Vegas's POV
Lian Wang's cynical smile annoys me.
"What are you doing, Pete?" I ask angrily.
"...Fixing his hair..."
"Are you his fucking hairdresser now?"
"I'm sorry, Vegas!!!But...."
Pete turns to Lian Wang.
"Excuse me, Mr. Wang. This is really bothering me."
"Pete!!" I yell again, angrier.
But Pete ignores me.
He pushes a strand of Lian Wang's hair into place.
He is so fucking focused on that.
"Done! Done!!" Pete raises his hand and leans back to the armchair.
"Thank you, Pete. You are very attentive."
"It was just freaking me out for some reason..."
"I know..." Mr. Wang gives him a faint smile.
"Are you all fucking kidding me?!"
This whole shitty moment infuriates me in a way I jump over Wang to punch him.
We both go to the ground.
I straddle him, holding his neck tight...I'm read to punch his face hard as many times necessary to finish him off.
But Pete holds my wrist.
"Vegas, No!"
"WHY?? WHY NOT, PETE?!HUH?"
While I turn to look to Pete, furious, I sense Lian Wang's cynical face looking at us...he does not intend to defend himself.
He is enjoying Pete doing this for him.
"Don't screw my cover, Vegas."
"Why are you protecting him?!"
"I'm not protecting him. I'm protecting us. This is Tang Yi's club. This is the White Clan's Territory. I know you won't stop with a punch. It will be us being killed if this man dies."
I know Pete is right.
But I also know in my guts Lian Wang will do whatever in his power to bring us apart. I can feel it so clearly. Why? Why Pete?
I turn to Wang.
"Why are you here?"
"I've came to praise your deeds, Vegas. Lee found Master Chen's whole clan and himself in such a miserable state. Corpses all over the place."
"You used me and Kamol."
"Hmm...a little. But it was all explained to Pete. You can catch up with him later. You did what you wanted to do, anyway. Just like your father, you have such a temper."
"Don't talk about my father."
"Why not? I say it in a good way. You already know we were close. That I was like a son to him."
He keeps provoking me.
"I'm not getting into your game."
"Does Pete know about that, right?!"
I feel some anxiety...
He is threating me.
I raise pression around his neck.
"Of course I know! Vegas told me everything about Khun Kan and you...he saved you! You should repay the courtesy to his son!!"
"Sure..." Wang says with difficulty...his fucking smile never fades on his face. "I will repay the favor to Khun Kan's son in the same extent of what his father might have done to me...and to y..."
"You son of a bitch!"
I interrupt him. I get my wrist from Pete's hands and squeeze Wang's neck hard with both my hands.
I don't want him to raise suspicion over my father and Pete's mother.
This is something I must find out first...alone.
"Vegas, don't kill him!"
"I'm fucking tired of all this shit! I don't care, I will end this with my bare hands!"
"You can't, Vegas!"
"Watch me!"
"If I die..." Lian red eyes look at Pete.
...he dies...that's what Wang's eyes are telling me.
There's so much certainty in his gaze.
I can't unsee it.
Pete's POV
Vegas releases Lian Wang.
I help Vegas get back on its feet.
Mr. Wang coughs and rubs his neck.
I make a move to help Wang to his feet but stop when Vegas gives me such a disapproving face.
"Let's stop with this commotion, shall we?! It leads to nowhere." Wang says calmly but firmly, adjusting his clothes. "The task is simples, Vegas. Get into the Chess Room...Find who wants to kill Pete and finish them off. Find who killed my family...and I leave you alone." Then he turns to me. "Find me The White Queen."
"Where?!"
"Use your brain, Pete."
"Why don't YOU do it by yourself!" Vegas yells angrily.
"Because I already tried and failed." Wang answers bluntly. "Besides, you told me yourself it was not Minor family that ordered for Pete's head, Vegas. I'm giving you the benefit of doubt to find out for yourself who did it."
"..." Vegas has no reply for that, only discomfort and anger.
"Excuse-me, I'm leaving now."
"Not before you tell me how you know Pete." Vegas stop him from moving again.
"My grandfather chose him."
"We already know this crap! But how?" Vegas asks him, impatiently.
"We lived together for a short period of time, you and me, Pete." Lian turns to me.
"What?" Vegas looks at me in surprise.
"No! I did not! I don't recall that! Were you a 6th grader student leaving on the streets of Bangkok with me?! I don't think so! "Show me your grandfather's picture! I've never seen you before."
I look to both Vegas and Wang... I feel some resentment raising inside me...
"When you two were having a nice meal in your cozy big houses, I was getting knocked out in almost every fight to earn enough money for my family to pay the rent and not be homeless. (1).
