MINA

"I hate you," I hissed again as I ate my French toast.

Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, flipping the files in front of her. "We're in public, sweetheart."

"They can all fuck themselves with these dull knives for all I bloody care." I looked around her favorite restaurant to find at least ten pairs of eyes staring at us as if we were some kind of movie stars. Well, we were some kind of stars, but it was still annoying as fuck.

"Careful, they may stop seeing you as darling." She smirked, drinking her coffee in disdain. I knew she would prefer brandy and right now, so would I.

"They can have their fake darling back after we dump Amory and Saige's bodies in one of the Great Lakes," I said.

"Patience, love."

Gripping the knife in my hands, I felt my nostrils flare. "To hell with patience. It's been four months since their wedding. Since then, they have burned half our fields in Mexico, killed seven of our men in Japan, and cut off thirty percent of our weed from the east. Which you should know costs us about a hundred million every week. I want their heads on a stake, and I want it fucking yesterday. But somehow, you fucking convinced me to wait. So fuck you and fuck them and fuck this goddamn hat I have to fucking wear!"

I wanted to take off the giant yellow sun hat and throw it at her, but that would bring too much attention to myself. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried to breathe. The past four months had been an all-out war. The Valero were coming at us with everything they had. We expected as much. However, with the cops now watching us more than ever, our actions were limited. The Valero were most likely behind that as well, but right now, I was ready to bomb the police station, kill the Valero, and move on. But instead, I was in a stupid five star restaurant, waiting on the motherfucking real housewives of Chicago for some charity shit.

"First, that is a lot of fucks. Second, your hat is nice." She smirked as I glared. "And we will find an opening soon. However, right now the plan we came up with last night is the one we're sticking with."

"I was high off sex and couldn't think straight," I snapped, drinking the sorry excuse for tea they offered me.

"But that is where all our master plans are created."

"Really? Isn't that where you came up with the plan to pump more heroin into Boston? Now the mayor is involved."

She leaned back in her chair with no care in the world. "That's only because his idiot daughter went and overdosed. He's busy blaming dealers as if we held the needle to her arm. His bad parenting is apparently our fault. Mayor or no mayor, it was a good idea. The demand is growing."

"Chaeyoung." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "We keep going like this, we are going to be stretched too thin. We can't fight Chicago and Boston with Valero still screwing us. The mayor is going to be doubling down his efforts to trace it."

"Fine," she hissed, leaning in. "We stay neutral for now. We have a shipment coming in tonight that I will redirect and hold. But the moment the Valero are out of the picture, we are pushing hard."

"Deal. In the meantime, we can up the weed. The shit is almost legal anyway, and both coasts are addicted." Weed was as good as gold now. We sold to medical pharmacies where it was legal, and small street gangs where it wasn't.

"Then it's settled . . ." She paused causing me to look over at the door where Commissioner Andrew fucking Patterson made his way toward us.

"Who do you call when it's the police who are stalking you?" I sighed, looking over to Chaeyoung, who glared at the man approaching.

"Us."

Commissioner Andrew fucking Patterson placed two sliver badges on the table, causing Chaeyoung and me to share a quick glance.

"Shiny." Chaeyoung snickered, taking a sip of her coffee. "Is there a reason why you are putting that filth on my table?"

Patterson looked like he had aged at least ten years in the last four months. "The officers your men killed today were fresh out of the academy."

"You should be careful of what you accuse people of Commissioner," I hissed, looking around the room once more. No one could hear us, but he was being fucking stupid.

"You even had their families killed, didn't you?" He laughed bitterly, ignoring me completely.

"Commissioner—"

"A six year old girl now has no family, thanks to you! I know you're the ones behind Pope and Jeffery! You people are sick! You will burn in hell!"

"Commissioner! Have you lost your mind?" Chaeyoung yelled, standing up as two guards walked toward us.

"Maybe I have!" the man yelled as the guards held him back. "But you won't remain untouchable forever! One day, someone is going to make you all pay for your crimes."

"Get this man out of here, he is upsetting my wife!" Chaeyoung screamed as the guards pulled the commissioner away.

Upsetting me? Fuck that, this shit was funny as hell but I could play the damsel in distress. I guess.

