Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
T akeshi
Katsuo is already half a mile from the house on his morning run when I arrive. Shinji drops me off and heads to the house to help the kids get ready for school.
He is so transparent.
I join my cousin, glad I stretched before arriving. The run will do me good after my morning with temptation.
The air battles the rising sun for the last drop of coolness before dewdrops evaporate from the lawn surrounding our path. Our steps thud against the paved driveway and my body begins to warm. Although we are on private property, I study my surroundings. Protecting Katsuo is not just a job for me. He’s earned my devotion and loyalty since we were kids.
“Did you meet with success?” Katsuo asks without glancing in my direction.
“Somewhat. I had to strong-arm her into accepting protection, but she has a price.”
“Oh?”
“Revenge against a family in Florida.”
Katsuo stops to jog in place and faces me with a frown. “Did you agree to this price?”
“Shinji did.”
“Cousin, when will you put your foot down with him? If you continue to spoil him this way, there’s no telling what trouble he’ll get us into.”
“I’ll stop when you do. Just because you pick a fight with Portia while you’re indulging her doesn’t negate the fact that you give her everything she asks for.”
Katsuo glares at me from the corner of his eye and resumes his run. “What kind of power does this family have?”
“Uncertain. I’m letting you know in case we find they’re connected to the Oliveris.”
“Takeshi…”
“If you don’t sanction our actions, we’ll go off on our own to get it done so no blowback comes on you if Gio Oliveri has a problem. Ever since Portia reconnected with her sister, Jessie, he isn’t just another associate.”
“Why would you go to war for this woman? She’s a stranger. Is she worth destroying our lucrative partnership?”
“She may not be but Shinji is,” I say, ignoring the impulse to defend Lakeshia.
Everything Katsuo says is true. She is a stranger who I have an unhealthy attraction to. One that pulls me in directions I don’t like. Yet, I can’t help but recall her life until now. I know she’s hiding more than what she’s told us. A life of hardship and pain I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of, but her secrets won’t make me any less committed to paving a more peaceful future for her.
Committed? I guess I am. Fuck!
“I won’t allow you to sacrifice yourself for the organization. Not in this matter. We’ll handle the Oliveris should they prove to be a problem. All our resources are available to you.”
“Oyassan…”
“Cousin,” he corrects me. “This is a family matter. Gio’s opinion has no bearing on us. The Kimura and Oliveri alliance through my marriage to my wife will never change our relationship.” He allows me to sit with his decree for a few seconds before patting my shoulder. “I look forward to meeting my new cousin.”
Instead of Shinji-level excitement, I give Katsuo nothing but a change of topic. “Have you spoken to Masanori in the last couple of days?”
A beat of silence passes between us broken by our breaths and the morning birds chirping.
“Is there something I should know that he hasn’t told me?”
“I don’t know. He was acting out of sorts when I stopped for lunch yesterday.”
“Masanori has always kept to himself. You remember the times we would hang out together. He was permanently attached to a manga or book. Once he reached his capacity for hanging with us, he would sit out every activity.”
“But he’s never been quick to anger. He’s worse than you are with how well he guards his feelings.”
Katsuo quirks his eyebrow. Without needing him to ask me to clarify, I say, “Kori.”
“Hontōni?”
“Hai.”
“I’ll talk to him when I get in the office. I won’t lose my chef to my cousin. Z’s attached.” Katsuo frowns at the prospect. Although his oldest son has come a long way with his abandonment issues from losing his biological father and being separated from his grandmother, Katsuo will avoid situations that will trigger his son. “How’s Portia’s schedule looking for today?” Katsuo switches to his favorite topic.
“Don’t worry, no emergencies came up over the weekend to prevent your lunch date from happening. I’ll deliver her to you on time, as usual.”
“Have you heard from Sokolov?”
“Not since last month. They upped Mildred’s dose. There’s no way she’ll attempt another escape.” I continue to update Katsuo on our business with the Sokolov family in New Jersey. Our organizations agreed on an alliance on the condition that Sokolov keep Mildred from interfering in her former daughter-in-law’s life after she attempted to kidnap Portia’s kids.
Katsuo keeps her alive for Ezekiel’s sake. Once he becomes an adult, he’ll have the choice to maintain or distance himself from the horrible woman.
My cousin loops around, heading back to the house, and I follow close behind. We separate in the living room. While Katsuo goes through his morning ritual, I shower, change into my suit, and join Shinji at the door.
“Is boss man on board?” he asks.
“Yes, though he said I spoil you too much.”
My admission brings a smile to my husband’s face and I can’t even pretend to be annoyed. “Mr. Kimura, I must insist you keep up the good work.” He lowers his voice and suggestively arches his brow. “Your efforts will be well rewarded.”
“Don’t make me throw ice water on you two. My kids can hear everything you’re saying.” Portia emerges from the den area with Kioshi on her hip, followed by Ezekiel and Serafina who hide their giggles behind their hands.
“That’s rich coming from you. Your kids don’t need to worry about me and my husband when their parents barely censor themselves.” I follow Portia to her waiting car.
