Page 24

I don’t bother to turn around. I’m enjoying watching the cars drive down below from the rooftop, the sound of the streets deafening and soothing at the same time. My adoptive father dragged me from my quiet life in New York back here to Shanghai. Ever since mom passed, he’s been obsessed with the family business. Mom was the only one who could keep him in check, or so I heard. I stop the thought from spiraling out of control; Moon is the one who raised me, not him. “I’m twenty, Tian, I can be where I want to be. Go shoot your gun somewhere else.”

He stops right behind me; I can feel his body heat radiating from him as it mixes with the city’s heat. I heard the stories and have been studying him from the moment he came to watch my ballet performance six years ago. The guy never smiles when he’s in my presence. It felt like he was always holding himself back, to be in control all the time and putting up an act. He’s been dealing with his brothers and mine long enough to get them all on his side. His insights in business and his stock market ventures have given us millions besides the blood money my father and his brother earn. “You get on my fucking nerves,” Tian grunts, his voice rough like gravel.

“Right back at you,” I counter. I’m not marrying him, so I have no trouble being myself and not putting on a proper front like Moon always instructed me to do when I’m sitting in on meetings.

He chuckles, his breath hot against my ear. I freeze as his hand clutches the railing on either side of my body; he’s never stood this close to me. “Good for you. I just passed your brother on the stairs waiting for El. He gives his regards by the way.”

I frown, why does it sound like a death sentence. They really didn’t sell me off to Tian, right? I shake my head. I stare up at the sky as a shiver runs through me. You can’t even see the stars from here, I think as I blow out the smoke. He pushes away from me while the feeling of want hits me like a tidal wave, and my cheeks flush in response. No, this is my cousin, the one who’s been ignoring me ever since I can remember. No one has those kind of feelings for a cousin. Right?

“Can you leave me alone? I just found out I need to marry one of your brothers so I’m debating hurling myself over this railing or not,” I tell him, suddenly feeling brave.

He lets out a deep laugh and goes to stand next to me.

“Who are they selling me to?” I murmur, because that’s what it feels like. I want to go back to my old life, living in total bliss with Eliot by my side. Maybe that’s why I need to let go of the dream of studying mathematics and getting my PhD at NYU, my mom’s old university when she was a student and a model. The only Scandinavian part in me are my ice blue eyes. The rest, like my black straight hair and my monolid right eye, are traits I inherited from my biological father, whom I can’t remember. My aunt told me my real father used to work for the family as a lawyer. Like Moon did when he worked with the Yakuza, he was more like a father to me than the man at the head of the Triad who adopted me.

Without warning, Tian takes the cigarette from me and starts smoking it himself, exhaling the smoke through his nose without breaking eye contact.

“Really asshole?” I spit out as he comfortably leans against the railing.

“One of my brothers,” he says, pensively looking out over the city as he scratches his eyebrow, the one where a healed scar runs through.

“Yes, who is it? Do you know?” I ask. The way the guy is looking at me is pissing me off. I might be small, but Eliot has taught me enough hand-to-hand combat to defend myself from the man standing next to me.

He runs his thumb over his bottom lip, keeping his stare fixed on my eyes. They flick to my mouth for a second before traveling up again. Tian opens and closes his lighter, the same one Moon has, the sound cutting through the air like a threat. Moon has the same habit, which makes me even angrier. They’re one and the same. I can easily see why the man is the scariest of the family next to my brother. I mean Moon holds the crown, but Tian is right behind him. The man in question isn’t wearing a suit jacket, but just his white dress shirt, black waistcoat, and the two guns strapped in his armpit holsters scream I bury people for a living. And who wears sleeve garters besides my brother? He looks lethal; I mean he is judging by the stories. The men whisper about it in the hallways when they think I’m not listening. They always stop talking and bow their heads when he walks past, holding their breaths.

He narrows his gaze on me, still not saying anything. We have our own personal stare down which I’m definitely not losing. The dead empty look in his eyes makes everyone look away in the end. But not me, I’m not caving. I’m not giving him the satisfaction. This is for Sparta! Damn, I love that movie.

“You’re really not going to look away, are you?” he asks with a grin, but it’s not a nice one. It feels like a threat, or a promise. Not sure. Maybe I should pick one and devise my strategy from there.

“No,” I reply, doing everything in my power not to break eye contact.

“Good to know,” he says as he turns toward the railing to look out over the city. Did he just tease me? I shake my head, no that can’t be it right? We’ve never spoken more than three sentences in all the years I’ve known him. I’m the obnoxious little sister of his best friend.

“I needed to get away for a while before the talks start.” Running a hand through his long hair, he leans with his elbows against the railing, blowing out the smoke through his nose.

“You came to the right place,” I say my voice soft. I frown. Why am I telling him this? Why am I trying to put him at ease? I should take a saw and cut him off by his knees to put him in his place.

He’s never stood this close to me before. With his brooding stare, and even deeper voice, I have the urge to run away or crash right into him. Not happening when I have to tie myself to one of his brothers. Would it be so bad to tie myself to him? My heart skips a beat. Where the hell did that thought come from? Maybe because of the way his suit hugs his thick thighs, and his dress shirt stretches over his muscles. Those guns strapped in his armpit holsters are not helping with the whole merchant of death image he has going on.

“You need to stop with these,” he says, still smoking my cigarette. His voice sounds like a threat but there’s also an undercurrent of care there. Holy shit, now I’m really imagining things. The man doesn’t care about me. The grin he flashes me is all wrong, and the way his eyes lock on me tells me the guy lives up to his reputation of being crazy. His knuckles are always raw and match with those dead, crazy eyes.

“You can’t tell me what to do, you’re not my father or Moon for that matter. Or the one I’m going to marry,” I mumble under my breath.

“Not yet, but in twelve hours,” he warns, his voice low and rough. His lip tips up slightly in one corner at my outburst but it’s gone before I can blink. A shiver goes through me while his crazy laugh fills the night air.

“Hell the fuck no. No!” I yell while he laughs in my face. “No, fuck no, I’m not marrying you!” I scream. “I’d rather marry El to piss my brother off.” My brother has an unhealthy obsession with my best friend. I’ve seen the way he looks at him when he thinks I’m not looking. I’ve never seen anyone yearn as much as he does when El walks in the room.

Tian rubs at his ear, like my little screaming episode made him go deaf. “Nice to know you’re not the same girl who sat in on meetings and didn’t dare to speak her mind. It was a joke, but you don’t have to sound that repulsed by me,” he grumbles. He sounds like he’s disappointed in me, but what the hell can I do? My brother gets a seat at the table, not me. I’ll always be a mistake, at least that’s what my father told Moon when I overheard their conversation at six years old.

“What do you mean?” I begin. I want to end the sentence with asshole but decide against it. I should pick my battles.

He blows out the smoke through his nose. “I’ve never heard you say a word during those meetings, but the look in your eyes always gives you away.” He motions with his chin in my direction. “You know more about the business you claim to hate than you pretend.” Is that pride I hear in his voice?

“You never look at me,” I mutter, staring out over the city. “Let’s keep it that way.”

He doesn’t say anything, but I can feel him watching me.

“What?” I bark out, my patience running thin.