Gina Takes Bangkok (The Femme Vendettas) (31 page)

There was silence in the room.

To go on, would only lessen the impact of her words. She’d had no time to prepare, speaking only from her heart. Had it been enough to save Tasanee’s life?

She was about to find out.

The program was for Montri to be the first guest to speak, but she had the podium, and instead she looked over his head to someone else. “I know that many of you have words to share regarding my father, so I’d like to begin with one of my father’s most trusted colleagues, Dr. Chaiboonma.”

The leader of the Bangkok Blondes stood up, and made his way to the front. As she relinquished the podium to him, he gave her a short bow—and a discreet thumbs-up. He turned to her father’s mourners and echoed her words, pointing out that this was not the first time the city’s stability had been jeopardized by an usurper and the poor decisions of one man.

As soon as he finished she called upon Lwin, who spoke with wisdom about the value of biding one’s time, studying one’s opponent before stepping into the ring against them.

And as her allies spoke, Gina studied the crowd, trusting her instincts as to who was with them, and one by one she called them forth. Some were lowly criminals, others respected gang leaders. Some she knew. Most she only knew by name and reputation. All called for caution and moderation, and the mood of the crowd smoothed from churning anger to calm reason.

Bit by bit the wind was taken from Montri’s sails until the man was almost trembling with rage. When there was nobody left to call upon, Gina stood before the crowd again, her hands fisted. “Thank you all for coming today to share your thoughts and good wishes toward my family. That concludes this service. Luncheon is served across the hall. Good day to all of you.”

Just like that she shut the door in Montri’s face, denying him any chance to undo what she’d staged.

Their eyes met as he stood, his jaw tight as he strode over, not stopping until he was almost nose to nose with her. Kannon had followed, keeping his distance, and now stood to the side, his expression implacable. “Vincenzo was my friend. I should have been allowed to speak.”

“My father died defending your daughter,” she spat back. “And you honor him by throwing her life away? You have no idea what friendship is, Alak Montri.”

“I’m not going to allow Wakai to take my city.”

“It’s not your city anymore,” she replied, pointing to the crowd, pointing out the window to the city itself. “It’s theirs.”

Montri paused, looking over his shoulder at Kannon, then back to her. “We’ll see about that.”

He was going to sic Kannon on her.

Montri spun on his heel and stalked off, Kannon in tow. Why didn’t he give her a sign? Something to let her know that he approved of her stand. Or even that he disapproved. Or that she best leave town. Something.

“I’m sorry,” Gina called, “but I’m unable to extend you an invitation to the luncheon.”

Alak Montri kept moving, as did Kannon.

“I recommend you try street food,” she continued. “It sums up the best of Bangkok.”

She could’ve sworn there was a hitch in Kannon’s step before he walked on.

SPIRIT HOUSES WERE everywhere in Bangkok. Stationed next to homes, businesses, schools, parks, and even shopping malls, they resembled large doll houses. Thousands were scattered throughout the city, but Gina’s favorite was a very obscure, very old one where Pricha used to leave offerings of little figurines to the resident spirit.

Since the spirit was seldom visited by anyone except a few elderly locals, Pricha had figured it might be bored, so he’d provided some entertainment. With bits of wood, wire and metal, he’d fashioned beautiful little figurines of horses, elephants and dancers, as well as some more exotic diversions he’d taken from Gina’s stories of life in America—cartoon characters and pro-wrestlers.

And they were all still there, lovingly tended to by the infrequent visitors. Kneeling in the tiny ancient courtyard, the bright morning tropical sun simmering on her back, Gina placed the purple vixen figurine amongst the other offerings, then closed her eyes, palms together. She wasn’t praying, exactly. She’d never been religious, though she’d always sensed that everything in the world was infused with some kind of vast, underlying power. It was in this presence that she meditated.

She’d come alone because she hadn’t wanted anyone with her. No, that wasn’t true. She’d wanted Kannon, except he’d followed Montri from the hall yesterday. He had made his choice, and so had she.

But the choices each had made put her in his crosshairs. Montri wanted her dead, and who better for the task than his personal assassin, the man who knew her better than anyone else. This man who wasn’t her lover exactly, this man she was…dating? Had dated? Was he now her enemy? Was she now his—target?

She heard footsteps behind her. A deliberate scuff of heels on the paving stones. She opened her eyes, turned her head. Sure enough, it was Kannon. He looked down at her, eyes concealed behind her reflection in his mirrored sunglasses.

“How did you find me?” she asked, then nixed the question. “Never mind, you’re not Asia’s top manhunter for nothing. Did Montri send you to kill me?”

“Yes.” His voice was flat.

Weird that she wasn’t scared. Kannon never had scared her, even now when he was threatening to kill her—again. “And are you going to?”

He didn’t answer, his gaze traversing the small area. “No guards?”

She glanced at the yellow dog that had followed her in. “Meet your replacement.”

He adjusted his stance, and Gina knew it was to get a better view of the yard’s rear and side exits. A hit-man checking out his escape route. The dog, seeming to think he was relieved of his duty, dropped to his belly and rested his head on his paws. Apparently loyalty couldn’t be bought with a pile of leftover hors d’oeuvres.