"Pete..." Vegas turned worried.
"No body helped me when I was fighting on the streets alone! I would remember it! I did it myself. I may be sounding a little bitter, Mr. Wang...but I know my own efforts and how lonely I was. Why are you saying I was chosen for something meaningful when we both know I look like Tianshi for some reason. In better possibilities, I would be some sort of replacement to die in his place, am I wrong?!"
"I know Pete." Lian looks at me with some regret I can't acknowledge. "Those were tough days, but..."
"Were you leaving on the streets of Bangkok with me?? WERE YOU?!?!" I ask him sharply and angrily.
I face him, angry and sick of everything too.
"I was."
He doesn't even blink.
I take aback.
Vegas automatically grabs my wrist, trying to pull me behind him.
No matter how hard I try, I can't remember him...even feeling I know him.
"Was?! But I don't remember you...you are Taiwanese..."
"KNOCK, KNOCK! Mr. Wang?!"
Lian Wang takes a small photo of his wallet and hand it to me.
I put the picture inside my pocket.
Both Vegas and Lian Wang sit in the pair of armchairs.
I hold a bottle to serve them some bourbon.
"You may come in, Andy."
Mr. Andy enters the room.
"Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Wang...Khun Vegas. I just came to check if you need anything."
"Everything is fine, Andy. Unfortunately, I have another appointment. I must rush." Lian Wang gets up from his armchair. "It was good to see you, Khun Vegas. Not planed but it's always good to have good business meetings with you. Let's meet at my company next time. I'll schedule it. Please send my regards to Khun Korn."
"Sure, Mr. Wang. I will. Thank you for your attention."
Vegas fakes it perfectly well with cordial smile.
Lian Wang leaves the room.
"Andy, is my private room ready?!"
"Your room?! Yes, it's ready, Khun Vegas."
"Perfect."
He turns to me.
"Come."
...
Vegas's POV
"I can't remember him, Vegas."
"THINK, PETE! THINK AGAIN!"
"I'M TRYING!! Don't pressure me! It's not helping!"
"I'm sorry, Pete...I'm sorry...fuck..."
"I'm trying to remember every kid I've met , but Lian Wang doesn't remind me of any of them."
"You were too young..."
"Mafia controlled tournaments don't care about the law, Vegas."
Although my father didn't have that kind of business, many partners did.
It would be hypocritical to say that I have never watched kids fighting like adults. Many times we closed deal watching kids hit each other in the ring.
I look at Pete. I feel disgusted about that.
"Vegas?!"
"What?"
"You look distracted."
"Just thinking...someone you fought against maybe?!"
"Those guys were much older than me and Lian."
"You never really told me what your life was like back then...you had to fight against grown up men by that age too?!"
"When I was around 14...15...yeah..."
Although my father used to beat me...I can't imagine being beaten violently every day to get food and shelter.
I start to think about how selfish I've always been in never caring much about Pete's story before becoming Tankhun's bodyguard...
"You don't have to make a pitying face, Vegas. I had to survive. It made me who I am, anyway."
Pete always minimizes what he's had to go through. Maybe that makes him more resilient and less enraged by what life has done to him.
We really took different paths to cope with our pain...our struggles.
I hold his neck and bring our foreheads together.
"I admire you, Pete."
"...."
Suddenly Pete jolts.
"what?!"
"...Unless Lian Wang was very different from what he is today!"
"What do you mean?!"
"Ton said The White Clan made Thianshi have cosmetic surgery. What If Lian Wang had it too?!"
"It's a big possibility!"
"That face is too perfect to be real."
"What?!"
"What what?!"
"His face what, Pete?!"
"Are you pouting?!"
"What about his face, Pete?!"
"Come on, Vegas! Don't even start! You face is perfect too! And it's real...right?!"
"Of course my face is real, Pete!!"
"Well...lucky you! Maybe Lian Wang doesn't have good beauty genes...who knows?! It can even explain why he dresses so well...he might have issues from being an ugly child..."
"Stop it, Pete. You are not convincing me."
"Convincing of what?! Are you jealous?!"
"I am. Stop talking about his looks."
"....Okie."
"What about his grandfather?!"
"I don't recognize him either."
"Do you think your grandparents know them?!"
"I left the Island when I was 12 years old...almost 13 yo...and I only went back a few times when I was already working for Khun Korn...I don't think so...If Lian Wang and his grandpa really know me, we probably met in Bangkok."
"Maybe Lian's grandfather watched some of your fights when he came to Bangkok."
"Maybe...I don't remember any Taiwanese... Lian Wang speaks Thai like a native though...maybe his grandfather too."
