The Misters Series (Mister #1-7)

by J. A. Huss

  She laughs.

  I do not. “Listen, Tera, I might agree with Cliff about this place. Five told me—”

  “Five told you.” Tera huffs. “Five didn’t tell you shit! He’s part of the Chinese mob, Rory! What kind of man joins the fucking mob?”

  “My man,” I say And it comes out sad. And desperate. And…

  “Are you clinically depressed, Rory? Do you need to seek help? What’s going on?”

  “What?” I exclaim. It’s so fucking ridiculous. “No, Tera. I’m not clinically depressed. Why would you even say that?”

  She shrugs. “You do admit, you’re having trouble letting go of the past. Five Aston is not your man anymore. He’s some stupid mobster you need to forget about.”

  “I just need time,” I say. “You don’t understand, Tera. I spent my whole life counting on this man to be my prince. And nothing is working out the way I want it.”

  “So change that, Rory,” Tera says. “Turn it around.”

  “I don’t want to turn it around. I want him, OK? That’s it.” I watch her carefully as she processes this. One eye closes slightly, which is a sign of suspicion. So I add, “But he doesn’t want me. I get it. There’s nothing I can do to make him want me.”

  Her shoulders relax. And then I get a smile. “There’s always a way, Rory. But… do you want to waste your A-game on a guy who doesn’t want to play? Give Frank a try. What could it hurt? You don’t have to do anything with him. Just be nice this evening. Try to have a good time. Just…” She sits down on the bed next to me and puts her arm around my shoulder in a hug. “Just be yourself again. I miss that girl. I’ve missed her all summer. And I want her back.”

  I sigh into her embrace and force myself to relax. “I’m sorry I’m not myself. I don’t know if I’ll ever be myself again.” And this, at least, is not a lie. I will never be Princess Shrike again. It’s over. That fairy tale has an ending and it wasn’t the happily ever after I was expecting.

  “Frank is good for you,” she says, dropping the subject of Five. “I know you’ll be fine.” She pets my hair and rests her head against mine. “Put on that dress and I’ll pick you up here at eight. OK?”

  “Fine,” I say, giving in. There’s no other way this conversation can end. “Go get dressed yourself. I’ll be ready and I’ll make the most of it.”

  “No,” Tera says, getting up off the bed so she can glare down at me again. “You’ll be more than ready. You’ll be perfect. I’ll accept nothing less.” And then she turns on her heel, walks to the door, throws it open, and looks over her shoulder, saying, “Tonight, Miss Shrike, is the first day of your new life.”

  So I’ve been told.

  But Tera is already gone, the door already closed before I can respond.

  I stare at the dress for a few seconds, then get up and check that tag again. Over nine thousand dollars. And Frank Fulbright is my date. Not Five Aston.

  I make a pouty face.

  They’ve paired me with him for a reason. And I only have two choices tonight. Accept the life Palladium is offering me. Or blow all the plans I’ve made.

  I sigh, slip the dress off the hanger, and lay it down on the bed so I can spread out the skirt and get a better look. There’s a slit in the tulle that goes all the way up the thigh. And the top, while exquisitely made with enough bling to charm even the best-bred princesses, is really nothing more than a sheer bodice with strategically placed beads and crystals.

  My fingers play with the tulle. It’s so soft. It’s like a dream. A fantasy dress tailor-made for a fantasy night by a Parisian designer. My mom would kill to see me in this. Hell, she’d probably fight me for it.

  And that thought makes me laugh.

  I’m gonna do it, I decide. I’m gonna go through with Palladium tonight. And I’m gonna show up for Eat Meet next week and do it again. I’m all in. I’ve given up a lot to get to this moment in time and I’m not gonna let anything stand in my way.

  But when I pass the mirror on my way to start the shower, that pouty look is still on my face.

  “Suck it up, Shrike. This is your big moment.”

  And then I force that smile on my face. And I keep it there as I wash my hair, dry off, and start putting on my makeup.

