Chapter 12
Dante
What the fuck had I done? Had I broken Kuroi? The man I had married didn’t cry. He barely had emotions at all. It was like he was a different person.
He had called himself Shiro. I had thought he was roleplaying. That’s why I went along with it.
And he knew the safe word. I had made sure of it. He could have stopped what I was doing at any time. So, why didn’t he? Just when I thought I understood him and could predict his responses, he did this.
Of course, in a hundred years I wouldn’t have guessed that I would have made him do what I did last night. But I had.I don’t know what came over me.
I was just gonna have him bend over my knee and then paddle him. …Okay, that’s not completely true. From the time he requested it, I had decided to come up with something on the fly. And then I remembered Yuki telling me that Kuroi needed a firm hand.
I have to be honest, her telling me that kinda pissed me off. I can’t tell you why it did. I went to her for advice. She gave it to me. But it was the way she said it. It was like she was the grand empress, and I knew nothing. She made me feel like I didn’t deserve Kuroi or something.
So, with Kuroi standing in front of me looking like he did, it just came to me. And I hadn’t considered how Yuki would respond seeing Kuroi dressed like he was, but I definitely wouldn’t have predicted that she would responded how she had.
It was like the two of us were working together. But I couldn’t support any of what she was saying about Kuroi knowing his place. Kuroi knew his place. It was by my side being the king he was.
Yet, hearing her say those things, I still went along with it. I was turned on by everything too much to stop. It had to have hurt Kuroi, right? That’s why after bringing him to my bed, he collapsed into tears. So, why didn’t he use the safe word? Had he forgotten it?
“Morning,” Kuroi said to me with a smile.
“Morning,” I replied not having slept for a second.
“Am I going to have to handcuff you today?” he asked, looking refreshed and relaxed.
“You don’t need handcuffs because I’m never letting you go.”
Kuroi stared at me for a second and then leaned forward and kissed me. Relaxing onto the pillow, he stared into my eyes.
“About last night,” I began.
“Let’s not talk about last night,” he said still contently smiling.
But we had to, didn’t we? I had never been a chick about these things, but if ever we needed to talk, it would be about what happened last night.
“I just want to make sure. You remembered our safe word, right?”
Kuroi’s smile widened amused. Reaching over and placing his hand on my cheek, he reassured me.
“Yes, I remember our safe word.”
“Just checking,” I said, not feeling better about things, but knowing I hadn’t crossed a line.
Reassured, the muscles in my shoulders unclenched. My whole body did. With it came the wave of exhaustion from being awake all night. It dragged my eyes closed. And just as I was going to let myself fall asleep, Kuroi said,
“Oh, I never got a chance to tell you why I had deserved a treat last night.”
“You didn’t,” I said without the strength to reopen my eyes.
“I found your uncle.”
“I figured. Where is he?”
“Tied up in a warehouse in the Bronx.”
My eyes snapped open.
“What?”
“I figured you’d want to talk to him and I thought I’d make it easy for you,” Kuroi said please with himself.
“That’s… I don’t…” I muttered fighting for words. “Why would you do that?”
“Because he might be here to kill you. He can’t kill you if he’s tied up in a warehouse.”
“He’s been there all night?” I said fully awake and sitting up.
“I didn’t mean to leave him there. I got distracted by something. What was it again? That’s right, your cock up my ass,” he said amused.
Sprinting out of bed to get ready, I told Kuroi, “You have to take me to him.”
Rolling over to watch me, he replied, “He’s been there all night. If he needed to pee, he’s peed himself by now. What’s another hour in bed?”
“This isn’t a joke, Kuroi. You need to take me to him now.”
“You’re no fun,” my husband said reluctantly complying.
Dressed, I didn’t let Kuroi go through his usual routine of choosing an outfit and putting on makeup. Still, he managed to look stylish and hot as hell. Matteo thought of himself as some type of pretty boy. But it was Kuroi who always looked like he stepped off of a runway.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go,” he told me entering the living room as if I weren’t the one waiting on him.
Hopping into my car, we drove out of the city and into the Bronx.
“My father has warehouses in every borough,” he explained.
“To store his product?”
“They are more like distribution hubs. He has a few and rotates between them before selling them. This one’s empty.”
That told me a lot about Sato’s organization. If we ever did go to war, I now knew how to cripple him. I wasn’t sure if Kuroi had meant to tell me what he had, but there was no way I would use the information in a way that could hurt him.
Approaching the warehouse, I understood how Sato could use it for distribution. The only way in was through an alley. And behind a fence and small patio, the place was very easy to secure.
“What did you tell him when you grabbed him?”
“Does it look like I have henchmen? I didn’t grab him. I convinced him to follow me.”
“How did you do that?”
“Turns out that you and your uncle share a taste in men. All I had to do was look at him and he started following me.”
“Did you fuck him?” I said my temper racing to a boil.
“What are you crazy?”
“How am I supposed to know what you meant by that?”
“You’re supposed to know that I’m not going to fuck your uncle, the man who might be here to kill you.”
