In His Arms

Chapter 42

Regan Hu, Noah Qiao, Jared Liew Young and their fathers are in Taiwan within twenty-four hours of receiving the call from Eugene. It has been ten years since I have seen all three triad leaders in one place and according to Eugene who is standing beside me at his front door to wait for the arrival of our guests, this is the first time since the handover that all three leaders have been alone under one roof.

"Are you sure you want to look like that when you see them?" He asks me again, turning to me for what has to be the fifteenth time since we got the message from one of his men that they are on the way back with our guests.

For the record, I am wearing the shirt I slept in the night before and a pair of oversized sweatpants with legs that have been rolled up so that they don't drag on the floor. My feet are bare and my hair is in messy disarray that makes it look like a bird and a rat crossbreed had tried to make a nest on my head and with my black-framed glasses I look like your typical finals week university student. Then there's Eugene who is wearing a crisp, freshly ironed white collared button-down under a tailored suit jacket and plain black suit pants.

Honestly, it doesn't mean he's nicely dressed means I have to be nicely dressed as well...

"Eugene like I've told you the last fifteen times you've asked that question," I speak out measuredly, closing my eyes to keep my temper. "Mr Hu and Mr Qiao would be happy to see me regardless of what I look like and as for their sons...they've seen me knock their Dads on their back as an eight-year-old, they'll respect me no matter what I'm wearing."

Scoffing at my repeated response, Eugene opens his mouth to say something about my hair but he is cut off when the doors open to reveal a tall, lean, black-haired man with a razor-sharp jawline, long nose, and dark hazel brown eyes in a dark blue checkered suit who is followed by another tall, lean man with similar features to the man in front of him except that his eyes are a deep honey brown, and he has swopped back reddish-brown hair in a grey suit who is also followed by a similar-looking man in a plain dark blue suit with brown hair and sharp oak wood brown eyes.

Following his entrance is an older version of the black-haired man who is once more followed by an older version of the reddish-brown haired man and an older version of the brown-haired man, not only are the older versions looking to be tidier than the younger versions and the three of them are dressed in formal black suits that match Eugene and Mr Lee's.

Before anyone can say anything, the three older men rush towards me like children, pushing each other behind one another and stepping on each other's toes to reach me first, to wrap me in their arms much to the shock of the young men present.

"小蝴蝶! (Little Butterfly!)" the black-haired old man greets, winning the race to get to me, his arms engulfing me in a tight embrace. "你长大了! (You grew up!)"

Laughing at his words, I return his tight hug with a smart reply, "You grew old, Mr Hu."

Pushing him away roughly to get a chance to hug me, the red-haired old man literally lifts me off of the ground to spin around while hugging me causing me to squeal, setting me down he holds me at arm's length to take in my appearance before he comments.

"You young was cute. Now, big girl very pretty."

"你的英文还是很惨啊. (Your English is still very bad.)," Mr Lee says as he nudges Mr Qiao away from me. "说华文吧. 小蝴蝶还记得我们的语话. (Just speak Chinese. Little Butterfly still remembers our language.)"

"Yes, please do, your English must be painful to her American years," Mr Liew laughs, making a mistake of his own.

A slightly uncomfortable trio of laughter emits from the youngsters as they watch their fathers bicker over whose English is worse. Moving past them, I wrap my arms alternatively around Regan and Noah's necks, softly thanking them for coming.

With the pleasantries out of the way, Eugene takes over by leading them to the meeting room I had helped him set up earlier. The room has a large floorplan and high airy domed ceiling framed by stained glass, a large circular polished wood table that is an exact copy and paste of Mr Lee's sits with about ten chairs around it in the centre of the room.

It's like Arther's roundtable in the twenty-first century.

Clearing his throat to get my attention Eugene gives me a wide-eyed look as I neglect to do my job which is being the sideman of this meeting. My role is to make sure that the eight men present here today don't end up killing each other should they disagree with anything said.

There have been incidences in the past where there were fistfights but...we can't dismember the men here to prevent that so the next best thing they did was to appoint the strongest man or in my case woman to be their sideman to make sure the meeting goes...bloodlessly.

"Gentlemen, weapons of any kind are to be placed in the basket I am going to pass around," I state seriously, passing the said basket to Mr Lee to pass around. "This meeting today is to be a clean one. If anyone were to act out of turn, I would not hesitate to end your life. Heed my word, gentlemen."

Taking the basket from Mr Qiao, I take the woven basket that is piled high with knives and guns to the far corner of the room where I unlock a cabinet with a key from my pocket and place the basket. Once done, I make my way back to the table where I sit opposite Eugene, giving him a solemn nod to commence the meeting.

"Sangue Nero is stirring trouble for a friend of the Triads," He begins staring directly at me, his hands knotted together on top of the table. "As the previous leaders have promised that friend that their aid should it be ever needed will transcend through their children and theirs, we as the previous leaders' sons will follow through."

"This friend has asked us to lessen the number of child trafficked children in areas we have men in. Our main areas of focus would be Asia in general. Of course, China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan will be most monitored but the men we have in regions like Canada, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, South Africa, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand will be activated as well."

"What is the aim of doing this?" Noah asks, glancing at me.

"The aim is to take out the Sangue Nero group altogether at the end of three months," Mr Lee responds proudly like a father showing off the achievements of his son. "There are other areas that we will also drain Sangue Nero of their monetary resources, for example, the drug trade and their business trade both on the legal and illegal end."

"I hate to be a realist but this is impossible," Jared exclaims, slapping his hand down on the table. "The time frame is too short. It is impossible to take down a syndicate that has been operating for well over fifty years."

"According to what I have heard," Regan speaks up, looking at me. "The friend of the Triads is to be married in three months hence the short time frame. She wouldn't ask for help unless they are targeting those close to her."

Digging my nails painfully into my palm, I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from speaking. For a while there is silence in the room as everyone considers what to do, discussing it in soft murmurs between the ex-leaders and the current leaders.

With a nod from Mr Lee, I stand from my seat, stating in the clearest voice I can muster, "Votes will now be cast."

Eight slips of folded paper are passed to me down the table, shakily I open each one of them keeping in mind who agrees and who disagrees with the task at hand.

Regan: Agree

Noah: Agree

Jared: Disagree

Eugene: Disagree

Fuck...it's fair game now... Swallowing nervously, I slowly open the ex-leaders papers, scared to see what they may have written.

Mr Lee: Agree

Mr Hu: Agree

Mr Qiao: Agree

Mr Liew: Agree

My heart skips a beat at the outcome of this meeting, tears fill my eyes as I look around the table. Fingers shaking, I stand from my seat to announce the outcome of the meeting.

"Six out of eight agree. The assignment is a go. Thank you for your time gentlemen. Meeting adjourned."