“Yuki—”
“Father, I need to talk to you.”
His lips were set in a flat line, his brow low as he stood. “Now is not the time, Yuki.”
“Now is the time,” she demanded, her voice edging on shrill.
Tanaka glowered. “You will excuse us, gentlemen? This should only take a moment.”
The men glanced at each other and gathered their things to leave, eyeing Yuki as they walked out and closed the door behind them.
Yuki marched across the room and laid her hands on her hips. “Katsu has a mistress.”
He squared his shoulders. “And?”
Her face went numb, and she felt ridiculous. “Of course you knew.”
“I know everything, Yuki.”
Her voice dropped. “You have to make him pay. You have to—”
“I do not have to do anything. You have a duty to me and to Katsu, and right now, that duty requires that you keep your mouth shut.”
“No,” she leaned forward, every muscle in her body tight. “That is unacceptable. He’s my husband, and I won’t share him.”
He shook his head, his face drawn. “You had your chance, and you wasted it. Can you blame him for seeking comfort elsewhere? You are not capable of comfort or love. You only love yourself.”
Her lip curled, and she stalked over, stopping just in front of him. “I won’t be thrown away like garbage. You will help me.”
“Katsu is a good man. He is loyal. He has honor. He is my son, my successor.” He bent into her face. “You, Yuki, are just like your mother. Do you realize what you did just now by barging in here? You made me look weak, and that is something I will not tolerate. I will not help you, and I will not punish Katsu for my mistakes in your upbringing.”
Yuki pulled back to slap him, but he caught her wrist.
“If you know what is good for you, you will leave. Now.”
Her rage and petulance gave way to defeat as she tried to pull away. He opened his big hand, releasing her, and she glared at him before turning and stomping out of the room. Angry tears pricked her eyes, her nose burning as she took a deep breath at the elevator.
She had the means to take things into her own hands, and that was exactly what she was going to do.
Yuki walked into a phone booth outside of her father’s building and closed the door behind her. She picked up the greasy phone, dropped a quarter into the slot, and banged out a number before turning to her bag with shaking hands, fumbling for her cigarettes.
“Hai.”
“This is Yuki. Send Kato to pick me up. I’m at Tanaka’s office.”
“Hai, Yuki-san. He will be there soon.”
Yuki hung the phone back on the cradle and stepped onto the sidewalk. She brought the long, slender cigarette to her lips and struck a match. She took a drag as she waved out the match and tossed it on the sidewalk, then tucked her hand under her arm as her mind spun.
It hadn’t taken much digging around to discover more about Katsu’s slut. She knew the woman’s name and where she worked. A showgirl. How original.
Yuki had lived with the Yakuza for long enough to know where they went when they weren’t being thugs. She needed a lackey, a grunt. Someone who was desperate enough to take her offer, despite her family connections. Someone who wouldn’t ask questions.
By the time Kato pulled up, she was down three cigarettes, and her plan was solid. She slipped into the back seat of the Town Car and pulled the door shut, crossing her legs in front of her. Kato glanced back at her through the rearview mirror.
“Take me to the bank.”
A half hour later, they pulled up in front of a dive bar in Midtown. She clutched her bag, her chin high as she walked in with Kato in her wake, scanning the faces for a suitable candidate.
Kato’s eyes darted around the room, and she knew he was caught off guard. She hadn’t told Kato her purpose in their stop at the bar, not knowing what he would do. He could try to stop her, or not take her. Or worse, take her to her father or Katsu. But by springing it on him, she bought time. She could convince him not to tell anyone what she had done. She was certain.
Yuki stopped in front of a table of men playing cards, and as her eyes swept across them, they caught on the hands of one man as he shuffled deck. He was missing three fingers: both pinkies and a ring finger, a Yakuza atonement sacrifice. He had screwed up, more than once, and badly. His face was scarred, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up, displaying his tattoos. He was perfect, the quintessential Yakuza gangster, and that was enough for her.
“Come with me.”
The table erupted in laughter, and she set her jaw as she glared at each man. Her eyes rested on her target again. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
He looked behind her at Kato and narrowed his eyes, but laid his cards on the table. She turned on her heel and made her way out, her brute following behind.
“Don’t forget to bring your balls back with you, Etsuko,” one of the men called after them, and the table broke out in laughter.
Yuki kept walking.
Kato opened the car door for her, and she slid in, motioning for the gangster to follow. He reluctantly climbed in and closed the door, eyeing her.
“I have a job for you, if you’re looking for work?”
“What kind of job?”
“The kind that requires you to have a gun.”
The corner of his lip raised into a crooked smile. “Lucky for you, I have one. What is the job?”
She pulled an envelope out of her purse and handed it to him. “She’s in Las Vegas. I don’t care how you do it.”
He opened up the envelope and thumbed the bills inside, then pulled out the piece of paper with the woman’s information.
“I have another ten thousand for you, if you leave now.”
He raised an eyebrow and nodded. “All right, Yuki-san. That is your name, yes? I am Ets—”
“I don’t care who you are. Speak of this to no one. My contact information is in that envelope. When you’re back, and the job is completed, I’ll give you the rest of your money.”