“Good that you know that.”
“What the fuck, Dante? I did something nice for you.”
I calmed myself.
“You’re right. What you did was good. I just… I just can’t think about you with anyone else. I swear to God, if anything Yuki told me about what happened to you as a kid had been true, I would murder everyone who ever laid a hand on you.”
Kuroi stared at me froze.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What did Yuki tell you about my childhood?”
“She didn’t tell me anything about your childhood. What she told me was some fucked up story about you being some sort of Japanese apprentice or some shit.”
“A kagema,” Kuroi said lowering his eyes. “And you didn’t believe her?”
“Come on, there was no way she was serious about that. I mean, Sato’s an asshole, but you’re his son.”
Kuroi eyes met the floor as he looked away.
I was driving but the sight of him captured my full attention.
“Wait, did that have to do with why you were crying last night?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about what happened last night.”
I could feel myself preparing to explode. I had to pull over.
“It’s right up there,” Kuroi said pointing.
“I don’t give a fuck where it is.” With the car off, I turned in my seat to face him. “Look, I’m sorry about what I did last night. The truth is that after our first few nights together, I went to your sister to get advice on how to handle you.”
“How to handle me? What am I, a dog?”
“No! Have you forgotten what you did to me? You fuckin’ stabbed me the night you moved in. The next night you threw a fuckin’ casserole dish at me. Even with my ability to heal when I shifted, Lorenzo had to stich me up. I almost bled to death goin’ him. So, yeah, I needed help on how to handle you so I didn’t end up dead.”
That shut Kuroi up.
Feeling like I was too enthusiastic in making my point, I took his hand.
“That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. I went to Yuki because she knew you better than I did. But, what she told me, it was beyond belief. She said that Sato had made you…”
“Kagema,” he said still unable to look at me.
“That’s it. And she said that Sato, gave you to someone as, like, a rent boy?”
“Rent boy? No, it’s different than that,” Kuroi replied.
“It shouldn’t be anywhere close to that. Tell me this is one of your fucked up fantasies. Or, tell me anything. But, if you tell me it’s true…”
“It’s true,” he said meeting my gaze.
Fire exploded within me as my wolf fought to get out. I was a caldron ready to boil over. I would kill every man who had touched him. Then I would kill Sato. I would cut off his fingers one by one and feed it to him.
“Take me to him,” I demanded.
“Who? Your uncle?”
“Fuck my uncle. The man Sato gave you to.”
“He’s dead.”
I struggled to catch my breath.
“Then take me to the next one.”
“He’s dead too. They’re all dead.”
“You killed them? You should have.”
“I don’t remember doing it. I don’t remember killing any of them.”
“What do you mean you don’t remember?”
“They died of heart attacks. All of them. I’m poison.”
The pain in Kuroi’s voice pulled me back.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m the poison that killed them. Anyone who sleeps with me dies. You’re going to die.”
“How am I gonna die?”
“I don’t know,” he said melting into regret.
I took Kuroi’s hand.
“Listen to me, Kuroi. You’re not gonna hurt me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. You aren’t poison. You’re everything I’ve dreamed of. I’ll do everything to protect you and you’ll do everything to protect me.”
“What if I can’t protect you from myself?”
“I don’t want you to protect me from who you are. I want everything you have. I want it all. You can’t scare me away. I’m here and I’m your husband. And the way I know I’ll be around forever is because I know you’ll make sure of it. You can count on me having your back and I know I can count on you having mine.”
Kuroi didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. I knew what I had said was true and there was nothing he could say to convince me otherwise.
But as much as I had calmed down, I was still enraged. Sato was going to die for what he had done to Kuroi. I was going to rip his head from his neck with my bare hands. I would do the same to anyone who stood in my way. But first,
“Where’s my uncle?”
“That’s the door there,” he said pointing to the fence and warehouse door.
“Show me,” I told him before we got out of the car, and he led the way.
Opening the warehouse’s door, it was completely empty except for one thing. At the very center of it was a chair. On it was a man I didn’t recognize. Hearing the door open, his head popped up and groaned. Not only was he tied to the chair and gagged, he was blindfolded.
I looked at Kuroi who met my eyes blankly. I gestured for him to get a glass of water. He thought for a second and then exited the building. Before I reached the chair, Kuroi was back with a cup. Falling into my wake, I approached the chair and stared down at the man.
Although I had never seen him before, he looked like a Ricci. He looked more like Lorenzo than either Matteo or me. But the family resemblance was clear.
Feeling me in front of him, his muffled groans turned into garbled speech.
“I’m gonna remove the gag from your mouth. Are you gonna make me regret it?”
He calmed and then shook his head, ‘no.’
Slowly reaching down, I loosened his gag and removed it from his mouth.
“Gratsi. Gratsi. Thank you,” he said in an Italian accent.
“Now, I have some water for you. But first you’re gonna need to answer a few of my questions. Do you understand me?”
“I understand. Yes.”
“And you’re gonna be honest with me?”
“I’ll tell you the truth. Whatever you need me to say.”
