Brie's Tokyo Tryst (Submissive in Love, #1) (3 page)

Brie whispered hesitantly, “Is he dead?”

Sir shook his head. “No, but I believe the
privacy Tono was trying to preserve has been compromised.”

“Then we got here just in time,” she
breathed in relief.

The joy she’d felt just minutes ago was lost
in a sea of new worry. Sir paid for the drinks and quickly escorted
her back to the cab. “I hope you got the sleep you needed on the
plane, babygirl. It doesn’t appear you’re going to get more any
time soon.”

Sir spent several hours tracking Tono down.
Despite some language barrier issues, Sir not only found the
location of the hospital where Tono’s father was staying, but also
a phone number for Tono’s mother. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able
to reach him until morning to inform him we’ve arrived.”

“Sir, Tono knows we’re coming, doesn’t
he?”

He surprised her by shaking his head.

“Then why are we here, Sir?”

“Nosaka is drowning. You sensed it, and his
unusual actions confirmed it. The man needs support.”

Sir’s pronouncement gave Brie chills, but
the fact he had come to assist Tono touched her deeply. She
struggled to speak, choked up with emotion. “I can’t believe you
would do that, Sir.”

“Nosaka is a good man,” Sir said, wrapping
his arm around her. “He should not suffer alone.”

While he got ready for bed, Sir instructed
her to undress completely, pulling her close when she joined him in
the bed. “Everything will be okay, Brie.”

She pressed against him and sighed
contently, “I trust you, Sir. Everything will be okay.”

The next morning Sir attempted to call Tono
at his mother’s, but the phone rang busy. “Not surprising,” he
stated. “They probably took it off the hook once the media got wind
of the story.”

Brie felt butterflies when they pulled up to
Tono’s family home, knowing that he had no idea they were coming.
She hadn’t understood the love and devotion the people had towards
the famous
bakushi
until she was forced to wade through a
crowd of journalists and grieving fans of the elder Kinbaku
Master.

The home was charmingly traditional, with a
large, decorative roof, thin dark wood accents and paper walls. Sir
knocked on the door and announced loudly, “Ren Nosaka, it’s the
Davises.”

Brie blushed pleasantly. Although they were
engaged, they hadn’t set a date for the wedding yet. Sir hadn’t had
time with all the litigation, and Brie hadn’t wanted to push.
However, she had to admit that hearing his last name associated
with her was heart-melting.

It took several awkward minutes before the
door finally slid open. A petite older woman who shared Tono’s
facial features opened the door. Unfortunately, she wore an
unwelcoming expression.

“Visitors another day…please!”

Brie understood that was her polite way of
saying “Go away”, but Sir wasn’t going anywhere and called into the
house, “Ren, we aren’t leaving until we speak to you.”

When there was no movement or sound from
within, the woman began to slide the door shut.

Brie called out, “Please, Tono, I
have
to see you.”

The door shut with a little added force,
leaving Sir and Brie staring at each other. She glanced at the
crowd of photographers behind them, listening to the rapid clicking
of their cameras. “What do we do now, Sir?”

“We wait,” he said patiently.

Brie put her hand behind her back and
straightened her stance to match Sir’s. The two stared at the door,
ignoring the numerous shutter clicks fluttering behind them. After
many excruciating minutes, the door slipped back open and the old
women ushered them inside before quickly closing the door
again.

It was easy to tell by the sour look on her
face that she was not happy with their intrusion.

Sir bowed to her and asked, “Where is your
son, Nosaka
sama
?”

The woman frowned, but pointed to an open
door down the hall on the right. Sir bowed again and smiled
pleasantly, choosing to ignore the woman’s obvious displeasure, as
he placed his hand on Brie’s back and guided her towards the
room.

Sir cleared his throat at the threshold to
get Tono’s attention. He was bent over a small table, pouring three
cups of tea.

Brie’s heart fell when Tono looked up. His
appearance was physically jarring—his face was gaunt and hollow—a
husk of the man he once was.

“Tono…” she whispered in distress.

He looked down at the tea pot, choosing not
to acknowledge her presence.

Sir quietly closed the door behind them and
directed Brie to sit next to Tono. She sat beside the Asian Dom and
tentatively reached out to touch his sleeve, but Tono deftly moved
out of the way and addressed Sir.

“There was no reason for you to come, but
please sit.” He indicated that Sir should sit opposite him and
placed a steaming cup in front of Sir. Without addressing Brie, he
pushed the next cup towards her, then picked up the last one for
himself, holding it up reverently to Sir. “Although I appreciate
the gesture, it was unnecessary.” He nodded before taking a
sip.

Sir looked at Brie and indicated that she
should join them. She had to choke back the tears of rejection as
she took a sip of the soothing green tea.

Although Tono was purposely ignoring her,
Brie felt the pain he was suffering and said, “We came to support
you, Tono Nosaka.”

He shrugged off her offer with a roll of his
shoulders and told Sir, “I didn’t need you to come.”

For the first time, he glanced in her
direction, his eyes devoid of their inner light. Brie was struck
dumb by the depth of pain those chocolate eyes revealed.

Sir replied smoothly, “I’m sorry to see that
the media has become involved.”

Tono took another sip of tea before
responding. “We prefer to suffer this battle alone with dignity,
but even that has been taken from us.”

Brie wanted to wrap her arms around him, but
knew it would only upset him based on his behavior towards her. She
sat there feeling useless as Sir explained, “I believe I can help
if your father’s doctors are willing to move him to another
facility. Give me the go-ahead and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Although I doubt you can escape the
paparazzi, you have my permission to try.”

