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Xiao’s golden opportunity had presented itself in thedealer, had been stupid enough to try spreading his wings by interfering with Liu’s alien so of over two hundred women, paid off the captain, and killed two of the crew members Worse, one of those crew members turned out to be a cousin of Johnny Liu’s

Xiao had acted instantly, sans guilt or reave hi a life And blood ties? TheyHis family was the Liu Jian Triad

With a surge of adrenaline fueled by that sense of power, Xiao butchered his brother and took photographs of the results He then sliced off one of his brother’s fingers—the one bearing the jade ring with their faer and a photo of his brother’s mutilated remains in a beautifully carved, ornately painted wooden box He presented the box to Johnny Liu as a gift, as proof of the victim’s identity, and as a token of his own loyalty

Liu had been iesture was unprecedented Xiao had chosen his new family over his flesh and blood His actions spoke voluuts, smarts, and unshakable drive, and unhindered by human emotion, he had his eye on a powerful future with the triad

His reward fronificantly elevated his position and status And the seeds of personal trust were planted

Their relationship grew over the next four or five years, and by the tied a special bond Xiao called him A Sook, or “Uncle,” and Liu afforded hiether with a level of trust that surpassed anything he offered to any other triad member

The clincher ca that Liu coveted—Rothberg’s Dead or Alive—along with the 375,000 American dollars that Liu had funded that crooked art dealer, Cai Wen, to pay for it, plus the 25,000 Xiao had brought with hi the transaction The stupid dealer had tried to swindle the wronghis co had killed hi, and left without a backward glance

He’d gone straight to the Dragon Head and gifted hiesture—the painting Johnny Liu had desired, and a large su’s lifestyle tremendously had he kept it But he hadn’t

Years of sacrifice, cul with this latest deh Xiao Long’s future was sealed

A –based triad to gain a foothold in the United States Johnny Liu offered Xiao the chance of a lifetiin expanding the triad’s wealth in America

It was the beginning of Xiao’s rise to power He’d bowed at the Dragon Head’s feet, accepting instantly and vowing to make Liu proud

With the triad’s backing, Xiao had easily started his gang in New York City’s Chinatown The Red Dragons, he’d called it, in honor of his Dragon Head Beco its respected Dai Lo, or “Elder Brother,” was just as easy There were street kids everywhere ere hungry for cash and even hungrier for the “fa had capitalized on that, and the Red Dragons had flourished, surviving gang wars, police raids, and the occasional defector or infor, and prostitution businesses had produced a cash flow that on Head’s expectations

This year they’d expanded into ho out affluent Manhattan aparth data provided by Xiao’s nephew, Eric Hu, and his coon kids took over, bypassing u

nifor security codes stolen through the use of Hu’s hidden video caested, and the kids went straight to the valuable items whose locations Hu had provided All the stolen ites and art pieces that Xiao shipped off to Hong Kong via the Philippine province of Cebu

Xiao knew that Johnny Liu had a broader plan in ral part in what came next