Page 28 of Serpent King's Revenge

His words pulled at something raw inside me. Evelyn Zhou had been more than the matriarch of a crime family—she'd been the quiet strength behind it. And now, with her gone, the fracture lines within the Serpents were all too visible. Alex's face seemed to collapse inward for a moment. His fists clenched and unclenched, a battle of emotions playing across his features.

"Sorry, Alex," Jack continued, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know she meant a lot to you."

Alex shook him off, his eyes gleaming with unshed tears. But he didn’t crumble. It wasn't in his nature. Despite their differences, I could definitely see that this was Nathan’s brother. Instead, Alex straightened up, the mask of resolve sliding back into place.

"Thanks, Jack," he muttered, his voice rough. "We can mourn later. Right now, we have to act."

"What about Kenny?” I asked.

“What about him?” Alex said.

“Well, I don’t think he’s going to help us,” I said. “In fact…I think he’s more likely to kill us. He already tried taking out Justin.”

“Okay…I get why he wanted me dead, but why Justin?” Alex said.

“Oh yeah–another thing you don’t know yet,” Justin said quietly. “He’s not my father. Knuckles is.”

Alex did break then–just slightly, his resolve dropping and showing disbelief…then shock. “Well, shit,” he said. “Then Ba will want all of us dead, huh?”

“Not me,” Lily shrugged. “But he will when he figures out I’m here.”

She was right. We were all fucking scared…for good reason.

"So Ba wanted me dead already, he wants Justin dead…and now he must have figured out that Nathan didn’t kill me, and that he’s been protecting Justin," Alex spat bitterly. "He's probably already plotting Nathan's death–and he’s a sitting duck in county jail. Ba has guards and prisoners all over that place.”

The very idea sent a jolt through me. Nathan—the man I loved, the father of my unborn child—was in dire need of our help, and his own father was likely his greatest threat. I obviously knew that, but hearing it like this…it still scared me.

I wanted to kill Kenny. After everything Nathan had told me about him, there were few things I wanted more.

“So do you have a plan?” I asked. “San Mateo won’t be easy to breach.”

Alex rubbed the bridge of his nose. “No. But at this point, what else are we going to do, Agent?”

I didn’t like the way he used the term Agent–it felt like an insult–but for Nathan, for the child growing inside me, I would walk through fire.

Even if that meant working with Nathan’s arrogant younger brother.

"A prison break isn't a plan, Alex, it's suicide," Lily said, blunt and to the point. “We can’t rescue you again.”

I watched Alex's jaw clench, his brown eyes flickering with the kind of fire that only years of living in someone else's shadow could ignite. "We're not just going to kick down the gates, Lil," he snapped back, his hands forming fists at his sides. From what I’d heard, I knew he was always quick to anger, but today it seemed fueled by desperation rather than irritation.

"Then what?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my belly protectively. If this was about proving something to Nathan or their father, I needed to know now. Because this wasn’t just about them anymore; it was about the future—my baby’s future.

Alex's gaze met mine, and for a moment, the weight of our situation seemed to bear down on him. His posture softened, and he looked away, his voice losing some of its earlier heat. "There's someone who might be able to help us," he said finally. "Someone from the other side of the fence."

"Who?" Lily asked, her suspicion evident.

"Xinyi Lin," Alex's reply came almost reluctantly, as if saying the name aloud gave it too much power.

“Wait,” I said. “Doesn’t she hate Nathan?”

"Yeah…but she hates our father more," Alex said. "And she has connections with people who don’t like him either–the Cranes, and some Yakuza contacts up in Seattle. If anyone can get us inside San Mateo without getting killed, it's her."

"And you trust her?" Lily pressed, her protective instincts flaring up like a warning beacon.

"I wouldn’t go that far. But she hates Kenny, so…”

"Meeting her is risky," I pointed out, the reminder of danger clawing at my throat. "What's to say she won't turn us over to Kenny the moment she sees an opportunity?"

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