30. Family and Favors
Chapter thirty
Family and Favors
Moni
Einstein stared at the grand entrance, but I could tell his mind was elsewhere.
There was something in the way his shoulders slightly slumped, the way he seemed to be taking in the details not with the awe of someone impressed by wealth, but with the detached observation of someone who had long ago stopped expecting much from the world.
As I watched him, I couldn’t help but remember the old days.
Einstein’s real name was Jerimiah, but no one had ever called him that.
And behind his bookish exterior was a childhood marked by loss and neglect—one that had probably shaped him into the reserved person he was today.
His older brother, Daniel, had been everything to their parents.
Daniel was the golden child, a natural athlete with a promising future ahead of him. He was the star of the neighborhood, a high school baseball prodigy who could have gone on to play professionally.
Meanwhile, Einstein had showed up as a surprise baby, completely unplanned.
Either way, everyone in the South knew his brother Daniel. He was the kid who had it all—the talent, the charm, the smile that could light up a room.
Einstein—on the other hand, was the quiet one—the one who was always in Daniel’s shadow.
But then, when Daniel was just fourteen, everything changed.
There was an accident—a freak accident, really. Daniel had been riding his bike home from baseball practice when a car came out of nowhere, swerving onto the sidewalk. Apparently, the female driver had been on the phone arguing with someone and wasn’t looking at the road.
The impact was fatal.
Daniel—the golden child—was gone in an instant.
Einstein was only ten at the time—too young to fully understand the magnitude of the loss but old enough to feel its impact.
His parents were shattered, but instead of turning to Einstein for comfort, or even acknowledging his own grief, they withdrew into themselves, consumed by the loss of their firstborn.
Aunt Betty used to say that maybe his mother was scared to love him after losing a child. Maybe she was trying to protect herself from the possibility of more grief.
Regardless of the reason, Einstein’s parents became shadows of their former selves.
Banks told me once that every time he spent the night, he caught Einstein’s mother just sitting for hours in Daniel’s room, while his father spent most of his time at work, coming home to drink and retreat into his own world of despair.
Basically, Einstein became even more invisible to his parents.
No one noticed when he didn’t eat breakfast or dinner.
No one cared when he stopped trying to bring home good grades, or when he began spending all his time in the school library, never going to class. His teachers found it difficult to even get his parents on the phone.
At too young of an age, Einstein had learned to fend for himself, to rely on no one. He was independent, self-sufficient, but many times he was utterly alone.
Books became his escape, his refuge from a world that had forgotten about him. He read anything he could get his hands on—novels, science journals, encyclopedias.
Often, we shared books during the summer and chatted about them.
When my mom passed, he was there. Not in my apartment, but in his car sitting outside of it and reading a book. He must have did that for months, just made himself available to my sisters and me without loudly declaring it.
I returned my focus to the current moment and watched him some more.
Einstein kept a stern expression and turned to me. “How long are you going to stare at me without saying anything?”
“Probably just as long as you were going to stare at that door without saying anything.”
He smirked. “You know that I can usually blend in the shadows with many people, but not you.”
“You’re hard for me to ignore.”
“Oh yeah.” He tucked his book under his arm. “Why is that?”
“Because you, my friend, are utterly intriguing.” I headed up the stairs. “Come on. I want to show you something.”
“Show me something?” He followed.
“That’s what I said.”
By the time, Einstein became a teen, he’d built walls around himself so high that almost no one could get in.
Lucky for me, I knew how to climb his emotional walls with ease.
I glanced over my shoulder. “What do you think of Lotus Blossom?”
“It’s extravagant.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?”
“Neither. Just the only word I can think of.”
“Liar.”
“Me?”
“You have many more words you’re thinking about when it comes to this place.”
“So you want to have a deeper conversation?”
“That’s the only conversations I like to have with you.”
He nodded. “Well then I would say another word comes to my mind when I realize that you have possession of this place.”
“And what’s that?”
“ Power play .”
“Why power play?”
“Leo is signaling to the East that you’re a force to be reckoned with, and he 100% approves of your union with his son.”
“Hmmm.” I grinned. “Maybe.”
Einstein snorted.
We got to the second floor.
Instead of taking him toward the bedrooms, I lead us in the opposite direction. “I think that you will like this surprise a lot.”
“I’m interested to see if you’re going to be right.”
