39. Kenzo
CHAPTER 39
KENZO
A few days pass like that. My office is locked—only the higher-ups in the Endo-kai have access to my penthouse and the office—but that’s not why I’m on edge. The Endo-kai is ready to “take care” of her, and I’m not going to let it happen. If anyone handles her, it’ll be me.
That’s my duty. My wife.
So I take her to work. Vi leans on the passenger door of my car. In black pants and a nice blouse, she’s playing the part of a good girl ready to visit her husband’s place of employment. Perfume puffs of burnt sugar invade my nostrils, and I scoff, then open the car window. If I can’t smell her, maybe I won’t be fooled by her lies. But damn it, even past the wet cement and exhaust outside, her sweet perfume breaks through, and once again, Vi dominates my thoughts. Then again, she’s been in the center of my mind since I saw her handcuffed in the holding cell.
Perhaps my mistake wasn’t believing in her lies; it was thinking she was part of the family just because I put a ring on her finger.
I know better now.
My phone buzzes, and I glance at it before focusing back on the road. Tomo must be riding Niko’s ass, or he wouldn’t be texting me so much.
Niko texts: Take care of her. Those four words make my skin crawl. I’ll take care of her, all right.
Shimmering yellow walls of a warehouse come into view. Gold Cine HQ shines in big letters above the doors. Gold Cine is a movie theater company, and with the way the world has shifted, there’s a lot less of a need for traditional theaters. It’s the exact kind of target we like to extort—the desperate kind—especially when they’re trying to cover up certain secrets, like an executive who harasses the interns, then pays them to stay quiet.
We park near the front entrance, and a valet opens Vi’s car door. I toss him my keys.
“You’re taking me to work?” Vi asks.
It’s the first words she’s spoken to me since we left the penthouse. All I do is nod. It was that, or leave her at home, and with Niko’s incessant pestering, I can’t leave her there. I know Niko, and when he doesn’t like the way business is run, he deals with it in his own way.
Niko’s next text comes in: Take care of it, or I fucking will.
Point proven. It. My wife is an “it” now. Still, she’s not his problem to deal with. If Vi has to pay, then it’s going to be me who makes sure her debt is fulfilled.
We ride the elevators in silence, but on the second floor, some of the other stockholders join us. I make small talk, keeping Vi behind my back and out of the way. Her posture changes behind me, almost like she’s shrinking inside of herself. I want her to feel small and insignificant, like she’s here because she has to be, not because I want her here. Not because I can’t stand the thought of leaving her in the penthouse. Not because I can’t take the chance of her being alone when the rest of the yakuza keep insisting I “take care” of her. And definitely not because I want to protect her. Because this isn’t about protecting her.
And yet, she’s here. Hiding behind me.
God-fucking-damn it.
The crowd of businessmen go to the meeting. There’s a set of chairs posted along the wall outside of the conference room, and on top of that, there’s a glass wall between the room and these chairs, which will give me the perfect view of Vi while I work.
“Sit here,” I say.
She does as she’s told without saying a word. She’s been doing that a lot lately. The sassy quips are gone, replaced by obedience, and it makes me wonder if she’s got something planned. But I don’t dwell on it. Even if she’s rethinking her decisions, it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done, and sooner or later, I’m going to have to take care of it.
Of her.
I take my seat inside and make a joke about my slightly late arrival, using my charm to get these assholes to laugh, and then the stockholder meeting begins. Vi twists her fingers in her lap. Her bright red hair gleams like a demonic halo over her head, and those blue eyes twinkle. They fucking twinkle. Like she’s scared of me. No—like she wants me. Like I’m some kind of tragic monster. My head spins.
Why does she have to be so fucking beautiful?
The conversation drags on, and usually, I’d be making subtle, yet suggestive comments about the past to make the leaders upfront uncomfortable, but my mind is elsewhere. I can’t stop staring at Vi fidgeting in the lobby.
I run my hands through my hair, then stand up. A few of the people turn to me, but I leave the room. I’ve got a wife to take care of right now.
I stop beside Vi. I pull a small vibrator out of my pocket, no bigger than a fingernail, and I bend down to Vi’s ear, slipping it between her hands. I’ve got a ton of these little things, all recently purchased for her, because apparently I’m a goddamn doormat waiting for my wife to stomp all over me.
“Put this in your underwear, turn it on, then sit back here,” I say. “Keep your legs spread.”
I don’t give her a chance to agree or disagree. I find the bathroom and splash water on my face. This is supposed to be about work. About getting the director alone so we can talk about his company’s bad history, hinting I’ll take his coverup public if he doesn’t pay up. But all I can think about is Vi. I gave her a vibrator, as if that will ease my mind, when I know it’s just a distraction. I don’t care though. This can be my own punishment for her.
I return to the meeting, and a minute after I sit down, Vi goes to her spot. Her cheeks are tinted, but her thighs stay parted. I smirk, knowing she did exactly what I said. The greedy little cunt. She bites her bottom lip, and when her eyes cross mine, I can see it inside of her. She likes this as much as she hates it, and I love knowing she’s getting off on a vibrator, sitting in the lobby of a company building, just because I told her to.
She may not be loyal to me, but she’s still my obedient little fuck toy.
I gently nudge the man sitting next to me, and then apologize in a hushed voice, acting like I didn’t mean to do it. His eyes wander around until he sees Vi. Her fingers flinch in her lap, and her cheeks are getting redder by the second. She sees the man next to me is watching her, and she flushes even harder. My little slut loves being watched, even like this. My dick thickens against my leg.
“What’s wrong with her?” the businessman whispers, genuinely concerned. “Is she having a panic attack?”
“You should go check on her,” I say.
He exits the room and bends down toward her, whispering in her ear, and Vi turns an even brighter shade of red. I read her lips: No. I’m fine. Really. The man shrugs, then returns to the meeting. He angles his body back away to give her some privacy, as if he knows she’s wallowing in her own filthy punishment right now. What a shame. It would’ve been fun to see her squirm under our watchful eyes. Too bad the businessman is a polite bastard.
The meeting is over, and though I spot the director with a small line of people waiting for him, I can’t focus. Vi is my personal curse right now, and I won’t be able to get rid of her unless she satiates my needs.
It’s the story I tell myself as I find her in the lobby, blushing as the businessmen pass her. I have to do this. I have to get my mind off of her by fucking her.
But I know the truth: the more I fuck her, the deeper her claws dig into me.