  It’s still there when I finish pulling my hair up into a sophisticated updo that would make my aunt Rook proud. Still there when I put the dress on and reach behind my back to find the zipper. Still there when I slip my feet into the shoes I found at the bottom of the bag. Fucking Kallie thinks of everything, doesn’t she?

  And it’s still there when I check myself in the mirror.

  But that’s where it falters. Just a small slip in my feigned happiness. Just a tiny indiscretion as I picture what my life could’ve been. Five, standing behind me, fastening a necklace. Kissing my neck. Telling me I’m beautiful.

  And then the knock on my door pulls me back from the edge.

  I ravel up all those loose ends and… yes. There it is. The smile of a princess before the ball.

  “Rory!” Tera calls.

  “Come on, bitch!” Mia shouts. “We’ve got men waiting for us!”

  I pull the door open, smile firmly in place. “Good God!” I exclaim. “You are stunning!”

  “Look who’s talking,” Mia says, pulling at my tulle skirt to reveal my upper thigh. So… she knew exactly what Kallie gave me. “Gonna show some leg tonight, Aurora?”

  “It’s Rory,” I growl at her before I can stop myself. But then I recover, my smile back in place, and I say, “I don’t suppose I have a choice?”

  “You don’t,” Tera says.

  Both of them have equally exquisite gowns. Beads and lace in a tight, form-fitting mermaid for wild Mia, and tulle and silk for Tera.

  “Where’s Kallie?” I ask, looking down the hall.

  “She’s already gone downstairs to get things ready for the ceremony.”

  “How does she know what to get ready?” I ask. “We’re all new at this. None of us have ever done this before. So who told her what to do? Is there some secret book, or something?”

  Mia squints her eyes at me, but I hold my smile in place like a pro. “You know she can’t discuss that.”

  “But do you know?” Tera asks, equally intrigued.

  “Of course not,” Mia says. “It’s forbidden to even ask about it. So follow my lead and don’t ask again.”

  Her last words come out like a warning.

  “Fine,” Tera says. “Like I care, anyway. I’m not the least bit interested in the stupid secrets. I’m here for the parties!”

  “Yeah, sorry,” I say, backing away from the confrontational change in Mia. “I know better.”

  Mia stares at me for a second, then beams me a smile. “No harm. Just… don’t put me in that position again, OK? I don’t like keeping secrets. I’m not even good at keeping secrets. But these secrets are sacred. And Palladium is serious about keeping them. Besides, everyone will know next week at Eat Meet anyway.”

  Tera grabs my hand and pulls me out of my room, closing my door behind me. “I might be too drunk to care next week too. So whatever.”

  Yeah. Whatever. It must be nice not to give any fucks whatsoever about what this place really is, and what this night really means.

  I wish I was that girl. I wish I had grown up as Princess Middleton. Blinded to the ways of the world by her old money and society-page parents.

  But I didn’t. I grew up Princess Shrike. And my family might be rich, but that money isn’t old, and the only time they were in the newspaper was when my father was on trial for murder.

  They have to know this. Kallie and Mia, at the very least. And if they know, then Tera knows. So… why am I here? Why did they bring me into their little club? What purpose could I ultimately have in this secret place we’re calling Palladium House?

  I’ve been asking myself that question all summer. And tonight is the night I might finally get an answer.

  Chapter Nineteen - Five

  You h
ave got to be kidding me. That’s what I want to say when I’m told about the funeral arrangements for my grandfather.

  I expected something lavish. Something very Chinese. Something traditional and foreign. But what I did not expect is another long flight halfway around the world.

  “I can read your thoughts, Five,” Chen says as I stand in silence.

  He’s dead. I should not be annoyed by his death, but I am. I’m fucking annoyed that I’m his designated heir. I’m fucking annoyed that I came all the way to Hong Kong when so much is happening back in the US. I’m annoyed that Damian’s last wishes were to be buried on a hill at his Rancho Santa Fe home back in Southern California, so this whole trip is a waste.

  I’m just… very fucking annoyed right now.

