Page 156 of Caution to the Wind

Axe-Man caught my hand before I could walk over to the unmarked SUV I was borrowing for the meet.

“First sign of trouble, you’re outta there,” he ordered, his face creased with troubled thoughts he didn’t try to hide from me. “Last time we tried to corner these fuckers, they took three years of my life and a finger from me. Won’t let them have you, ya hear?”

We’d had another rip-roaring fight about my involvement last night, but in the end, Axe-Man had given in at the reminder that I had just as much skin in this game as he did. And I wasn’t some damsel in distress like Kate had been. I’d been training in martial arts my whole life to hone myself into a weapon, and I’d spent the last eight years on the fringe of the triad.

I could handle myself.

It didn’t mean I was immune to his concern. In fact, it felt like a direct hit of sunshine to know he was near beside himself with worry.

I wrapped my fingers around his and squeezed. “Trust me.”

He swallowed thickly. “I do.”

“This time, we’ve got each other’s backs. Today is the day we put the motherfucking Seven Song triad six feet beneath the earth. And Axe-Man? I’ve gotvigorousplans to celebrate afterward.”

His expression softened into that tiny smile he had just for me. “I look forward to it.”

Before I could turn to go, he was tugging on my hand again, fixing something around my wrist I couldn’t see until it was secured there. A golden bracelet shaped like a dragon winked at me in the yellow light of the streetlamps in the parking lot.

I looked up at Axe-Man with my heart beating too hard in my throat.

“It’s a tracker,” he explained, voice rough with emotion that also shone from his turquoise eyes. “Not losin’ you again.”

Then ask me to stay, I wanted to say,ask me to be your Old Lady, and I won’t let anything in the world take me from your side again.

But he didn’t ask, and I didn’t beg.

For now, this symbol and his concern were enough to satisfy my voracious heart.

With one last smile, I let go of his hand and walked to the car to get the show on the road.

I wasn’t nervous as I drove the last block to meet the mark. I wasexcited, vibrating with anticipation that thrummed through every molecule.

People who said they were above revenge were incomprehensible to me. Nothing was more satisfying than working hard to right the wrongs done to you and yours. It was the sweetest kind of effort and reward.

And today, I’d finally taste it.

I parked in front of the dilapidated laundromat and turned off the ignition. It only took two minutes for a car, a nondescript black sedan, to pull up beside me.

Sucking in a deep breath, I opened the door, grabbed the bag of Fallen cash, and rounded my vehicle to meet the mark halfway.

I didn’t recognize him, but then, I wasn’t expecting to. He was someone who did business in Vancouver and didn’t run in my circles.

What did surprise me was his greeting.

He didn’t speak.

Instead, he raised his right hand and formed it into a series of gestures.

Adrenaline burst through my veins and thundered through my heart.

It was a series ofmudras, originally Buddhist hand signals that Chinese crime syndicates had claimed and bastardized for their own purposes decades ago. I wasn’t a master of them, by any means, but I had seen Jiang do that exact series of movements a few times before.

It was the way to identify a fellow 49er if you were worried someone might be wired.

I lifted my right hand and mimicked his gestures.

The small gentleman grinned at me, revealing one gold tooth in his wide mouth. “How much?”