Sweet Seduction Sayonara (19 page)

And I see Finn behind my eyelids when I close them briefly.

I have loved and I have lost that love, but I will never forget either.

I will wear that pain for eternity.

Just as we reach the grand doors of our sitting room, Koki shouts out from behind us. Papa pauses, then turns to look over his shoulder. I can’t look. If I stop now, I may never be able to walk forward again. Tadashi frowns in the distance. Murmurs start up around the guests out under the trees.

And then I hear him. A voice I thought I’d never hear again. A sound so beautiful I am instantly crying.

“Tanaka-sama,” Finn says. “You’ll want to see this.”

I spin around and he’s there. Dishevelled and sleep deprived and looking like he’s gone a round with a van door. Or a baseball bat. I smile. My lips tremble. He offers me a wink and a smirk and I almost fall to my knees.

I want so much for this to be real. I want so much for this moment to never end. Just looking at this man before me is enough to fulfil every dream I’ve ever had.

“Finn,” I hear myself say, but it’s drowned out by Papa’s gruff voice and Tadashi’s shout and Koki’s insistence that Papa will definitely want to see this.

They’re showing him something. Photographs I think. So many. Too many for Papa to hold. Some of them hit the floor. And there’s a recording. Tadashi’s voice, I know it, it haunts my nightmares when I try to sleep. But he’s not speaking English. Not even Japanese.

He’s speaking Mandarin.

A rough hand wraps around my neck and I’m suddenly hauled backwards, to land against a hard chest. The sharp tip of a knife blade pricks the side of my neck.

“I wouldn’t do that, If I were you, Mr Drake,” Tadashi says calmly.

“Tadashi-san,” Papa snaps. “What is the meaning of this?”

“It seems, old man, that we must part ways,” Tadashi says.

“Is this true?” Papa demands, his eyes flicking over me so quickly, I’m not sure whether the move is intentional or a slip. But I see the small nod of his head. A bare movement.

My hand runs up the side of my
shiromuku
, finding the folds at my waist. I tense, but Tadashi is talking, and I find myself eager to learn what Finn has done to put that look of hope on Koki’s face.

“
Oyabun
made a mistake letting you go,” Tadashi says. “Your defection and dishonour has caused multiple ripples in an otherwise calm lake. Allowing one man, even one he considered a close friend, to defy him has cost him too much. But when your location was revealed, I persuaded him to reconsider.”

“And how was my location revealed?” Papa asks carefully.

Tadashi starts to laugh, and drags me a little farther towards the open doors out onto the back garden. I can hear voices behind me, but no one is rushing Tadashi. Not when he holds a knife to my throat.

“I found you,” Tadashi says with no small measure of pride. “Your son has made a name for himself in certain criminal circles.” I flick my eyes to Koki, who blanches. “All for the wrong reasons, of course. You picked your side, Koki-san. It just happened to be a side the Yakuza do not favour.”

ASI. It has to be because of Koki’s association with ASI. And their efforts to thwart national and international drug rings. I will my brother not to do anything stupid, the look on his face right now is deadly.

But Papa simply raises a hand beside Koki, enough of a movement to pause his son’s headlong race toward both our deaths.

“It was easy after that to manipulate things,” Tadashi says.

“By infiltrating the Triads,” Papa hisses.

He holds up a photo and waves it toward Tadashi. I see in it Tadashi shaking the hand of Huang Fu.

“You paid his bail,” Finn sneers. “Bigger bread crumbs you couldn’t have left me.”

Tadashi snarls and digs the knife tip in further. I gasp. Everyone stills. And then Tadashi laughs.

“For some reason their cashflow right now has been hindered.” He jostles me roughly against his side and then leans down and whispers in my ear, “You have been very, very naughty indeed.”

“Let me get this straight,” Koki says, trying to draw Tadashi’s attention away from me. “You riled up the Triads, but not on orders from
Oyabun
. Got them harassing Momoko, which in turn threatened Papa, and made him reach out to the Yakuza, giving you an in.”

“Yes,” Tadashi says simply.

“Why? Just to get your hands on Momo?” Had he even known of me beforehand?

“To get my hands on Tanaka-sama’s favourite child.” Koki doesn’t show any emotion at this assessment. He has always seen himself as Papa’s greatest disappointment. “To make him pay. Not just once. But every single day from here on after. He would get to watch his beloved daughter die a little every minute of every hour of every rise and fall of the sun and moon.”

Papa snarls and takes a step forward. Koki moves in tandem with him. Tadashi just laughs and lifts the knife blade off my neck infinitesimally. But it’s enough to show his hand.

“The plan has changed,” he says, and I strike.

