Page 18 of Serpent King's Prisoner

I nodded. “My dad thinks the threat is coming from inside—that there’s a traitor in our ranks.”

Jack blew out a breath. “Fuck, man. Any idea why?”

“The usual suspects—love, money, power,” I said. “Beyond that, I have no clues.”

He frowned, brow furrowing, and I could see the gears working. Jack was a smart man—always had his ear to the ground when it came to business.

“You know…it could be revenge,” he said. “Your dad has always been…well, brutal. You know that better than anyone.”

“Right.”

“Whatever happened to that restaurant owner? The one your dad tried to pin the deal with the Cranes on?”

“Hughie Lin?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “I feel like I just saw that name came up somewhere, got it off an informant. Shit—yeah, they said someone was running coke through Mandarin Palace, owned by Xinyi Lin.”

The name hit me like a sucker punch—a name from a chapter I had closed with bloodstained hands. Sure, my dad had ordered it, but I’d carried out the interrogation and assassination myself. Hughie Lin had begged for his life, promised me he was loyal to the Serpents.

I’d taken off three fingers before I finally got bored and shot him in the head.

My jaw tensed, but I masked the reaction quickly, schooling my features into practiced indifference. “Xinyi Lin?” I echoed, feigning curiosity.

“Yep,” he continued, oblivious to the storm he’d stirred within me. “The widow. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s got an ax to grind after what happened to her husband.”

I remembered her, the quiet dignity in her eyes, even as we delivered a sum of money to her to keep her quiet after her husband’s death. She’d had a son a little older than me, who’d tried to tell her they should talk…and we’d almost taken him to.

Those were the kinds of orders that haunted me, whispers of guilt that crept into the silence of my own company.

Yet my voice remained cool, detached. “And you think she’s behind the attacks?”

“Could be,” Jack shrugged. “She’s got motive, and the Serpents did her dirty. You know how it is—hell hath no fury and all that.”

“Interesting theory,” I said, giving nothing away. “But theories won’t protect my family.”

“True.” Jack nodded, sipping his drink. “But it’s a start, isn’t it? You’ll find the rat, Nathan. And when you do...”

“Justice will be served,” I finished for him, the promise etched in stone. My role demanded no less. Justice, vengeance—they were two sides of the same coin in our realm, and I was the hand flipping it.

“Exactly.” Jack leaned back, satisfied. “So, what’s next?”

“Next, we watch and wait,” I replied, the words a mantra for the hunt that lay ahead. “And we keep this between us. No loose ends.”

“Always,” Jack agreed with a firm nod. “But…I was talking more in the short-term. Drinks?”

Hell, we hadn’t even touched the booze.

I let out a short laugh and shook my head as I picked up the bottle, pouring us both glasses. Jack watched me with a discerning gaze, and I wondered if the years we’d spent growing up together in this business had given him more insight into what was going on in my head. I sure as fuck hoped not; it was bloody in there, and more than that, private.

Jack, his face cast in the shifting glow of neon lights that played over the walls of Fusion, regarded me with a scrutinizing gaze.

“Looking a bit rough around the edges, mate,” he said, his British-American accent tingeing his words with a hint of concern—or was it just curiosity? “As a friend—not a colleague—I wanted to check in. Been a while.”

I let out a breath, my fingers absently tracing the dragon tattoo hidden beneath my shirt. “You know how it is when the family is under attack,” I admitted, and for a fleeting moment, my facade cracked—revealing the strain that came with defending an empire.

Jack watched me, his eyes sharp. “Maybe you need a change,” he suggested, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.

I couldn’t help but look up at him, incredulous. Was he serious? You didn’t just leave this life, not when everyone you cared about was on the line. I wasn’t a prisoner, not exactly…but sometimes it felt like it.

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