Heartless People |Book 4|

Chapter 4

"The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants a woman, as the most dangerous plaything."

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

JENNIE

"We had a plan Lisa," I said slowly as I made myself comfortable on her lap, reaching up to wipe the beads of sweat on her forehead. Her shaking hand grabbed onto my wrist tightly and her nosed flared with rage, but that didn't stop me from simply using my other hand to cup her warm cheek. "According to our plan, Lisa, our son would spend the first eleven years of his life just learning how to become the next Ceann na Conairte at home. When he turned twelve, he would visit both our families as the future boss, at thirteen he would go to work with us...you're three years early, so what happened sweetheart?"

She inhaled deeply through her nose and her jaw tensed as she managed to say, "Poison...not...fair. Scared to fight me now?"

"Lisa!" I snapped, grabbing her hair and pulling her head back. She had no idea how badly I wanted to hurt her. "Not fair? You go around my back? You make our son see you as a fucking god and that makes me what? A burden? An embarrassment? And now you have the nerve to talk to me about being fair? The only reason I didn't take a bat to your head when you walked in was because—"

"Jennie. Enough."

Annoyed, I reached into the pocket of my robe, dropping the antidote next to her before getting up.

My hands were shaking as I opened the door to the balcony. I shivered as the wind blew through me. Gripping the rail, I breathed in slowly. Calm down Jen. Calm down.

"Ahh! Fuck!" I yelled angrily.

"Jen breathe—"

"Don't touch me," I snapped, feeling her behind me.

Sighing, she moved to stand to my right, leaning over on the railing. "What is going on with you Jen?"

"What?"

"What is going on?" she repeated herself, this time turning to face me.

"I'm sorry, did you miss the fact that you went behind my back and took my son to see one of the sons of the triad without my knowledge or consent?"

"I'm supposed to get your consent before I take my son out?"

"Don't do that! Don't make it sound like I am in the wrong! He's almost ten, Lisa, TEN. He needs to be stronger first! All of our shit will find him eventually. The world is going to try and tear him down. Every fucking moment I can I spend pushing him to be stronger while trying to keep him safe. My whole life I've spent proving that I am Jennie Kim. I've gone through hell as Jennie Manoban and now my son looks at me like I'm a housewife and you no longer thinks he should clue me in on our family business. Meanwhile, I'm running a damn state. What's wrong? You. You are not talking to me! You are hiding things!"

"For the love of fucking Christ, Jennie! You make it seem like I betrayed you. When did you become so emotional about shit like this? Did you ever stop to think about why I took him? He's young and he figured it out! HE came to me. He wanted to see and I looked into his eyes and saw that he was ready! It was not planned and I did not intend on going behind your back! I took him, he learned, he came home safe. How can I talk to you when you aren't listening?"

She was an idiot. When it came to everything else, she was a genius; when it came to me, she had no idea how to fucking approach. How long have we been married? All these years and still...

Brushing my hair over to the side, I simply crossed my arms.

"Ethan came to me and asked me if he could go out with you. I told him no. I told him you and I had a plan and he should be patient. Then he goes and asks you and you argue as if my words have no meaning." I laughed bitterly at that. "Oh, and let's not forget all the talking coming from our families. 'Jennie is no longer focused on the family but the rest of the world. Jennie's family is the one who almost destroyed our way of life. Jennie is now second. No need to speak to Jennie, go straight to the boss.' And because of that, the last few weeks you've been meeting privately with heads of Korean families, without so much as a word to me."