The nunchuck falls into my hand and I whip it upwards, hearing the satisfying crunch as it connects with Tadashi’s nose beside my face. He gasps, lets go of me, and I’m spinning. Before he can grab my
shiromuku
again, I’m lining up my next shot to his kidneys. I manage to land several blows in quick succession.

And then he throws the knife at my face.

I dive to the side, my long wedding dress tangling around my feet, and land hard on the marble flooring. The knife skitters away ineffectually.

And then it’s a blur of action for a moment. Papa is shouting. Mama is screaming. Koki is throwing a punch and a kick.

But it’s Finn who manages to deliver the felling blow.

By raising my mother’s Hayashi Chuzo vase over Tadashi’s head and bringing it down with a cry of pure outrage.

The Cloisonné breaks into a thousand tiny pieces and Tadashi falls to the floor in a dead faint.

For a moment no one says anything. Who would have thought a warrior trained as Tadashi Ishikawa has been trained could be felled by a Japanese vase?

“What?” Koki says. “Forgot your baseball bat?”

Finn shrugs his shoulder and then rushes toward me. I’m reaching up before he gets there, welcoming him into my embrace.

“
Koibito
,” he says against the curve of my neck. “Oh, fuck,” he adds, making my mother faint and my father growl threateningly.

Or it could have been because he called me his lover.

Chaos explodes around us. ASI storm the house, followed by Pierce from the CIB.

And in the middle of it all, I lie in the arms of my dream. In the arms of my
koibito
. Never wanting to wake up. Never wanting anything but this man before me.

“You are my dream,” I say to him. Then repeat it in Japanese. “You are my heart,” I say, the words tumbling out in both languages. “You are my everything.”

He grips me tighter, holds me against his heaving chest, and cries silent tears with me.

I blink and there is Papa, standing over us, watching on with a strange look in his eyes. Finn notices, and pulls back slightly, pushing me ever so carefully behind his body. As if to protect me.

Papa smiles. It’s a little disconcerting for Finn, I think. But I know my father’s expressions well. And this is one I have not seen for a while.

“
Masume-san
,” he says, “
anata no
kareshi ni watashi o shōkai
.”
Daughter, introduce me to your boyfriend.

I push to my feet, Finn cradling me as though I am something precious, and say, “Papa, this is my Finn Drake.”

My father stares at Finn for a long moment and then holds out his hand for him to shake.

For a split second I think Finn will ignore it, but he lifts his own and squeezes back just as firmly as my father. They both flex their fingers when they release.

“Thank you,” Papa finally says. “
Arigatoo gozaimasu
, Drake-sama. Thank you.”

And I am finally free of my cage.

O
ne Month Later

W
e’re sitting
on the couch. My arm wrapped around her shoulders, her head resting on my chest. It’s peaceful. It’s comfortable. It’s perfect.

The build-up to the All Blacks playing Wales on the TV is muted, soft music playing out of my stereo system instead. Momo loves watching rugby, but all the talking that goes on beforehand drives her mad. So, the pictures are flickering and the music is playing and when the game starts we’ll change things back.

But I don’t care about the rugby, only insofar as Momo loves it so much I went out and bought a fucking enormous wall-mounted TV. I care about the fact that we’re here. That she’s mine. That this is no longer a dream, but our reality.

Tadashi Ishikawa, the youngest
wakagshira
in the Yakuza, has been sent back home to Kyoto. A dirty stain in their pure white snow. Their
Oyabun,
a man I never wish to meet if I can help it, ordered his return immediately. It wasn’t said, Mr Tanaka won’t reveal details of his former Yakuza family, but I got the impression Tadashi is heading for a whole lot of whoop-arse.

He’d not been operating on orders from the head of the family when he’d first approached the Triads. Although
Oyabun
agreed he could come out here and force Tanaka-sama’s hand, bring him back into the fold through marrying his daughter, that initial contact and every interaction thereafter with the 14K had all been on Tadashi’s head.

What I do know is Yakuza do not fraternise with the Triads. Ever. Tadashi had broken some unbreakable law and now he was paying for it.

The payoff for everything that happened, the heartache, the vandalism, the assaults and life threatening situations, was that
Oyabun
considered it a favour that Tanaka-sama had brought this to his attention. No one wants their first lieutenant going off on their own and breaking family rules without their knowledge.

A ceasefire, if you will, was agreed upon. Tanaka-sama has finally gotten his freedom. In exchange, he’s to keep an eye on the Triads here in Auckland.

The 14K Triads, for their part, are dealing with a huge mess of their own. You can’t just go around and kill drug dealers and not expect to get prosecuted. Pierce and the CIB are putting together a pretty damn solid case against Huang Fu. Who, although out on bail, is being followed and watched intimately.

Even ASI has been pulled in to help.