"Fuckin' Sons wouldn't be in power forever! Just wait, someone is gonna pay you back tenfold, and I will laugh, you monsters!" he said, like the joker was on ʼshrooms.

"Get him out!" Chaeyoung roared again, while I placed my hand to my heart like a good damsel in distress.

When he was gone, the manager ran toward us, bowing so low you would think he was trying to kiss Chaeyoung's cock . . . jeez. Since when did we live in Korea?

"I am so sorry, Mrs. Son, please . . ."

"It's not a problem. Please, just keep that man away from our family," Chaeyoung said before taking a seat back down. She waited for the room to return to order before staring at me with hard eyes.

"You were the one who ordered it?" she asked me.

"Yes," I replied back, unsure about why she looked like I was the one she wanted to kill.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You let the girl live."

Sitting up straighter, I glared back. "She wasn't home, and I wasn't going to hunt her down. She is six fucking years old."

"Then you should have waited until she was home," she hissed, moving to the edge of her chair. "I don't care if she was six or twenty-six. She is his family and therefore should be dead—"

"You make it seem like that one girl has any power," I snapped back at her. She needed to calm the fuck down before I stabbed her here and now.

She stared at me as if I had lost my mind. "She is the daughter of a cop, a blue blood. She isn't a threat now, but what about in twenty years when she is out of the academy? She will be like a bloodhound looking for revenge. Children grow up, and unless you know something I don't, we are going to be around in twenty years. I will not have the past bite us in the ass. After all, look at you. You were six once, and what happened to you then changed your life forever. You are the last person I thought I would ever have to explain who we are or what we do."

She stood up and kissed me on the side of the check harshly for those who might still be watching, before whispering, "Stay here, my mother has arrived. I will take care of it."

She fucking sounded disappointed in me. Who does this motherfucking bitch think she is? Did she just sit me? I was the fucking Boss, and I sure as hell didn't take orders. Momo, Nayeon, and Evelyn walked in with a whole group of other charity woman before I could beat her head in. Each one of them smiled and laughed as though they were breathing a different sort of air.

"Ladies, isn't my youngest, beautiful?" Evelyn said, giving Chaeyoung a big hug.

Chaeyoung laughed but it was her fake laugh, the one she did for crowds. "The most, some say."

They all laughed at her while I eyed her skin, wondering where would be the best place to impale her.

"The cockiest as well." Evelyn grinned.

"I shall take that compliment." She winked at a few of the older ladies, forcing me to act like an embarrassed wife and smack her in the chest. I was not in the mood to play this stupid game.

"We've had our breakfast. Honey, don't you have business to take care off?" I dug my nails into her skin but the bitch didn't even flinch.

"You all had breakfast already?" Momo asked us, looking to our table as waiters cleared it and added a new table to make room.

"Sorry, ladies, only God knows when I would see her again after she disappears with you all. I had to at least start my morning with her." Chaeyoung charmed is way into the cougars' arms. They eyed her like she was a god herself. Both their facial expressions and her words made me want to puke.

"Young love." Nayeon laughed, causing me to glare at her.

"Goodbye, Chaeyoung."

"It's already begun." Chaeyoung laughed, kissing my hand. "I know when I'm not wanted."

The women aww-ed as she left, and I tried my best to actually look flattered, but my face just wouldn't have it. Evelyn, Nayeon, and Momo all seemed to notice. Smiling at them, I took a seat as the other women all took theirs.

"Ladies, welcome to the Seventeenth Annual W.E.W.—Women Empowering Women," a peppy blonde announced once the ladies were seated. "I would like to thank Mrs. Momo Son for once again hosting us all here. Thank you so much for everything you do."

I glanced at her, but she didn't meet my gaze. Two steps forward, six steps back, for Momo.

"How often do they hold these meetings?" I whispered to Evelyn as everyone clapped.

"First Saturday of every month. You've missed quite a few," Nayeon replied before Evelyn could speak, and right on cue the peppy blonde turned to me.

"Please give a W.E.W. welcome to the newest member, Mrs. Mina Son. We all know how that first year of marriage is." They turned to me, and I forced myself to smile and blush at the plastic army in front of me.

