The Manga Girl (22 page)

     
Well, that will give her something to talk about at her table,
Nick thought.

     
He flicked at Lucy’s prepuce with the tip of his tongue until her swollen bud popped free. Lucy grunted, slapped him on the head, and pulled his hair.

     
“Don’t stop.”

     
Nick kept on, licking and tickling, smelling her arousal, and then she jerked her hips forward, smacking her pubic bone against his nose. Nick stood up, eyes watering, and rubbed his nose. Her knees trembling, Lucy slid down onto the toilet bowl. Legs outstretched, she gave him a lopsided grin, and mouthed, “Thank you.”

     
Nick slipped outside, hoping that his erection wouldn’t be too noticeable. A moment later, decent again, Lucy joined him and they returned to the garden, where everyone was getting ready to leave.

     
“Ah, Lucy,” Roland said. “How are you feeling?”

     
“Much better now,” Lucy said.

     
“You’re looking rather flushed, dear,” Veronica said. “Perhaps you’re getting a fever.”

     
Nick noticed Summer giving them a curious sideways look.

     
The party went back out to their cars in the forecourt and said their goodbyes.

     
Roland pressed his remote and the Mercedes bleeped into life.

     
“That’s a lovely car,” Lucy called across. “I wish I was rich.”

     
“Honey, you just keep on doing what you’re doing,” Roland smiled. “Nick, you’re a lucky young man. You need to hold onto that one.”

     
“That’s what they keep telling me,” Nick said.

     
Thirty minutes later, they had dropped Summer off and were turning into Nick’s street, when Lucy’s mobile rang. She answered in Japanese, and although Nick couldn’t understand a word, she sounded a bit agitated.

     
He turned into his driveway and switched off the engine, listening to Lucy chattering away. She was still talking when they were inside the house, and only after Nick had been upstairs to change, did she finally ring off.

     
“Everything okay, Lucy?” Nick asked.

     
She just sat there frowning into space.

     
“Lucy?”

     
Slowly, she turned her head and stared at him as if he was a stranger.

     
Nick went over and sat with her, concerned now.

     
“Lucy,” he said, taking her hands in his. “What’s wrong?”

     
She shook her head imperceptibly. “Nothing. It’ll be okay.”

     
Nick looked into her eyes. “Tell me.”

     
Lucy opened her mouth, closed it, and then said, “Johnny Ho’s been looking for me in Boston.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

     
As soon as Nick returned from work, he went to look for Lucy. This had been his routine for the past four days, ever since the specter of Johnny Ho had returned. Even though Lucy had constantly reassured Nick that everything was okay, he knew it was not.
Since receiving that phone call from Aunt Akiko, Lucy had subtly changed. No longer as talkative, she had become thoughtful and distracted, and she kept her mobile at her side at all times. Plus, the sex games had ground to a halt. Not that she had grown cold - quite the opposite in fact. At night, Lucy would cuddle up to Nick like a small child, gripping him so tightly he found it difficult to breath. In her current state of vulnerability, Nick had found it inappropriate to initiate sex - that had always been Lucy’s prerogative anyway - and so he had lain there in a state of arousal, with her naked body clasped around his.

     
Now he walked through the hallway, past the empty living room, and seeing the kitchen door open, went out to the back yard. Lucy was lying on a sun lounger, her arms above her head, legs crossed at the ankles. She was wearing the white one-piece she had lent to Summer at the weekend, and her eyes were hidden behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses. There was a pitcher of iced lemonade on the table, and Nick helped himself to a glass and sat down on the lawn.

     
From the gentle rising swell of her chest, Lucy looked to be sound asleep. Nick sat quietly contemplating the undulant curves of her body, her soft skin, lightly rouged from the sun, and her lips, parted in a half-smile. She had been a part of his world for just a few short weeks and yet he could no longer imagine life without her. Watching her sleep made Nick feel intensely protective towards her. He wasn’t sure if there was real danger lurking out there, but he now knew more than ever, that it was his job to keep her safe.

     
Lucy flexed her fingers, stretched her calves, and turned her head towards him.

     
“Hey,” she said drowsily. “How long have you been here?”

     
“Not long. Good day at school?”

     
“Mmm. One of Summer’s silkscreen prints won a prize. She says ‘hi’.”

     
Nick grinned. These days, whenever he thought about Summer, he kept picturing her naked.

     
“How are you doing?” Nick asked, glancing at her mobile.

     
“Okay. Aunt Akiko has told my dad that Johnny has been sniffing around. I don’t think there will be a problem, but it’s best to play it safe.”

