"What's the big news?" Lilly asked the crime boss.
Mr. Ly smiled and pulled out a big piece of paper, handing it to Lilly. She grasped the paper and tilted her head to the side as she examined the contents. It was in Vietnamese, of course, but as long as she read slowly, she could read what it said. At one part, Lilly arched a brow and looked at Mr. Ly.
"Twenty thousand euros? That's the prize for a simple tournament?" she inquired curiously.
Mr. Ly laughed as Vu snatched the paper to read it himself. "Yes. Apparently there's some big shot English gentleman who is sponsoring, producing, and paying for the whole thing. Including the purse," Mr. Ly explained happily.
"And when is this tournament taking place?" Lilly questioned suspiciously.
"In a week."
Lilly scoffed and jerked her head back with an incredulous look on her face. "He's gonna plan all this in a week's time?!"
"Plans are already underway," Mr. Ly explained as he sat down, puffing away on his cigar. "The arena was just done being built, the parties have been set up, and he is even sponsoring someone who may actually be your match."
Lilly smirked. That definitely got her attention. "Really?" she asked with a curious expression. "Well, color me intrigued, Mr. Ly. Who is it?"
Mr. Ly smiled and leaned his elbows on the desk. "Her name is Miss Tora White. She's a half Japanese half Native American kunoichi...among other things."
Lilly giggled excitedly. "A female assassin? Seriously?"
"Mmhmm. I thought that would tickle your fancy." Mr. Ly motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. "Sit, please."
Lilly and Vu both sat down and Mr. Ly snapped his fingers at a man. "Mang cho tôi một ít rượu và ba ly!" he snapped. [Bring me some wine and three glasses!]
The man bowed quickly before rushing over to the bar in the room. Lilly giggled as Vu skimmed the paper. "I say, Lilly, you really movin' up in the world," Vu giggled.
A chuckle escaped the redheaded Irish woman as she stared off at the corner of the room. "A feckin' ninja, and a woman at that. Wow."
The worker came back over with the glasses and wine before pouring the liquid. Once he was done, he backed up with the bottle still in his hands. Mr. Ly rolled his eyes and huffed at the young man.
"Trên bàn làm việc, cậu bé!" he shouted. [On the desk, boy!]
The young man nodded and placed the bottle carefully on the desk before backing up. Mr. Ly waved him off before pushing two glasses towards Lilly and Vu.
"Thank you, Mr. Ly," Lilly said before grabbing the glass and downing the whole thing in one shot. Vu and Mr. Ly both laughed at Lilly and she scrunched her face up, wiping dribbled wine from her chin. "What's so funny?"
Vu clapped his hands as he bent over laughing while Mr. Ly slapped a hand on the desk while chuckling. "You not supposed to drink whole thing, Lilly!" Vu cackled.
Lilly rolled her eyes. "Well excuuuse me fer bein' an Irish lass raised by American cowboys and outlaws, gentlemen!" she scoffed, grabbing the bottle and pouring more wine into her glass.
Vu and Mr. Ly continued to snicker at her but she waved them off and sipped slowly on her drink.
"There. Happy now?" she asked in a sassy tone. Vu made a high pitched giggle and Lilly smirked at him. "What the bloody hell was that?"
"You make me laugh like girl," Vu said with a grin.
Lilly eyed him before looking at Mr. Ly. "As I was saying, Mr. Ly, where I come from, we drink real liquor. And with real liquor, we take shots. We don't drink it like we're scared of it."
Mr. Ly snorted softly before draining his own glass, examining it, then looking at Lilly with a smug grin before opening a desk drawer and pulling out a bottle of Jameson whiskey.
"You mean real liquor like this?" he asked politely.
Lilly smiled brightly. "Now we're talkin'," she said before drinking all her wine and holding out the glass.
Mr. Ly poured her a shot then he poured himself one. He looked at Vu and lightly shook the bottle. Vu nodded enthusiastically and drained his wine, clearing his throat and hissing before holding out his glass.
"Fuck it, why not?" Vu said.
Mr. Ly chuckled as he poured Vu a drink. He set the bottle down and raised his glass. "What's the Irish way of saying cheers?" Mr. Ly asked.
"Sláinte," Lilly replied casually.
