Sweet Seduction Sayonara (15 page)

T
he office is dark
, but everyone at Sweet Seduction said
Drew was here with Kelly. I walk through the reception area and head toward his door. Within a few feet of it, I can tell they’re screwing. I run a hand through my hair in frustration, feeling awkward and entirely too embarrassed.

Ten long minutes later, I hear the tap running in Drew’s attached bathroom. I wait an extra minute, counting to sixty slowly inside my head, and then knock.

I hear Kelly giggling first, and then the door finally opens and Drew stands there in a dinner suit, looking immaculate. They’ve had a lot of practice at covering their tracks.

“Hey,” he says. “What brings you here?”

He opens the door and steps to the side. I nod my head at Kelly, who’s sitting on Drew’s desk in a sexy as fuck slinky dress. She offers a smile and a wave, and looks extremely impressed with herself. Or the situation.

Dom and I have long ago decided to pretend we see nothing. Hear nothing. Know nothing.

“I need to ask you something,” I say, moving into the room and into the light.

“Well your timing couldn’t have been more perfect,” Drew says, sounding pleased with himself. “We’ve just…”

His sentence hangs in the air as Koki Tanaka follows me into the room.

“What’s wrong with your face?” Kelly asks, perhaps before she sees Koki behind me. “Did you get in a fight?”

She’s up and off the desk and reaching up to turn my cheek into the light in the next heartbeat. Now she does
not
look impressed.

“Motherfucker!” she says. “Who was it? I’ll beat the fucking shit out of them.”

Kelly is very protective of her friends.

Koki clears his throat from behind me.

Kelly stills and narrows her eyes at him.

“You know about this, Tanaka?” she demands. Drew smirks, slipping his hands into his trouser pockets and watching, amused, as his little momma-bear extends her claws.

“He did it,” I say, dropping the fucker in it as soon as I can.

“You deserved it,” Koki immediately replies. I’m not sure he believes that; it’s all part of the front he puts on. Why else did he stay after his father and Tadashi stole Momo from my bedroom? From me. Why else did I wake up with a packet of frozen peas on my jaw and Koki standing over me?

“What the fuck?” both Drew and Kelly say.

“It’s a long story,” I offer. “That’s why we’re here. We need your help.”

Drew steps forward immediately and rounds his desk, taking a seat; his attentive, business face on.

“Whatever you need, my man,” he says.

Kelly fusses a little longer over my bruise, but eventually rounds the side of Drew’s desk and perches next to him. I take one of the chairs in front of them, Koki reluctantly slides into the other. But he’s tense. His eyes darting from one shadowed corner to another. His shoulders bunched, brow low.

He looks lethal. And highly strung.

Koki has always appeared highly strung to me, but this… this is different. He’s borderline psychotic with anger.

And I’m pretty sure it’s not anger at me sleeping with his sister. Which is a surprise.

“What’s going on?” Drew asks. “And before you say anything, know that Dom has been worried, too. We both have. You know we’re always here for you.”

Having gotten his little reprimand out of the way, I man up. I tell him about Momoko and the Triad thugs last Friday. I tell him everything, aside from falling in love with the woman and having mad monkey sex whenever we get together, that’s happened in the last week.

Silence fills the office air afterwards. Koki just glowers sullenly.

“OK,” Drew says, dragging the word out. “What do you need?”

I turn and look at Koki. He doesn’t meet my expectant gaze. He says nothing. Jaw clenched shut. Hands fisted on thick thighs.

I look back at Drew and Kelly. “She’s being coerced,” I begin by saying.

“In what way?” Drew asks, and then holds up a hand to stop the diatribe I’m about to unleash at him. “Bear in mind that she’s an adult. Completely compos mentis. And can say no at any time she so wishes.”

I open my mouth, but Koki beats me.

“She cannot say no to our father.”

We all stare at him.

Kelly’s the one to break the silence. “Why not?”

“It’s dishonourable,” he simply says.

“I call bullshit on that,” Kelly exclaims. I’m with her on this one.

“That’s ridiculous,” I announce. “He’s strong arming her, sure. But he’s not got her shackled. What’s he threatening her with that has her playing along with this farce?”

“He doesn’t need to threaten,” Koki explains. “It’s how we’ve been raised.”