"Be happy you missed so many," Evelyn whispered, causing Nayeon and Momo to snicker.

It took a while, but finally, all the women were so caught up in their conversations that I no longer had to force myself pay attention. They had to be the saddest and most desperate women I had ever met. None of them cared about the charity. They only cared about upstaging each other in who had more money to give, just to prove how rich they are. None of them could hold a candle to any wife of a Son. However, they all wanted to come in second place. So if they had to feed the starving villages to be thought highly of, they would do it.

Momo shifted for the nineteenth time since she sat down, causing me to look her over quickly. I could tell a lot had changed in her. Her arms and legs were more toned, and she seemed much more alert and capable now. She had even cut her hair down some more, but despite all that, she still looked beautiful, almost had a movie star kind of beauty.

"Are you ready to be working with me next, Momo?" I asked her softly. Her eyes went wide and grinned.

"Are you serious?" she asked, because she obviously didn't know who I was. I didn't joke around with things like that. I rarely joked at all, in fact.

"Jihyo said you are getting too used to her. So, yes, I am serious."

"Yeah, first I would have to talk to Dahyun—"

"What?"

"Dahyun," she said again with a frown. "When I told her, she kind of laughed it off, and we haven't talked about it much. But I think that's because she doesn't see Jihyo as anything to worry about. You, on the other hand—"

"I'm something to worry about," I added, placing Dahyun on my Son ass-kicking list. "Have you tried making her listen?"

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"You do know you are a woman, correct?" I smirked. "Grab handcuffs, make her hard, tell her what you want to tell her, and then leave her there to think about it."

"I could never do that, Dahyun would be so—"

"Horny, which you can use to your advantage. You are a motherfucking Son woman. You do what you want. If you want to train with me, you train with me, and if Dahyun doesn't like it, remind her of the days when all she had was her hand." I was dead serious, even though Nayeon was laughing beside me. For all the improvement Momo was enjoying, I was shocked she was still hiding behind this shell.

"Mina, I'm not like you—"

"No one is like me, but that's not the point," I interrupted, and I would keep interrupting until she found the balls to stop me.

"It's just that I don't know how to be this strong person. Dahyun means the world to me, and I don't want to hurt her or lose her," she whispered, and I was tempted to drown myself in my soup.

"If you keep focusing on how lucky you are to have Dahyun, then you're going to forget how lucky she is to have you. Imagine you're a princess and then demand to be treated like one," Nayeon replied, and I was a little confused. Since when did I get on the same page as the blow-up doll?

"All my children need to be knocked upside their heads every once in a while." Evelyn gave one of her motherly smiles.

"Or shot." I smiled, causing Evelyn to glare at me, and I simply shrugged, it was true. Bullets spoke louder than words.

"Mina, do you mind if we speak in private?" Nayeon asked me, oddly polite. I glanced over at Momo and Evelyn who seemed just as shocked. Nodding, I stood, waiting for her to follow as I headed to the women's bathroom.

Taking off the stupid hat, I placed it on the counter before turning back to her. "Speak."

"I wanted to apologize for my hostility and for being—"

"A rude, immature bitch?" I asked, crossing my hands.

Her eyes narrowed at me, and it looked like she was trying her best to bite her tongue. "Yeah, for that, too."

"I won't accept your apology until I know why you're offering it." I turned back to the mirror trying to fix my hat hair.

"Because that is what grown people do? We apologize when we are wrong," she snapped before taking a deep breath.

"Well, I'm calling bullshit." I smiled. "You see, when people apologize and mean it, they don't need privacy. So I'm guessing Jeongyeon put you up to this. What did she say to make you try and humble yourself?"

"She—"

"Don't lie to me, Nayeon. I'm much better at it than you, and I have no problem breaking your head against this mirror. You can take a little drive to West Ridge and ask Nancy if you don't believe me." I couldn't kill her, but I hated liars and would make that clear.

She stared at me wide-eyed and nodded. "Fine. A few months ago, Jeongyeon and I talked about it. I've been trying to stay out of your way, but I know we are going to have to speak sometime. I just . . . Jeong wants me to make peace. I love her, so I will do it."

"What is with you all and bending to what your wives want?" They really were Stepford wives.

