He was so beautiful.
They followed the low murmur of voices to the party room, the large space at the back of the restaurant often reserved for birthdays and graduation parties. When they slid back the door, they were greeted by more people than anticipated. The party room consisted of two long wooden tables, big enough to accommodate fifty or more people. Only one table was in use.
At the head of the table was a man that Nico could only assume was the Dai Lo himself. He wasn’t sure exactly what he’d expected, but it wasn’t the devastatingly attractive man, who appeared no more than fifty at most. His dark hair was cut into what was probably a thousand dollar haircut, and he had sharp cheekbones, an exquisite jawline, and full lips.
He looked Nico and Mal up and down, his lips twitching, like he was holding back a smile. He had a shrewd gaze that made Nico want to fidget under his scrutiny. He, like Mal, wore a button down shirt—black—with the sleeves rolled to his forearms to reveal ink that ran to his finger tips. His open collarrevealed even more. There was even a tattoo on his face of three Chinese characters beside his left eye.
“Excellent. You’re early.”
Nico’s gaze snapped to the man who spoke. Thomas Mulvaney. He was almost sixty years old but he was still handsome as ever, as evidenced by Seven practically drooling into his lap. Nico had been so preoccupied with the imposing man at the head of the table, he’d missed Thomas entirely. His silver hair was longer than Nico remembered, but his clothing was as expensive as ever—a navy sweater with some white logo Nico didn’t recognize.
Atticus sat on one side of Thomas and Seven on the other. That put Seven not only right beside the Dai Lo but directly across from Lorenzo Conti, who sat beside his mother, Francesca. Everyone who Jericho had said would be in attendance was there, but there was an additional person Jericho hadn’t mentioned in attendance. Felix.
He sat regally beside Atticus in a perfectly tailored suit jacket with nothing beneath it, the tattoo on his sternum in full view. His hair was in a ponytail, curls framing his face, a full beat of makeup on. The man at the head of the table seemed quite taken with him, his eyes drifting to him again and again.
Behind the Dai Lo stood no fewer than six men, all leaning casually against the wall in black suits. Francesca had four of her other sons with her at the table as well. Was this how it was done? Why was Mama there in the first place and why had she brought her own reinforcements?
Regardless of the reason, Thomas, Francesca, and the Dai Lo all appeared pleasantly relaxed, but it was easy to see it was an act. They were like three coiled snakes pretending to be sleeping, each ready to strike if and when it became necessary. Nico really hoped it would never be necessary.
It was the Dai Lo who spoke first. “Have a seat,” he said. His British accent threw Nico’s brain into free fall. Who was this man? He gestured for Nico and Mal to take the seats at the opposite end, and Nico was suddenly grateful for the length of the table. He wanted as much distance between them and that man as possible. Just in case.
Thomas smiled. “Dai Lo Liang, this is Malachi and Nico. They’re the ones who have all the key details of the current situation at hand.”
Nico felt like he should bow or something. When Mal slightly inclined his head, Nico did the same, but he didn’t know if it was customary or not.
The Dai Lo gave a small nod of acknowledgement, then looked at Thomas. “How can I help you, Mr. Mulvaney?”
“Well, as I said before, we’re grateful you would make such a long journey?—”
“I needed to come check on operations here anyway. My son has been too quiet as of late,” the man said.
Thomas nodded. “Regardless, we’re grateful. If you don’t mind, I’ll let the boys explain exactly why we’ve reached out to you.”
“Right,” the Dai Lo said. “Let’s have it then.” Nico looked at Mal then back to the man at the head of the table, his mouth suddenly desert dry. The man seemed to find Nico’s panic amusing. “Don’t worry. I don’t bite.”
Nico gave Mal his rounded, saddest puppy dog eyes. Mal sighed, slightly shaking his head.
“Dai Lo Liang, we’re very sorry to involve you in this situation at all, but we weren’t sure what else to do. Approximately a week ago, a woman went missing. That woman is the mother of one of my dance students. The student called me late one night to tell me that a man was trying to break into her apartment and that her mother hadn’t been home in a few days.She was terrified. Nico and I got to her apartment as quickly as possible but it was already too late.”
“Too late?” the Dai Lo asked.
Mal gave a stilted nod. “Yes, sir. We found the door broken and my student hiding in the bathroom clutching a knife beside a man dead on the floor. The man’s name was Eric, and, though we didn’t know it at the time, he was one of your son’s men. The girl was only thirteen, and she was simply defending herself.”
The Dai Lo seemed amused. “Are you asking me to keep my son from retaliating against a child who killed a low-level soldier in self-defense? I don’t condone attacking children. If this Eric man went after her and was bested by a child, that’s his shame to bear.”
“No, sir,” Nico said. “The missing woman worked as a seamstress at the marketplace. She was one of the top…earners for your son. She made high quality knock-off designer handbags, ones so well done they could fool experts. We went to the market to look for her, but the vendors there all seemed to believe she ran away with her daughter, trying to escape your organization’s hold.”
The Dai Lo sat forward, threading his fingers together in front of him. “But you don’t believe that?”
Mal shook his head. “My student is currently at a safe house being looked after by friends. Her mother would never leave without her but she has disappeared. After we inquired about her at the marketplace, two men attacked me at my job and demanded to know where the missing woman was.”
“If they don’t know where she is either, then why am I here? Maybe she really did leave her daughter behind. People do all kinds of things when they’re frightened,” the Dai Lo said.
“I don’t think so,” Nico retorted. “We believe that someone within your organization knows more than they’re letting on.”
The man frowned. “How so?”
“Well, an informant said that our missing woman had some problems with one of your son’s men a few months back. While it seems clear that your son is just as in the dark about the missing woman’s whereabouts, we’re hoping he might be able to tell us who it was that was harassing her before she disappeared.”
