Victor: Her Ruthless Crush by Theodora Taylor (beach read book TXT) 📕

the vicinity of everywhere Dawn had applied, stilled. “Tufts University? Where is that?”

“It's in Boston,” Victor answered.

Raymond frowned, deepening the wrinkles in his craggy face. “You thought you would be able to handle running Red Diamond Boston from a dorm room?”

“No, not from a dorm room,” Victor signed back, frustrated and insulted. “I would get an apartment off-campus. I’m not stupid. Or naïve. I understand the job, understand what it entails.”

“You say you understand,” his father answered. “Yet here we are arguing about whether or not you can go to university.”

“I can handle both!” Victor’s hands flew over his declaration more emphatically than he wanted them to. This emotional display was probably doing the opposite of convincing his father to sign on for either of Victor’s plans. But he had to convince him. “I can do this, I promise you.”

“I…” His father let out a long sigh. He looked away from Victor, much in the way Victor did when he no longer wished to talk to someone about an uncomfortable subject.

But Victor didn’t let his father’s refusal to look up deter him. He waited, waited for his father’s return to the conversation. He would wait for a century if that was what it took.

After what felt like hours, his father finally lifted his head.

But before Victor could raise his hands to further plead his case, Raymond said, “I’ve come to a decision.”

Victor stilled. Decisions were always Schrödinger’s cat’s when it came to his father. Until Raymond spoke, two futures hung precariously in the balance:

In one, his father would trust him as Victor had pleaded, let him go to Boston, and assume the snakehead position he had earned when he completed the betrayer succession ritual. The other future was much grimmer. His father would forbid him to see Dawn again. He might even kill her himself if Victor was unwilling.

Victor waited for his father’s announcement, hoping for the first solution and fearing the second.

However, Raymond surprised him by regarding him with a sad look. “In truth, this is my fault. I’ve indulged you too long, coddled you too long. You believe you can do anything because I’ve never told you otherwise. That ends today.”

His father’s face became a work of stone. “You cannot put off Red Diamond. You cannot serve your triad with one foot in the underworld and one foot at this Tufts University.”

Raymond shook his head at Victor. “You do not have to follow me into this life. You can go to university in the States. Perhaps party with the other rich Chinese mafia kids who have opted for easy paths. You can marry some foreigner, for love, not for power. And I can find someone else to succeed me as the next dragonhead. If I can teach Han diplomacy, he might be perfect for the job.”

The thought of being replaced in a role he’d always assumed would be his cut Victor deep. He raised his hands, but once again, his father started speaking before he could get a sign in.

“Or you can do what you were groomed to do. You can step into my shoes, stay on the path I’ve laid down for you. You can prove yourself in Boston. Show me that my faith in you was not misplaced. You can become more rich and powerful than those other worthless Chinese children will ever be. I have banked so much future for you, Son. You only have to cash it. Or you can throw that all away for some girl.”

His father sneered, letting Victor know precisely which choice he favored.

“But you can’t have both. It is time for you to make a decision, Victor. Either you are with the Red Diamond, or you are not. Either you kill the girl and fully commit to your triad. Or you can have her and give up your place in it. There will be no in-between.”

19

DAWN

.

“Okay, give it to me straight,” I said to Phantom after he dragged me onto the elevator. “Are you going to kill me now? Is this the part where I have to fight for my life?”

Phantom cut his eyes at me like I was a buzzing fly in his elevator.

“Not yet,” he answered. His voice was low, gravelly, and dangerous. Like the Asian-American answer to Vin Diesel. “I’ll let you know when.”

Okay, well, that was not exactly reassuring. An urge to freak out rose inside of me. But it didn’t know where to go after that.

I couldn’t run. We were in an elevator.

Fighting was also out of the question. I saw the way Phantom sent Victor flying with just one kick. I stood negative zero chance against a guy like him in a fistfight.

I supposed I’d have to settle for Phantom’s “not yet.” As answers to the question “am I going to die” went, it was still a lot better than “yes.”

Okay, not a lot better. That was definitely an exaggeration. But 5% better for sure.

And maybe I’d get brownie points for going along with Phantom without a fuss? I peeped over at Victor’s cousin, who stared straight-ahead, stony-faced as a gargoyle.

Or maybe not.

After we got into the apartment, Phantom just pointed at the couch in the living room.

This was the second time in one night that someone had given me the bad dog treatment, but I took a seat. Victor and I had never actually used this particular piece of furniture. At first, because we were always doing homework at his specially designated study table. And then because we preferred the bedroom in his suite for kissing, and eventually other things.

That seemed like so long ago now. Our relationship was a watercolor that had begun to fade.

And what felt like hours passed before Victor finally showed up. He was wearing a white suit splattered in blood, just like Phantom.

I didn’t try to say hi this time. Lesson learned. Pleasantries do not work with this crowd.

It had to be midnight by now. Way past my bedtime. A bone-deep weariness slumped my back as