Aiden leaned down on his hand, watching Brendan.He’s such a hard worker.If he could, he would spend even more time with the president, but he quickly banished the thought. The fact that he still sat with his friends was already a miracle. To ask for any more, Aiden knew, was the pinnacle of selfishness.
He reached over and gently closed the textbook. Shocked, Brendan looked up at Aiden. “Staring at it won’t make you understand any faster,” Aiden said, picking up his tray. “Don’t worry about it until the tutoring session tomorrow.”
Brendan nodded. As Aiden turned to leave, the other boy grabbed him with a gentle tug of his warm hand. “Are you okay? You seem pale.”
Jumping, Aiden balanced the tray on one hand to feel his face with the other. His cheek came back cold against his palm. Aiden forced a smile. “I started working recently, so I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Why?” Christina leaned forward.
“My family’s in a bit of a bind. I can’t go too much into it.”
“I see…” Brendan removed his hand. “Well, let us know if we can help.” He reached over to the forgotten water bottle left on the table and handed it over to Aiden.
Aiden’s eyes softened at the sight. He grabbed the bottle.Every time,he thought fondly. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Good luck with class. And work.”
He nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
• • •
Mr. Yang waited outside the front door of a gated home. Unlike Mr. Zhou’s home, Mr. Yang’s looked like a box. With its walls painted a neutral tan, the house appeared larger than Mr. Zhou’s, made more so by the lack of gardening, decorations, and color on the outside. The second Aiden stepped out the car, the man bounded down the steps of the front porch and shook Aiden’s hands with a wild grin on his face.
Mr. Yang was only slightly older than Aiden’s brother. His hair was still pitch black and fell in a messy scrawl over his head. He was far skinnier in stature. His clothes did not tuck in tightly against his body. His shirt was oversized, he wore no jacket, and he had no weapons hanging from his pants or hidden elsewhere in his body.
In contrast, the driver who picked Aiden up wore pitch-black clothing tightly fitted to their body.
“I wasn’t able to really talk to you the other night. Iadoredyour brother, did you know that? Hui Ye and I had plenty of fun going to bars, talking, and finding women for the night. Of course, he was always the one that brought one home. I’m married, so I wouldn’t lower myself to that kind of behavior,” Mr. Yang droned on, leading Aiden into the house. As he walked, two personal guards followed closely behind.
He glanced back to spot three daggers hanging off of one of the guard's belts, and he couldn’t snap his head around back faster. “Anyway, I want you to feel comfortable with me. We are young! Well, I guess your brother was ten years older, and I’m even older than your brother, so maybe we do have a generational difference and—” Mr. Yang stopped abruptly, inspecting a vase splashed with neon colors. His finger traced the rim, and his eyes narrowed. Suddenly, he placed the vase back, twirled around, and the wide grin reappeared. “What was I talking to you about again?”
Aiden stepped back. “You were talking about my brother…” He tried to keep his hands from fidgeting. His knees, to his horror, began to shake.This man terrifies me.He clenched his jaw.He’s far worse than Zhou.
“Right!” Mr. Yang twirled around again. “Anyway, I have something fun planned for you today, but it’s going to take some time to prep. While you wait, you can help me out by entertaining my kids. They’re very young, so they’re easy to handle. You can do that.Right?”
Aiden froze in place as Mr. Yang pushed his face into Aiden’s space. Mr. Yang's breath rushed against his skin. It smelled of sunflower seeds.
Hands fully fidgeting, Aiden met Mr. Yang's gaze.
Mr. Yang’s large, sparkling eyes reached deep inside, probing his organs. Unlike Mr. Zhou, Mr. Yang blinked. Like Mr. Zhou, he continued staring longer than necessary.
Him, too.Aiden realized.He’s also looking for something from me. Why? Something to do with the Guo family?
He cleared his throat and nodded. “I can keep your kids distracted.”
Mr. Yang stared for a beat longer, then broke eye contact with an excited skip. “Of course you can! One’s only three, and the other one’s five.” He beckoned Aiden up the stairs and into a playroom.
The screams of the children bounced against the walls. Mr. Yang called to them in Chinese. His hand latched around Aiden’s wrist like glue and shoved Aiden forward with a welcoming smile. “Look! I found a playmate for you two! Play with him while Daddy continues to work, OK? And—” Mr. Yang lowered himself to the ground and pinched the five-year-old’s cheek. “You can dowhateveryou want with him!”
The three-year-old clasped onto Aiden’s leg. As Aiden turned around to concentrate on the two innocent children before him, he failed to hear Mr. Yang’s steps down the wooden floors.
Silent people are good at killing.
His brother’s words echoed in his ears.
His shoulder screeched in pain when the five-year-old yanked him. “You’re my horse!” the child declared, and Aiden obeyed, going on all fours. He did whatever the kids wanted, but his mind couldn’t rest.What is he prepping?
• • •