Further down the hall, I could hear my sisters’ voices, full of excitement, as they explored their new bedrooms.
Aunt Min and Aunt Suzi were fussing over them, making sure everything was perfect.
Einstein got to my side. “You did good, Moni.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your sisters will be happy here.”
Warmth hit my heart. “You think so?”
“Definitely.”
“Banks is worried about us being in the East.”
“No. He’s just being protective. I think deep down inside he knows that Lei will never hurt you. At least not physically.” He kept his gaze on me. “But I have a tough question for you.”
“Go ahead and ask it.”
“Do you think Lei has fully mourned Chanel?”
“I hope so because. . .I’m not going back.”
“Interesting.”
We arrived at the library and I guided him in.
A dark chuckle left him. “Good choice, Moni.”
“I figured you would like this room.”
“I more than like this room. Now I’m moving in.” A wicked smile spread across his face. “Who will give Lei the bad news?”
I laughed.
“Oh my.” Einstein scanned the walls lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with special edition blue leather covers, each one more luxurious than the next. The spines gleamed with gold embossing.
A massive, dark wood desk stood in the center of the room, accompanied by two pale blue leather armchairs that looked as though they had been designed for hours of comfortable reading.
Einstein bobbed his head and lightly touched a few of the books. “This is. . . extraordinary.”
I watched as he walked further into the room, his hand grazing the edge of the desk as he moved. His usual composed expression was replaced by something I rarely saw on him—absolute wonder.
“This place is like something out of a dream,” Genuine awe laced his voice. “I’ve seen luxurious libraries before, but this. . .the attention to detail, the care that’s gone into every aspect of it. . .it’s breathtaking.”
On the ceiling, a blue dragon wore glasses and read a book.
Einstein chuckled at the dragon and then picked up a novel. “ Little Women , but in blue leather and a gold emboss saying that it belongs to Lotus Blossom. Perfection.”
“Oh really?”
“Each edition was clearly made for only this library.” Einstein slipped his fingers along the gold tipped pages. “Marvelous. I’m now inspired to redo my own home library.”
He put the book back, moved to the end of a bookshelf and gently pulled out a turquoise leather-bound book, inspecting the cover. “ Slaughterhouse Five . Mind-blowing”
“Feel free to borrow a few books.”
“I just might.”
“Good. Just bring them back when you’re done.”
“Of course.” Einstein placed the book back on the shelf and then looked at me. “However. . .I know you didn’t just ask me to come on this house tour to see these books.”
I smiled. “You never disappoint when it comes to outthinking someone.”
“What do you want to talk about, Moni?”
I walked over to him. “Marcelo hates to read and only memorizes old sports’ stats. While he has a mind for expansion and executing power moves, he wouldn’t think them up. He leaves that part to you.”
“Marcelo has changed since you’ve known him.”
“But I’m not wrong?”
“Not yet.”
“Banks could care less about laws and regulations. I bet he didn’t even know what Law 480 was until you told him this week.”
Smiling, Einstein grabbed another book, opened it, and gazed at the pages. “Banks and Marcelo think you’re out of your element in the East, but I think they’re wrong and you just proved that right now.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “Why did you tell Marcelo and Banks to get Dima involved and bring up Law 480 today? Because I know no one else would have done that but you.”
Einstein kept his gaze on the book. “I wanted to see what would happen.”
“I need a better answer.”
“I would like to take this book.” He held it up. “ Fahrenheit 451 . I read it as a kid, but I bet it will make more sense now that I’m an adult.”
“Take it.” I tilted my head to the side. “Do you have any particular expectations for this whole Law 480 meeting?”
“And that’s the other reason why you wanted me to go on this tour. You knew that without me sitting next to Marcelo, Rowe Street Mob would have less capability to argue Lei violating the law.”
“I was surprised you came.”
“Our bringing up the law was a chess move for insight, not a path to destroy the East. Therefore, I didn’t care what the outcome was. I just wanted Lei to understand that the South will answer, if you ever call to have our support.”
I thought back to Lei taking Chanel’s body and wearing green while he did it. “And you wanted Lei to stop fucking with the South.”
“That too. He sees us as babies in the Syndicates.”
“What could happen to Lei if Dima finds him in violation.”
“The highest penalty is death, but Lei has done nothing to demand an execution.”
I shivered.
“Other penalties will deal with loss of territory, money, etc.” Einstein held on to the one book and began checking out the shelf again like he was in the library. “But the true test was wondering if Dima would really deal with Lei.”