"It's called love, Mina," she snapped at me once again. "When you love someone, all you want is for them to be happy. That doesn't make you weak, and that doesn't make you an idiot. Chaeyoung is head over heels in love with you, she would die for you, and yet you cringe at the thought of it. Momo and I are not G.I. Janes, and we can't walk on the dark side of the moon and come back okay. But at least neither of us are scared of love. So I'm saying sorry once again. I have to go home to my wife, have amazing sex, and see her smile."

She said nothing else before walking out. When she did, I turned to the mirror and stared at myself. I remembered a time when my life was so much easier.

CHAEYOUNG

Most people—a lot of people—would be disgusted with what I did tonight. They would call me a monster, tell me I was heartless or cruel. But none of them knew the life I lived or walk down the same dimly lit streets as me. I was head of the family. I was the Ceann na Conairte. Which meant it fell on my shoulders to protect this family from past, present, and future nuisances. All you had to do was watch an old mafia movie to see how one loose end brought down some of the greatest empires there ever was.

Rule Two: Take no prisoners and have no regrets about it.

Anyone we captured were either killed or flipped to our side and used for intel. But after we got what we needed, they were killed anyway. Any man who can flip on his boss once can do it again. What made the Sons successful is that we had evolved past all the mistakes that had brought other greats down. We didn't cheat on our wives, and we didn't do any of the smack or drugs we sold. Those two things alone were things the mafia world was known for. However, it was also the first thing that brought them down. Everyone stayed clean, even the men closest to us. The men of our family had worked too hard to become what they were today for some junkie to snitch to the police to save his skin. Wives were key, because if you treated them right, they would live and die for you. I had no regrets for what I did. I didn't kill because I was a sick twisted motherfucker. Everything was for the betterment of the family.

Sighing, I played away on my piano. I came back late and I didn't feel like dealing with Mina or anyone else for that matter. I thought she understood, but she just wrote it off like it was nothing. She was too focused on Amory and Saige. Yes, they were a huge problem, but we needed to cover all our bases. Vance would just love it if we hung ourselves. He was trying to spread us out all over the globe. The more areas to cover, the more room for mistakes. I just needed to find an opening.

"You're going to wear out the keys," my wife called out behind me, but I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I knew whatever she was wearing tonight would leave me smitten . . . fuck that . . . it would leave me fucking hungry for her.

I just kept playing. I wasn't even sure what it was. I just played. However, with each step she took, I could feel her like a wave of warmth behind me. I knew when her hand was hovering right over my head, and I leaned into it without thinking. She ran her fingers through my hair before stepping onto the seat next me. From there, she climbed onto the front of the piano, placing her legs on either side of me and forcing me to play while staring right at her. Damn her to hell.

"Mina . . ."

"Do you love me?" she whispered, looking me dead in the eye. I froze. What could I say to that? If I lied, she would know. If I told her the truth, she would push me away. So I just played.

She slid down, the keys chiming as she hit them, until she was in my lap. Kissing me, she wrapped her legs around my waist.

"Do you love me?"

"Yes, I love you. You don't have to say it back. I can wait."

She took a deep breath and dropped her head down.

"Mina, I'm serious, you don't have to say it back now. I can wait." I tried to lift her chin, but she ripped her head from my hand.

"Mina . . ."

"I'm not good at love," she whispered.

"I know, that's why I was waiting." I rubbed her thighs, not for anything sexual, but so she could feel me and know I was here holding her.

She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "I've been working on it."

"I know that, too." I've watched as she peeled back layers of herself for me to see day by day.

Rising from my lap, she walked over to the window, and I missed her warmth.

"I've always been the strong one, Chaeyoung. I'm good at being the strong one. I don't want anyone to ever see me as weak or—"

"There is not a person alive who truly knows you that doesn't fear you or think you're weak," I whispered, stepping behind her. "What is wrong with you?"

"What if I was pregnant?" She turned to me quickly. "No one sees a pregnant woman and thinks, 'holy shit, this woman could kill me with her bare hands.' All they see is this . . . this incubator who stuffs her face and waddles like a penguin."

I laughed. "I would say like a duck, but a penguin works."

She hit my arm hard, and I laughed some more. She always made me truly laugh.