Mr. Ly and Vu repeated the word, although it came out more as a mumble. Lilly said it again and lifted their glasses before clinking them together, tapping the botton of the glass on the desk and taking their shots. Vu and Mr. Ly both twitched from the taste but Lilly remained unphased which made her laugh.
"That is very good," Mr. Ly said, studying the bottle more closely. "I must say, Mr. Lewis has excellent taste."
Lilly blinked. "Mr. Lewis?"
"Miss White's benefactor and the money behind the tournament," Mr. Ly explained. "Robert Lewis, born in Wales, England, but apparently just relocated to Dublin, Ireland for a spell. And he's heard a great deal about you. In fact, he has followed not just your fighting career, but your heroic deeds done throughout Ireland, England and Scotland."
Lilly's eyes widened. "So he's, what, a fan?" she asked.
"Yes." Mr. Ly chuckled and leaned back, puffing on his cigar. "He also has a mind to ask for your hand in marriage, but he may have been joking about that one."
Lilly cackled loudly and slapped her thigh. "Oh yeah, that is sooo not happening."
Mr. Ly smirked and nodded with a chuckle, then he grabbed the bottle and refilled all the glasses. "I don't know, Lilly. I hear the man is a very handsome man, not to mention extremely rich."
Lilly shrugged before taking a shot. "I'm already married."
Mr. Ly raised a brow. "But you left your husband."
Vu took a shot and so did Mr. Ly. "I did. I left my whole life behind. My husband, my children, the gang members I grew up with and..." she paused, lowering her gaze and fiddling with her glass. "...a few other extraordinary people." She suddenly raised her head. "He and I may be estranged, but I will stay true to my vow of never havin' another man in my bed or my heart."
Mr. Ly nodded in seriousness. "I can respect that, Lilly. And I'm sure Mr. Lewis will, too. Especially since he had specific instructions to not let you meet him until the night of the final round."
Lilly squinted her eyes, looking at Mr. Ly suspiciously. Something wasn't adding up and she could feel it in her bones. Her head cocked to one side as she studied her boss.
"Excuse me?" she said.
"Yes. Mr. Lewis does not want to meet you until the night of the final fight."
Lilly blinked. "Well, that's unusual..."
Mr. Ly chuckled and opened up a new drawer. "Oh, that's not the half of it," he grinned, pulling out a couple sheets of paper and showing it to Lilly.
Lilly scooted closer and set her glass down before grabbing the papers. It was sheet music. Her jaw slacked as she stood up, reading the title of the song.
"Lilly's War Ballad?" she said out loud.
"Yup. The man had a song specifically written for you to play at the arena...if you manage to make it to the final round."
Lilly gulped, looking down at Mr. Ly. "He what? This? This is..." she gasped, looking at the music. "This is for an orchestra!"
"Yes. He hired one of the best orchestras in Europe for this," Mr. Ly grinned. "Lilly, do you have any idea how much money Siagon is going to make off this event? Especially since this guy is paying the bill? Oh my goodness!" Mr. Ly laughed, raising his head back. "It's almost too good to be true."
Lilly eyed Vu who only shrugged at her and shook his head. Well, so much for his help. She looked back at Mr. Ly and sighed. "Things like that are usually too good to be true. I'm out."
As she turned to walk away, Vu and Mr. Ly stared at each other with dumbfounded expressions before looking at her.
"Tại sao?" they both asked in surprise. [Why?]
Lilly paused to turn around. "It just...something does not seem right about this whole thing. A mysterious man from Europe finding me to be some fascinating person to obsess over, following my career around, and then paying a shite bag of money to hold a fighting tournament in the city I'm currently at? Nu uh," she said, shaking her head. "This is a god damn trap!"
Mr. Ly leaned back in his chair. "For you?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed crazily. "Do ya understand how many times I've been kidnapped against me own will?! I know a trap when I fuckin' see one!"
Vu smiled. "But you always get out, right?"
Lilly folded her arms and looked over to the side. "Yes, but for some of the times? No, I...I had help gettin' outta some of those circumstances." She eyed the two men. "But...that's old news. I no longer have anyone to help me out of a serious pickle."
Vu chuckled. "Even if this trap, c'mon, girl! You Red Wolf! I know you well enough that you get out of any pickle! And Miss White very promising challenge! She best fighter in Japan!"
Lilly eyeballed Vu. "And ya never thought tah tell me this?"
Vu shrugged. "Why?"
