Page 69 of Dark Consequences

“Did you even miss your Bàba?” Xiao asks like the narcissist asshole he is.

Mei’s on the verge of crying. She doesn’t want to lie to her father because he’ll know she is and get furious. But if she tells him the truth, he’ll also get mad. It’s a double-edged sword either way.

“Of course she did,” I answer for her, trying to redirect Xiao’s building anger to me. “We both did.”

Xiao swings his black eyes on me. With a sneer, he hisses, “Don’t fucking lie to me, woman. The only reason you’re still breathing is because that Italian bastard seems to be entranced with your worthless and used-up body. If it wasn’t for that, you would already be six feet under.”

Mei squeaks at the violence in her father’s tone and starts to cry. I try to move to comfort her, but Xiao grabs my arm in a viselike grip, stopping me.

“Please, Xiao, she’s crying,” I beg.

“Mei is no longer your concern. She is my daughter. You will never see her again. And in time, you will become nothing but a distant memory to her.”

“Xiao, you can’t, please—”

“From the moment you went with DiAngelo, you signed your death warrant.”

Ice shoots down my spine.

“When the bastard comes for you, and he will, I will smile at him while I put a bullet between your eyes before doing the same to him.”

“Bàba, no!” Mei shouts before she jumps off her chair and hurries to my side.

A guard approaches and tries to tear her off me, but I latch on because I know if he takes her, I’ll never see her again.

“Let go, Mei,” Xiao orders. “This instant. Let go of her.”

“No!” Mei cries, gripping harder. “Mommy, please don’t go.”

Another guard grabs my hand wrapped around Mei and forces my fingers back, nearly breaking them before I’m forced to let go. Mei slips from my hold. The guard holds her against his chest to avoid her frantic kicks and flailing arms.

“Please, Xiao! Don’t do this!”

“Mommy! Mommy!” Mei screams as Xiao orders the guard to take her away.

Time slows.

With Xiao’s attention on the guard, my eyes fall to the knife on the table. Through tears, the silver glistens like a sword from one of Mei’s books. I hoped a hero would save us. But maybe there is a hero. Maybe I’ve been the hero all along. And sometimes the heroes don’t live. Sometimes they take the villain down with them.

Without a second thought, I grab the knife and lunge for Xiao. My first stab makes contact with his upper back. He cries out, reaching back in instinct to grab for the knife. But in my frenzy, I’m faster. I pull the knife out and stab him again in the same general area. Hot blood gushes from the wounds, covering us both, but I don’t care. I’m about to stab a third time when arms wrap around my middle and pull me off Xiao.

“No!” I scream, kicking and trying to stab the person holding me. A guard wrenches the knife free from my hand and tosses it to the side. “I need to kill him! Let me go!”

Xiao turns toward me, his face bloody and furious. “You bitch! I was going to wait to kill you, but you’re more trouble than that’s worth. I’ll just dump your severed head on Raphael’s front porch.”

He holds his hand out, and a guard places a pistol in his palm. Adrenaline pumps through my body, but everything freezes when I see the gun.

The instinct to flight takes over, and I thrash in the guard’s arms.

My fear of leaving Mei alone with Xiao threatens. I failed her as a mother. I failed to protect her.

I was so close to a happy ever after. But at least for a moment…I got to feel what it’s like to be loved. To be treasured and cherished.

Xiao cocks his gun back.

And then the air is pierced by the deafening sound of a bullet being fired.

33

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