I look at her curiously. “What?”
“You’re his big sister, but kinda…more like his mom.”
I shrug the comment away. “Temporary guardian.”
“Where’re your parents?”
I grab a cloth and dry his cup, trying to decide how to answer.
“If it’s touchy—I mean, you don’t want to—I’m sorry,” she murmurs, staring into her coffee.
A niggling sensation tells me that I can trust her. That telling her about this won’t come back to bite me. But should I? Telling her about me, about our family, that’s a bit familiar. We’re not staying long…
But that dejected look on her face is so pathetic.
“They got wrangled into some debt to start their kung fu studio. They were paying their bills on time, but the guy who gave them the loan wanted more.”
Not more money…but more of their time. More of their skill. He wanted them in his gang, working for him. I wish I could wipe the memory of their final argument from my mind. They thought they were being quiet, that the clanking of dishes in the sink was loud enough to drown out their words. My mom just wanted to do it, give Zhao Shang what he wanted. My dad refused. She threatened to leave him and take us away.
She was so scared of Shang.
“Jade?” Lacey’s gentle voice snaps me back to reality.
“Sorry, squirrel brain. Must’ve slept bad.”
“Are you okay?”
I smile. “Very fine. The finest.”
She makes a pained expression. “Are they…” She mouths the worddead.
I shake my head. “No, just in China, working off debt.”
She nods, her eyes pointed at my wrist. “And does that have anything to do with it?”
“No.” I roll my sleeve down and cover it. “Truly, not at all.”
The brush of cloth against the spot has me itching to touch it. To summon him.
To see him.
But I know I can’t. Five days and no word. He’s getting on fine without me, and I can get on fine without him.
The bell over the door rings again and I smile on instinct. “Welcome to the—”
My heart leaps into my throat at the sight of the man taking up the frame. Dark suit, darker hair, and the darkest of expressions.
Zhao Lei.
nineteen
A Run-in with Old Friends
The eldest son and right hand of Zhao Shang. Bully. Strongman. And, if the rumors are to be believed…
Murderer.
He was there the night my parents disappeared. I could sense his astral presence all over the wuguan. It’s just as powerful now, if not more. There’s something beyond muscles to this man, but I can’t risk projecting to inspect him.