"I don't know...he said he learned Thai with my father. Even so, he and assistant Lee speak extremely well for someone who used to see my father only a few times a year."
"They took lessons, for sure. Anyway...if Lian Wang has a fake face...it explains why I can't remember him. My head aches already!"
"Rest a little."
"Did that Master Chen say anything to you before he died?"
I hesitate a little.
"Well...he mistook you for Tianshi...I'm sure."
"I'm convinced that if Lian Wang's Grandfather really "chose me" as he says, the reason was that I resemble Tianshi. Maybe he saw me while watching some fight and chose me as replacement for his white night for some reason. Lian Wang said I'm not the real white night. Tianshi is.
"What if that assassination order wasn't exactly for you...but for Tianshi originally?! But once Sanya killed him..."
"But the order was issued by The Red Queen, Vegas...why kill Tianshi?!"
"We dont't know who is behind the red queen order. My uncle Korn?! I don't know...everything is so confusing. If my father had to kill Lian Wang's parents...maybe he had to kill every white clan member...Tianshi was a member...however, I don't have a motive for any of it.
"Damn Lian Wang says only riddles to us. Can't we just hide ourselves forever?!?"
"You tell me, Pete. You were my family's head bodyguard. Is it possible to hide forever?! Both Theerapanyakul and White Clan behind our back?! "
"..."
"So you got your answer. We must kill them all."
"Not so easy either. What else Master Chen said?!"
"He tried to say something about revenge...related to my father and someone else."
"Your father?!Revenge against who?!"
"Him... He said revenge from 'Kan'... against him but he died before saying the other name."
"I bet he was taking about Lian Wang... related to his parents' death. Lian Wang seeks for revenge. That's for sure."
"We need to get information from the Chess Room."
"I can't enter without a key."
"You would not go even If you had a key, Pete. I would not allow it. Your head has a price tag on it, remember?!"
"But Vegas..."
"This is final! You stay here with Arm and try to get information from Tang Yi's Office while he is in the Chess Room. The Tang Yi Club is like a second Taiwanese chess room. Many deals are closed here...Maybe you'll find clues. Tang Yi's uncle was very influential in the Taiwanese mafia."
"Bastard Lian Wang said I have to use my brain to find the White Queen...and somehow I'm here because of him. Maybe you're right, Vegas. I might find some clue about the White Queen here."
"Right."
"Hey!"
"What?!"
"We are really working as a team now! Thinking together...setting plans together...I like it!"
"Mhmm...we work better together, Pete...but do you know what else I like doing together with you?!"
"...oh damn..."
"Fucking you, love."
I flip Pete in the bed, face down.
"Vegas! Don't you dare tear this dress! It's new!"
"Okay, I won't...then help me find your hole."
"Could you be less blunt?!"
"No. I'm in a hurry. Raise your butt, Pete!"
Assistant Lee's POV
"Arm has already been stamped."
"Perfect."
"I titled him the White Bishop."
"Did you tell him that he will have to resign from his current job?!"
"I'm not sure he understood that."
"Haha, Lee...you will have to kill the current owner of the White Bishop Key in order to entitle him."
"Do we know where he is?"
"No."
"Shit. Anyways... since Arm is not a member, he will not be able to access those files."
"He does not have to. We have Vegas for that."
"Inheritance recognition."
"Precisely Lee. Because I am not a Theerapanyakul, I could not access The Red Queen's trades. But now we have Vegas. Not only him...but the first son...Tankhun."
"So we can break into Black King's Trades too."
"Providence. Two birds with one stone. Mr. Kornwit made it happen for us."
"You know we can be killed by the Jade Queen if we get caught, right."
"Not us...them, Lee."
"I can't believe you left me in the dark until now. Everything makes sense now...why Vegas is here..."
"...To open that damn Pandora's Box.".
...and about Pete?!...do we still need him?!"
"No...It's not Pete that we need, Lee."
...
Arm's POV (next day)
"Are you sure about this, Tang Yi?!"
"Don't be naive, Andy!"
Mr. Tang Yi rips the wig off Pete's head, who is unconscious.
I watch them talk.
I'm half awake.
"What will we do, Tang Yi?"
Mr. Andy looks at us, disappointed.
"Sell them."
"Sell them?! But Ton was always faithful. He probably doesn't know anything!"
I squint at Ton beside me, also gagged and unconscious.
"I'm not taking risks, Andy."
Mr. Tang Yi walks over to me and pulls me by my hair to look at him.
"..." I can't say anything because of the gag. He doesn't even bother to interrogate us further.
"Sell them as sexual slaves tonight."
He smiles wickedly.
"Where, Tang Yi?!"
"In the Chess Room."
...