27. Matthew
27
Matthew
“So this”—Kwanchai, or Chai as he asked us to call him, holds up the SD card carefully in his palm—“contains the formula for this experimental drug? And it’s not the one Leo tried to sabotage. It’s stronger and better?”
“That is our understanding, yes,” Kieran confirms, popping another piece of sashimi into his mouth.
I’ve never had sashimi quite like this. We are in a conference room at the Akiyama Group’s Headquarters and for the past two hours we’ve been exchanging intel. It became clear pretty quickly that we could help each other out. We are after the same thing—to figure out what’s at the bottom of this and stop those who are responsible.
Leo came here running from the Crew. With his help, Chai successfully saved the Akiyama Group from big trouble. It’s how they found out about the knockoff of the drug that got my and Kieran’s families killed.
“As long as you remain in Japan, the Akiyama Group can guarantee your safety,” Chai says after a terse pause, still examining the little object. “We’ve purged and strengthened our ranks. We’ve also made some new connections that will help keep the Japanese government in check.”
This sounds promising. I’m far from the illusion that our problems will magically cease, but this gives us a real fighting chance. If we can help Chai keep Japan out of whatever this conspiracy really is, then we can regroup and try to strike back.
Chai unlocks his tablet and types something in. Leo stifles a chuckle. “Oh, you didn’t tell him? He’s gonna love this.”
Who’s gonna love what? And why do I get the feeling that it’s going to be the opposite?
An Asian man bursts into the conference room a minute later. He’s tall and older than all of us, sporting an expensive suit like our hosts’ and a tastefully messy manbun. The scowl on his face as he scans the room deepens to impressive levels, but even so, there is something very classy about him, like he’s on a whole other level of coolness and badassery even if I can’t pinpoint how.
“Kwanchai. Why was I not informed of this until now? Your father will have my head when he hears,” he scolds in a bass voice that carries without him even having to raise it.
“You’ll be just fine, old man.”
“Plus, we’re telling you now, aren’t we?” Leo adds, fluttering his eyelashes innocently.
The stern guy stops dead in his tracks and lets out the most impressive ‘I-am-so-done-with-this’ sigh I have ever witnessed. But, to be fair, even though I’ve only known Chai and Leo for like three hours, I can already tell they are a handful.
“Yes, after your friends are already here. You do know they are wanted by multiple American authorities, right? Or did you conveniently ignore that fact?” He rubs his face. “I’m really starting to regret not taking the vacation days Daichi was pushing onto me.”
Leo hops up from the chair and gives the guy a friendly bump on the arm, shoving Chai’s tablet into his hands. “Just read this. They were kind of framed.”
A couple of minutes of awkward silence follow as the older man goes through whatever is on that tablet. “You should’ve consulted with me regardless.” He aims an exasperated look Chai’s way.
The mafia heir waves him off. “There was no time. I had to act quickly.”
“How did you even get them here? None of our planes were checked out.”
“I asked a friend for help. He was nearby.” At yet another sigh, Chai adds, “Don’t worry, Aran. It was Phet. He’s trustworthy.”
That seems to smooth out some of the creases across Aran’s forehead, so he must agree. “Remind me to send your friend a gift hamper.” Another fast glance at the tablet and he turns to me and offers me his hand. “I’m Aran, Chief Security Officer for the Akiyama Group. I’m the one who normally handles things like these, but evidently , Chai ignored that once again.”
Oh boy, that explains everything. He’s probably the one who also has to deal with whatever mess these two get into. “I’m Matthew. Matt. And those are Kieran and Adrian. Kieran is a CIA agent. Or used to be, before we went rogue trying to figure out who attacked my aunt.” Aran’s expression pales. Oops, maybe I said too much too early. “We really aren’t the bad guys,” I assure him.
He doesn’t seem all that assured. “You brought over some kind of data with you?”
“Catch.” Chai tosses the SD card to Aran. “We had a look at the formula already, but I have zero idea what it is that we are looking at exactly.”
“I’ll prioritize this. After talking to your father.”
Leo pats Aran on the shoulder. “Good luck. Sincerely. Tell the old man I send my regards.”
Chai snaps his fingers. “Aran. Call Hex. They’ll need new IDs.”
Aran mumbles something in another language and leaves. Silence settles in, heavy and tense. I have a hard time with this kind of atmosphere. My hackles rise and it feels like I’m a balloon about to pop.
“So, uh, what now?” I say, smiling awkwardly at the mafia heir and his bodyguard. As far as mobsters go, he’s definitely intimidating, but Leo and his easy smiles help diminish that by a lot. Something tells me he’s not like this in public, though.
“Now, we find you somewhere to stay. We should have your documents ready by tomorrow, so I ask that you don’t go out until then. If you need anything, just let one of us know and we’ll send somebody.”