     
Nick picked a blade of grass and turned it in his fingers.

     
“Has he said anything more?”

     
“Aunt Akiko says he just wants to talk. No hassles. But that’s always been Johnny’s way. I told you he was a pretty cool customer.”

     
Nick felt an irrational stab of jealousy. He said, “So you think he’s gone now?”

     
“His business is in New York,” Lucy said, “he can’t stay here forever. But he will probably leave a spy. Don’t worry, nobody’s talking. He thinks I’m living on campus at Boston University.”

     
Lucy sat up and perched her sunglasses on her head. Nick could see the shadows of her nipples beneath the thin fabric of her swimsuit and selfishly wondered when she would be ready for sex play again.

     
“And what about you, Lucy? Are you worried?”

     
“I was. I mean he
did
threaten to kill me, but that was a while ago, and it was in the heat of the moment. He’ll get bored when he doesn’t find me.”
      

     
She stood, picked up her cell phone, and kissed Nick on the forehead. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “I made paella.”

***

     
Saturday morning, Nick decided to treat himself to a lie-in. Lucy was at morning class, after which she and Summer were joining some friends for a girls’ night out. It was the first time in weeks that they hadn’t spent the evening together, and Nick felt a little lost.

     
As he lay listening to the radio, he contemplated calling Sid, but felt a little awkward about it. In the whirlwind frenzy that had been his life since Lucy’s arrival, Nick knew he had been guilty of neglecting his best friend. They were still on good terms, and Sid was pleased that Nick had a girl, but Nick knew he had basically been so cunt-struck that their regular drinking nights had fallen by the wayside.

     
He eventually rolled out of bed, made some eggs and coffee and then went down to his basement. He contemplated the dangling wrist cuffs and the punishment bench for a moment, before browsing through Lucy’s latest creations. Like Nick, she hadn’t spent much time down here recently.

     
He smiled fondly as he inspected her newer works of art, all rendered in brightly colored acrylic paint. Nothing bawdy here - speckled fish darting around a lilied pool;
 
a jagged snow-capped mountain peak; two Japanese ladies in kimonos; a girl with a petulant frown that look suspiciously like Lucy. As dippy as she liked to make herself out to be, there was no doubt that Lucy had real talent.

     
Nick decided it was time to finish the ‘naked Lucy’ carving. It was almost done; all that remained was the honing and polishing. He put on some music and got to work, and soon his cluttered thoughts began to settle as he focused on the wood before him.

     
It was after two when he finally emerged from his trance-like state and examined the wooden figure. Just like the real thing, it was flawless, one of his best pieces. Satisfied, Nick pried himself from his chair and went into the house.

     
He took a beer from the fridge and was just about to call Sid when he noticed somebody peering at his car in the front driveway. His first instinct was to charge outside and confront the guy, but something gave him pause, and he went to the front window for a closer look.

     
The man was bending over the door, checking out the dash board. He was tall, dark haired, and dressed in black jeans and a sports jacket. Despite the heat, he wasn’t sweating, and there was something in his posture that suggested he was quite at ease nosing around other people’s property. Eventually, he straightened up and looked around as if he were a potential buyer. When his eyes fixed upon the front window, they were narrow and dark, and Nick took an involuntary step backwards.

     
When the doorbell rang, Nick’s first instinct was to hide and pretend there was nobody home, but his car was a giveaway, and despite his apprehension, he was curious. Standing outside was the competition, the only man Lucy had physically known other than himself.

     
He opened the door, half-expecting to be staring down the barrel of a gun, but Johnny Ho merely smiled and put out his hand.

     
“Hi, I’m John Hosokawa. That’s a nice ride you have there.”

     
Deciding it would be wise not to piss this guy off, Nick shook his hand, and said, “What can I do for you?”

     
“I’m an old friend of Natsumi Kimura. Calls herself Lucy. I understand she’s rooming here.”

     
As he spoke, Johnny Ho’s eyes flickered past Nick’s shoulder into the hallway, as if expecting to see her lurking in the background.

     
“Lucy, yeah,” Nick said, trying to keep his voice even. “She
was
staying here, but she moved out last month.”

     
Johnny Ho’s face was inscrutable. “If you don’t mind, did she say where she was going?”

     
Nick looked at him with a doubtful expression. They were sparring, and they both knew it. Nick frowned theatrically. “Back on campus, I believe. Boston University.”

     
Johnny Ho’s mouth creased into a thin smile. “Boston, huh? I’ll check that out.”

     
This conversation reminded Nick of the one with Ken Yamaguchi. Casual, but precise. These men knew they were not required to be polite, it was just a technique for extracting information. If that failed, Nick didn’t want to know what their alternative approach would be like.

