Chapter Seventeen

  The meeting room was designed solely for fake potlucks. It opened to two stories, where the guards stood up top and looked down for any suspicious behaviors, and the family heads sat below around a round table. The doors slid open into the walls, blending in with the rest of the home. Aiden spotted it only because of his experience working for the families.

  The strange feeling continued to wiggle in his stomach.

  Just as Aiden located the door, Diane grabbed his shoulders and dragged him away. “Alright, you’ve pulled your weight for this point of the mission.”

  “What are you doing—?

  “I didn’t know where the room was, and now you’ve showed me. You and definitely him.” She gestured to the confused Brendan. “You’re not going in that room with me. The recorder I’ve attached to Brendan is good enough to record from a distance away from the mic on me. The last thing I need to do is worry about you two under fire.”

  She stopped in front of a large closet and swung the door open. Inside, columns of video games, board games, and entertainment for the kids were stacked on shelves against the walls. Some of the boxes were lined so tightly on a single shelf that not a single paper could slip through the cracks, but on another shelf, some of the games toppled over each other in empty spots left behind. She pushed Aiden in before shoving Brendan into the closet with him. “I’ll come get you. Stay.” She closed the door.

  There was no light hanging in the closet of fun. Aiden slid to the ground and pulled up his legs. He stared up at the ceiling that loomed from an unreachable height. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light slipping in from underneath the door.

  “Oh look, an advertisement for my mom’s company's games.” Brendan picked up one of the games from the ground. “It’s an old one. I don’t think this product sold well.”

  Aiden looked over to Brendan. He moved across the floor and closed the gap between them.

  Brendan now held the only way in to the meeting.

  How do I ask him if I can listen in?

  “Do you want to listen?” Brendan asked. He pulled out an earpiece. “Diane gave these to me in case I was curious what kind of recording I was going to hand over.”

  “It’s not so much want…” Aiden hesitated. His hand hovered in its reach for the earpiece. After a moment’s pause, he gingerly took it, brushing his fingers against Brendan’s. “It seems wrong not to listen.”

  “I’ll listen with you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “It’s probably good that I do.” Brendan popped the other earpiece in his ear before Aiden even put his in.

  Aiden needed to understand that feeling inside him that grabbed his stomach and twisted it dry like a rag. It pulled at his vocal cords, pounded against his temple, and scratched at his skin. Why can’t I understand how I feel about this? He shoved the earpiece into his ear, closed his eyes, and listened.

  Infinite’s cracks showed itself the very second the meeting started.

  They wondered who assisted him. They asked if anyone in the group had information to share. They insinuated everyone withheld precious information from each other.

  “Surely Ms. Yin has something to comment about this matter,” Mr. Yang suggested.

  “I most certainly do not. I have been shaken to the core by his betrayal already. I was the one who called him to be taken in the first place,” his stepmother reacted indignantly.

  Anger? I should feel anger. Aiden clenched his hand as he focused his attention on their words, accusations, and tones. Their discussion of his brother’s death was concluded as an unfortunate “event” that disrupted their own way of life. They stressed over the money left behind, the state of the Hui family businesses, and the severed relationships, and how they’ve personally felt the impact. His brother was nothing but a piece in the system to discard with disappointed sighs and annoyed glares at his inopportune death. That should make me angry.

  Aiden did not feel anger.

  The talks shifted. They complained about the federal agents that continued to snoop, the gambling dens busted in various locations, and the aggressive police action in Hong Kong toward their growing business.

  “Someone here is hiding something. Xiao Hui had accomplices—more than just the woman. They could not be successful so quickly and bold so suddenly,” Mr. Zhou said.

  “You underestimate strategies, Mr. Zhou,” Mr. Chen interrupted. “If this whole operation was planned in advance, his accomplices are probably too far away for us to reach. We must make haste and start setting up alibis when they inevitably come knocking on our door.”

  “Hey, tell me about the Guo family.”

  Mr. Yang’s demand met complete silence. The chill of the room was felt through the tremors in Aiden’s ear.

  “They do not matter,” Mr. Zhou insisted.

  “They are an inconsequential family,” Mr. Chen said at the same time.

