"It's not that we don't think he's good enough," Byron says beside me, hitting her with his best flirtatious smile, even though she can't see it, and, c'mon Byron, she's the wife of a major crime boss. Could you pick a worst person to flirt with?

"It's just the more juice, the better with this guy," Byron explains. "He's not going to let my sister go easily—especially now that she's pregnant."

"You're pregnant," Amber says, tilting her head thoughtfully. "So you'll need a custody agreement after the child is born. And I'm assuming this is a bad guy we're talking about if you're here talking to me. Not just your run-of-the-mill rich asshole.

"Exactly," I answer. "He's bad. Really bad."

"Chinese Mafia out of Rhode Island," Matti explains.

"Actually…" Byron clears his throat, shifting uncomfortably. "He's located in Rhode Island right now. But technically, he operates from all over."

Matti shifts to turn to the both of us, his face clouding over with new consternation. "So, this is an international case? Why didn't you tell me that at our initial consult?"

"I'm sorry," I answer for the both of us—even though withholding the real details about Victor's background had been Byron's idea, not mine. "We were afraid we'd only have one shot, and we wanted to double our chances of representation by making sure both of you were in the room when we told you my husband is…um…Victor Zhang."

Amber's expression doesn't change, but Matti's chin drops as if I've sucker punched him.

"You don't mean Victor Zhang, the head of The Silent Triad?" Matti prompts with a sickly look. Like his breakfast won't stay down if my answer is yes.

But unfortunately, I have to reply, "Yes, that's him. I'm really sorry."

I swallow, wishing that I had a different answer for him…and this baby I'm carrying.

"Who's The Silent Triad?" Amber asks into the hushed silence that follows my second, even more heartfelt apology.

"Nobody," Matti answers, jumping to his feet. "Because we're not taking this case. Sorry to have bothered you about this, Amber. If I'd known—"

"Matti, sit down," Amber snaps, cutting him off. Though, how she knew he was standing, I have no idea.

Nevertheless, she waits with a stern look until Matti sits down again. He crosses his arms over his chest, like a kid in time out.

"We're not taking this case," he tells Amber while glaring at me. "Luca isn't going to let you. I can guarantee you that."

Her face narrows as if Matti's challenged her to a duel. "We'll see about that," she answers. Then she directs her gaze back to me and repeats her question. "Who's The Silent Triad?"

Byron answers before I can. "The Silent Triad is an international criminal organization with branches on every continent but Antarctica. Victor Zhang is one of their three dragonheads."