     
He shrugged and said, “Well, sorry I couldn’t have been more helpful.”

     
“No, you have been.”

     
Again, Johnny Ho’s gaze searched the dark interior of the hallway. Nick shifted uneasily.

     
“May I ask you a question?” Johnny Ho said, focusing his dark eyes upon Nick. “What did you think of her?”

     
“Of Lucy?” Nick asked, inwardly wincing at his contrived response. “Nice girl. Paid her rent on time. Didn’t make too much noise.”

     
“Hell of a looker, huh?”

     
“Well, yes. Very attractive.”

     
“Do you know if she had a boyfriend?” Johnny Ho assumed a look of embarrassment. “I only ask, because we used to be… you know, close.”

     
“Oh, I see,” Nick said. “Well, I’m not sure if she was seeing anyone at college, but she never brought anyone back here.”

     
Johnny Ho nodded thoughtfully, his eyes boring into Nick’s like laser beams.

     
“Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time,” he said finally. “Thanks for your help.”

     
He turned and headed down the driveway, giving Nick’s Mustang another appreciative glance. Absurdly, feeling as if he had had the better of the exchange, Nick blurted out, “Good luck!”

     
Johnny Ho stopped and looked back at him with an unnerving smile.

     
“Thank you, Nick,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ll find her.”

***

     
He knows my name!
Nick thought, watching Johnny Ho’s Porsche Carrera disappear from view.
How much else does he know?

     
He picked up his cell and dialed Lucy’s number, figuring that her classes would be over
by now.

     
“Hey,” she said.

     
“He was here.”

     
“Johnny?”

     
“Who else?”

     
There was a silence at the other end.

     
“Lucy? Are you there?”

     
“Yeah. What did he say?”

     
“He wants to see you. I told him you didn’t live here anymore. I don’t think he believed me.”

     
“Did he threaten you?”

     
Despite everything she had told him, Nick was taken aback.

     
“No. He was very polite. But also…scary.”

     
“Yeah, I know.”

     
She went quiet again and while he waited, Nick tried to determine whether the edge in her voice was fear or excitement. For the first time in weeks, he was again beginning to feel a bit insecure.

     
“How do you think he found out where you are living?” Nick asked.

     
“He’s yakuza,” Lucy said simply.

     
Even though Nick hadn’t felt overly intimidated by Johnny Ho, Lucy’s words made him suddenly feel a little woozy.
Yakuza.
Until now, it had been a nebulous concept to him, but now it had appeared personally at his front door. It was real, and it meant they weren’t necessarily dealing with just one psychotic ex-boyfriend.

     
“Lucy,” Nick said. “He knew my name, too.”

     
He could hear her breathing on the other end. Finally, Lucy said, “I need some time to think. Maybe it would be a good idea if I stayed here for a while in case he comes back.”

     
The thought of Lucy moving out, sent a bolt of panic through him.

     
“Perhaps we should call the police,” Nick said.

     
“It won’t do any good. Not with these guys. Besides, he hasn’t actually done anything.”

     
Yet,
Nick mentally added.

     
“He did threaten to kill you,” he said.

     
“That was over a year ago. Nick, I want you to trust me on this. I’ll send Summer around to collect my clothes. Put the rest of my stuff in the basement.”

     
“You think he’ll break in?”

     
Lucy let out an audible sigh. “No. I don’t know. But just in case, it’s better for you if there’s no evidence that I live there.”

     
Nick felt as though someone had kicked him in the abdomen. He didn’t want to eradicate Lucy’s existence here - she was a part of this house now.

     
“Can I call you?” he asked, feeling a sudden weight in his heart.

     
“Of course you can, I’m not leaving you. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I’d never forgive myself.”

     
“I can take care of myself,” Nick said. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

     
“I’ll be okay here. I’ll inform campus security. He won’t be able to get in.”

     
Yeah,
Nick thought,
but
he’s
yakuza
.

     
“If he does return,” Nick said. “What should I do?”

     
“Be polite. He’ll want to be certain that I really have left, that’s all.”

     
“Okay. I think I can handle that.”

     
“Nick?”

     
“Yeah?”

     
“I’m sorry about all this.”

     
“Hey, it’s not your fault.”

     
“I brought him here.”

     
“He’s a psycho. I still think we should call the cops.”

     
“Let’s try it my way first.”

     
Nick sighed. “Sure.”

     
“I love you Nick.”

     
“Love you too.”

     
They hung up with the promise that they would speak to each other every day.