Chapter 8
Kai
The private jet company sounded surprised to hear from me again so soon, but they didn’t question it. They never did. As long as the money cleared, nothing else mattered.
I slipped into June’s room without announcing myself.
Lincoln, Chloe, and Wendy stood around the bed, where June sat, their voices overlapping, rising and falling without any real rhythm.
They didn’t stop when they saw me.
I stood there for a moment, listening—or trying to. I was already tired of the argument. Not because I didn’t care. Because I already knew how this would end.
I was going back to Hong Kong. I had to.
“The plane will be ready in thirty minutes,” I said, cutting through the noise.
That got their attention.
“You shouldn’t go,” Chloe said immediately, turning back to June. Her hand moved instinctively, stroking June’s arm the way she would comfort her own child. “Lincoln can go with Kai.”
Lincoln didn’t argue. He stood there quietly, his expression unreadable. But I knew him well enough to see the thoughts moving behind his eyes. He was calculating. Weighing options. Probably already three steps ahead of everyone else in the room.
He had plenty to say. I could see it in the way his jaw tightened, the way his gaze shifted between June and me. But he kept it to himself.
“It has to be me,” June said, reaching for Chloe’s arm and holding onto it tighter than necessary, like she needed something to anchor herself.
“Why?” Chloe asked. “It sounds dangerous.”
“I need to do this for Dannie.” The words landed harder than they should have.
“You don’t have to,” Chloe snapped, her tone firmer now.
“I do.”
June’s voice was soft, but certain. She lowered her gaze for a moment, then looked back at Chloe.
“He’s done so much for me,” she said quietly.
“More than you know. He’s protected me. He’s taken care of things I never even had to know about.
He’s been keeping me away from that part of his life so I could have something normal. ”
Her voice caught slightly, but she pushed through it. “He never asked me for anything in return.” She shook her head, her eyes glistening. “Now he’s sick. And for once, there’s something I can do for him.”
Chloe’s expression softened.
“I know it’s dangerous,” June continued. “I know I might not be able to fix anything. But let me try. Let me do this much for him.”
I watched her quietly.
She wasn't going because she thought she was invincible.
“I think I get it,” Wendy said, her voice softer now, trying to calm the room rather than argue. “And maybe it really does have to be June. Because this is… a family matter. From what I understand, family means everything in their world.”
She glanced between us before continuing. “And when it comes to family business, you need someone they recognize as family.”
“Yes,” I said. Everyone looked at me. I took a breath before adding, “June represents Dannie. Her presence carries weight. Authority. Whether we like it or not.”
June didn’t respond, but I saw the shift in her expression.
“Can we leave later?” June asked, turning to me. “Thirty minutes isn’t enough.”
I held her gaze for a moment. “I wish we could,” I said. “But fights have already broken out in Hong Kong. And once it starts…” I let the sentence hang. There was no need to finish it. I was just repeating what Dannie had already told us, but hearing it again made it harder to ignore.
The takeover had already begun. Laura and Dannie’s uncle were moving fast, meeting people face-to-face and forcing decisions.
Making them choose sides. And the story was easy to sell: Dannie was dying, leadership was changing, and there was no point staying loyal to a man who wouldn’t be around much longer.
Even now, in a world run by phones and messages, the triad still worked the old way.
People needed to see you, hear it from you, look you in the eye before they believed everything.
Sometimes it took persuasion. Sometimes it took force.
But what happened in Hong Kong—Dannie collapsing in front of everyone—made Laura’s story very real. Too believable.
But something didn’t sit right. If this was her plan all along… why help us escape? Why not let Dannie die there and take everything clean? What was she really after?
“You should go,” Dannie said quietly, brushing his thumb under June’s eye and wiping away her tears like he was memorizing the shape of her face.
“I’m not leaving you,” June choked out, gripping him tighter.
A faint smile touched his lips. “You were never mine,” he said gently. “I don’t deserve you.”
The words settled into the room with a weight that didn’t belong to the moment. Or maybe they did, just not the way she heard them.
My chest tightened. That wasn’t reassurance. That was something else. Something final. I looked away, suddenly aware I wasn’t meant to be part of this, like I had stepped into a goodbye that wasn’t mine to witness.
“Don’t say that,” June whispered, her voice breaking. “You promised me you’d try. That you’d get better. Remember?”