  “Don’t let it show,” Chen adds.

  I nod, but keep my silence. Nothing good will come from these feelings.

  “The body is being prepped for travel. Everyone will be leaving tonight.”

  I could’ve been with Rory right now. Getting her away from whatever’s coming. But no. I’m here. Acting petulant. Feeling helpless. And weighed down by tradition and expectations.

  “I have you alone on the jet, since you’re the only living family member who will attend.”

  The only good thing to come out of this. I took Chen’s advice and called my father. He’s handling my mom. My siblings will not be brought to California for the funeral and my parents will not attend.

  This is the only good thing to come out of this… disaster.

  “We’re going to lose everything,” Chen says.

  “Yeah,” I say. “We are.”

  But I don’t care. I don’t care about any of this anymore. I do not want to be the head of this organization, but if I must, then I’m certainly not dragging my brother and sisters along for the ride.

  “It doesn’t have to be this way. You could make a show of power—”

  “No,” I say, turning to face him. “No.”

  I walk out, leaving him behind to finish with the details.

  I’m done.

  I want one thing. And that’s to set things right with Rory. Everything else can just fuck off.

  I find my way to my rooms. There are guards stationed in every hallway of the nearly ten-thousand-square-foot mansion. But they are not my guards. They have no loyalty to me. They belong to him, to his dynasty, and now that’s all gone.

  I’m not surprised at all that Chen’s vision of the future, the one that had me taking my grandfather’s place and business resuming as usual, was nothing more than the grandiose fantasy of an aging man who spent nearly his entire life at the top of the food chain, riding the success and prowess of his boss.

  They were never going to accept me and they made that very clear a few hours ago when I arrived.

  The Chinese Triads are not like the Italian Mob. They are not centralized like a drug cartel, for instance. They are loose, and shifting, and precarious.

  And my grandfather managed to grab a hold of one and keep for decades. It’s an astonishing accomplishment. If you call heading a mob an accomplishment.

  I’m not sure I do.

  Chen has been his closest friend this entire time. Chen is nobody. More nobody than me. At least I have some claim to what my grandfather created here. He has nothing. And he needs me to be accepted. He needs me to take over. He needs me. Or he loses everything. They killed him, for fuck’s sake. They killed my grandfather.

  Who?

  It doesn’t even matter. It could be any of them. Any of the men in his organization. Any of the other leaders. Maybe even the government. Who knows? Who cares?

  You’re next.

  That thought has been racing around my brain since the flight.

  I’m next. And then who? My mother and father? My little brother? My sisters? Rory? Where do they stop?

  I open the door to my room to find… a man standing at the window, looking out at the impressive view of Victoria Harbor.

  Annoyance is the only emotion I can muster. “Can I help you with something, Mr. Wen?”

  Mr. Wen is my late grandfather’s biggest rival here in Hong Kong, a detective who’s been working to take down the various Triads for over a decade. And I have to reluctantly admit, it seems Chen’s paranoia was well warranted. Because Wen is here. In my rooms. And the guards are right outside.

  He bows. Low. Then rights himself and says, in perfect British English, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “What do you want?”

  He doesn’t react. Wen is an older man, but not as old as my grandfather. He’s dignified in a way that says elite boarding schools. “We have a mutual interest.”

  “We do not,” I say bluntly as I cross the room, grab the decanter of Scotch from a small side table, and begin to pour before…

  “I didn’t touch it,” Wen says, once I catch up with the state of things. “And I didn’t kill your grandfather.”

  “No?” I ask, setting the decanter back down. I really need to get out of here. Maybe California isn’t such a bad idea after all.

  “No,” Wen says. “His enemies are numerous. As are yours.”

  “Are you one of them?” I ask, already tired of his polite charade.

  “The most dangerous man is the one with nothing to lose, Mr. Aston.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “It’s not a threat.”

  “Wasn’t taken as one. What. Do. You. Want?”

  “What we both want,” he says, panning his hands wide. “Peace.”

  I raise one annoyed eyebrow.

