Seattle, Washington, United States
My return to the university was not very pleasant, as my ex girl friends talked to everyone about the fact that I lost my husband. At first I was amused by the way everybody kept on trying to be nice to me, but eventually it started to annoy me. I didn't give a damn about their false words of sympathy, sad looks and special treatment from the professors. Finally, after two weeks of torture, I started showing up to class accompanied by my men, who made sure everyone stayed away from me. Anyway, I also had an additional reason. Old Chu had disappeared, but his men were still close by and the risk of them wanting to attack me was too great. Not to mention that, according to Lucas, Velazques might also want to take such a risk. Although I doubted that, because shortly after I returned to Seattle I received a bouquet of flowers from him with condolences. I suspected that his daughter (Patricia, with whom I had stayed in touch) played a part in this, but still the gesture meant quite a lot to me. After all, this was Velazques' way of showing his respect for my late husband, not to mention the fact that for some reason he took no action for the first two weeks. Admittedly, the issue here may have been that he was afraid of the Elders present in the city, but he still gave us time to prepare. It was as if he didn't want to take advantage of the fact that his biggest rival had died, leaving chaos as a result. This was really strange to me, because I knew very well that the Elders would have taken advantage of a similar situation without blinking an eye, enjoying the easy prey. And despite the fact that Lucas and I had been at the head of the group for two months, our situation was still uncertain. The Elders still did not trust us, and we had to be careful at all times. Especially since things were still bad with me. I made no secret of the fact that I was completely unable to cope with grief. I missed Kai so much that I couldn't function normally. All the places I went reminded me of the moments we spent together. I remembered perfectly how happy I was then. But now each of these places and memories caused me unspeakable pain, which I could not get rid of in any way. I was afraid that it would stay like this forever, and if it weren't for the fact that I had sworn revenge, I would have taken my own life long ago. I couldn't imagine life without Kai and hoped that death would catch up with me right after I managed to avenge him.
I was finishing eating breakfast when a sleepy Lucas arrived in the kitchen. After the official announcement of our engagement and my acceptance by the Elders, Lucas moved in permanently. True, he had already spent nights here and even had his own room, but he still spent more time in his apartment in the city. Especially when he wanted to have fun with some girl. Now everything had changed and his apartment stood empty. It was the same with Kai's apartment. At first I wanted to sell it or rent it out, but Yoongi convinced me to keep it. I didn't know why, but I did as he advised. Lucas poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across the table from me.
- Have you been awake for a long time?
- For about an hour - I replied - I told you that I have trouble sleeping.
- But you don't have nightmares?
- If you mean the kind where I kill Liren again, I've only dreamed about it a few times. And I don't consider it nightmares.
- And the other?
- Lucas, I don't want to talk about it - I rose from the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher and turned toward him - maybe in a while I'll start sleeping normally. I just have too much on my mind right now.
- Or maybe talk to Xukun to prescribe you some sleeping pills.
- I don't want to, especially since I couldn't take them while I'm drinking alcohol. And you know very well that Paul's parties are impossible to survive sober.
- I know - he admitted to me - although I have no idea how it will all look now. After all, now you are the boss. I don't know, maybe we should ask Paul to change the rules of these meetings a bit. Or let them try to organize them without your presence.
- No. I can't do that. That way I will only derail the chances of cooperation with the other groups. If I deprive them of the possibility of such entertainment, like drinking to oblivion and exchanging girls between each other, I will put myself in a bad light. It's better to let everything stay the same.
- Whatever you think, although as for me you could quietly introduce some new rules or something like that.
- Lucas, I will already have a hard enough time with the other girls anyway.
- What do you mean? What can they have against you? - He raised a surprised look at me.
- Don't you guess? - I laughed quietly as he shook his head negatively - first I took Kai away from them, and now I did the same with you.
- Ah, that's what you mean - he laughed - you're kind of right, but I haven't played like that for a while anyway.
- I noticed - I squinted - and may I know why? I thought you loved having a new chick in your bed every night.
- I just got bored - he shrugged his shoulders - Besides, now I'm supposed to settle down.
He smiled broadly at me, and I struggled to control the grimace pressing on my lips. I knew he wasn't doing it on purpose, but any mention of our future wedding made me uncomfortable. I still couldn't get over the fact that the Elders had left me no choice but to decide my fate so quickly. If they had at least given me a month or two, maybe then it would have been easier for me to come to terms with their decision.
- Eat breakfast, and in the meantime I'll get ready to leave.
- We still have two hours - he glanced at me wistfully - we can be late and no one will say a bad word to us.
- I know, but I don't like being late. Besides, just because they are new and will be working for us, doesn't mean we should treat them worse. If we show them respect, they will behave differently towards us and be loyal to us.
- Well, if you think so. Although, as for me, you should let them know right away who is higher up here.
- I am, and since you are so concerned about the hierarchy, why don't you accept my decision, huh?
- There you go, I can see that you are great at it - he burst out laughing - it's just a pity that you have to test it on me.
- You wanted it yourself.
- Yes, I know. Well, go get ready, and I will politely follow your instructions. Boss - he got up from the table and bowed to me, still laughing loudly.
I just shook my head and left the kitchen. I was concerned about the upcoming meeting with the new recruits, but luckily I could count on Lucas. I didn't know what to expect from our new employees. Normally, those who started in our group from scratch didn't get to know the boss personally. They only contacted Lucas or Xiao. However, because I was still learning how the group functioned, I wanted to bend the rules a bit. I wanted to know how such meetings go, and I wanted to get to know these men. Wished to know their ages and their motivations, but most importantly, wanted to see their reaction when they learned that I was now at the head of the group. I wondered how many of them would have trouble accepting that they would have to work for a woman. I knew from Lucas that most of them had no idea that they would be mainly responsible for their mistakes to me. It was true that officially we both served as bosses, but after long discussions Lucas insisted that I be the one in charge of the new group, treating it as a kind of exercise. I didn't like it, because I didn't feel like taking responsibility for these people yet, much less punishing them for their mistakes. However, when I thought everything through carefully, I decided that it would be better. At least I won't kill or torture anyone, and with Lucas in this regard things were different.