So, no Tadashi Ishikawa. No Yakuza coming over to finish off what he started. And currently no active 14K Triads in Auckland City.

In six months Momoko managed to clean up the city streets and free her family.

My little love-bird is finally flying.

“Do you want something to eat?” she asks me, not moving from where she’s snuggled into my side.

I stare at all the food on the coffee table, courtesy of her very appreciative mother, and shake my head.

“Just you,
koibito,
” I say, laying a kiss in amongst her glorious hair.

“Um,” she mumbles and sits up straighter. “Didn’t I tell you?”

I arch my brow. She’s looking nervous. “Tell me what?”

“I invited Koki and Brook over to watch the game,” she rushes to say. Her eyes dart to the front door. “In fact, I think I hear their bikes now.”

“Koki,” I say slowly. “And Brook.”

Momo’s brother has been a little more friendly towards me. Taking out Tadashi had to count for something. But every time he sees me touch Momo, or God forbid kiss her, his hands fist and he starts to growl low from the back of his throat.

“Well, at least Brook’ll be here to calm the rhino,” I mutter, as I watch Momo open the front door to greet them.

“
Imouto-san,
” Koki says.
Little sister.

“O-nii-san,
” she says back.
Big brother.

I’m picking up the words now, getting better at understanding them when they speak in Japanese. I watch as Momo clings to Koki for a long moment, his smile soft and full of love; a look I only see when he is holding his sister.

His eyes come up and they meet mine over her shoulder. Slowly he nods his head in greeting. It’s a start. It could be worse. But I get the impression his life is also changing. Now that their father does not fear repercussion from the Yakuza, he has given his children a longer leash.

Hell, if the copious amounts of food sitting on my coffee table is anything to go by, I’ll be getting his blessing any time soon to marry Momo. But what this new found freedom means to Koki, I’m not sure. But it does mean something. I can see it in his eyes, more and more as the days go by. As if he’s slowly beginning to realise he’s free to do whatever it is he wants.

No obligations to remain the dutiful son, waiting for his time to sacrifice something for their survival. Just like Momo, he always knew his life was not his own and never could be. Not until their father and mother, all of them, were free of the Yakuza.

They’re free now and I wonder, idly, what Koki will do with his freedom.

I watch as Brook follows Koki in and Momo hugs him as warmly as she’d hugged her brother. There’s a familiarity there I hadn’t expected to see. But Brook is often with Koki, so I shouldn’t be surprised Momo treats him like another brother. He accepts her kiss and greeting, a soft, bemused smile on his lips.

“You made sushi?” Koki says, coming over and helping himself to a smoked salmon wrapped roll.

“Mama did,” Momo says, slipping back onto the couch next to me.

Brook holds up a six pack of beer, his eyes to me. “Where shall I put this?”

I push up from my seat, squeezing Momo’s hand, and lead the way into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I show Brook the copious amounts of beer Momo’s mother insisted she put in there on her last visit. I’m not sure when the thanks fest is going to end, but it makes Momo happy. So I’m happy.

“You made it, my man,” Brook says, opening a bottle of Macs Gold.

“If you mean, I’m still alive, then yeah, I guess,” I say, amused.

“Nah. I mean Momoko.” He gives me a flinty stare. “You hurt her,” he says. “And I’ll gut you myself, yeah?”

I smile; it’s a little feral and confrontational. “Yeah,” I say. We both nod our heads in understanding.

And I thought Koki was the one I had to watch out for?

Brook takes a moment to use the bathroom and I head back toward the lounge. Before I turn the corner, announcing my presence, I hear Momo talking in a low voice to her brother.

“Why are you waiting?” she asks. “There is nothing holding you back now. You are free, Koki.”

“It’s not that easy, Momo, and you know it.”

“It’s as easy as breathing.”

“For you and Finn, maybe. But for us.” I can hear him shifting, possibly shaking his head.

“Why?” she pleads.

Koki lets out a sigh. “Father would be shocked.”

“He’d survive.”

“Mama…”

“Mama would be ecstatic. Do you honestly think she doesn’t already know? That they both don’t? Why do you think Papa chose me?”

“Tadashi…”

“It had nothing to do with Tadashi,” Momo snaps. And she’s sounding pretty riled. I peek around the corner of the kitchen door and see her sitting sideways on the couch, facing her brother. For his part, Koki looks a little lost.

“Momo,” he says.

“He was protecting you,” Momo whispers and there’s a long stretch of silence.

“You’ve always been stronger than me,” Koki finally murmurs.

“Strength can be found in the most unexpected places, brother,” she says. “You just don’t realise you’ve found it already.”

I hear Brook coming out of the bathroom and picking up his beer in the kitchen behind me. I make a noise with my feet on the tiles, to announce my presence, and walk into the lounge as if I haven’t just been eavesdropping. Koki glowers at me, so I’m not sure if I succeeded in hiding my wayward behaviour.