Lilly blinked profusely and wobbled her head before rubbing her temples. "Vu, I am a prize fighter. I have run out of challengers that are at least fun tah fuck up, so now I'm fecking bored!" Lilly began to shout. "I'm on the verge of retirement and yer just now tellin' me that there's a decent fighter I havena come across?!"
Everyone stopped to look at Lilly's angry stance. Mr. Ly stood up. "Lilly, please," he begged. "He won't do the event at all unless you are in it, so please, as a personal favor, will you please do this? For me?"
Lilly squinted her eyes, smacked her lips together a couple times and stared at Mr. Ly inquisitively before sighing and walking back over. "Never thought I'd ever see a mob boss beg, but damn, that wasn't bad," she teased, sitting back in the chair and pointing at the glass. "Fine, but I have conditions."
Mr. Ly smiled and poured her more whiskey. She downed it and put the glass down, pointing at it again. Mr. Ly chuckled and poured another shot. Lilly drank it all, set the glass on the desk, then pouted up at Mr. Ly and pointed forlornly at the glass which made Mr. Ly laugh and give her more alcohol.
"You know, for as blood thirsty and fight driven as you are, you sure can be adorable with that angel face of yours," Mr. Ly said with a suave smirk. "What are your conditions?"
Lilly settled back in her chair with the glass in her hands, humming to herself. "I want to meet Tora White before the night of the final round."
"Done," Mr. Ly said as he sat down. "Continue."
"I want to know why Mr. Lewis won't see me before the final night of the tournament."
"He said it was for "personal reasons"," Mr. Ly explained.
"Personal reasons," she chuckled with a shake of her head. "Oh, he sounds feckin' delightful," she joked, taking another drink. "Handsome, rich, and apparently wants me to marry him. Been there, done that, got the scars to prove it," she spoke.
Mr. Ly narrowed his eyes. "Your husband beat you?!"
Lilly cackled loudly and threw her head back, feeling the buzz of alcohol hit her like a tidal wave. "Oh hell no, he would never! Well, except for that one time, but it weren't his fault."
Mr. Ly scowled. "He sounds like a dishonorable man."
Vu slowly chugged on his drink, looking away to avoid being in Lilly's way. Lilly chuckled and clicked her tongue, smiling maliciously at Mr. Ly.
"Arthur was never a dishonorable man. Sure, he killed and robbed people, but really..." Lilly shrugged. "Who hasn't?"
Mr. Ly grinned and sighed. "Yes, I suppose you are right, but that doesn't explain how it wasn't his fault," he said, pouring more whiskey.
Lilly graciously accepted the glass and smiled. "Well, Mr. Ly, that is too long of a story. If I have to explain why it wasn't his fault, you'll just have way more questions than answers. And some of those answers? You're not gonna want to know about it."
Mr. Ly raised a brow. "I see."
Lilly cleared her throat and leaned forward. "I have more conditions." She tapped the glass with her finger nail after downing the drink.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Flashes of images appeared in Lilly's mind as she started to wake up, the pictures being too quick for her to even process what she was seeing. She groaned and rolled over, fluttering her eyes open. The scent of pine trees hit her nostrils and she moaned softly.
"Mmm, Arthur, you smell so great..." she cooed tiredly with a smile.
There was a commotion in the room so Lilly tried blinking the sleep out of her eyes. As she rubbed them, her vision cleared to reveal Vu in front of her with a worried look on his face.
"You waking up, girl?" he asked softly.
Lilly nodded. "Mmhmm," she replied gently. "What happened?"
"You sleep for two days. Found you naked in forest, brought you to my home," Vu explained. Lilly grunted and tried to sit up but Vu grasped her shoulder and shook his head. "Take easy."
She nodded and laid back down. "I feel really...bleh," she said.
"What bleh?"
"Tired. Weak. Like I just got hit by a feckin' train."
Vu giggled and reached over on the nightstand for a glass. "Drink water."
Lilly grabbed the glass and sat up to drink it greedily. After a few big gulps, she growled and licked her lips, wiping her mouth with her forearm. "I was asleep for two days?" she inquired in confusion.
"Yes! Scared shit outta me, girl!" Vu yelled.
Lilly frowned, looking down at her glass. "Sorry..."
Vu huffed and patted her knee. "It okay. I not mad, but what happen to you?"
