Jia wipes the sweat off her face with a water bottle to cool down. That tennis game lasted for more than an hour. Yet, something bothered her. She felt eyes were on her the entire time. Her grandmother's eyes. Her body shudders from thinking about her.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Her teal smart phone goes off. The message inside widens her eyes in horror.
{Can we talk? It's about Jian}
-Grandma Dai Lau
Her mind races about her twin sibling. Is he okay? Did he get hurt-
Part of her thinks it's all a ruse for something else. Yet, her twin could need her. Maybe it's a health reason. If he needs an organ-
She exhales. {Sure. Where would you like to meet?}
An address for a traditional five-star Chinese restaurant pops up as a response. She sighs since it's a restaurant that is owned by her. She wants to get it done and over with.
{On my way}.......
She walks inside the restaurant and spots her at a middle table. The leader of the Triad smiles while getting up.
"Sunnu (granddaughter), it's good-"
She cuts the air with a hand to silence her. "Is Jian okay?"
Her smile turns into a frown. "He's okay, but he almost died today."
Her feet shuffle from the news. "W-What happened?"
Xianmao motions her to sit down. She slowly sits down towards the edge to leave quickly. The elder of the Triad relays what almost happened minus the part where she threw Jian under the bus.
"Y-You all were at the mercy of that man?"
"Fortunately, Orchidea called him off."
"Where is he? I need to-"
"He turned off his phone after what happened. He's probably off with Fu. Today made us realize something. Life is too short in this line of work. I know Jian wants to be the leader once my time has come-"
Jia almost slams her hands on the table. "You know, yet you keep being hard on him! Even when his high school team won a 2nd place soccer trophy, you told him it's his fault he didn't try hard enough. Why have you been so tough on him?"
Xianmao lets out a long sigh. "Because he needs someone to push him for greatness...and he failed me today."
Jia's brown eyes glare while getting up. "I can't believe-"
"I want to offer you the leadership position since Jian is unfit."
Her hands clench into fists before she starts turning away.
"Don't you want to protect him?!"
Jia's feet stop in their place. The thought of him being unsafe hurts her heart. He had always been there for her including keeping her secret. She slowly turns to face her. "What should I do?"
Xianmao brings out a manilla envelope and takes out paperwork with the Triad's symbol on it. "Just sign your name and bank account. All of my wealth will belong to you if something happens to me. Security will be given right away," she points to a tall man with a tattoo of three intersecting triangles on his hand.
He nods at Jia, confirming that he will protect her with his life on the line.
She taps her index finger on the dotted line with a pen. Jia takes the pen and reads the Mandarin contract carefully. A clause catches her attention: "In the event of immediate death, all funds will transfer automatically to Jia's spouse or a senior officer."
Each stroke kills her inside, but she reminds herself that it's to protect Jian. She drops the pen and storms out of the restaurant with the assigned guard following her. She tries calling Jian, but he doesn't respond.
Xianmao smiles that she finally got what she wanted.
----------------------
Later that night,
Miguel bops his head to the pop-waltz music playing in Bianca's nightclub. He looks down from the hanging office to see happy couples glide on the large wooden square in the middle of the club. Bottles of champagne and glasses floating around for distinguished clientele. Bottles of chilled champagne sits in a bucket on the table behind them for their guests.
The main door opens. He takes note of Seamus, Vlad, and their small entourage that includes their wives. He feels someone pulling his crow mask to the right.
His eyes widen with a racing heartbeat. Her violet sequin dress has a split to show off her legs. She twirls around to show off it's backless. He stops himself from swallowing his tongue.
Bianca smiles. "I guess I look incredible."
"Oh, Seamus and Vladimir are here," he dismisses to keep things professional. His hands clench into fists.
"Expecting a fight?"
"I didn't make any good friends as El Segador."
"Well,,,you did with me. They're gonna love you."
She waves her hand to motion them upstairs.
Seamus smiles upon seeing her in that dress. "You look so lovely, but second to my wife," he laughs.
"Good response," Bianca jests. "It's nice to see you all again. Come and sit down."
Vlad's wife clings to him lovingly as they sit down. The leaders' eyes are fixed on the man with the crow mask. He pulls his collar down to show his tattoo. Fear drops like a shoe.
"Is....is this him?"
"I thought Xianmao was pulling a ruse on me. B-But it's him."
"Don't worry. He's under control."
"How?!"
"I. have. my. ways," she playfully taps on Miguel's shoulder.
Seamus remembers something. "Is this the man you wanted to do?"
"The very one," Bianca gloats.
"Oh, my.....Will you send us the tape?" Seamus' wife asks with intrigue.
"I may have to edit the sections since it's a long tape."
Miguel stays silent while blushing under his mask. His mind almost stalls from imagining the two of them---
Sean, Seamus' guard, walks up to analyze him. He towers two feet over El Segador, but seeing the one who caused the Night of Death makes him step back. Seamus doesn't tease him since he would do the same thing.
"Bellos and bellas, let's drink to my new asset. Xianmao won't fuck with me or any of us anymore."
"Wait, he will be helping us?" The bald Russian is perplexed.
"Like a gun, I point and he does the rest. He follows my will without question."
She doesn't really mean the first part. She hopes he understands that.
They raise their glasses and drink.
"Dorogoy (sweetheart), let's dance before you get trapped in your work." Vmey nods and escorts his lady to the dance floor. Seamus does the same with his wife with their men following after.
Bianca sits down while turning on the computer. "I will be doing some accounting. You're free to stay or-"
"I'm going to dance. See you later."
This Bianca has to see. She sees him walking around to find a woman to dance with.
Sniffling.
That sad sound lures him to a blonde woman in a blue dress who's covering her face with a tissue.
"Miss? Are you okay?"
She looks up and is almost frightened by the crow mask. He puts his hands up to relieve her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." His voice is gentle like a cloud.
"It's not your fault."
"May I sit with you?"
She nods her head and sighs. "I caught my boyfriend cheating on me."
"I'm so sorry. He's an asshole that doesn't deserve you."
"But I've been so stupid. Why didn't I see it coming?"
"It's not your fault." He waves a waiter over and asks for water for-
"Michelle," she says her name.
He listens to her pain while caressing her hand. After she calms down....
"I'm sorry. It's supposed to be a fun night and-"
"Don't apologize. I was looking for someone to dance with. Would you like to?"
Her jaw drops then forms a smile with sparkling blue eyes. She dries her eyes and reapplies some makeup before joining him. As they waltz, Bianca is amazed by his feet gliding with passion. Her heart rattles from the woman getting touchy with his neck.
They finish out the song and she's over the moon from their interaction. She leans in and kisses him on the lips out of appreciation.
Storming down the steps, Orchidea pulls out her gun.