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“I’m so—”
We both begin at the same time. Lili giggles and gestures for me to speak first.
“Lil, I’m so, so sorry. This never should’ve happened.”
“Stop it. Caishen Goh was a psycho. He and he alone was responsible for his own actions. If we turn on each other now, he wins.”
“So, you’re not mad?”
She chuckles sadly. “Oh, trust me, I am. I’m mad that I couldn’t kill himself. But I’m glad the asshole is fish food. I’ll gladly dance over his grave,” she exclaims but ducks quickly, wide-eyed, surprised at her own comment.
I can’t help but laugh. “You have no idea how relieved I am. If you want to resign and move home, I understand.”
“Don’t. I love my life in New York. Thank you for the time off. When I return, we’ll hit the ground running. I can’t wait to dig into the piles of paperwork you inevitably left for me.” She smiles sincerely.
I take a moment to really look at her. Her eyes are red and a little puffy, but she looks otherwise at peace, considering her grief.
“Then, I’ll see you back in New York.” I smile, my eyes darting several times from Lil to him. “Gray.” I draw his name out.
Nico explained to me how the bug was planted into his phone. To say I was relieved that he didn’t betray me and that I wasn’t a complete fool was an understatement. If I had misjudged his character so catastrophically, and it wasthe reason people lost their lives, I never would have forgiven myself. Gray was all too understanding and forgiving when I talked to him, and he understood the evidence was hard to argue with.
“Sis.” He bows.
His face doesn’t give anything away, but his body language tells me everything.
I smile at him before retreating to my husband.
Lil wasn’t the only stop on my apology tour. I stopped by Tao and Sky’s home with several armfuls of stuffed animals, balloons, enough candy she could start her own shop, and a limited-edition baby doll for Dot, along with a heartfelt apology that neither of them would hear or accept.
To my surprise, they actually thankedmefor giving myself up in exchange for her. I told them there was nothing to thank me for—it was never a question. Luckily, she’s a little too young to fully understand what was happening, not making it any less traumatic, but at least she has a good support system. Sky told me she had nightmares the first couple of weeks, so she started seeing a counselor. She’s back to being the sassy little toddler we know and love. The events are a distant memory. Her parents are keeping an eye on her to make sure it stays that way, but children are resilient.
NICO
“You want to dowhat?” I ask my wife’s brother.
“Nico, we can at least hear him out,” Anya chastises.
“You heard me. I’d like to go with Dante to look for Xander’s missing fiancée,” Grayson repeats.
“Why?” I ask, biting into my steak.
It’s not that I don’t trust him, he just has plenty to deal with here.
“For one, I think it’ll solidify the Triad’s alliance with the 14K if I’m there instead of just the Italians. Second, it used to be my job to retrieve people. Dante might know how to find people, but it’s usually to kill, not to rescue.” He cuts into his meal.
“Dante isn’t going to find the girl and shoot her.” I roll my eyes.
“And your real reason?” Anya asks curiously, ignoring my remark.
That gets him to put his fork and knife down. He looks up at my sister. We just got back from Chicago a couple days ago, and Anya wanted to invite Grayson over for dinner to talk more about everything.
“I need to do this.” Anya nods before he continues. “You know what it’s like to...”
“That’s why you’re an enforcer,” she argues.
“It won’t interfere with my work. I can do everything remotely, if that’s what you’re worried about. But I want to be out on the field. This is something IknowI can help with.”
My wife and I share a look, nodding.