He tucked the envelope into his jacket and nodded once more. The car filled with sharp light as he exited, then slipped into cool darkness as he closed the door behind him.
She looked out the window and smiled. “Take me home, Kato.”
Down the Barrel
“SON OF A BITCH.”
DITA ran to the elevator, her mind racing as she hit B4, needing to get to Perry’s. When the elevator dinged, she jogged through the foyer, past the paintings of Elysium and Tartarus, past the globe that held the Fields of Asphodel. Perry walked in from one of the back rooms, and her eyes went wide when she saw Dita.
“What happened?”
Dita stopped, breathing heavy. “Hera found out.”
Perry looked in on Yuki, and her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my gods. What are you going to do? That thug is already on his way to the airport.”
“The only way that I know to stop him would involve putting other humans in danger, like a plane or a car crash, and I can’t do that. I need Katsu to know. He can save her,” Dita said as she paced around the room. “How?”
“Really, Dita? Have Kato tell him.”
Dita rolled her eyes and thumped her forehead with the heel of her palm. “I’m so pissed, I cannot even think straight.”
She chewed her lip as she took a seat on Perry’s leather couch, looking in on Kato as he drove Yuki through the city with a sheen of sweat across his brow.
———— New York ————
The city stretched out before Katsu as dusk fell outside his office window. He would be leaving the following morning for Vegas, and his stomach flipped at the thought. One more night without her, that was all. For a while at least.
Someone knocked on his door, and he turned to the sound.
“Yes?”
One of his enforcers, Kato, walked in with his eyes on the ground and bowed. “Tanaka-san.”
&nb
sp; “Is everything all right, Kato?”
“No. I have just come from your apartment.”
Katsu’s brow dropped as he straightened up. “Yuki?”
“Yes. I did not know, Tanaka-san—”
Katsu took a step forward as his heart thundered. What did she do? “Did not know what?”
“Yuki-san called for me to pick her up today. I took her to the bank, then to Hiro’s bar, about an hour ago. She did not tell me her intentions. She has discovered your mistress and has hired Etsuko Goro’s gun. He left for Las Vegas.”
Katsu gripped the back of the chair beside him, holding himself up. “He is already gone?”
“Yes. I came as soon as I dropped Yuki off.”
He reeled as he punched the button on the intercom and barked into the small speaker, “Get me on the next flight to Las Vegas. I do not care if I have to ride in the undercarriage.”
“Hai,” his secretary answered.
“And call Shinji in Las Vegas. Have him follow Kim Riggs until I find him, and make sure he does not alarm her.”
“Hai, Tanaka-san.”
Katsu lay his palms on his desk. “Why did she trust you with this, Kato? Why did she not think you would tell me?”
Kato’s shoulders squared as he took a deep breath. “I care for her. I have cared for her for five years. She tried to convince me not to tell you or Tanaka, and I let her believe that she succeeded. I knew as soon as we left Hiro’s that you had to know. I would do almost anything for her, but I could never betray you. And now, I have shamed you.”
Katsu took a deep breath. “You have not shamed me, because I know her. You are a pawn in her game.”
Kato stared at the ground, and Kastu felt the weight of empathy. He walked across the room and laid a hand on his enforcer’s shoulder. “Kato, she can be very convincing. You could not have known. I have been fooled by her, many times.”
Kato bowed, and Katsu turned and picked up his briefcase, packing a few things inside before snapping it closed.
“Now, take me to the airport.”
Katsu wiped his palms on his thighs as he waited for the stewardess to open the airplane door in Vegas. His stomach twisted in knots, his knee bobbing. Every minute since Kato told him about Yuki’s plan had been torture. His mind played over scenarios of Etsuko finding Kim. If he found her at work, or in her apartment. What his weapon of choice would be. If he would hit her, rape her. The thought of him even touching her brought a fresh wave of rage and panic.
He could hardly breathe.
He glanced at his watch. It was midnight, and he wondered exactly where she was, and if Shinji found her. She should still be at work, but by the time he got to his condo and picked up his car, it would be at least one. When the door opened, he wound his way out around passengers as they retrieved their bags, then stripped off his suit coat and ran.
Shinji watched from his car as Kim walked out of the club where she worked. His nerves were on edge. Katsu trusted him with the life of his mistress, and it was the first time Shinji had been given the responsibility of anything more than simple surveillance. His hand moved to his gun in his chest holster, hoping he wouldn’t have to use it, hoping that Katsu would be there soon.
Kim’s headlights flicked on, and she pulled out of the lot. He turned his keys in the ignition, waiting for only a moment before he pulled out behind her.
Hera stared into the fire as it raged in her study and took a long sip of wine. The turn of the tide was sticky and ugly, but she needed to get rid of Kim, and she needed Yuki to be responsible. Yuki needed that power over Katsu, and Hera could give it to her, eliminating Aphrodite’s move at the same time.
She wasn’t thrilled, but it seemed the only choice.
Shinji needed to be removed from the game, and Hera didn’t mind putting a few humans at risk to ensure that Yuki’s plan would be seen through to the end. Katsu needed to see his bitch dead and bleeding, and know that Yuki made it happen. He would give in to her, once he saw what she could do.