“I remember,” Dannie said softly.
His fingers moved through her hair, slower this time, lingering like he didn’t want to let go. “I meant everything I said to you,” he added quietly.
He brushed a strand of hair away from her face, his fingers lingering for a second before he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
The gesture was soft, careful, final, like sealing something.
June held onto him like she didn’t understand what was happening.
Or maybe she did—and refused to accept it.
I swallowed hard. That wasn’t comfort. That was goodbye. And somehow… I still had to fight the urge to look away first.
June had spent her whole life trying to be seen as an adult.
Her parents and brothers had always treated her like the youngest, the baby of the family.
After all these years—after fighting so hard to outgrow that role—she had fallen right back into it, curled into his arms like a child. Safe. Small. Protected.
A sound slipped out of me before I could stop it. A scoff, soft but loud enough that both of them looked up. Dannie’s gaze found mine first, still calm, still warm. Under the dim light, his eyes almost seemed to glow.
“Can I have a word with you?” he asked, his voice gentle. Too gentle.
He glanced down at June. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to.
She looked back at him and nodded, like they understood each other without words. Something tight twisted in my chest.
“I’ll give you two a minute,” she said as she pulled away from him. Her tone was different. Familiar, but not meant for me anymore. “Can I get you anything from downstairs?” she asked.
“No.”
Dannie and I answered at the same time. I caught it a second too late. She wasn’t asking me. The look she gave me confirmed it—cold, distant, still angry. At me. At this. At everything.
The door closed behind her, and the room fell quiet. Too quiet.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked, going straight to the point before he could say something I didn’t want to hear.
“I need you to look after June,” Dannie said. A beat passed before he added, “And our child.”
Something sharp shot through me, fast and violent, like lightning down my spine. I stiffened. “Why?” I asked, my voice tighter than I meant it to be. “Where are you going?”
Even as I said it, I regretted it.
“You know,” he said, a faint grin pulling at his lips. His tone was too light, too easy. “To hell.”
A cough broke through the smile, cutting it short.
“Of course you are,” I said, forcing a scoff. “But not today.”
“Tomorrow then,” he said, almost playfully.
My chest tightened, and the words that came out felt weak. “Not tomorrow either.”
He looked at me then. Really looked. “Kai,” he said softly. “My brother.”
The word landed heavier than anything else he’d said. Brother.
Years ago, I had wished that word would be true. I had wanted it more than I ever admitted out loud. There had always been something between us, something neither of us could explain, like we had known each other long before we actually met.
Because of that, I couldn’t stay angry at him. Not for June. Not anymore. He was my brother, and apparently… we shared the same taste. Even in women.
The thought should have made me furious. It used to. I used to hate him for the way he looked at her, for the way she looked back. But now, I couldn’t hold onto that anger. Not when he was sitting here like this. Not when he was already saying goodbye.
“You’re not doing that,” I said.
“Doing what?” he asked, too calm.
“This,” I snapped, gesturing between us. “This goodbye bullshit.”
A faint smile touched his lips. “This is my reality.”
“No,” I said, sharper this time. “You’re not done.” The words came out harder than I expected. “You can have my liver,” I added, my voice tightening. “I know there are treatments. There are options. You’re not out of time.”
He didn’t react or argue, which somehow made it worse.
“Why are you giving up?” I pushed.
“You don’t understand,” he said quietly.
“What don’t I understand?” I shot back.
His gaze held mine, steady and tired. “I’ve spent my whole life fighting,” he said. “Fighting for things I didn’t even want. For people. For responsibilities. For everyone… except myself.”
“Back then, I had to step up for my grandparents,” Dannie continued. “But now… they’re gone.” A faint smile touched his lips. “My job is done.”
I let out a short, disbelieving breath. “What a hypocrite,” I said. “What about the speech you gave June? About the members of the triad? If you really didn’t care, why not just let your uncle and Laura take over?”
“I thought about it,” he admitted. Then he looked at me. “But now I have you.”
My stomach tightened.
“You have every right to take over the business. To help my men.”
“I don’t want it,” I snapped. “This isn’t some candy you can just pass on because you didn’t like the flavor.”
He chuckled under his breath. “Now you get it,” he said. “I didn’t want it either.”