I would’ve kissed him as a thank you for admitting he liked me. And then, eventually, after two or three dates, I would have invited him into my bed. I would’ve had sex for the first time in ten years with someone who wasn’t Victor.
I would’ve happily done all of that. Because Asher had been nice to me. Because this was how relationships were supposed to go. The guy was supposed to ask you out. Then you were supposed to date. Then you are supposed to have sex because you wanted to, not because of some weird power dynamic game you were both trying to win.
But this wasn’t five months from now. It was now. And I did have a husband. One whose henchman was watching me as we spoke.
So I swallowed and said, “I can’t. I can’t go out with you.”
Disappointment shadowed over Asher’s hope. He was a good guy who really did seem to like me. And I couldn’t have felt worse.
But in the next moment, an idea occurred to me, so I pushed down my guilt to say, “I might reconsider in five months after we’ve graduated…if you convince Jacoby Pirelli to let you change thesis presentation groups with me.”
Asher’s face screwed up with confusion. “I’m in Group A. Our presentations are scheduled for that Wednesday. Group B gets to go on a Friday. That means you can have a party afterward. Most people would kill to be in Group B.”
Yes, and most people also didn’t have a psycho husband at the top of their list of secret things they never talked about.
“I know,” I answered Asher out loud. “But I don’t want that slot.”
He shook his head. “Is this about you not having enough confidence in yourself? Love Origins is amazing. I’m pretty sure that’s why Pirelli gave you one of the prime Group B spots. And that’s probably why Elizabeth Ann Margaret is so jealous of you.”
My stomach flip-flopped, not quite knowing what to do with that string of compliments. Other than insist anyway, “I can’t do my presentation on that day.”
“Why not?” he asked with a baffled look.
I sighed. I was tired. So tired of lying. So tired of pretending that I was a regular woman just like everyone else in the program. Someone with choices and self-agency.
“I just can’t. I have other plans on that day. Plans that can’t be changed,” I answered, telling him a super vague version of the truth.
He considered my words, his expression sharp and calculating. “Are these plans the reason you want me to ask you out in June? Like maybe May 25th is a court date? Or the day some kind of separation papers will be filed?”
My cheeks warmed. “Yes, something like that.”
He nodded, his handsome face lighting up with a grin. “In that case, I will volunteer to switch to your extremely prime spot. Then I’ll ask you again in five months.”
Five months…
I smiled, liking the thought of this nightmare finally being over in five more months.
But Asher must have mistaken my answering smile for an invitation. Instead of going straight to Jacoby’s office, he stepped forward and hugged me.
He hugged me right in front of my guard!
I wanted to shove him away. But it had been so long…so long since someone had touched me with any sort of genuine affection. For one broken moment, I allowed myself to give in to the human contact. I let my forehead fall onto his shoulder and breathed in all that guy that didn’t hate me.
But then I quickly pulled away.
It was like taking the mandatory swimming classes at my Japanese high school. This was how you were supposed to swim. Take as many strokes as you can. Turn your head to the side, then take a quick breath, and plunge back into the water that could drown you. Eventually, the teacher wanted you to learn to do this so well, you only had to come up for one sip of air per length when you were racing.
Five more months.
I took a sip of air, then stepped back from Asher. “I’m sorry. I should… I have to go. I don’t want to keep my driver waiting.”
“Yeah, of course,” he answered with a little wave.
I turned and left. I hadn’t bothered with religion much since moving back to the states. Like many Korean immigrants, my mother was a dedicated Presbyterian. But her fervor hadn’t passed down to me. And I hadn’t darkened a church’s door since stepping foot on Mount Holyoke’s campus.
But I prayed as I walked to the Audi. Prayed that the guard hadn’t been tracking my every move. That after years of watching me have mostly innocuous conversations with my fellow grad students, he hadn’t bothered to spy this time. Maybe he’d been reading something on his phone. Once or twice I’d been able to let myself into the car because he hadn’t seen me coming. Today could be one of those kind of days.
But it wasn’t.
The day guard climbed out of the front seat as soon as I got within a meter of the car and opened the door for me.
“What was that all about?” he asked as soon as we were both settled in our respective seats.
I was in my early 30s now and a lot faster on my feet. “He thinks I’m doing him a favor by offering to switch my presentation slot from Friday, May 25th to the previous Wednesday. He was thanking me. That’s all.”
The day guard grunted. But other than that, he didn’t answer. I could only hope that meant he believed me.
Five more months….
16
VICTOR
It was time to meet his bride. Not the one he was currently keeping a prisoner in Providence, but the woman who would seal the alliance between the 24K and The Silent Triad.
Victor arrived at Kuang’s house in Connecticut with Han and Phantom flanking him on either side. In truth, Han would’ve been enough for a light meeting such as this. But Phantom had insisted on coming along for reasons that had nothing to do with solidarity.
“Betcha 1000 bucks she’s a dog,” Phantom had challenged shortly after Han arranged a meeting to coincide with the end of Nora Kuang’s winter break on Victor’s behalf. “Kuang would’ve offered to show you her picture if she was anything to look at.”
Han had frowned at Phantom’s perhaps valid point. “I could try to get a recent picture for you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Victor had told his brother. “No matter what she looks like, the outcome will be the same.”
He would marry Kuang’s daughter if that was what finalizing the partnership between their two triads would take.
For once, they didn’t meet their business partner at his Manhattan apartment. On the day of the meeting, they made their way up to his compound in Connecticut. There was so much security roaming the grounds. They put Victor in mind of a small army. Kuang’s paranoia was never spoken out loud, but it was getting noisier with every passing year.
Two guards in matching leather jackets escorted Victor, Han, and Phantom into a space that looked like an impressive living room, though one of the guards had referred to it as the study. There were no books or shelving, no desk, or any other office paraphernalia. Fine art lined the walls, and the floors were covered in Persian carpets. There were also a few sculptures on display, forged from dark gray metal.
The 24K Dragon met them at the door and escorted them over to the “study’s” one seating area: two maple brown leather couches that sat directly across from each other, with an antique Chinese table standing between them like a referee.