“How can I help?” Brie offered, determined
to get past the emotional barrier between them.

Tono sighed tiredly, reluctantly meeting her
gaze. “I do not need you here, Miss Bennett. Please go.”

She couldn’t hide her hurt and looked
desperately at Sir.

He gave her a private smile, commanding,
“Téa, you will stay here while I make the arrangements.” Before
Tono could protest, Sir stood up and exited the room.

Brie sat beside Tono in uncomfortable
silence. As he continued to sip his tea, she listened to his
breathing out of habit, and instinctively slowed her breath to
match his rhythm. Once they were in sync, she noticed his muscles
relax.

Finally, he broke the painful silence. “Why?
Why have you come?”

The tone of his voice sounded reproachful,
but she answered his question in earnest. “Tono, the dream I wrote
to you about has haunted me ever since. As much as you may not want
me here, I felt just as strongly that I
had
to come.”

He closed his eyes and groaned. “Brie, you
don’t know how much your presence both comforts and wounds me.”

His words cut her like a knife, but rather
than reply, she took a sip of her tea.

What has changed so drastically between
us?

The two of them had developed a comfortable
friendship despite their past, but now it seemed all that had
changed…

He pushed back from the small table and lay
down on his back on the mat. “I was doing well, enjoying the tour,
until I got the phone call. I thought my world was falling apart
when I heard my father was in the hospital, but I had no idea how
serious it really was.”

“What’s wrong with your father?”

He snorted in disgust. “He went in for
simple back surgery, but complications arose and he left the
operating table paralyzed. I arrived in Japan a day after he
received the devastating news.”

Tono turned towards Brie. “My father is a
strong man—strong not only physically, but mentally. Even that
prognosis did not deter him. He was determined to walk again so he
could return to the art he loved, but fate has not been kind. A
week later, he contracted a virulent strain of pneumonia. Now he
fights for every breath and his body is growing weaker by the
minute.”

“I can’t imagine how difficult it must be
watching your father suffer like that.”

He let out a painful sigh. “There is no
hope. He will die from this, but he can’t willingly leave this
Earth. It is not in his nature; he will fight this until the
end.”

“As difficult as it is for you, Tono, his
warrior spirit is truly inspiring.”

“I have always admired my father, Brie.” She
watched in sympathy as a lone tear fell down his handsome face.
“I’m not the warrior he is. I can’t handle watching him suffer day
in and day out. It’s killing me inside.”

Brie moved away from the table and sat next
to Tono, taking his hands in hers. “I’m so sorry, Tono. Just so
sorry…”

“I wish I could switch places with him. I
could handle it better than standing by having to watch him suffer.
Every breath is a fight.” He laid his head back and covered his
eyes with his forearm. “I can’t face it, yet I will again today,
forced to make my way through the wall of media as added
punishment.”

“Tono, I’ll go with you and push them out of
the way if I have to.”

Relief flooded through her when she saw him
smile slightly.

“How is your mother holding up?” she
asked.

Tono shook his head, lowering his voice when
he spoke. “She has become unbearable. She feels as helpless as I
do, but reacts by attempting to control things that are not hers to
control. I spend my days at the hospital putting out the fires she
creates. Naturally, her disdain is not limited to the nursing
staff. All of us are an affront to her control. If she were not my
mother, I… Let’s just say I am struggling to manage her.”

“Is there any way I can help?”

“You? No, your presence has only increased
her distress.”

Brie opened her mouth, ready to offer to
leave, but he placed his finger on her lips. “But she deserves the
challenge.”

Brie nodded slowly, and he let his finger
fall from her lips. Instead of dwelling on his mother, she brought
the conversation back to his father. “I can’t imagine losing my own
father, but he isn’t my mentor and trainer as well.”

Tono closed his eyes. “Only those who have
had an
osensei
can truly understand. My father poured all
that he was into my instruction. When we trained, we were no longer
bound by blood, but it was because of those blood ties that it
meant so much more. I was his prize pupil and I flourished under
his focused tutelage.”

“If you felt that way, why did you end up
leaving Japan?”

He smiled sadly as he sat up and gracefully
crossed his legs. “Two reasons. I was interested in spreading my
wings and discovering what America had to offer. I’d grown tired of
others seeing me as only my father’s protégé, a toy to be tested
and critiqued for their entertainment.”

“What was the other?”

“I could not stomach the relationship
between my father and mother. Her lack of respect for him
transferred to me as well. Whereas he felt the need to acquiesce to
her, I did not. The only way to preserve the familial ties was to
leave.”

“It must have been difficult leaving your
father behind.”

“While it wasn’t easy, I don’t regret
leaving. However, I do regret the time lost with him. Time I will
never get back.”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “But
you’re with him now.”

He frowned. “Yes, we’ve had a few
opportunities to talk, between the coughing spasms and the
excruciating pain. However, our conversations have only reminded me
how much…I’ve lost.”

Brie felt he was holding something back, but
she didn’t press him to explain, grateful he was being as open as
he was. “I’m afraid anything I say would come off as a sad
platitude,” she apologized, squeezing him tight,
needing
to
be of comfort to him. “I’ve never been in your shoes, but my heart
genuinely hurts for you.”

He lifted his hand and tenderly caressed her
cheek. “I did not ask you to share in this pain, little one.”

She pressed her hand against his, closing
her eyes. “We’re connected, Tono. Your pain is my pain. Time and
distance do not affect that.”

Unresolved Demons