Shinji will wait for Katsuo. We’ll see each other again at lunch. I shake my head remembering a time before now when Shinji didn’t work with me, when I was lucky to see him even once a day. And to think, I hadn’t liked the idea when he first suggested working together.
The day progresses quickly. Since the board voted for Portia to be Tiger Cleaning Services’ CEO, the company Katsuo secretly established so she could materialize the potential he’d seen in her when they first met, her days have been non-stop meetings. She rarely has time to spare, which is the reason she titles her lunch appointment with Katsuo, Legal Briefing. It guarantees her executive assistant will never reschedule unless given specific instructions from Portia. And Portia only cancels on Katsuo during crises. Thanks to her management, disasters are rare.
At lunch, we take the elevator to Katsuo’s office. Thanks to my cousin’s planning, we don’t have long to wait for food to arrive. While Portia goes inside, Shinji and I take our food to Masanori’s empty office. He’s our in-house counsel, but he also overseas the principal arm of Kimura and Associates, our US based law firm. Since he oversees Kimura’s legal interests, he travels a lot to our regional offices to meet with other lawyers and accountants and to ensure the Kimura organization remains as circumspect as possible despite law enforcement’s interest in us.
As Shinji and I begin to eat our udon, he pauses with his hashi suspended above his bowl.
“Do you want to discuss last night?” he asks, then scoops a hefty portion of the thick wheat noodles into his mouth.
I wait for him to finish slurping to answer. “Why would I need to talk about it?” I question him because I know my reasons for wanting to discuss last night, but Shinji preempting me by introducing the topic makes me curious about his motives.
“Because Lakeshia did the unthinkable and you didn’t correct her.”
I clench my teeth and rest my hashi on the table. “It won’t happen again.”
“What a pity,” he sighs. “I rather enjoyed the results of your one-upmanship.”
I frown over the implication in his words. “Are you saying we were missing something before now and that something was her?”
Shinji narrows his eyes and seconds pass with us silently contemplating each other. “There’s some hidden purpose to your question, isn’t there?”
“No, I was intentionally straightforward.”
“The question, maybe. You? Not so much. But to answer what I think you didn’t ask…not just any woman can give us what we need.”
“We?”
“Wipe that skeptical expression off your face. I said we because as much as I know you’ll fight me on this, you need her way more than I do.”
I push away the rest of my lunch and fold my arms. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
How did we stray to discussing me? My skin begins to tingle in discomfort. The desire to scratch at the imaginary itch takes over. The reason is obvious to me. I don’t like where this conversation is going or the additional concerns popping up in my head.
Every day since Shinji’s demands regarding Lakeshia brings extra reasons for my reluctance, but I’m powerless to do anything about my doubts. I’m not one to break a promise, especially to Shinji.
“You wish I were wrong. That’s different from throwing assumptions around.” Shinji circles the table to crouch beside me and take my hands in his.
Heat from his textured palm seeps into me, providing welcome comfort.
“Keishi, ask yourself why you didn’t go cold last night after she swallowed the cum you’d laid claim to. In every other situation, you would freeze somebody out for messing up your plans.”
“I’d never freeze you out,” I say, folding my arms defensively.
He smiles softly. “No, you wouldn’t. And I believe somewhere inside you lies the knowledge that you won’t do it with her, either.”
“We don’t know her. Already, her presence has disrupted our lives.”
Shinji sighs and aims a pitying frown at me.“And? Keishi, you are just being contrary by limiting our knowledge of her with time. This is a great occasion for you to stretch a little and be more impulsive. Embrace the experience and stop dissecting what it will or won’t do to us.”
“Stop trivializing my feelings.” I pull away from him, squelching the emptiness replacing the residual warmth of his touch.
“I’m not. Listen, you may not want to admit this out of some misguided thought that she’ll diminish what you and I have. She can’t.”
Although reassuring, his words do nothing to prevent the worry that has been simmering all morning from finally boiling over.
“You say that now, but you’ll begin to feel differently once she’s pregnant. You’ll want more kids and she’ll inevitably fall in love with you. How can she not? You wanted to make sure she continues to play a part in the child’s life. Her presence will get between us the next time you ask her for another child and I’m incapable of fulfilling that need for you.”
“Stop looking for trouble where it doesn’t exist.” Shinji pats my knee. “You’re my husband, for now and always.”
Despite Shinji’s reassurance, the tiny voice in my head won’t stop reminding me of the way he held her before I joined them in bed last night. The picture they made as my husband shared his deepest desires and Lakeshia offered a glimpse into the empty life she led embedded itself in my head. They favored a husband and wife who’d been married for more years than Shinji and I.
I overlooked the intimacy of the moment last night to remind Shinji of my place in his life. However, even now, I can’t relegate Lakeshia to the role I want her to play.
Her defiance, so much like Shinji’s but more unfettered, is intoxicating and beyond my expectations, let alone his. I don’t know what I’ll do or how I’ll survive if she replaces me in Shinji’s heart.