  “I do not know much about them. My deceased husband rarely mentioned them,” his stepmother added.

  “You are all liars. There is something about the Guo family. That name has hung over Infinite like a curse since I entered the top of this organization, and now is a better time to ask than ever.” Aiden could imagine Mr. Yang’s hand playing with a gun beneath the table.

  Relief. He reached for a soothing blue ocean in his mind. I must be feeling a strange form of relief. He imagined a future with Infinite gone. Ambitious and murderous Yang behind bars with no form of escape. Cold and demanding Zhou disgraced with no hierarchy for him to control, no money for him to hold close, and no people to terrorize with his eyes. Softspoken Chen who rationalized and excused all his wrongdoings. His stepmother who forced him to work through hell while she painted the new mansion with her brother’s blood. It must be relief that’s coursing through my veins.

  But it wasn’t.

  The sound of bullets rang through his ears. Brendan jumped at the firing of guns cracking through the earpiece, knocking a board game on the shelf above to the ground. It crashed on Brendan’s head on the way down even though Aiden attempted to pull Brendan toward him to avoid the falling debris. The two stared at each other, dazed from their tiny chaos, but the escalating violence spewing inside their ears forced their minds to focus on the matter at hand. They both sat up with shoulders tense, hands clenched, and legs curled up.

  Aiden missed what Diane did, but everything he expected to happen unfolded inside his ears. The other families instantly turned toward Yang, Yang spilled the secrets Aiden informed him, and shots fired wildly from the guns. The family heads angrily turned on each other with little communication remaining.

  They hated each other.

  The guns fired sporadically, and the sounds brought the memory of his mother’s death into sharp focus. He screwed his eyes shut, and he heard the same gunshots bursting through the glass, tearing his mother’s body apart. It was a rain of fury with no end and no beginning, whose only focus was to draw blood, end the enemy, and feel righteous for its accomplishments—lives be damned.

  It was then Aiden knew what he felt. He pulled the earpiece out, and he searched for Brendan's earpiece, pulling it out. Brendan’s face grew paler in the gloom, turning toward him with a flinch. Aiden leaned against Brendan’s shoulder. “I am…confused,” he whispered. The sounds continued to echo out of the earpieces laid on the ground. “I want this to happen. I need this to happen, and yet, I feel bad. I want…I want them to live after all. I don’t want them to die.” Shivering shame blew through his conscience. “I don’t want my stepmother to die.” But I should, right? He left his unspoken question hanging in the air. If I am strong, I should want her to die.

  Brendan kicked the earpieces away to the other side of the closet. He placed his hand against Aiden’s cheek, and Aiden looked up to see the color returned to Brendan’s face. His blue eyes blazed with confidence. “You are not wrong if you’re feeling confused. You are not wrong if you don’t want them to die.”

  “How do you know?” Tears spilled out of Aiden’s eyes. “How do you know that I’m not wrong?”

  “Because you can’t be wrong about what you feel. You might not be right, but you are definitely not wrong. Your feelings are legitimate, they are yours, and they are true. Ask for what you want. Demand it, Aiden. You deserve the right to be who you want to be.” Brendan grasped Aiden’s hands tightly. “And that’s why I’m here.”

  I believe him. He closed his eyes, leaning into Brendan’s hands. Always warm, the heat transferred from the other boy’s fingertips to his heart. A small smile reached his face as he remembered the first time he truly noticed Brendan with his brother’s photo laid against his palm like something worth more than gold. “I’m not wrong,” Aiden said.

  Brendan nodded. “You’re not wrong.”

  A sigh escaped. His body crumpled against Brendan, and he continued to keep his eyes closed. The confusion continued to twist and turn his body, but his heart paced with a gentle tap against his chest. He shifted his hands, interlocking his fingers. “Brendan. My Chinese name is Hui Lang.”

  “Oh—last name goes first?”

  He nodded.

  “Hui. Lang.” The words clunked from Brendan’s tongue, and Aiden chuckled at the attempt. “I’ll keep practicing.”

  “Mmm.” A full smile spread across his face. He leaned harder against Brendan’s chest and allowed the warmth to take him away.

