Chapter Thirty-Three Creighton
Chapter Thirty-Three
Creighton
Blake was sleeping. The house was dark, but I moved through it easily.
It was second nature by now. She fell asleep in my sweatshirt, so I pulled on my pants and my Henley for this conversation.
They had another roommate, one they barely knew anything about, except I knew enough about.
She was awake, like she always was at this time of the night.
It was her lounging time, so I found her in the kitchen.
She was dressed for bed. Skimpy black shorts. A black tank top. Her long black hair was loose. She was stirring something on the stove. I watched her a moment in the shadows where I knew she couldn’t see me. She’d feel me soon enough, but right now, I was glad for her relaxed state.
I saw the dragon tattoo circling her entire arm, all the way to her shoulder where the dragon’s tail would end just beneath her neck. Someone who didn’t know better would think it was simply a cool tattoo.
“You’re Yakuza.”
She went still, her only reaction. Slowly, she turned to find me where I stood.
I stepped forward, and she turned the oven off, half facing me.
I didn’t go any closer.
She knew who I was, just like I knew who she was. There was no fear in her eyes. Only awareness. She tilted her head up, her chin almost challenging. “I’ve been waiting for you to introduce yourself. You skirt around me the other nights, going to your girlfriend upstairs.”
So she had known who Blake was to me. “My reports tell me that you are not here acting as a current member of the Yakuza.”
“I’m here as a student. I’m getting my PhD.”
“And when you’re done?”
A warning flashed in her eyes. “When I’m done is none of your business.”
“You are here. You are either a threat or you are an asset. Which are you?”
Anger gleamed back at me. Her nostrils flared slightly.
She forced herself back so she was leaning against the kitchen counter and reached for her stirring spoon.
She began moving it around her hand, her wrist flicking back and forth.
She did it so naturally, as if she weren’t aware she was doing it.
She seemed contemplative before her face cleared. “You put your girlfriend here.”
She was connecting some dots. I was interested if she could put it all together.
She commented further, “I’m the reason she came here.
” Her chest rose swiftly as she landed on some theory.
She shifted to her side so she could stir her food.
“Were you hoping I’d become attached to your girlfriend and use that connection to your benefit?
I’ve not even met her. And I am not Yakuza.
My family is. They will not give one fuck about your girlfriend, even if I had formed some sort of fondness for her.
Which I haven’t. If you were hoping to use me to grow some sort of alliance with my family, you are mistaken. ”
Ah. Yes. That would be a normal way of doing business.
“Your brother is second in command, along with your uncle and three of your cousins. They killed your father.”
The stirring spoon halted abruptly; only her pinkie held it in place.
I continued, “His death was the penance received as payment so you could come here as a student.”
“You’re lying.”
I almost smiled at that. “Psychopaths are known to be skilled liars.”
The stirring spoon fell out of her hand, clattering to the floor. She didn’t dare look away from me. Since this conversation started, she had a certain arrogance to her. She was cocky. Yes, she’d been aware of me, and yes, she knew when I skirted around her on the nights when I would go to Blake.
So many looked at my face and put their own judgments on me, and I was okay with that. It usually served my purpose, but it was important right now, for this particular girl, to have a full understanding of who I was.
I don’t care if she thought I was lying or not.
“I know about you. I know you have only one weakness.” Her eyes flicked to the ceiling.
“I should gut you for that threat.” I said it casually because, well, it actually was a casual consideration to me.
But I’d also learned that normal people tended to get nervous when I said words like that, as if I were asking if they had a pen I could use.
Her chest paused and held, and there, right there, I saw a slight trickle of fear begin to show.
It was easy for me to read normal people.
People were like paintings to me. Each emotion had a different color, and all of the many emotions woven together made up such pretty masterpieces.
I had a certain appreciation for each normal human, and unlike other psychopaths, I had no interest in pulling apart each emotion in order to better understand where they came from.
Her pinkie finger began to shake. I didn’t think she was aware of it.
Her eyes stayed wide and almost unblinking, glued to me.
I should get back to Blake. “I did not put Blake here to get to your family. I would never use her in that way. I put you here because you are an added shield. You and the Nogoskeski boy. I am in a war right now, and if anyone moves on her while she’s in this house, your family could use that as a perceived threat against their organization.
West and Walden will not want to risk another fight on their hands. ”
“So I’m a shield for your girlfriend?” she asked.
Funny. She had no reaction to hearing how I orchestrated her housing placement.
“Yes,” I answered.
“And if they try to make a deal with my family and offer up your girlfriend to solidify that alliance?”
That could happen. It was a risk of war.
Alliances would shift and adjust as the pieces would be placed and moved across the chessboard.
But I just gave her a smile, knowing it was one that Blake would call my smile of death and promised destruction.
“If that were to happen, I would enjoy peeling the skin from you that I would ship in a box to your brother.”
She braced herself as far back against the counter as possible. “I should gut you for that threat.”
That would be even more interesting. “Do we have an understanding?”
“Yes,” she clipped out. Not happy. “All this is null and void if I move out.”
That would inconvenience me. “You should not do that.”
There was no heated warning behind my words, but I smiled at her again.
One of her arms shook, but she tucked it farther to hide it behind her.
The conversation seemed to be done. We understood each other.
I left, only veering to the smaller sitting room where Levi had taken up residence.
He was awake, lying on one of the couches with a blanket tossed over him.
He turned his head at my approach. I could hear his amusement.
“You’re like a giant fucking feral panther, and that was the equivalent of you dragging a hyena that you killed and bringing it to her doorstep as a gesture of respect.
The problem is that she’s also a hyena and you brought one of her family members as a gift. ”
“She’s a person. She’s not a hyena.”
He expelled a half laugh, coughing to cover it up. “It’s a metaphor.”
“I like hyenas.”
He laughed again, this time not trying to cover it up. “Of course you do. And again, it’s a metaphor. I could’ve called her a leopard.”
“Hyenas are misunderstood.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ, Creight. Let it go on the hyenas. I’m just saying she doesn’t realize that whole conversation was you trying to be respectful to her, since she was here first and you not only are making your presence known, but you also put one of your own in her house because she’s here.”
“I put her here.”
He snorted. “Not making it better.”
“Blake likes hyenas too. She likes most animals.”
He settled further on the couch. “I know you don’t give a fuck, but I’m happy for you. Mom and Dad are finally together.” He laughed to himself. “Go to bed, Creight. Tomorrow’s going to be interesting.”
I texted Lassiter as I returned to Blake.
Me: Hold off on completing my order. The four gifts.
Lassiter: Taking or the other part?
Me: The other part.
Lassiter: Got it.
I sent another order to my IT guys.
Me: The night Blake was taken, she said Walden was having a meeting with another man in the alley between his building and Octavia. He handed him an envelope. Find out who that man was. Send me everything you can get on him.
IT Lead: Got it, Boss.