"Sweetheart, we still have a while before you're waddling like anything."

"Yeah, a little under seven months." She frowned, lifting up her shirt for me to see a tiny bump that was almost unnoticeable. I had seen her naked so many times I could tell.

I felt the words leave my throat as my mouth dropped open. My hand went to her stomach before I met her gaze. Each time I tried to form a word, it was lost by the time I opened my mouth again.

"You're pregnant," I whispered.

She nodded. "Ten weeks."

My legs gave out under me, and I found myself on my knees, my head on her stomach. I couldn't hear anything, but I felt so humbled, in love, and overjoyed. Her hands found their way into my hair again as I kissed her stomach.

"I love you, too, Chaeyoung. I just don't know if I can say it often," she whispered. "So you're going to have to say it to him or her a lot."

I laughed and nodded. She bent down in front of me, and I gripped the sides of her face.

"Holy shit, I'm fucking pregnant," she whispered.

"Holy shit, indeed," I whispered back before taking her lips. Pulling her body to mine, I lifted her up bridal style and walked over to the bed.

"No sex on the piano?" she asked in my arms.

"I don't want sex. I want to make love to you."

Dropping her in the center of the bed, she raised an eyebrow at me. "You are so cheesy, Chaeyoung."

"Shut up and enjoy it." If I was going to die of something, it was going to be of happiness.

She pulled me by my belt onto the bed and hopped on my waist. "You cannot treat me differently."

"The fuck I am." Everything was different now.

"Chaeyoung, I'm serious." She glared at me.

Sitting up, I grabbed her sides to hold her in place. "So am I, you're pregnant."

"That doesn't make me handicapped or made out of glass," she snapped, and I would have to prepare for a few months of it. But that thought only brought a smile to my lips.

"Mina, if you would let me, I would wrap you in bubble wrap and make sure you were surrounded by at least four men on the ground and two in the fucking sky."

"And I would use the motherfuckers' heads as target practice. Until I start to fucking waddle, no one is to treat me any fucking differently. If they do, I'll chain them to the back of your stupid Audi and rip them apart. Pregnant or not, I'm still fucking Bloody Mina," she yelled in my face.

There had to be something fucked up with me if I found her threatening to kill people while pregnant sexy. Kissing her, I made sure to leave a mental note of where our argument had left off before flipping her onto her back. I could feel her small hands ripping at my clothes, trying her best to pull them off me as I was trying to do with her.

"Say it again," I whispered, kissing down her chest.

"What?" she gasped out in pleasure as I made it to the promise land, the land of milk and honey right between her thighs.

"Tell me you love me." I kissed her other lips, before placing three fingers inside her.

She didn't speak as I quickened my fingers in and out of her. She moaned out loudly as I slowed down.

"Chae. . ."

"Tell me," I whispered, moving so slow she rocked against me in hopes of forcing me to move faster.

"I fucking hate you!"

"And?" I asked, smirking. I loved watching her this wild because of me.

"That's it." She smiled, and I bit her thigh gently.

"I wanted to drink all of you," I muttered against her skin toward my fingers. "I wanted to make you come with my tongue."

Pulling out, she whimpered.

"But since you once again want to be difficult"—I smiled, releasing my throbbing cock out of my pants—"I'm going to have to fuck it out of you."

Before she could respond, I slammed into her and her body jerked off the bed.

"Fucking Christ, Chaeyoung," she hissed out in pleasure, locking her legs around me. However, I pulled them apart.

"This will be all about my pleasure and not yours if you don't say it, love." I grinned as she fought against me, but I always won this fight.

"I fucking hate you."

"And?"

"I kind of love you, too, you asshole," she mumbled, and I would take it.

Capturing her lips in mine for only a moment before I sucked her breast, she rocked against me while I stroked within her. Each movement was painfully slow, but I didn't want to rush this. I wanted us to ride each wave of pleasure with her. But my wife rarely did what I wanted. Wrapping her legs around me once again, she pulled me even closer to her before flipping me on the bed. Her head rocked back while she rode me, and I had to hold on to the headboard. My grip was so tight, I was shocked that it didn't break.

"Jesus, Mina." I groaned. I couldn't hold it anymore. Grabbing her waist, I held on, watching through half-closed eyes as she brought me the greatest pleasure.