I offer a smile, and then my eyes land on Momo, and I forget whatever problems Koki has, and almost rush to her side, I’m so eager to be with her. A small amused smirk graces her lips, but she doesn’t say no when I kiss her.

The doorbell ringing interrupts Koki’s loud protests, but I wave a hand toward Brook, who offers a laugh and gets back up off his end of the couch to answer it, and I just keep on kissing my woman.

As long as she never says no, then I’m never going to stop kissing her.

“I hear this is where the party’s at,” Dom’s distinctive voice says, Genevieve giggling behind him.

“What?” That was enough to get my attention off Momo.

Behind Dom and Gen is a horde of people. Ben and Abi, Jason and Katie, Eva and Nick, Pierce and Marie, Kelly and Drew, Eric and Amber, Adam and Charlie and all their fucking kids. They pile into the house, throwing cushions on the floor, shoving chips and dip on the already overstuffed coffee table, and stacking beers and wine and Gods know what else out in the kitchen.

“Nice TV,” Drew says, slipping into a seat and welcoming Kelly onto his lap.

“What?” I manage.

“Oh, Tempura!” Kelly exclaims, helping herself.

“I think it might even be bigger than Ben’s,” Jason drawls.

“Nothin’ is bigger than mine,” Ben growls back.

“Amen to that,” Abi says, high-fiving her man.

“What?” I say, because clearly that’s all I’m good for.

“Didn’t Momo tell you?” Nick says. “Gas leak in High Street. We needed a new location for Family Friday.”

“The TV sold it,” Pierce adds.

“Oh, and the dango dumplings,” Charlie exclaims.

“Babe, you already ate at home,” Adam points out. Several pairs of highly pissed-off female eyes turn towards him. “My bad,” he offers, lifting his hands in surrender.

“Don’t know about you lot,” Abi says. “But I could eat a taniwha.”

“Red,” Ben says, shaking his head.

“They make you hungry,” Eva explains.

“What does?” Marie asks.

“Babies.”

“Charlie’s not pregnant,” Adam points out, offering a snort to really get himself stuck in it.

Charlie lifts a single eyebrow at him.

“Heh! You the man!” Eric says, offering up a high-five and not getting an answer.

Adam hasn’t moved a muscle.

“Knew you’d get it eventually, Stalker,” Charlie drawls, helping herself to another dumpling.

Several pairs of feminine hands all dive into the melee in the centre of the table and I look around at the men and smirk. There’s bemusement and, in the case of Adam, shock, and a whole hell of a lot of love.

I’ve always been the one to look in from the outside. I’ve always been welcomed but somehow felt apart. I love my mates. I love their crazy lives and baby making missions. I love their loyalty. Their fierce dedication. Their morals. I love that I can give this to Momoko.

I wrap my arm around her and stare down, watching her laugh at something Katie says while she’s holding Paul for Charlie. She looks good holding him. He wriggles a lot and wants to go off and play with the others, but for a moment he stops and stares up at Momo’s hair and reaches for one of her chopsticks.

I’m not sure Momo wears them just for decoration or for any purpose other than they make a fine weapon when one needs them. But she smiles down at Paul, Harry coming over and reaching for one as well, and tells them a story about
Issun-bōshi
, and how he used chopsticks as oars, in a soup bowl for a boat.

It’s magical watching her. It’s magical being here with the people I care about most and Momoko Tanaka is beside me.

I’m not watching from the outside anymore. I’m in the thick of it. I’m a red M&M, no longer a gummy bear.

I’m in heaven.

The kids go off and play, and the match starts, we all sing the national anthem at the top of our voices together. Ben offers an impromptu
haka
. And then everyone settles in for a good game, with awesome food and great beer, and the best mates a guy could ever have.

It’s Kelly who sees them first. She sucks in a breath of air and looks momentarily stunned, and then she’s beaming, clapping her hands, drawing everyone’s attention.

“About fuckin’ time,” Ben grumbles, but it’s full of love.

I turn to see Momo crying, tears streaming down her face. I look over to what’s got her so emotional, prepared to thump the living daylights out of them, or, you know, maybe get my taser.

But It’s Koki. Koki and Brook. They pull apart, a sheepish look on Koki’s face, a proud grin on Brook’s. Their hands stay linked together.

And I get it. I get what life means. It means this. This moment. This feeling of being a giant. This wonderful, crazy thing we call love. In all its different guises.

It means this. Friendship. Loyalty. Love.

And being able to claim it.

Thoreau said it the best.
There is no remedy for love but to love more.

And I intend to love these people, to love Momo, with every beat of my heart… and more.