Chapter 49
Present
Zane’s office was another world compared to the rest of his underground warehouse. Where the outer rooms were industrial and sprawling, this space was all sleek black walls, dark wood furniture, and amber lighting. An entire setup of monitors displayed various feeds from the city, facial recognition programs and coding.
While Zane worked across the room, typing on his computer, Trevor and I were seated across from each other at the wooden desk, papers and devices scattered between us. We’d been dissecting the Su Dynasty for hours now, cyber vulnerabilities laid out like a puzzle.
Trevor’s phone buzzed on the table, shattering the quiet.
Trevor glanced at the screen, answering distractedly. “Kali?”
“Try again.”
The voice on the other end wasn’t hers.
It was male.
Low. Deliberate. Sharp.
My blood chilled at the accent.
Zane straightened in his chair, his full attention on the phone call.
“Tao?” Trevor demanded, tone controlled but lethal, despite all of us already knowing.
“If you want to see your sister alive, you’ll listen carefully.”
I felt my stomach drop. I sat up straighter, my heart hammering against my ribs. Trevor’s knuckles whitened around the phone.
“You won’t hurt her.” Trevor’s voice dropped into that dangerous calm he wore so well.
“That’s up to you,” Tao replied. “You have one hour to get to the Blood Dragon , Chinatown. Bring fifty mil. Cash. All hundreds.”
My eyes darted to Trevor, but his face was unreadable, locked into that cold, calculated mask he wore in moments like this.
“If you don’t… You’ll find her in pieces. Clock’s ticking.”
The line went dead.
For a moment, the room was suffocatingly silent. Trevor lowered the phone slowly, his gaze fixed on a spot on the table.
There was one sentiment floating in the air.
Betrayal.
Rats.
Punishment.
A moment later, Trevor was standing, shrugging his suit jacket on. The storm brewing beneath his skin was obvious.
Zane and I stood, ready to follow.
But Trevor turned to me, his expression hard. “No. You’re not coming.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll get the guns ready,” Zane spoke curtly, leaving us alone.
“You’re not coming,” Trevor repeated, his tone flat; final.
My chest tightened, anger bubbling beneath my ribs. “Kali is my best friend, Trevor.”
“This isn’t about loyalty. This is about keeping you out of danger.”
“ I can handle myself .”
His eyes narrowed. “ I’m not asking, Natalia .”
“You think I’m just going to sit here while your sister – my best friend – is in danger?” Stepping closer, my eyes softened. “Where you go, I go.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. For a moment, we just stared at each other, the tension between us suffocating.
Then he muttered something under his breath and turned away, running a hand through his hair. “If anything happens to you, I swear–”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” I cut him off. “Let’s go.”
Without another word, he grabbed his keys and headed for the door. I followed, my pulse racing, but my resolve stronger than ever. There was no way I was staying behind. Not when Kali’s life was on the line.
The Blood Dragon.
The infamous Chinatown casino run by the New York Yakuza. Elaborate gold dragon statues coiled around red-painted columns, their emerald eyes gleaming in the dim light. A faint haze of smoke lingered in the air with each occasional puff on a Chinese imported cigar.
Trevor, Zane, and I sat at a large, round, jade table in the main room. The gold dragon motif continued here; etched into the table, carved into the chair legs, coiled around the base of the chandelier that hung above us.
Trevor was calm but coiled, his hand resting lightly on the table as he spoke, his tone cutting like a blade. Zane, on the other hand, leaned back in his chair with an air of casual indifference that felt just as dangerous.
Across from us, three Yakuza men sat like statues, their expressions unreadable. The man in the center wore a crisp black suit, his sharp features framed by a silver buzz cut. His eyes cold; calculating.
But my attention – along with Trevor and Zane’s – was solely on the man standing behind the three Yakuza men.
Tao.
There it was.
The fucking rat.
I hadn’t liked him from the start – when he spoke back to me in the first meeting we held on my birthday, at my father’s penthouse.
I’d had a bad feeling about the motherfucker. And I’d been right.
My gaze flickered between both sides, trying to anticipate what would happen next. Something felt off.
We were in the middle of the shake-down. They were trying to get us to pass over the money, we wanted them to give Kali over first.
It was a shit show.
A slight movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. The man on the left was reaching for his gun under the table.
As I reached for my Glock, Trevor and Zane moved simultaneously, and flipped the heavy table with a crash that sent papers, glasses, and ashtrays flying. Chaos erupted.
Trevor advanced, his gun already drawn, firing off shots with deadly precision. Zane moved in with brutal efficiency and skill. One moment, he was jumping over the flipped jade table; the next, he was snapping a man’s neck and using his gun to shoot someone else.
I ducked behind one of the dragon statues, my heart pounding as I drew my own firearm. The carved gold scales provided decent cover, but it didn’t stop the rush of adrenaline coursing through me as I peered around the edge. Two Yakuza men came into my view, coming from behind Trevor and Zane. I shot them in the back of the head.