"I love you," I cried as I came along with her. She fell on top of me, and my first instinct was to wrap her in my arms.

All I could smell was sex, and all I could hear was her deep breaths mixed in with mine. We stayed there, wrapped in each other's arms for what seemed liked hours before she looked up at me. She didn't say anything just stared, and once again, I wished I could read her mind.

"What?" I asked as she rolled beside me. My hand went to her stomach protectively. The next fucking Son, my kid, was less than seven months away. It made me want to make love to her all over again.

"We should have used condoms," she whispered, placing her hand over mine.

"Not today. Not fucking ever." I didn't want anything between us. "You don't want a child?"

"Kids are smelly and loud. You never know what they want because they can't talk. Their heads are way too big for their bodies, which means if you drop them, they're going headfirst. They're like little aliens." She sighed, and I tried not to smile. She was scared and worried about being a mother, and because she was my Mina, she would never just come out and say it.

"Only in the beginning—"

"Yeah, because they transform from aliens into monsters. First, little monsters who cry and throw tantrums, then to sex-crazed teenagers who think they are smarter than everyone else. That's going to be the next eighteen years, Chaeyoung. I'm not like your mom. My patience will run out, and I am going to say or do something—"

I kissed her. "There were days my mom was even scarier than my father . . . a lot of days, actually. However, my parents made it work, and we turned out fine."

"You're a sex-crazed, closet smoker, who sells dope, crack, and smack for a living. Not to mention a murderer." She rolled her eyes at me before laughing.

"Like I said, I turned out fine." Honestly, the worst thing was the murder, but that wasn't my fault. People thought they could steal from us, threaten us, and I made sure that wasn't tolerated.

"I'm a planner Chaeyoung," she said, sighing. "I like to know how I'm going to approach things, or kill them. This, our kid, isn't part of my plan. We have Saige and Amory to deal . . ."

"Don't stress, love. I can handle—"She pulled a knife from under the pillow and held it to my throat. Pushing me back, she took a seat on my waist once again.

"If you try to put me on the bench, Chaeyoung, so help me I will start cutting body parts off. I may be pregnant, but I am still Bloody Motherfucking Mina. I can destroy anyone I want. I'll chalk it up to hormones." She glared, and I could see the same woman who shot me in the thigh.

I felt my dick rise at her words and her position on top of me.

"Bloody Motherfucking Mina, indeed." I snickered, rubbing against her. I watched her eyes glaze over as she let the knife drop to the floor and kissed me.

When our phones rang and she pulled away, I felt the need to snap whichever fool thought to call us at two in the morning.

"Speak," she said into the phone as I kissed her legs. "We will be right there."

No, we'll be right here! My mind begged.

Hanging up, Mina jumped out of bed, leaving me hard as a fucking rock in bed.

"Amory and Saige burned down my fucking house," she snapped angrily as she stomped into the closet.

I groaned to myself. "Damn them all to hell."

"Chaeyoung, get your horny fucking ass out of bed and help me kill a bitch!" she yelled.

Oh, I was going to kill them all right.

MINA

I leaned against the car, watching as the Myoui Villa burned to the ground. The fire department was trying their best to control the fire, but a deadlier one was burning inside me.

Sana ran up to me. "There was a note on the gate, ma'am."

I saw Chaeyoung reaching for it, but I snatched it before she could and glared at her. She was not going to treat me differently. I wouldn't have it.

You burn my shit, I burn yours. All is fair in war. Congrats on the baby. Such a happy time for you both.

XOXO

A

Chaeyoung grabbed the letter, her nose flaring with just as much rage as mine was.

There was only one other person who knew I was pregnant.

I roared into Sana's face. "Find Dr. Anderson, now!"

Chaeyoung turned to me, her eyes still hard. "Everything is different now."

I nodded, opening the car door and taking a seat. Everything was different. I was now a bigger target. I was always a target, but now so was my child—the next leader of our empire—and because of that, I was going to have to change. Not into Evelyn or Momo, but a different type of leader. I was going to have to figure out how to be ruthless and pregnant. Amory and Saige picked the wrong motherfucking family to mess with.