Page 1 of Brutal Surrender
Chapter 1
Vincent Xu
~ Six years ago ~
Sitting across the dining table from my uncle in his estate outside of Shanghai, I brace myself before telling him the bad news and disappointing the man I owe my life to, the man who took me and my mother in when my father abandoned us, and who raised me as if I were his own son.
“I don’t want to be the head of the Black Dragon Triad,” I tell him.
Uncle uses his chopsticks to pick up a cut of sliced steak from one of the plates in the center of the table and continues to eat as if I said nothing. I, however, sit holding my bowl in one hand and my chopsticks in the other without moving.
“What are you afraid of?” he asks before pushing more rice into his mouth.
“I’m not afraid,” I reply.
“Lack of confidence?”
At twenty-six, I would be the youngest head dragon ever to take over the triad, but I know I am capable thanks to all that I’ve learned under Uncle Xu’s tutelage.
“We have the votes,” my uncle adds.
“Fang Zhe has been eying the position for over a decade. Why not let him have it?” I return.
“Because you’d be better than him. The income of the triad has increased tenfold thanks to you. You’re the one who pushed us into pharmaceuticals. And these ‘omega blockers’ of yours are going to be the most incredible gold mine. The triad owes you, your abilities, your insight.”
It wasn’t my insight. The credit belongs to Irene. Her cousin ended up sex trafficked because her omega traits made it easy for others to take advantage of her. It was out of a desire to help Irene that I pushed for the development of the omega blockers.
“If Fang Zhe doesn’t get elected, it could cause internal strife,” I say. “I don’t want to see that.”
“Will you be satisfied with serving under Fang? I thought his bombastic nature rubs you the wrong way.”
I contemplate telling Uncle the whole truth: that I went to quit the Black Dragon altogether. I’ve never lied to my uncle before. Not overtly. But I have kept Irene a secret, so that counts as a lie of omission. I never mentioned her to Uncle because I never expected her to become the love of my life. Someone I’d die a hundred deaths for.
For a while I had entertained the idea of marrying Irene while keeping my involvement in the Black Dragon. But a month ago, she found out we were pregnant. That changed everything.
It would have been a lot of work keeping the two disparate parts of my life separate. She has no idea I’m a member of one of the world’s most ruthless triads. If she did, she probably wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me. Or maybe she would. Angel that she is, she’d probably try to save me from my life of crime.
I’m unafraid of hard work, but my interest in the Black Dragon has simply plummeted. I’m not going to be like my father and leave my child to grow up without one.
“I’m just not interested in being head dragon,” I tell Uncle.
He sets his chopsticks down across his bowl while the server refills his teacup. “Since when were you not interested?”
“I’ve thought about it for a while but just recently made up my mind.”
My uncle eyes me carefully before getting a toothpick from a dispenser. “There’s no doubt in my mind that you have a bright future in the Black Dragon. You sure you want to give that up?”
For Irene, I would give up anything in a heartbeat.
Instead, I say, “Uncle, I appreciate all that you’ve done, all the support you’ve provided to get me this far. Please do not doubt the sincerity of my words. The Black Dragon will be successful whether I lead it or not, and I could do without the pressure of being head dragon.”
Uncle says nothing while he picks at his teeth. No longer hungry, I set down my bowl and chopsticks as well.
“Your ascension to head dragon this year would have been the perfect retirement gift for me.”
I look down. “Forgive me. I will repay—”
“No, no, there is nothing to repay. You must do what you feel is right for you.”