Zeus’s stormy, gray eyes crept their way into her mind. She had been playing the same game with him for eons, and in some ways, her plan had worked. In other ways, it had not. But Katsu was just a man. He would bend to Yuki. And ridding him of his whore was the first step.
The stoplight turned red just as Kim passed under it, and Shinji pulled to a stop. He knew where she lived, but if she stopped somewhere, or went a different route than he did … he couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t let Katsu down.
His fingers gripped the wheel as he stared at the light, willing it to turn green. The second it changed, he pushed the accelerator to the floor, never seeing the lights of the car speeding toward him, not until just before he felt the impact, and the world spun on its axis.
Katsu trotted from the club back to his car waiting at the curb. He had just missed her, and his heart pumped hard and fast as he fired the engine, his tires squealing as he peeled out and raced to her apartment.
He was about a mile away when he heard sirens, and brake lights piled up in front of him. Headlights flooded the intersection where a car was flipped, the glass twinkling across the pavement. Another car rested with its engine steaming, and the driver stepped out, stumbling slightly.
Katsu pulled around the other cars, driving through empty parking spots. Adrenaline shot through him when he saw Shinji climb out of the window of the flipped car.
Kim.
His mind screamed as his car rumbled under him, and every second that passed felt like an eternity.
Kim paid the attendant at the gas station and smiled as she walked back out to her car. She was exhausted, and her feet were aching, but Katsu would be there the next day, and that was enough to kill any pain.
When she pulled into the parking lot at her apartment, she went on alert. Something was off. Her eyes darted around, looking for anything amiss, but found nothing. Stop it, Kim. You’re being ridiculous.
She stepped out of her car, closed the door, and locked it. She absently tossed her keys in her bag and then swore at herself for not thinking. As she dug blindly in her purse to retrieve them, she scanned the parking lot. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she sped up as she walked toward the stairs.
Katsu parked in her complex and threw open his door, stepped out of his car, and jogged toward her building. He searched the dark lot, full of silent cars, and then he saw her.
She glanced around as she passed under a light, her hand in her bag. The relief at seeing her bolted through him, until his fear snapped it short. He stepped out of the shadow and saw Etsuko hidden between cars as he lifted his gun.
Kim caught sight of movement in the dim lot, and when she looked into the shadows, everything stopped.
She saw Katsu and was confused, wondering why he was there, wondering if she’d had the day he was expected to return wrong. And then she saw the man kneeling between cars with a gun pointed at her.
Her thoughts ground to a halt, and before she had time to scream, Katsu stepped swiftly behind him. In what felt like the longest and shortest moment of her life, Katsu laid one hand on the man’s chin, the other on his crown, and twisted, snapping his neck. He fell to the ground in a heap, and Katsu ran to her, catching her as her knees gave out.
He picked her up and carried her up the stairs to her apartment, clutching her to his chest with relief pumping through him alongside adrenaline. He stood her up by her door, his hands shaking as he pulled out his keys and unlocked her door.
Katsu ushered her inside and sat her down on the couch. He picked up the phone and dialed his lead Vegas enforcer, letting him know what happened and to send a team to get rid of Etsuko. He hung up the phone and slipped in beside her, wrapping himself around her as she curled into him.
His heart was broken and healed, stitched together with the threads of the sick game he had dragged her into.
“You are safe, Kim. I am here,” he said as he rocked her.
Her tears ran down her cheeks,
onto his shirt, and he held her like she would disappear if he let her go. She heard the door open and felt the rumble of Katsu’s voice against her ear as he gave orders in Japanese, and when the door closed again, he shifted away from her, tilting her face up to his with his strong fingers on her jaw.
“This is my fault,” he said, his face twisted in pain, his voice broken. “Kim, I cannot put you in this danger. You have sacrificed everything, your safety, your happiness to be with me, and now … I …if anything ever happened to you, and because of me…”
He paused as he tried to hold onto his composure, and Kim panicked as his words sunk in.
“You want to leave me?”
“Not for me, but for you. I have asked too much.” His voice cracked, his eyes full of tears. “I cannot live in a world where you do not exist. The hours that it took me to find you were the longest of my life. I have never, ever been so afraid. I cannot put you in danger.”
“No,” she said, knowing she could never let him go. The time she had spent unsure of what she wanted was a lie — she knew then for certain what her heart had always known. “Katsu, please. I choose you. I choose this.” She touched his face as her tears fell. “Not having you would be the greatest sacrifice I could ever make. I can’t live without you. I can’t. I need you.” Her breath hitched as she tried to speak. “I love you, Katsu. I want this life with you, and I will take whatever you can give me, whenever I can get it. Because without you, I’m lost.”
“I cannot ask you to do this,” he said, his words heavy and raw.
“You’re not asking me. I’m asking you. Please. Please, stay with me.”
His voice trembled. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
He leaned down and kissed her, their lips pressing together with urgency and possession, full of promise. He scooped her up and carried her into her bedroom, never releasing her from his kiss. He laid her on the bed and hovered over her as she twisted herself around him. He broke away and pulled back, wiping her tears from her cheeks.