A Yakuza thug spotted me and raised his weapon. I fired first, the shot echoing through the room as he dropped.
After finding out the truth about my dad’s real business, and joining the Mob, I’d received much-needed training in combat and firearms. All my other half-siblings had too. It would’ve been irresponsible of my father and Ines to not make sure we knew how to protect ourselves in our world.
Point. Example.
Gunfire ricocheted off the walls, punctuated by shouts and the heavy thud of bodies hitting the floor. Trevor and Zane took down the rest of the men, one by one.
I had my own instructions. Find Kali .
She was somewhere in this place.
Slipping away from the statue, I moved quickly toward a dark hallway at the back of the room. I could still hear muffled shouting and struggled fighting behind me.
My grip tightened on my gun.
Two Yakuza men appeared at the end of the hallway. I fired twice, each shot landing between their eyes.
The hallway ended in a heavy metal door, already scratched and dented. Behind the heavy steel, the muffled sound of two gunshots stopped me dead in my tracks, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.
My chest tightened.
I heard Trevor and Zane close in at my back.
I hesitated for only a moment before gripping the handle. The metallic door groaned as it swung open, revealing a scene that stopped me cold.
Kali was on the floor, slumped against the wall, her clothes drenched with blood. Three Yakuza men laid down around her, lifeless.
“Kali!” I moved forward, but Zane was already running past me, dropping to a knee beside her.
“Hey,” Zane’s voice was low but urgent as he tapped her face lightly. “Wake up. Talk to me.” His hands hovered over her, careful but searching, his usually calm expression now edged with something that reminded me a lot of fear.
Kali’s eyes fluttered open, and she groaned, her voice hoarse. “It’s not my blood.”
Relief flooded through me, and I heard Zane exhale sharply, the tension in his shoulders easing.
“Then what’s wrong?” He asked, leaning closer but keeping a measured distance.
Kali tilted her head back against the wall, her lips twitching into a lazy smirk. “I just killed three men by myself, asshole. I’m tired.”
For a moment, Zane stared at her, but then he simply nodded, breathing out hard. Carefully, he slipped an arm under her knees and another behind her back, lifting her as if she weighed nothing. Despite his obvious strength, he held her like she was fragile, though he kept a certain distance – a formality, maybe.
I glanced at Trevor, standing just behind Zane. His eyes were narrowed on the two of them. “Take her to the car.”
Zane nodded and carried Kali out, moving quickly but smoothly. Trevor and I followed, scanning the area to ensure there were no other threats.
When we reached the car, Zane settled Kali in the passenger seat, buckling her in carefully.
Trevor leaned into the window. “Get her checked out.”
A sharp nod was all the answer Zane gave before pulling the car into motion, disappearing into the night.
Trevor turned to me, his eyes hard. “Let’s finish this.”
Walking back into the casino, the air inside was heavy with the metallic tang of blood and gunpowder – violence .
Trevor scanned the area, his movements purposeful as he searched for a lighter or matches. “Behind the bar. Grab any bottles of liquor you can find.”
I moved behind the bar, crouching to sift through the several shelves and cabinets. But a noise made me freeze. Peeking around the edge of the counter, I saw Tao, bloodied and limping, use the bar counter to pull himself up, and raise a gun to Trevor’s head.
Trevor didn’t see him.
Without thinking, I grabbed one of the bottles and swung it hard . The glass shattered against the back of Tao’s head, and he stumbled forward with a groan.
Trevor reacted instantly, spinning around and firing a single, clean shot to the rat’s arm. Then, he was over him, holding him down.
I locked eyes with Trevor across the room, my chest heaving as the adrenaline coursed through me.
For a moment, we just stared at each other.
His expression was unreadable, but there was an unmistakable flicker of pride, before he turned back to the rat.
“Why did you do this?!”
“Money.”
Trevor lifted him, only to hit his head on the ground again. “ Why .”
Tao’s mouth opened with a bloody smile before he spoke low enough so only Trevor could hear him. Ice shot down my spine when I saw Trevor’s entire face drop and his jaw clench.
All I heard was a choked gasp before blood shot out of Tao’s neck and Trevor moved back. The rat’s body twitched for air before stilling, his hand dropping but the shard of glass that he’d used to kill himself with, still edged deep into his throat.
Trevor stood, pointed his gun at the dead man, and shot him twice; once in each eye. Looking back at me, he nodded once, a silent acknowledgment.
Together, we drenched the room in alcohol, the pungent smell filling the air. Trevor lit a match, and with a flick of his wrist, he tossed the lighter into the puddles of liquor. Flames roared to life, consuming everything in their path.
The terrifying flames behind us consumed the opulent casino, erasing every trace of the New York Yakuza clan. The weight of their demise settled over the city, signaling an end to the relentless cyber threats that had loomed over both our families.
As we stepped out into the night, the heat from the blaze at our backs, I caught Trevor’s gaze again. The knowing look we shared didn’t need words.
It was finally over.