She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. While she was falling in love with Wei, she didn’t know if he returned her feelings. He had admitted his desire for her…but passion wasn’t the same as love.
“I thought I was.” Wei rested his elbows on his thighs and stared into the hearth. “I was eighteen, the son of a soldier. While my father was a loyal member of the Imperial Army and fought bravely to eradicate opium, my family was not wealthy or distinguished. When I met Chun, she seemed so sophisticated…so different from me. She dressed beautifully, lived in a palatial home, and entertained the governor’s powerful friends. I could not believe that such a refined creature would want to be with someone like me.
“But during the year of our affair, I knew what we were doing was wrong. The dishonor that our actions would bring upon not only us, but our families, was unthinkable. Several times, we almost got caught, and I tried to end the affair. But Chun started crying, saying that I was the only good thing in her life, and I…I couldn’t do it. I was too weak to break things off. Even though nothing about our relationship felt right. I knew in my bones that the universe would one day punish us for our trespasses, and I was right.”
Trepidation prickled Glory’s nape. “What happened?”
“One night, I came home after a tryst with Chun. That is when I came upon the intruder I have since been hunting. After I fought him off, I found the bodies of my family and our servant, Old Wong.” Wei’s gaze was glassy. “The bastard slit their throats, and he took…took…”
Wei dropped his head into his hands, digging his fingers into his scalp. She’d never seen him this way, this tormented. It was as if all his barriers had come crashing down at once, and she now saw the enormity of all he’d been holding back.
She wrapped her arms as far as they would go around him, pressing her body to his. Offering what comfort she could. Feeling his shudders as if they were her own, she didn’t pressure him to talk, knowing he would continue when he was ready.
Eventually, he said in a hollow voice, “Ling Ling had pretty hair. Thick and shiny black. She wasn’t vain about her appearance, but her pigtails were the one thing she took pride in. And the bastard…he took them. Like a goddamned souvenir. It wasn’t enough that he cut a ten-year-old girl’s throat and left her lying in a pool of blood, he sheared off her hair as well.”
Glory’s insides churned. She felt physically ill.
“When I think of him having a part of my sister, I want to…”
Wei’s clenched jaw and balled hands conveyed exactly what he planned to do to the murderous bastard. And Glory did not blame him. More than ever, she wanted to help Wei get justice for his family.
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice was choked with emotion. “The blackguard will get his comeuppance. I know he will. When you first told me about this, you mentioned that he was after something in your family’s home. Do you know what it was?”
Wei raised storm-ridden eyes to hers. “Me.”
Self-revulsion poured like acid through Wei’s veins as he confessed his sins to the woman whose opinion mattered most to him.
“The Englishman was sent by Governor Li to kill me,” he said tightly. “Because of my affair with his wife.”
Glory paled. “How…how did you find out?”
“By order of the Emperor, the English and other foreigners who wished to trade with China were only permitted to reside in certain housing called the factories. I went to the English factory to hunt the bastard down. The traders and their guards would not let me past the gates. Back then, I did not know kung fu and could not fight my way through.
“I demanded justice for my family and swore that I would return with Governor Li’s army behind me. When the Englishmen’s priest translated my words into English, the traders laughed in my face. The priest enlightened me on their reply. ‘Governor Li is our ally and friend, scum. He will not take the side of a peasant over a trading relationship with the greatest empire on Earth. Especially a peasant dumb enough to stick his prick where it doesn’t belong.’ And that was when I understood. When I knew that my punishment had come at last.”
That moment of clarity had struck Wei like a red-hot brand to the chest, and he felt the sickening burn even now.
“It was Li who sent that assassin. He had my parents and sister killed.” Wei stared down at his fists with futile rage. “Because of me.”
“Oh, Wei,” Glory whispered.
“He must have found out about my affair with Chun. He was within his rights to demand satisfaction,” Wei gritted out. “But from me. If anyone deserved to die, it was me—not my sister, parents, or Old Wong. They did nothing wrong. The fault was all bloody mine.”
He felt that hated burn behind his eyes. Yet the years had taken all the tears he had to shed. He felt Glory’s gentle touch against his biceps, and it took him a moment to gather the courage to meet her gaze. To see what judgment those innocent-yet-wise eyes would hold.
“It was wrong to have an affair with a married woman,” she said steadily.
“Believe me, I know. I was a selfish, worthless bastard—”
“I am not finished. While what you did was wrong, you were only eighteen. You were young, inexperienced, and you made a mistake…like we all do. I mean, look at how I trusted that drainpipe last night.”
He shot her a dark look. “Do not remind me. Seeing you in peril took years off my life.”
“My point is that while your actions did not show the best judgment, they in no way justified Governor Li’s behavior. What he did was vile, cruel, and devious. He could have called you out, dealt with you man-to-man. Instead, he chose to vent his anger and injured pride on innocent people. You made a mistake; he committed a crime.”
Wei let Glory’s assessment percolate through him. She was not the sort of woman who would honey-coat the truth. And that truth felt like a balm, reaching deep inside him, soothing the wound that had never healed.
“Did you confront Governor Li?” Glory asked. “Confirm what he’d done?”