“Why?”
“As I said before, Rowe Street Mob’s position in the Diamond Syndicate is very new and at times shaky.”
I considered that. “You don’t trust the Syndicate?”
“I’m just weighing our options.”
“I need you to not make any power plays when Lei and I are concerned.”
He pulled off a book and checked out the title. “And who is asking?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Is the Mountain Mistress asking me for this favor ? Or is it Moni asking because we’re family?”
“It’s not a favor, Einstein. It’s a respectful request.”
He looked up at me. “A request?”
“From family.”
Sighing, he shut the book and placed it on the shelf. “Family has limits in this world.”
“Not our family.”
Einstein leaned against the shelf and studied me. “Now that you’re with Lei, Marcelo suddenly believes that he is still in love with you, that you’re the woman that got away.”
I blinked. “I’m not the woman that got away. It just didn’t work out.”
“He loves you because when he looks at you, he sees his innocence, and. . .he sees his mother.”
I swallowed.
“But you’re right. Marcelo is not romantically in love with you. He’ll figure that out soon.”
“How do you know that?”
“There’s someone else that has his heart. He just keeps avoiding and running from it, but with each day around her more and more there will be no place for him to run.”
I smiled. “I’ll have to meet her.”
“I’ll introduce you, but Marcelo can’t see. He pretends she doesn’t exist, while also stalking her.”
“What the hell?”
“It is an odd situation indeed.”
I decided to bring it back to my goal for talking to him on the side. “Einstein, no power plays or plotting when it comes to Lei and me.”
“You’re a mothering figure.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. I realized that long ago after reading some books on psychology. You don’t try to mother people. It’s just something that’s in your nature, probably because of everything you went through as a kid.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re the oldest sibling.” He took his book from under his arm, placed it with the new book he was borrowing from me and then held them both in front of him. “You were the one who had to grow up too fast, who felt like it was your responsibility to protect your mom when your father was out there disrespecting her.”
I tensed.
“You took on that burden because you thought you had to. And that protective, nurturing side of you—it never really went away. It just spilled over into everything else, into everyone else.”
Emotions rose within me. “I don’t know about that.”
He held up a hand, stopping me gently. “It’s not a bad thing, Moni. It’s just who you are. And it’s why I’ve always been drawn to you.”
I pursed my lips.
Even though he was part of their gang, I doubted Einstein ever picked up a gun much. Surely, Banks, Marcelo, and Gunner did enough of the shooting for him.
Plus, Einstein’s deadliest weapon was his mind—his ability to get in a person’s head and figure them out to the point where they were more scared of him. That was a helpful skill for him when the bullies came around taunting and bothering him.
Einstein watched me some more, probably knowing exactly what was going on in my mind. “Do you know how much it meant to me, as a kid, when you’d come around? When you showed up for those summers or even Christmas and spring breaks?”
I knew what he was doing, touching on our connection, reminding me that he came well before Lei.
Don’t let him twist this. They have to stop fucking with Lei.
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it wouldn’t go away. “I didn’t do anything special back in the day, so let’s get back to—”
“You did everything special,” he insisted and his voice was full of this quiet intensity. “You were the first one who ever asked if I’d eaten in a day or if I’d slept. Because of you, whenever you left at the end of the summer, Banks began taking your place and asking too. Bringing food.”
Against my will, I smiled. “Aunt Betty found out he was sneaking food out of the house and whipped his ass for it. And he would never say why. I had to freaking tell her months later. The crazy fool just would take the abuse.”
“I’m glad you did tell her. Banks’ peanut butter and sandwiches shifted to Aunt Betty’s Tupperware surprises. She would show up early before her job and drop it off to me without saying a word. They never made me feel ashamed.”
“Banks and Aunt Betty have big hearts.”
“You do too.”
“Stop trying to flatter me, Einstein. I’m still pissed about your hyping Banks up to be an asshole at the cookout—"
“When we were kids, you were the one who brought a washcloth to wipe the streak of dirt off my face. Didn’t pick at me or anything. You waited for Banks and them to leave that day, came up to my stoop, took that washcloth out of the plastic bag and just wiped my face like I was a little kid.”
“That dirt was bothering me.”
“I think you even cleaned my ears too.”
I shifted my weight to my other foot. “It doesn’t matter.”
“You know what?”
