“The day came when I was ready to confront Li. In the middle of the night, I infiltrated his compound and found him in his bed. He was asleep, a look of peace on his face, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. As if the lives of my parents and sister didn’t weigh on his soul—as if they didn’t matter.”
Fury sizzled through Wei’s veins as he recalled looking down at the obese prick, snoring in his cocoon of silk.
“Li awakened with the edge of my blade against his neck. I told him why he was going to die, and finally, for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes,” Wei said with dark satisfaction. “He tried to call for his guards, but I was faster. I left him the way he’d left my family, and I didn’t look back.”
Twenty-Five
There were no signs of remorse on Wei’s noble features; if anything, his gaze glittered with defiance. He was not sorry he killed Governor Li and wasn’t about to pretend that he was.
Glory swallowed. In her eyes, he was an honorable man, yet his streak of ruthlessness gave her pause. She couldn’t argue that he’d had reason to take Li’s life. The man had ordered the cold-blooded murder of Wei’s entire family. Moreover, his position of privilege allowed him to get away with it…leaving Wei with a single path to vengeance.
Sometimes justice was complicated; other times it was simple. Black and white.
An eye for an eye.
“How did it make you feel?” she asked quietly. “Getting your revenge on Li?”
“If I had to do it over again, I would do the same,” Wei stated.
“And the English assassin? The one you came to London to find?”
“When the time comes, I will do to him what he did to my family.”
She bit her lip. “Isn’t there another way to get your revenge? The laws are different here. After you find him, you could have him sent to prison—”
“You think your English law will be sympathetic to my situation?” Scorn dripped from Wei’s words. “Your country has no qualms about wreaking havoc on entire nations. Do you think Britannia will care about the murder of four measly Chinese when she has poisoned millions? Do you honestly think that if I capture this bastard and hand him over to the authorities that he will get the punishment he deserves?”
She chewed on her lip, hating that he had a point. While she was an optimist, she knew that life was not fair. Justice, in particular, was not applied equally to all…which was why she’d become an Angel in the first place. To try to balance the scales where she could.
“I don’t know what to think,” she admitted.
She hadn’t gone through his experience. Hadn’t known the grief of losing those she loved most or the guilt of feeling like she was to blame for their deaths. She hadn’t had to live each day knowing that the men behind their murders would not be held accountable.
“About me?”
Although Wei’s tone was gruff, she saw the vulnerability in his expression. And that made up her mind. From the start, she had wanted to know what lay behind his wall of reserve. She’d wanted to know who he was…and now she did. He wasn’t perfect. He’d made mistakes, ones he’d paid for dearly. His emotions were strong and sometimes not under his control.
At the same time, he had used his pain to help others deal with their struggles. For surely his own experiences with tragedy had shaped him into the formidable shifu and healer he was today. Even if she couldn’t agree with his version of justice, neither could she say that what he’d done was wrong. In the end, what mattered most was that he had trusted her with his pain and darkest secrets.
“Yes,” she said with hushed recognition. “My feelings have changed.”
“I understand.” His voice was as gritty as sandpaper. “I don’t blame you.”
“Before, I thought I was falling in love with you.” The intensity of her feelings added a tremor to her voice. “Now I know that I am in love with you.”
“You…you love me?” He stared at her.
“I wasn’t sure because I have never been in love before,” she said candidly. “I didn’t know if what I felt was infatuation because you’ve always seemed so, well, perfect to me. Larger than life, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t.” Her mighty shifu drew his brows together, looking endearingly confused. “Explain.”
“Well, you are so composed and unflappable. A veritable fount of knowledge. And you’re good at everything.”
“I am not good at—”
“You’re good at everything that matters to me,” she amended. “You are a warrior and a healer. You run a clinic that serves the greater good. You are a man of honor and integrity; you protect those who can’t protect themselves.”
He seemed to digest what she was saying. “You still believe this after all I have told you?”