I throw myself onto the soft king-size bed and stare at the white ceiling. The luxury sheets smell like lilies.
Kieran and I got our own apartment in the Akiyama Dorms. It’s where a lot of the Group’s members live and Chai and Leo sometimes stay in the penthouse.
It’s surreal, this whole thing. It was for a short while, but being on the run sucks. I’m so ready for it to be over. And Japan is nice. I’ve always wanted to visit, so living here doesn’t sound all that bad. Leo promised to take us around Nagoya once we get our documents and I’m actually looking forward to it. He seems nice. He also doesn’t act like a bodyguard at all, though I think the nature of our meeting is at fault for that. I bet he’s all scowl-y and proper when he needs to be.
Kieran appears at the door, his hair damp from the shower he took. He’s wearing just boxers. Like a cat, he approaches the bed and sits on the edge. Then he leans in and kisses me sweetly.
“How are you feeling?”
I let my body relax and tune in to the various aches I can feel. “Tired. I could sleep for a whole day. Or a whole year.”
He lies down next to me and gathers me in his arms. In one smooth movement, he positions me on top of him. His chest rises then falls under my chin as I look at his smiling face. His heart is beating madly.
“That doesn’t sound too bad. Mind if I join in, Rapunzel?”
I snort, kissing his sternum. “It’s Sleeping Beauty, you dork.”
“Since when are you an expert? But you get my point. You are my princess, and I’m here to watch over you until it’s time to wake you up with a magical kiss.”
When he puts it that way.
“That sounds nice.” I place my ear on his chest and listen to his heart again. It’s calmed down. Settled. It lulls me into a state of tranquil contentment. I’m where I’m supposed to be. The city, or even the country, doesn’t matter. As long as I’m with Kieran. “I know the men who murdered Chrissy and our parents have paid for it, but… It’s not over, is it?”
His fingers rub up and down my spine. It causes me to relax further and close my eyes.
“I’m afraid not, honey bee. But we have allies now. People with resources and power willing to keep us safe. You have nothing to worry about. Chai gave me his word.”
I inhale Kieran. His scent is mixed in with that of lilies, but I can pick it out just as easily as if it wasn’t. “I want to help. Do you think they’ll let us?”
“Of course you’d want to help,” he muses with adoration in his voice. “I already warned Chai about it.”
Oh, so that must be what the two of them were snickering about while Leo showed us around the dorm. They maintained a pace behind us, discussing the logistics of stuff. It sounded kind of boring, so I stopped listening in about halfway through. The tour seemed much more interesting.
Apart from getting our own apartment, we are free to make use of the communal spaces, which include a swimming pool and a luxury gym. We even met that Hex guy. He’s really cool and looks like a dorky K-pop star. He’s also a hacker and apparently, he knows Ambrose, Kieran’s hacker friend. I can’t wait to meet her!
“He was happy to take you up on the offer,” Kieran adds when I remain quiet. “One of Leo’s friends takes care of the Group’s marketing and PR and she is looking for an assistant. It’s not exactly business, but…”
“No, that’s awesome. I’ll take it. But, uh, I was thinking something more… badass, you know. Like Leo…”
Kieran hums, stroking my hair. “Leo has been training martial arts since he was a kid. You only have experience fighting in video games.”
“I shot Bucks,” I remind him.
It was weird, not gonna lie. Killing a person yourself is very different from watching someone else do it. It changes you. It reveals things about you that you might not know. That you might not be ready to know.
It’s a good thing I’ve always been on the sociopathic spectrum.
“That you did, sweet cheeks. The bruise on your lovely ass is proof of it.”
Rolling my eyes, I swat blindly at Kieran. “Whatever. At least I didn’t shoot you instead of him by mistake.”
“Oh yeah. That would’ve sucked.”
When I grumble in discontent, he hugs me tightly. “Thank you, Matt. For being crazy enough to trust me and not the CIA. Because of you, I know what really happened to my parents. Those responsible have paid. I never expected it might lead to a conspiracy of this caliber, but as long as I have you by my side, I’m ready for whatever this fucked-up world throws at us.”
My chest feels too tight. Joy blooms inside me, bringing tears to my eyes. But I don’t cry. That would be too unmanly of me. I’m here. I am alive. I know the truth. Kieran has helped me as much as I have helped him. We are a team. And we are invincible together. We’ve got this, wherever it might lead us.
“I love you, Ki. And I can’t wait to do all the things we couldn’t do while we were under house arrest.” I scrunch my nose. “And while we had to pretend we were on strictly professional terms.”
He kisses my head. “I love you too, Matt. And I hope you are ready because your rose-tinted life as my boyfriend is about to begin.”