Page 124 of Cruel Devotion

I dropped my hands and held out my palms. “You think they're going to help you?”

She rolled her eyes and raised her hands to the center of her chest. That was when I noticed that she was holding note cards. It must have been twenty of them.

I frowned. “What's that?”

Hu and Duck approached and stepped to my right.

On the left, Chen got to my side. “Good morning, Monique. I would love to answer any—”

“Hello, Deputy Mountain Master.” She nodded at Chen and then gestured to Hu. “And hello, Straw Sandal.”

O-kay. . .what's happening?

While I hadn't remembered giving her a lesson on everyone's positions, it was good that she now knew them.

But still. . .what the fuck was going on?

She nodded at Duck. “And of course, good morning, Red Pole.”

Duck stirred. “Good. . .morning.”

Then, she put her gaze back on me. “And good morning, Mountain Master.”

I quirked my brows. “What is this?”

She straightened her shoulders. “I am respectfully requesting an officialCouncilwith you four.”

Shock knocked me off balance. “You're what?”

“I'm respectfully requesting an official Council.”

“Uh.” Chen raised one finger and stepped forward. “Excuse me, Monique. However, I must get clarification. When you so eloquently sayCouncil,are you just using the term or do you understand the ramifications and procedure behind—”

“I am respectfully requesting an official Council right here in this moment to petition for a new role within the Four Aces.”

Chen's reaction was immediate; his eyes widened to the point where his glasses nearly slid down the bridge of his nose. For a moment, he looked like a man who had been told the impossible, his usually composed demeanor replaced by sheer astonishment. His mouth opened and closed, as if words had suddenly become elusive to him.

Next to me, Duck's reaction was more physical. He took a subtle step back, as though the very ground beneath him had shifted. His eyebrows knitted together, creating deep furrows on his forehead, a clear sign of his disbelief. He glanced briefly at me, then back at Monique, as if seeking confirmation that he had heard correctly.

Hu, who was usually the embodiment of stoic calm, let out a low whistle. His hand, which had been firmly gripping his tiger-striped gun, loosened slightly, betraying his shock.

Meanwhile, I ran my fingers through my hair, stunned and unprepared.

What the fuck is going on?

Chapter twenty

The Mountaintop Council

Lei

My men and I stood there in shock.

The crisp mountain air ran thick with tension and the sky above was a canvas of shifting clouds, casting moving shadows over the rugged terrain. Yet even the peaks around us stood like silent sentinels, witnessing the unfolding drama.

I put my focus on Monique, not happy with the fact that she was challenging me in a way no one else ever had.

Where did she learn about requesting a Council?

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