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“I know what mafia is,” Nathan says gently. “I’m just—hang on, I need a second.” He cocks his head and stands there looking stunned, and who can blame him? “Did you—wait, when did you find out?”
“I only found out yesterday. After my bachelorette night, I overheard Staphanie talking to someone and it sounded suspicious as hell.” God, that felt like it happened a lifetime ago. Could that only be last night? “I confronted her about it andshe came clean and told me she and her family are mafia and they’re here to kill off somebody.”
“Jesus,” Nathan mutters.
“Yeah, I know! And she told me I can’t call off the wedding because then she’d report me and you and my family for killing Ah Guan.”
“What?” Nathan’s mouth drops open.
I shake my head. “That was my reaction too. I don’t know how they found out about Ah Guan... they have enough information to get us all in serious trouble. So we had to go along with it. But obviously we couldn’t just let them kill someone, so...”
“That’s why you and your family have been acting so weird the whole day? Because you were running around trying to outwit the mafia?”
I can’t decipher the expression on Nathan’s face. He looks equal parts horrified and awestruck. I guess I don’t blame him either way.
When I nod, Nathan’s breath comes out in a longwhoosh. “But why didn’t you tell me?”
“Staphanie said if I told you, she’d call the cops on us. I’m so sorry; you have no idea how much I’ve been dying to tell you. We figured out who their target is and we’ve been trying to protect Lilian ever since.”
“Wait, why Lilian?” Nathan frowns.
“We found these messages on Second Uncle’s phone about ‘the queen’ and stuff, and we figured that they were talking about Lilian because she’s your biggest investor.”
Nathan blinks, looking like he just got hit by something large and heavy. Like a truck. “Lilian is my biggest investor?” He looks up at the ceiling and mutters something.
“Yes, she is, isn’t she? She’s on the board of... something?”Even I can hear the desperation in my own voice now. “You always treat her like royalty.”
“Because she’s my godmother!”
His. Godmother.
His godmother?
What. The. Fuck.
“And she was on the board of a large company, but she sold her stake a long time ago. She’s retired, Meddy.”
“But.” But what? I can’t think of how to finish that sentence, because WHAT? I don’t understand what’s happening. “But she’s not—wait.” I struggle to wrap my head around it. “She’s not the target? She’s not the queen?”
“I don’t see how she can be. I mean, unless she’s secretly an arms dealer on the side or something, but I really don’t think so. She’s my godmother. I think I’d know if she’s doing something big enough to warrant an actual hit on her.”
“But what does that mean? Someone else is the target? We’ve been protecting the wrong person this entire time?” I feel sick. When was the last time we even saw Staphanie and Ama? They were at the reception. And then they left before all of the commotion started, and I’d thought we’d won, we’d successfully protected Lilian, but now—
“Who the hell can ‘the queen’ be?” My mind is screaming: OH GOD OH GOD. “Who, Nathan?”
“I don’t know, I don’t—I don’t know of anyone on my guest list who’s powerful enough to piss off the mafia.” Nathan shakes his head, looking lost.
I’m suddenly filled with a burning need to locate Ma and my aunts, to see them with my own two eyes and make sure they’re okay. The fear is choking. “I need to find my family.” I take Nathan’s hand and turn in the direction of the dormitory. “Come with me?”
“Of course.”
Then I pause. Shit. I’d better tell him everything. “Um.”
“What is it?” Nathan says.
“Before we go inside the room, I need to tell you something else...”
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