At last he looked down at her. “You drew a line in the sand yesterday.”

“Montri did. I tried to erase it.”

“All you did was make him angry. Angry and paranoid.”

Her own anger at Montri for abandoning Tasanee was what had rode her through the confrontation with him. And what of it? She had no plan for rescuing her god-sister. Didn’t know who to turn to, now that the one man she could’ve gone to was set to kill her.

“And so he sent you out to earn the big bucks he pays you.”

“Revenge can be expensive.”

She exhaled the breath she didn’t even know she was holding. “Kannon, I’m not exactly the most patient of people. And you found me on my knees, already. As a final request, could you get on with it?”

Instead, he squatted beside her. The front of his jacket fell open and she glimpsed his gun inside. “You didn’t see your father when I brought you back from 70 Rai. You know what his health was. He rose from his chair and came to me like a new man. Carried you to the bed you woke up in. He only stumbled after lying you down. I got him into a chair and he asked me what had happened. I told him, and I knew he wanted me hurt for hitting you, which I understood. I’m a father, too. And it’s because I’m a father that I couldn’t let him do what I deserved. I need to stay alive for Zoe. My daughter’s a strong girl, but like Tasanee, isn’t ready to go it alone yet. Remember how your father was going to banish me? That hurt.”

What? Wounded pride? Was that it? “I thought you couldn’t feel pain.”

“I felt that.”

“You felt the pain of humiliation?”

He cut her a swift look, irritated. “No, I felt the pain of you not being there. All I’m telling you is that for someone who doesn’t know the pain of the sun or a knife or hot water, it felt like a miracle. I’m saying you make me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time. Maybe ever.”

Gina definitely felt warmth surge through her. Hope. Excitement. Connection. “So you’re not going to kill me?”

Kannon gave her the same look of dry disbelief as on her phone pic. “You ever wondered why I told Brian I’d target you if he didn’t deliver up the killer of Matsuda’s son?”

“I’ve wondered that myself. I dunno, it was your way of showing how much you liked me,” she teased.

His lips curled into a quiet smile. “Actually, in a way, yes.”

“Now, this I got to hear,” she said.

“I took a look at Delta and I thought there was a lot to like about her. Maybe it was even true, as Brian said, that he loved her. But I saw you and I thought that there was someone a man might give his life for. So I figured between the two of you, Brian would do his damnedest.”

Someone a man might give his life for. And was he that man? “And if he hadn’t, what then?”

“Lucky for us, it didn’t come to that.”

Crap, what did she have to do to get a straight answer out of him?

“Okay, are you going to kill me or not?”

“Woman, I just told you. No. I’m not going to kill you.”

“There. Was that so hard?”

He glared at her. “Now I’m reconsidering.”

She grinned, and his frown deepened then relaxed. There was a shimmering between them, a lightening, and if it had been any other way between them, they’d be kissing right now, holding and being held. Kannon had chosen her over Montri, even if it meant making Montri his enemy.

“I guess I owe you,” she said.

“Big time.”

“What did you have in mind?”

If the look he gave her before was full of heat, the one now made her feel as if she were about to walk on burning coals—hot and dangerous and exhilarating. He wanted sex from her, and she was more than happy to give it to him. And if he still wanted more, well, then—could she share a life with him and Zoe?

Oh God, Zoe.

She gripped his arm. “What about Zoe? What does this mean for her?”

He grunted. “She’s safe, for now.”

“Does Montri knows where she’s at?” Gina persisted.

“Yes.”

“Then you can’t defy him, Kannon,” she said, looking into his eyes. “You’re a father. You can’t choose me over—”

“I choose both of you,” he interrupted, and reaching into his jacket pocket, produced a smartphone, offering it to her.

“What’s this?”

“It was Montri’s,” he explained. “That’s why I came to find you. He’s not going to be a problem anymore, and we have a lot of work to do if we’re going to save his daughter.”

Gina’s eyes widened on him. “Oh God, Kannon. You mean you…killed him?”

“No,” he replied. “I still owe him a great debt for sheltering Ryota and me from the American Yakuza. And how could I rob Tasanee of her father, even if he’s a poor one? Zoe would never forgive me.”

“So…where is he?” asked Gina.

“Don’t worry. He’s safe and sound with Lwin.”

Montri stood on the raised porch of the small riverside bungalow, glowering down at the huge mass of crocodiles that surrounded him. “You’re making a serious mistake holding me prisoner,” he growled at Lwin in Thai. “A serious fucking mistake.”

The old woman continued to stroke the snouts of her pets as she stood among them. “Don’t be silly, Alak. You’re free to go whenever you want. Just mind your step on the way out.”

“First thing Mr. Montri did when Ryota and I got him out was start drawing up a list of everyone he was going to have killed.” Kannon filled Gina in as they puttered through morning rush hour traffic. He pulled up to the rear bumper of a bright orange tuk-tuk that had just cut into his lane. That was his next vehicle, a tuk-tuk. He, Gina and Zoe could all fit and they’d always be one ahead of everything else on the road. “Before he even showed up at your father’s memorial he’d already managed to find out where several of them were. It was his intention to send me out to collect their heads as soon as he declared war. Wanted me to get things rolling, as it were.”