Jackpot

63

The Macau Tower shopping center had a glossy, high-end look most of the time, but the glass and chrome and marble had been covered with velvet and jewels and gold for this event. Li Feng strode into the lobby with a confident swagger, her dress clinging tightly to her body and her sword swaying with her hips. She saw Sonny Ma across the room and went to him as if she were his co-guest of honor.

The look on his face as she approached him was almost worth the effort itself. His eyes flickered back and forth looking for an exit, but she remained calm and tried to project an image of professionalism and not of crazy murder. For her to have the best shot of being as close as possible to this man when he died, she needed to charm him and stay close to him early on, even if the sickness in her stomach from it became unbearable. He seemed uncomfortable as well but wasn’t backing away.

“I apologize for my behavior the last time we saw each other,” she said, putting her hand on his arm as she spoke.

He flinched, but then quickly relaxed his arm instead of pulling it away when he realized she wasn’t trying to grab him.

“We hadn’t seen each other in many years,” Sonny Ma said. “It was never going to be easy.”

She tried to calm her burning anger so that she didn’t waste her opportunity to give Sonny Ma his proper comeuppance. If she was ever going to be an actress, she was going to need to have precise control of her emotions. Her role this evening demanded her to be conciliatory, and she would play the role brilliantly.

“The world is changing, and I see you changing; I thought that maybe I could change, too.”

She saw a spark in Sonny Ma’s eyes and a flicker of a smile as she spoke.

“You still can. This new enterprise can be a fresh start for both of us. You could come work for me and help me build this new face of gambling in Macau.”

The acid burned in her stomach as Li Feng choked back a biting response to Sonny Ma’s insulting offer. She had no interest in being stuck in cubicles and boardrooms, or worse, being a trophy for Sonny Ma to parade around at boring functions.

Li Feng noticed the crowd that had been spread across the entire complex was now quickly collapsing in on them as everyone realized that Sonny Ma was in the room. Some even seemed to recognize Li Feng. She played her role well and was receiving the sort of attention she craved. It felt as good as she could have ever dreamed it would feel. It felt wonderful, but she needed to move him up to the area for the premiere so she could remain close to Sonny.

“Won’t you escort me up to the premiere?” she asked.

He agreed, even though he still seemed skeptical. The entire way, she kept expecting someone to stop them and confiscate her sword. But she was lucky that so many festival attendees were wearing costumes with fake weaponry of their own. Alongside the others, hers didn’t look out of place, and nobody bothered her about it.

Bingo hung up with Arrow Donaldson and smashed his phone. He was not going to back off of Li Feng. She would have Sonny Ma killed, laugh at the man’s demise, and then be rewarded with a new identity for success in the United States. He would keep to his plan and go to Macau Tower and kill Li Feng.

The Tower still took his breath away every time he saw it, but this time it was even more breathtaking because it would make it very difficult to keep an eye on Li Feng. Bingo saw Sonny Ma first because the giant man dominated any room he was in, but he was startled to see Li Feng there with Sonny Ma, and holding a sword. Was this it? Was she going to kill him herself? The window disappeared as quickly as it had opened as the crowd noticed the two of them and quickly swarmed the pair, making it impossible for Bingo to make a move.