Lilly shook her head. "I'm not sure. A lot of weird shite happened that night."
Vu pulled his chair closer with a squeak. "Like what?"
"Well," Lilly said, taking another drink. "I think I saw a tiger, but I'm not sure. I think it was watchin' me."
Vu sucked on his lower lip. "We got tigers everywhere here, girl."
Lilly nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Anything else?"
"Mmm," Lilly hummed, setting the glass on the nightstand. "I saw...something. It was like a strike of lightning stuck in the air and...I heard voices from it."
Vu looked concerned. "Voices? What they say?"
Lilly shook her head and closed her eyes, leaning forward and hugging her legs to her chest. "I don't remember, but...there was a name." Suddenly her eyes opened and she glared off into space. "A name I care not to repeat."
Vu frowned and crawled onto the bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Then what?"
Lilly huffed and leaned her head on Vu's shoulder. "Then it blew up and knocked me into a tree, almost fell into the river, then when I was on my way back, I just felt...pain. Everywhere. Nothing but pain. I have no idea what caused it, why it happened, I..." Lilly sighed and held her head. "There was something, I saw something else but I can't remember it."
Vu gave her more water and she swallowed it all. "I get food," he said, patting her head. "You hungry?"
"Starving."
Vu chuckled and walked to the bedroom door. "I make pho already. You want pho?"
"Mmm," Lilly smiled lazily. "You know I love that stuff."
Lilly looked down at herself and blinked. She was fully dressed in a white tunic and white trousers, then she rolled her eyes. White was definitely not her color, at least these days. Still, at least she wasn't naked.
Lilly climbed out of bed and stood, stretching herself with a loud groan before walking out of the small bedroom. She opened the door and walked right into the kitchen area, seeing four bowls of pho and other fixings at the short table.
"Vu?" she asked, looking at him. "Did you have company over?"
Vu nodded as he brought a fifth bowl of pho over to the table. "Yes. I have friends other than you."
Lilly chuckled and sat down cross legged in front of the table as Vu put the bowl down. "How do you have friends besides me? You're too much of a recluse," she teased.
Vu laughed and handed her chopsticks. "Shut up, girl."
Lilly giggled and started digging into her food, but not before she caught a very subtle whiff of pine trees. She paused the sticks midway to her mouth, sniffing the air and looking around.
"What you smell, girl?" Vu asked as he began gathering the other bowls.
"Pine trees," she said, barely paying attention to what Vu had asked her.
"Pine trees? Damn, your sense of smell good if you smell trees on mountains," Vu commented before tossing the leftover pho into a container. "I leave for little bit, bring pho to orphanage."
Lilly cocked her head to one side. "Why didn't your friends finish their food? Isn't that considered rude in your culture?"
Vu giggled as he walked to his front door. "It okay. They not from here."
"Where are they from?"
Vu sighed as he opened the door. "So many questions, girl," he said, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Just relax. I be back soon."
As Vu left the house, Lilly chuckled and started eating her food. After a few moments, though, Lilly stopped eating. Her eyes narrowed as she had noodles hanging out of her mouth.
Something was up with Vu.
Lilly slurped the noodles quickly before racing to the front door and opening it. As she looked outside, she noticed it was night time. The moon was shining bright and the sky was surprisingly clear, the stars twinkling and dotting the night sky in clusters. Lilly started sniffing the air and began tracking Vu's scent, tiptoeing through the streets in bare feet.
Lilly spotted Vu just outside the orphanage and hid behind a wall before peeking around its corner. He was handing the big pail of pho to an older woman who looked grateful for the food. Lilly chuckled and shook her head.
"Okay, Lilly, relax," she said to herself. "You're just being paranoid."
As she was about to leave, she saw Vu walking away...from her direction. Lilly blinked and scooted away from the wall, watching him take a corner. She hmmed before sinking across the way to look after him. Lilly spotted him walking down a dark alley and she looked up before squatting down and jumping up high. She landed on the roof quietly and started sneaking across the roof tops as she followed Vu.
He eventually found a carriage and started talking to the driver, so Lilly tilted her head to one side, leaning herself away from a chimney to hear what Vu was saying.
"...me to Dragon Palace, please?" Vu asked the driver.
Lilly watched as Vu got into the carriage and she narrowed her eyes. Why the hell was he going to see Mr. Ly without her? She scoffed before running back towards her residence.