Page 42 of Sweet Dominion

“Sorry. I’ll turn it off.” She pulled out the phone.

Tension gathered in my shoulders. “Check to see who it is.”

“Yes, Mountain Master.” She looked at the screen and widened her eyes. “Oh. . .It says the Mountain Mistress is calling.”

Chen frowned. “Leo must be using Monique’s phone.”

I sighed. “Answer it.”

She swiped the screen and then placed the phone against her ear. “Hello.”

I exchanged glances with my aunts and I saw the same truth mirrored in their gazes. All hope for us getting my father had dwindled down to unlikely. If he was on Moni’s phone, then he was on guard. That meant he had enough time to quickly plan an escape.

Additionally, he would use whoever and whatever to get out of the East.

That was the difference between him and me. I could never watch innocent people die and he knew it, using that fact against me as much as possible.

Moni’s lady-in-waiting blinked and then handed the phone to Moni. “It’s for you, Mistress.”

“No.” Without hesitation, I took the phone from her. “He doesn’t get to talk to her anymore.”

Enough is enough.

I put the device next to my ear. “What do you want?”

My father’s voice hit the line. “I assumed you wouldn’t let me talk to Monique.”

“What do you want to say to her?”

“I wanted to know if I could get an invitation to the cookout—”

“Sure. Come on. You are more than welcome to show up.”

He must’ve caught the violence in my voice because a dark chuckle left him. “No, son. Perhaps, I will give her a rain check.”

I sneered.

“You should be happy to know that I am currently headingawayfrom Lotus Blossom. Please, make sure the gate opens for me. If they don’t open, prepare for more than half of the people at the market to die.”

“Running away?”

“We’ll fight at the battle tomorrow evening. For now, you should rest and prepare for the cookout. I want Monique’s sisters to have a true Eastern welcome when they arrive at Lotus Blossom.”

Of course you know about the cookout too. Yes. I think it is Bolin or Fengge.

He continued. “Son, can you deliver a message to Monique for me?”

“Never. I don’t even want you to say her name—”

“Tell her that I’m proud of her with the tea ceremony but most of all, I’m prouder that she passed myfinaltest.”

I spoke through clenched teeth. “And what the fuck was her final test?”

Moni quirked her brows at me.

A hint of humor laced his voice. “While the tea ceremony was important and I needed her to understand our traditions and be ready to follow them. Well. . .I more wanted to make sure that her loyalty toyouwas more important in her heart and mind.”

“So, you wanted her to tell me about Yan during the tea ceremony?”

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