“She’s an intelligent, independent business woman,” I argue. “I can’t see her not fighting this.”

“She’s fought it,” Koki advises. “But our father is persuasive.”

“She doesn’t love Tadashi,” I point out. Hell, no. She loves me. I know this as surely as I know without her, I cannot breathe.

Koki sighs, but doesn’t speak. He almost looks defeated.

“OK,” Drew says into the burgeoning silence. “Let’s look at this logically. Legally,” he adds. “Unless her life is being threatened by her father, there is little the New Zealand courts can do. You know this, Finn. She may not want to marry this Tadashi character, but for all intents and purposes, she’s not physically being forced. She
could
walk away. The legal system would just assume, because she isn’t walking, that she’s agreeable to the marriage.”

“It’s blackmail,” I argue heatedly.

“But is it blackmail you can prove?”

I can’t. My word alone is not enough. And although Koki agreed to come here to discuss legal options for getting his sister out of this fucking mess, I don’t think he would go against his father.

Tanaka-sama rules his children with an iron fist.

I look at Koki now and wonder if there’s more to this. He’s a highly capable man. Completely badass. Totally in control of his professional life and, I had thought, his life in general. He’s one of Nick’s best men. Silent. Lethal. A fucking ninja on a motorbike. I don’t get this. My father was strict with us growing up, but a tyrant? Never. He gave us love as well as guidance. Direction as well as a shoulder to lean on.

The Tanaka family dynamics make no sense. At least, they make no sense to me.

I shift my focus back to Drew and slowly shake my head. “Neither Momo or Koki will speak up.”

Koki doesn’t even bat an eyelash at my statement. Therefore, I can only assume it is correct.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Finn,” Drew says softly. “This is their fight.”

“It’s mine. It’s
my
fight,” I say. Drew just stares at me. “I love her,” I blurt.

Koki shifts in his seat but remains silent.

“She loves me,” I add. “It’s my fight, too, now.”

“Fuck,” Drew whispers, reaching out and clasping Kelly’s hand. I’m not even sure he knows he’s doing it. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to my impossible situation. He’s picturing not being able to claim Kelly as his wife. As his woman. As
his
.

I rub at my chest, feeling an ache start to build inside me. It won’t go away and I’m scared it’s going to grow so big, it’ll consume me. I ache for her. I ache for us. I fucking don’t understand why this is happening.

I get up and start pacing, running frantic hands through my short hair.

“Maybe you should run,” Kelly says quietly.

I stop pacing and turn to look at her.

“You know,” she says. “Grab her and go. Far away from here. Where her father can’t reach her.” She turns a frosty glare on Koki. “Would she do it?
Could
she do it?”

Koki stares back at her, his eyes hard. “It would be dishonourable,” he finally says, but I notice he hasn’t denied it either.

“And is kowtowing to someone else’s deranged demands not dishonourable to herself?” I ask him.

He sighs. Then leans forward and rests his elbows on his spread thighs. “You have to understand Japanese culture,” he says. “Everything we do is for the honour of our family. Our people. Ourselves.
Bushidō
,” he says. “Honour until death. We live in a world where sacrifice matters. Where appearances are more important than fact. Shame. Guilt. Ostracism. Control. It is what we are. It is what makes us strong. What makes our families strong. Our minds strong. Our hearts strong. We are strong because we honour our fathers. We honour them until death.”

There’s not much I can say to that. It’s ingrained in him, that much is obvious. But it also chafes. I’m thinking Koki Tanaka would dearly love to break free, but he is too much his father’s son.

Too much a son of honour.

“Hasn’t there ever been,” I say quietly, “something that you’ve wanted that your father has denied you? Something precious. Something you don’t think is possible to live without. Something your sense of honour has stolen from your life.”

He lifts dark eyes to my face and holds my accusatory stare.

“You know nothing, Finn Drake,” he eventually says and then looks away again.

I won’t give up. I can’t. It’s not in my genetics. Maybe it’s not in his to deny his father’s wishes. Not in Momo’s either. But I can’t stop trying. And for now, Koki is my only hope.

“What about your father?” I say. “Was it honourable for him to leave the Yakuza?”

Kelly sucks in a breath of air. Perhaps I didn’t divulge everything that’s happened this week.

