6. Chapter Six Nathan

Chapter Six: Nathan

T he door to the Serpent's Den groaned on its hinges as I pushed it open, the familiar scent of old paper and gunpowder greeting me. It was quieter than usual, the low hum of Chinatown's hustle shut out behind me, making the space feel like a sanctuary—or a tomb waiting for its next resident.

There was no one here, the usual hum of activity gone. With us locking down on our operation, our numbers were shrinking by the day; Alex was in the wind, along with his buddies Neon and Javi, and Knuckles was busy running errands for Ba.

We were alone.

Maybe he would kill me…or try.

I strode forward and knocked on his office door, and he called me in with a monotone voice. I opened the door to find my father sitting at his desk, a behemoth of polished mahogany that had seen more strategy laid upon it than most military tables. Today, it held a different kind of battlefield: a sprawling map of San Francisco, veins of red ink bleeding across it where he'd marked Xs with a thick marker.

"Ba, what's all this?" I asked, my eyes tracing the chaotic art, trying to decipher the pattern in the madness.

He didn't look up from the map, a red marker still clutched in his hand like a weapon. "Trying to find Alex," he muttered, his voice gravelly with focus. "These bombings…he's close, Nathan. The circle is tightening. Every attack is closer to our core."

"Inside our sphere of influence?" I echoed, stepping closer to see the web of destruction he'd traced. My gut twisted. Family ties were supposed to be sacred, yet here we were, hunting one of our own.

Ba finally glanced up, his eyes sharp as shards of glass. "Exactly. We need to find him before the next hit."

"Ba…I'm not so sure," I found myself saying, the words slipping out before I could censor them. The doubt had been gnawing at my insides for days now. "We don't even know if Alex is behind this."

Ba finally looked up from the map, his gaze steady and unnervingly calm. "He is," he said with certainty that bordered on clairvoyance. "Who else would dare strike at the heart of the Serpent?"

I wanted to believe him, to trust in the keen instincts that had kept our family afloat in these treacherous waters for so long. Yet, something held me back, a nagging suspicion that we were missing a piece of the puzzle.

Taking a seat across from him, I watched my father work. The red marker danced in his hand as he drew lines between the Xs, connecting dots only he could see. Every stroke was deliberate, every angle calculated.

This was Kenny Zhou in his element—cold, methodical, relentless.

Minutes ticked by in silence until he finally set the marker down and pinned me with a look that made it clear he'd been aware of my scrutiny all along.

"Nathan," he began, each word measured and heavy with implication, "you're not starting to question my judgment, are you?"

His voice didn't rise, but the implicit warning rang clear. To question Kenny Zhou was to question the very pillars upon which our family stood. And yet, here I was, unable to shake off the unease that knotted my chest.

"No, Ba," I replied, holding his gaze. "Just trying to make sense of it all, like you."

He nodded once, seemingly satisfied with my answer, but I could tell by the way his eyes lingered a moment too long that he sensed the undercurrents of my doubt. In our world, even the slightest hesitation could be fatal.

But then again, so could blind faith.

"Family's supposed to mean everything, right?" I ventured cautiously. "I don't want to make a move on Alex if he's not the one behind this."

The Serpent considered my words, his eyes narrowing just enough to make the air in the room feel a degree colder.

"Acting decisively is what matters most," Ba murmured, his voice low and even. "Alex…he's always been a loose cannon—reckless, impulsive. If he's turning on us, it's a risk we can't afford."

I absorbed that, the weight of his conviction pressing down on me. It was a rule that blood ties were sacred in our family, but here was my father, ready to sever one of those ties without hesitation.

"Being part of this family means making the hard choices, Nathan." He leaned back in his chair, studying the map again as if our conversation had already ended. "And right now, Alex might be the biggest threat we face."

"Even if that's true," I countered, my voice steady despite the unease gnawing at my insides, "I can't shake the feeling that the Lins are mixed up in this somehow. There's something we're not seeing."

Ba's hand paused mid-scribble on the map and he looked up at me, his gaze sharp as a blade. "You will stay away from the Lin family," he commanded with an authority that brooked no argument. "Their connections to the Cranes make them valuable allies and dangerous foes. After the way you dealt with Andrew, it's best you leave them to Knuckles. He's got eyes on their every move."

The mention of Andrew Lin sent a flicker of something dark through me—a reminder of how I'd brutalized him, how I'd even hit his mother.

Maybe he was right.

"Then what do you want me doing?" I asked, redirecting my focus back to the matter at hand.

"Nathan," he leaned forward, his fingers tented on the desk's surface, "it's time to bring Justin into the fold. Start taking him with you on jobs."

"Justin? He's green, Ba. And I'm not sure he's cut out for—or wants—this life." My youngest brother had always been more comfortable outside the shadow of the Serpent's Den, away from the bloodstained legacy of our family.

"His wants are irrelevant," Ba said dismissively. "His loyalty to the family should come before everything else."

That struck a discordant note within me. Loyalty above all else, yet here we were discussing whether to mark Alex, my own blood, for death. The irony wasn't lost on me, but arguing would only raise more suspicion.

"Understood," I replied, masking my inner conflict with a nod.

"Good," Ba said, a note of finality in his voice. He paused, then his eyes locked onto mine with a new intensity. "There is one more thing. I want you to propose to your woman. As long as she's not formally bound to you, she remains a liability."

The blood drained from my face at the mention of her name. This was dangerous territory. "Propose?" I managed to choke out.

"Is there a problem?" His gaze sharpened, reading my every micro-expression.

"Of course not," I lied, struggling to keep my voice steady. "It's just...we've been having the usual relationship issues, that's all."

"Does it have anything to do with her father being a cop?" The question was casual, but I felt the weight of implied threats within it.

I stiffened, the implications spiraling in my mind like a whirlwind. If he could connect the dots, if he saw Owen Harper as a threat—

"Her father?" I echoed, feigning ignorance while my brain raced for cover. "He's no concern of ours."

Ba chuckled, a low sound devoid of humor. "I looked into her background," he admitted, and the room seemed to grow colder. "Found lots of interesting information about dear old dad. Quite the reputation he has, putting away men like us."

"Is that so?" I kept my reply noncommittal, but inside, a warning bell was clamoring. I needed to steer this conversation elsewhere—fast.

"Indeed." Ba leaned back, a serpent coiled in contemplation. "But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just remember, Nathan, everything we do is for the family. Even the hard choices."

"Understood, Ba," I said, my throat tight. What I needed now was to get out of this room, out of this conversation—to protect Abby and her father from the crosshairs they didn't even know they were in.

I rose from the chair, a sudden urgency to distance myself from the suffocating atmosphere of the den.

"I'll make sure Abby is with us for good," I said firmly, locking eyes with the man who had raised me in a world where loyalty was currency and betrayal was paid for in blood.

"See that you do," he replied. "Because if she's not under control, she's a liability we can't afford."

I nodded, the gravity of his words settling like lead in my stomach. "She won't be a problem," I assured him, though my mind raced with the harrowing task ahead.

To secure Abby was to ensnare her further into this deadly game—a game I was no longer certain I wanted to play, let alone bring her into.

I wasn't even sure I could trust her…not after how she'd lied to me.

But Ba was instructing me to get engaged to an FBI agent—to marry her and induct her into the Triad—and above all else, I had to play by my father's rules.