  • • •

  “Are you two decent?” Diane’s voice called from the other side of the door.

  The two boys shared a glance. Aiden pushed himself away as Brendan turned toward the door.

  “Do you want us to be indecent?” he called.

  The door flew open, and the hallway light streamed into the darkness.

  “Someone grew a mouth while I was watching people kill each other." Diane smirked. She held her hand out and pulled each of them up from the ground.

  Aiden’s numb legs almost collapsed underneath him. Did it really take that long? he wondered, shaking his legs awake. He looked over to Diane with clean hair, clean face, and clean clothes.

  She crossed her arms. “Let’s go get your stepsiblings and get the hell out of here.”

  “Wait.” Aiden grabbed her arm. “Are there any survivors?”

  She afforded a glance. “Your stepmother. She escaped after they turned their guns on each other. Quite impressive really. She certainly knows how to survive if nothing else.”

  The weight against his chest lifted into the air. “Anyone else?” Aiden pressed.

  Diane sighed. “I suppose Chen is still alive right now, but he’ll bleed to death.”

  “I’ll go help him.” He turned toward the meeting room.

  “Why?”

  He continued walking forward. “Because that’s what I want to do.”

  “Wait.” Diane shoved Brendan back into the closet and closed the door. “You don’t want to see it, Prince Charming. There’s blood everywhere.” She followed after him.

  The strong scent of iron curled in his nose before he even reached the door. Hand steady, he slid the door open to a room of bodies. Groans croaked from the ground, corpses laid flat with eyes wide open, and guns scattered in the crimson blood pooling on the floor. Diane skipped around Aiden, and he watched her swiftly navigate with her heeled boots avoiding the splashes of red.

  He followed her, staring at the ground with every step he took. He could see the chandelier hanging on the ceiling reflected in its entirety of the blood that streamed from Mr. Yang—dead and riddled with bullets. Aiden clenched his mouth. Mr. Yang’s eyes stared at the ceiling, and his mouth was agape not with his usual smirk, but with a scream. His rigid shoulders and tangled legs looked to still want to run from where Mr. Yang died.

  Mr. Chen wheezed on the ground in the corner of the room. Blood fell from two bullet wounds and a slash in his shoulder. Diane lowered to the ground and forced Mr. Chen’s hand to press against the smaller wound. She ripped up the shirt of a fallen guard and tightly wrapped the remaining wounds. “There. You’ll survive. How lucky you are.”

  Mr. Chen’s eyes shifted over to Aiden, and recognition filtered in through the haze of pain and desperation. “I didn’t mean to kill your mother.” The broken words dropped unevenly from Mr. Chen’s tongue.

  Strangely, Aiden believed him. Mr. Chen reached for him with pleading eyes, and sympathy welled inside him. He reached to grab Mr. Chen’s hand.

  “It was an accident. A misunderstanding.”

  Aiden stopped reaching.

  Mr. Chen’s voice oscillated in volume and pitch. His legs pushed against the ground, but his body remained twisted in the corner of which he hid. With a cry, he fell over, splashing into blood. Diane quickly returned to Aiden’s side with a roll of her eyes, but Aiden froze, watching Mr. Chen’s continued struggles. He tried to turn over, but he stayed frozen on his back, gazing upon Aiden upside down. “You must believe me—it was a misunderstanding.”

  “I do.” Aiden said, hiding his shaking hands.

  “Then do not do this. Do not destroy Infinite. This isn’t just our legacy. It’s yours. It’s everyone’s. From the workers without education to those in the actual business. This is our community. Our home.”

  Aiden wasn’t sure when he turned away from Mr. Chen’s pleading. He remembered exhaustion growing the more excuses Mr. Chen shoved into his ears. His body clenched when Mr. Chen claimed that murder was simply part of the business. His brain groaned as the babbles continued, and finally, Aiden made his own way out of the bloody meeting room where the foundation of the organization collapsed upon itself with such little prodding on his behalf.

  “You are holding onto nothing but a ghost,” he whispered to himself.