  “I can help you,” he says.

  “I doubt that.”

  “Sit,” he says. Like this is his apartment and not mine.

  I don’t sit.

  Wen shrugs, walks over to me, pours himself a drink using the same decanter I just set down, and sips the Scotch. “It’s good.”

  “It’s a rare Macallan. It should be.”

  “Have one,” he says. Again, like this is his whiskey to offer.

  “I’ll pass, thanks.”

  Wen shrugs, takes another sip, and then returns to the window, his back to me. “Your princess is in trouble.”

  I want to kill him. Right now.

  “But it can be fixed,” he says, glancing over his shoulder.

  “I’m not going to ask again—”

  “I want,” he says, cutting me off, “your help. And a promise.”

  “In exchange for what?”

  “Plans, Mr. Aston. Their plans. For her. They’re very close. She’s at a party tonight, in fact. So far away from you. Five. But I have men watching closely.”

  “And let me guess, she’ll be fine, but only if I give you what you came for.”

  “That would be… sophomoric.” He laughs. “No. Tonight’s security is complimentary. But one week from tonight she has another event. Eat Meet?” He says it like a question. “Something particular to Princeton, I think? I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s important she not go.”

  “I can take care of that.”

  “No, Mr. Aston, you can’t. You’re the reason they want her.”

  I stare at him. And everything I thought I could prevent from happening is suddenly happening.

  “But I have a plan. Your grandfather was already on board. That’s why he asked you to bring him that code last summer. All you have to do is say yes to my offer—the same offer he said yes to before they killed him—and things will be right in the world again. So what do you say?” he asks. “Will we be able to make a deal tonight?”

  I grab the bottle of Scotch, pour myself a healthy four fingers, and meet him at the window. “Lay it on me, then.”

  So he does.

  And nothing that comes out of that man’s mouth has anything to do with saving Rory.

  Chapter Twenty - Rory

  The main dining hall has been transformed. Tera and I tried to get a look at the dining hall last year for Pledge Night, but we were foiled by last year’s president a
nd quickly admonished and whisked away. But I did get a glimpse of the light sparkling off the chandeliers, and tonight, as I walk through the doors, that’s the first thing I notice.

  Tera holds my hand now. Like she’s nervous and needs support. We both look up at the same time to marvel at the dancing patterns of light flickering off the crystal hanging from the ceiling.

  “Wow,” Tera whispers.

  “Keep up,” Mia snaps, moving forward through the crowd of lingering men and women.

  Tera shoots me a look that says she might slap Mia before the night is over, and we try not to giggle as we obey.

  All the girls are dressed in silver gowns. Some plain, some elaborate, some in between. But all of them surely have a price tag like mine did. The men are all wearing black on black tuxes with silver ties and silver pocket squares. It’s not a sight I’m used to.

  “I feel very out of place,” Tera whispers. “Is that weird?”

  “No,” I whisper back. “I feel the same.”

  “Do I belong here, Rory?”

  I almost stop following Mia, that’s how much her question stuns me. “What? Of course you do. If anyone belongs here, it’s you, right?”

  “But…” Tera says, her eyes darting around to see if anyone is paying much attention to us. Not really, I realize. All eyes are on Mia and Kallie, who are walking towards a platform at the head of the room, where all our dates are waiting with a blonde woman I don’t recognize. “But what is this?”

  I look at Tera. Like… really look at her. “Don’t you know?”

  She shakes her head. And now I see that she’s not nervous, she’s… scared. “Do you?” she asks.

  I nod. “I think so. But we can’t talk about it now. Not here. Later, OK?” I squeeze her hand just as we finally make it to the platform steps. We’re to be on stage with Kallie, I deduce. Since we’re part of the officer hierarchy. “Just smile and have a good time. This night isn’t the night we need to worry about.”

  She shoots me another nervous glance as we climb the steps to the stage, and then her pairing is there—Brian something—taking her hand and leading her away. She lets go of me, reluctantly, and I have a wave of nausea.