“What, Einstein?”
“Sometimes, I put dirt on my face just so you would do that again the next time. Just so I would have that mothering moment with you. I just didn’t know that’s what I was doing.”
My eyes watered.
I frowned at him. “Stop it.”
“That’s why I care about you so much.” He gazed down at the books. “That’s why I’ll bother Lei, hassle him, test him—because I need to know he’ll never hurt you, never disrespect you. Never treat you so bad that you lose that mothering spirit.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I need to know that he’s worthy of you. And I won’t stop until he proves it to me. Until he puts a ring on your finger and marries you.”
To my surprise, my voice trembled. “You don’t have to do that.”
“You’ve been everyone’s protector, everyone’s caretaker. But who’s been taking care of you?”
“Lei is and all of you.” I cleared my throat. “But. . .let’s get back to the fact that you still need to respect Lei.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. Whenever you all brought females around, I may not have been the friendliest—”
“You glared at them.”
“I was respectful.”
He grinned. “Everyone knows not to bring a woman around Jo and you unless we are super serious about them.”
“We’re cool with the chicks—”
“You both size them up and frankly scare them.”
I widened my eyes. “For real?”
“Yes, Moni.”
“Well. . .be nice to Lei.”
He chuckled.
Smiling, I sighed and considered what he’d said earlier. “So. . .why did you make the whole distinction of who was asking you the question—the Mountain Mistress or Moni?”
“Your being Mountain Mistress means that Rowe Street Mob may have a strong chess piece in the East.”
“I am no one’s chess piece, Einstein.”
“You’ve put yourself in a position that I cannot ignore.”
“But you will ignore it because we’re family.”
“If we are truly family, then your being in this position should also benefit the family.” He tilted his head to the side. “Do you understand me?”
“You want me to have Four Aces do things that benefit Rowe Street Mob? Is that what you’re asking?”
“Isn’t that what family would do?”
“I’m the Mountain Mistress of the East, not the South.”
“You don’t even know the East, but you do know the South. You grew up there. Surely, you have considered it home.”
“But the South didn’t put me in a position of power. In fact, I never knew you all ran the South. Meanwhile, the East didn’t hesitate.”
He frowned. “So, your loyalty is with the East?”
“When it comes to Diamond Syndicate business, yes. But when it comes to family, then I will always have everyone’s back.”
“Everyone?”
“Lei, Banks, my sisters, you, and everyone else.”
He stopped leaning on the bookshelf and walked over to me. “Perhaps, I should be clearer.”
“You should.”
He stopped in front of me. “I want favors from you. Mountain Mistress favors.”
“Einstein, that’s not happening.”
“Just two or three favors for your first year as Mountain Mistress. Just to put Rowe Street Mob in a higher position in the Diamond Syndicate.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re asking me to get Lei to play favorites, Einstein.”
“You’re asking me to play favorites too, by not bothering Lei.”
I shook my head. “Bullshit.”
He eyed me.
“How about this? Forget about the favors and let me be clear with you.”
He stopped smiling.
“If you get Marcelo or Banks to do another power play against Lei for a bullshit reason, then I’m coming for you , not them.”
Einstein showed no emotion on his face. “Banks told me that Leo chose you for Lei. Apparently, it was a big well thought-out plot.”
“He did choose me.”
“I always respected Leo’s way of thinking. Always many, many steps ahead.” And just like that, Einstein left me, went over to another bookshelf, and began perusing the titles. “Even now. . .his placing you in this position was very smart. His doing so. . .changed some initial plans we had for the East.”
“What plans?”
He picked up a book. “No need to discuss them now that you’re in the East.”
“Why not?”
“Because with you here, we would have to keep the East safe.”
I blinked. “You all planned on going to war with the East?”
“ Atlas Shrugged .”
“What?
He turned around and held this new book in his hand. “I would like to borrow Atlas Shrugged too.” He gestured to it in his hand.
“You can take the book, but you should also take my advice.”
He quirked his brows.
“The smartest move that all of you could make is focusing on unity with the Diamond Syndicate, not looking outside of it.”
“But unity is not always good for money.” Einstein held onto his new books. “Well. . .I should go and give you two some privacy.”
I quirked my brows. “You two?”
He walked off and when I turned, I spotted Lei standing in the doorway with a furious expression on his face.
Oh. How much of the conversation did he hear? And when exactly did Einstein know he was there?