Black is the Color of Beauty

Chapter 9

Bo's POV

January 3, 2019 

Prime Green Bo Restaurant 

Brooklyn, NY 

         " Where have you been?," Lei asks me before taking a bite of a shrimp ball dumpling. Part of me feels like I should tell, a bigger part of me doesn't want to..... because I feel as though Lei is hiding something from me. I raise my hand and immediately our waiter appears at our table. "May I have another order of pork dumplings and an order of Shanghai noodle." " Would that be all sir?," the young boy inquires while writing down my requests on a notepad. "Oh, can I have a Pepsi too." I add onto my order. The waiter nods his head before walking away. As I lean back into my chair, I am met with Lei's icy stare. Here he goes, Lei is about to go in boss mode. To be honest, I really don't have time for this shit at all.

    " Mhmmm, did Leo pass on my message to you?" Lei looks down at his glass as he swirls the contents inside of it. "You know he did, so why even ask that question? Stop beating around the bush with me Lei. I am not one of these other people that might be scared of you. Whatever you dish out, I can take and give it right back to you." I say while giving him the coldest straight face I could muster. He laugh and that causes my jaw to tick. As much as I love Lei, his arrogance fucking kills me at times. " Fine, well then you should know better than to be sneaking off to Cleveland and having one of your closest men tailing NiNi. You know how dangerous that is Bo. I shouldn't have to be reminding you of how serious and sensitive this situation is at the moment. I want to avoid cleaning up after your messes." he rants. Now, it is my turn to laugh. " Clean up after my messes? So, you are going to just sit there all high and mighty right now huh? Who was the one cleaning up after your messes all of those months you spent in the bottom of a bottle? Who? That's right ME! I was the one taking care of you. I was the one carrying out the family's duties and meetings. I was covering your ass. So, don't sit here and act like I need you to take care of me.... because I never have and never will. You might be the head of the family, but you will treat me like an equal." I finish up with taking a sip of Pepsi. When the hell did this get here? Our conversation must be so intense we are not paying attention to the people around. The drink is pure sugary and syrup, meh how can SHE even drinks it.

    " I am not here to argue with you, Bo. Especially not during a time like this. I just want us to take precautions when interacting with these girls." He comments. "Just like how you're taking precautions while seeing Ty while she was in the city a few days ago." Lei momentarily freezes at my comment. Yup, caught like a child with his hand in the cookie. " Okay, I admit to seeing her solely for safety reasons." he admits. " And?!?! How did it go?" I am ready to see NiNi and apologize to her face to face about this whole misunderstanding and ever thinking that her best friend was ever involved with the Greeks. " It went better than I expected." Lei face lights up a bit as the corners of his mouth lift up a bit as if he's holding back a smile. "Great, so then I should be able to talk to NiNi. I need to apologize and persuade her to come here so she can be protected. You need to convince Ty of this plan.... and we would just have to see what's going.... " I begin to ramble. " Bo," Lei say in a low tone. " Damn, I need to see if the number Kevin gave me still works. I wonder if he is dating their short friend? Who am I kidding, he probably is. I am sure that he wouldn't mind watching over her. Then, all...." "Bo," Lei's harsh tone cut my train of thoughts short. " Its not going to be that easy. This is not something we can dive headfirst into. First, we have to wait to see what Ty will decide and allow her to communicate with the girls. Until then, we do nothing." I don't like his choice of words for this situation at all. Almost as if, Ty has the power in this situation. As if Ty has the power to influence the girls to come with us or not. As if Ty has the power to decide if this will move forward or not. The thought of this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

   "Lei, can't you do something. This is a potentially a life or death situation. We need the girls with us. They will have to get over this misunderstanding because I am not risking their safety after WE put them in this predicament. So, you are going to have Ty to talk to the girls and convince them to come around by any means necessary. So, even if you have to force Ty..." I stop my statement right there and I notice Lei's change of demeanor. His eyes are no longer making contact with mines. He begins to shift his body a bit. Something is wrong. " I will not use force against Ty under any circumstances." " Lei, this is a life or death situation. Now, is not the time to be nice. If you have to make her comply by force do it." I reply back heatedly. " Ty and I did not end things on the best of terms back in Shanghai. I realize the error of my ways and will not repeat them again. Therefore,  I will not use force, either Ty and the girls come around on their own INITIALLY or we will continue to protect them from afar." Lei calmly states while swirling his drink again. Is he serious? It takes a  moment of silence for me to understand that he is indeed serious. " Lei, you know I respect you and your decisions. But, on this one I will have to override you on this one. You can do as you see fit with Ty.... as for NiNi she is under my care. I will take whatever precautions necessary to protect. I have already put out a Xuanyan on NiNi, so she is officially mines. That is that." Lei eyes narrow a bit. "Bo, you have already violated a rule by not notifying me about declaring a Xuanyan on NiNi. Therefore,  I, Lei Hai the head of the Hai family, temporarily revoked the Xuanyan you have place Ni'era Johnson. If the girls come around initially on their own, then I will uphold the Xuanyan. For the sake of our relationship and the privacy of this matter, I will not publicly announce that the Xuanyan that binds you to NiNi has been revoked. However, as the power invested in me by our cultural traditions and underground ties I order you, Bo Wang- Hai, to follow my instructions with the hopes you understand it is for the best." Lei states in a hard tone. He means business and once the head family member speaks it is regarded as law. I hate being under the authority of someone else even if it is Lei. But, right now I can't to lose the protection he can provide to my family or NiNi. So, I do the second best thing that comes to mind I grab my coat, slam a hundred dollar bill on the table and walk out of the restaurant.