“He had no choice,” Koki says.

“Did they boot him out? Has he been dishonoured and that’s why he’s so hell bent on making you both pay?” Because sure as shit, Koki is paying for their father’s tyranny as well. I don’t know how. But it’s written all over his face.

“You don’t understand,” Koki replies, but he’s losing some of his stoic demeanour.

“Then make me. Because it seems to me, that there’s one rule for Dad and one rule for the kids, and guess who gets their world fucked up because of it?”

“He didn’t have a choice,” Koki says more forcefully, standing up and fisting his hands at his sides. Staring daggers at me.

I stand too. Face him head on. My fists clenched tightly. A mirror image of his anger and frustration and rage.

“Then tell me!” I yell. “Because Momo doesn’t want this and I’m thinking you don’t want to see your sister get browbeaten every single day until the fire inside her heart eventually dies. Watching her get a little smaller and a little more afraid and a little more vacant. Do you think I haven’t seen women in similar situations? Do you think hers is the only story where her life is not her own and is full of pain? Wake up, Koki! This won’t end at all well. The moment that man gets his hands on her, she’ll pay. And it’s a price far too high for one so precious. It’s a price I am determined she will
not
pay.”

I pause for breath; I’m breathing rather hard in fact. I don’t usually get this riled. At least, I don’t usually show it when I’m arguing a case.

I lick my lips and then say more reasonably, “Are you? Are you prepared to let her pay?”

Koki stares at me for a second and then snarls, “Fuck you!” and storms out of Drew’s office.

No one moves for several seconds. Then, Kelly quietly says, “There’s something seriously wrong with that dude.”

Both Drew and I let out huffs of breath; not really laughter, but a kind of release of tension.

Koki’s in pain. He’s suffering. And he’s so far down that rabbit hole, that he’s not prepared to help his sister avoid the same fate.

I don’t know Koki’s personal story. All I know is what I’ve seen. He’s easily angered. He’s tough but extremely loyal. Very much so to Nick Anscombe, who has undoubtedly saved his life in some way. And to Brook Osborne.

I cock my head, looking out of the still open doorway. But Koki’s long gone. Running. Something I never thought I’d see him do. Running scared.

For Momo? Or for Him? Him and who else?

Drew clears his throat, bringing me back to the room again.

“Finn,” he says. “If you want to try to run, we’ll help you.”

I stare at my best friend. At someone who has been a part of my life for over two decades. All through Varsity. All through our early careers. Right up until now when we’re finally pulling in the right clients and making the big money. He knows me. He’s been there for me. Much like Dom has. We’re the three musketeers. It’s us and them and to hell with everyone else.

They’re my rocks. My mates. I love them.

“No,” I say, softly. “No, I’m not running.” I look back toward where Koki has just left. Maybe I should reconsider this. But I’m not turning my back on my life because of Tadashi Ishikawa and Tanaka-sama.

I’m not going to make Momoko run, either. This is her city, too. Her life. Her florist shop.

No, we’re not running. We’re fighting. I just don’t know how we’re going to do that yet.

I say my farewells and walk out of ADK, hoping it won’t be the last time I see it. We’ve worked hard to get where we are. There’s a lot of us in this building. In this firm. I love my job. I love helping those who need it. And even if we didn’t find a legal solution to our problems, I’m not giving up. I can’t.

I won’t give up Momoko.

It’s late when I pull the car into my garage. The house is empty and dark, but thankfully undisturbed. I pull a beer out of the fridge and contemplate it. The condensation dripping on the floor as I stare blankly at the label. I thrust it back on its shelf and walk into the lounge, going directly to the drinks cabinet.

This calls for stronger stuff. I crack a bottle of Dimple and pour a good three fingers of liquid gold into a whisky glass. I down half of it in one gulp and then savour the rest while I stare out of the front window into the dark.

A soft knock on the front door disturbs my vigil. I toss down the rest of the glass and walk to the door.

Momoko stands there. Small. Fragile. Determined.

My heart soars.

“How did you get away?” I ask.

“I’m not a prisoner,” she says.

My heart breaks. Because she might not be a prisoner, but that does not mean she won’t go back to the cage.

We stare at each other for a long moment and then I open the door further and invite her in.