he stared off into the distance with an unnerving intensity.
My mind raced with fear and I sat there, paralyzed, unable to move a muscle.
Then, he just began pacing again. “I watched you long enough to know that you were unapproachable. So untrustful. Too busy. Work. Work. Sisters. Sleep. Work.” He raised one finger in the air. “But, your father and bringing problems to your door were the only moments where you would stop everything to deal with it. That. . .I knew. . .was my opportunity to make you move.”
“You saw Snow coming to my house about my father’s gambling debts?”
“I saw it. Song’s men too. We all wanted to kill them then, but it was not time. Chess is a game of strategy. One must be patient.”
I thought about it all and slowly rose from the bed. “So. . .okay.”
He stopped pacing and watched me. “Think out the rest, Monique. You will be in the East now. More of these chess moves will happen around you, and you must think it all through. People will want to put you on their board, but you are now my daughter.”
Against all logic, my heart warmed.
“You will put them on your board.” Leo’s eyes went wild. “Think.”
I considered what had happened that day Snow burst into my apartment. Then, I replayed the memory.
I kept the barrel pointed at Snow. “What did my dad do now?”
“He came into the casino last night. I invited him into a high roller blackjack game.”
I trembled. “Why would you do that? He didn’t have any money.”
“He was drunk,” Snow said. “He offered you guys up.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
Dutch smiled. “He offered you and your sisters up as collateral.”
“He can’t do that.” I shook my head. “He doesn’t own us.”
“Yeah. I found the whole thing comical.” Dutch gazed around the living room. “I never took him seriously, but I let him play anyway.”
It all started coming together.
I looked at Leo. “You were at the high roller game?”
A devilish grin spread across his face. “Good job. Song and I attended.”
“Was it your $75,000 in the bag?”
“Of course it was.”
Jesus Christ.
Now it was my turn to start pacing. “Did my father even offer us up? Or was it you somehow who gave him the idea?”
“I may have hinted at it. Men like your father and Snow. . .they hear a whisper of something and claim it as their idea.” Leo crossed his arms over his chest and watched me like a predatory lion teaching its cub to hunt. “Now think even further. You started at the game. Go to a few moments earlier. . .right before the game.”
“My father showed up drunk.” My bottom lip quivered. “Did you get him drunk?”
“Yong did.”
“Yong. . .the guy that Jo said loves Tupac and drives a Cadillac?”
“Yes, and Yong brought your father along to the game.”
“So, Yong was part of the high roller’s game too?”
Leo nodded.
Horrified, I backed up. “How could you know that my father was going to take the bag?”
“Before they arrived, Yong told him to do it. Said he had contacts and would keep him safe.”
I shook my head. “What the fuck, man?”
“Your father caused this on himself—”
“Not really—”
“When your mother passed, he should have taken care of you all. My wife would still be alive.” Leo looked like he was ready to kill my father again. “Even more, your father should have stepped up and taken care of your mother when she was battling cancer. If he had, your mother would still be alive.”