  The future glimmered before his eyes when he opened the door to an anxious Brendan leaning against it. He laughed as the taller boy almost stumbled onto the ground, and he grabbed Brendan’s hand to help him regain his balance.

  Brendan brushed his bangs past his eyes. “You ready?”

  Aiden nodded. “Ready.”

  He was confident in what he wanted to do.

  The two arrived at one of the important locked doors. Their steps against the ground were not silenced, and the angle of the light seeped their shadows in from the bottom. Zhu Zhu’s not-yet fiancé will be ready. Aiden stepped to the side and kept Brendan behind him.

  Diane unlocked the door and unceremoniously pulled it open. She grabbed the gun out of the young man’s hand and slammed the handle into the back of his neck before Aiden could properly blink or process what they needed to do. As the man fell to the ground, unconscious, Zhu Zhu screamed deeper within the room.

  Aiden dashed in with open hands. “Zhu Zhu, it’s okay! I know you heard gunshots, and I know you have questions, but she’s not here to hurt you.”

  Zhu Zhu stared back with unblinking eyes, a lamp grasped tightly in her hands. Her hair stuck out from all angles. Her flower hairpins scattered in front of the door in obvious attempts to pick the lock. Her jewelry was pulled off and strewn across the ground. Aiden opened his mouth to comfort her more, but Zhu Zhu’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Aiden!” The lamp dropped from her hands. She ran across the room and hugged him tightly before sinking to the ground sobbing. “I thought you were certainly dead. I thought Ma had killed you. I’m so happy to see that you’re okay.”

  Tears poured down her face. She huddled onto the ground, squinted her eyes closed, and cried every bit of herself out. Aiden’s chest squeezed painfully as Zhu Zhu’s fear slammed into him. He pulled her close and rubbed her back.

  As she continued to sniff against him, Aiden pulled back to look her in the eyes. “I need to confess something. Your mom didn’t make up the traitor.”

  “Ma didn’t lie?” Zhu Zhu wiped her eyes.

  Aiden nodded. A breath shuddered through him, but he squared his shoulders and continued. “There was a traitor. It was my brother.”

  “Your brother?” Zhu Zhu blinked. “He’s dead though. Oh my god!” Her hand flew to her open mouth, and her eyes shot open even wider. “Did she kill him?” she wheezed.

  Wincing, Aiden nodded.

  “Oh my god. She’s a murderer. She always was a murderer indirectly, but she’s truly a murderer! That’s why things haven’t been working out in her own words—everything makes sense now!”

  Diane stuck her head in the room. “Excuse me, but can we talk about this revelation while we’re walking? We’re not exactly made of time here.”

  Screeching, Zhu Zhu dove for the lamp.

  “No, no, no, Zhu Zhu it’s okay!” Aiden snatched the lamp from Zhu Zhu’s hands, whirling toward Diane. “Diane, please, just a few more minutes.”

  “Fine.” Diane pulled her head back out.

  Sighing, Aiden placed the lamp down. “The woman over there was my brother’s partner. She made sure everything he set up would go through properly tonight.” He stared into Zhu Zhu’s eyes. “Infinite is over after tonight. It will not exist anymore.”

  “Where’s Ma?”

  Despite all the problems that existed in their relationship, Aiden understood the pain Zhu Zhu faced. Her shoulders shook, and her hollow eyes stared of expectant doom.

  “She ran off somewhere. She’s still alive,” he said gently, and the tension in her body flew away. He tightened his grip around her hands. “But she’s not getting away with this. She’ll face justice. That’s why I am here, Zhu Zhu. Will you let me take care of you and your brother? If you come with me, I will make sure that you and River will remain safe and happy.” Heart suddenly thumping, he straightened his body and cleared his throat. “I don’t want to leave you and your brother in this chaos. Will you accept me as your family?”

  His breaths quickened as he waited for her answer, but he never averted his eyes. He expected minutes of silence, but, after only a few seconds, Zhu Zhu nodded. She nodded faster, and a pained smile soon reached her face. She continued to nod.

  “Yes. Yes, let us be siblings for real this time. Without being separated by our respective families and parents. Let us actually be brother and sister. Please. I would love it so.” She flung her arms around his neck.