I looked back at Kuroi who held the cup expressionless.
“What’s your name?”
“I’m nobody. I’m just here visiting family. You have the wrong guy.”
“Are you Vincent Ricci?”
“He froze hearing the name.”
“I said, is your name Vincent Ricci?”
“I don’t know what you would want with me. I never hurt nobody. I’m just here visiting family.”
I took that as a yes.
“Are you here to do a job?”
“I’m not here for nothin’. I told you. I’m just here visiting family.”
Stepping closer to him, I balled my fist and clocked him as hard as I could on his jaw. The old man rocked into silence. I had to be careful how I did this. I was still raging from what Kuroi had told me. And I had nearly knocked him out.
I tapped the other side of his face to wake him.
“I told you. You gotta be honest with me. Are you going to be honest with me?”
“Si. Si, I’ll be honest.”
“Now, were you allowed back into the country in exchange for doing a job?”
“Si. My brother needed me to do a job.”
“Your brother said you could come back in the country if you took care of his son. Is that right? Dante Ricci?”
He again froze, this time trying to figure out who I was.
“That’s what he wanted me to do. But I wasn’t going to do it.”
“What were gonna to do, huh? Were you gonna warn him?”
“Yes, I was gonna warn him.”
“You were gonna find him and let him know that his father had sent you to kill him?”
“I could never hurt him. He’s my nephew.”
“So, what were you gonna do instead? Were you gonna offer to help him kill his father?”
He froze, this time confused.
“No. I wasn’t going to do that?”
“Then what were you gonna do, huh?”
“Who are you? Dante? Matteo? Are you Matteo?”
I glanced back at Kuroi.
“Yeah I’m Matteo. And you were gonna betray Pa, weren’t you? After he let you come back, you were gonna tell my bitch ass of a brother why you were here, weren’t you?” I said building to a shout.
“I swear, I wasn’t going to.”
“Then why haven’t you completed the job?”
“You were supposed to give me the gun. I was where I was told to be. You didn’t show up. I waited for an hour. I thought you weren’t coming. If you give me the gun, I’ll do the job.”
“And you could do this to family?” I said feeling the anger pulse through me.
“Your father told me that fag is fucking the son of his enemy. That’s not family. Family doesn’t do that. He’s a disgrace. A disgrace!” he yelled. “Give me the gun and I’ll take care of him like your father asked. Untie me and give me the gun,” he said with a mixture of anger and fear.
I looked back at Kuroi a final time. His eyes reflected what I felt. I knew what I would do next. And as my wolf clawed through to the surface, my bones broke welcoming him.
Staring out through its eyes, I saw the way my wolf looked at Kuroi. He desired Kuroi as much as I did. But, turning back to my uncle, my wolf growled and then did what it had come to do.
Perhaps I should have been nervous driving to Sunday dinner at my parent’s house. After all, my father had sent his brother to kill me. I wasn’t though. It didn’t even matter that this would be the first time my father met my new husband.
I didn’t know how father would react to him. Dressed as Kuroi was, I couldn’t imagine it going over well. He was wearing a jumpsuit sort of thing that was like what he wore to dinner with Matteo. It wasn’t the same one though because this one was dark blue without the fancy stitching. And this one had sleeves.
He also didn’t wear much makeup. At least it didn’t look like he did. It took him forever to get dressed so maybe he was going for an invisible look, or whatever you call it. Either way, I could barely stop myself from peaking over at my husband as we drove.
“Did I tell you that you look beautiful?” I said reaching across the car to take his hand.
“You haven’t,” he said with a smirk.
“You look beautiful,” I said pulling his hand to my lips and kissing it.
“Thank you,” he said with a smile. “I’m nervous.”
I looked at him doubtfully. “Why would you be nervous?”
“I want your mother to like me.”
“Don’t worry. She will.”
“Does she know about me?”
“Everyone knows about you. Everyone knows I married you.”
“But, I mean, does she know about you and me?” he asked squeezing my hand.
He was asking if she knew that I was falling in love with the man I married. For that to be true, she would have had to know that I liked men.
“She doesn’t know how I feel about you,” I admitted.
“And how’s that?”
“What? Are you gonna make me say it?”
“I’m not going to make you do anything,” he said looking away.
I didn’t want him to think that I was anything other than head of heels for him. I didn’t know it was possible to be as happy as I was with Kuroi. I felt awake and alive when I was with him. Being with Kuroi gave my life purpose.
I was put on this earth to protect him. It wasn’t like he needed much protection. He could take care of himself. But in spite how deadly he was, he seemed to have no defense when it came to his family.
I didn’t like what Yuki had said to him during that Facetime. It’s weird, though. Ever since then, he’s been walking around with less weight on his shoulders. I can’t explain it. But if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t do it.
Then there was Sato. Kuroi has since told me how many times Sato had given Kuroi to someone in exchange for a better deal. It was three times. I was the forth.
The first time Kuroi was a child. He had no choice. The next two times, Kuroi wasn’t as young. He could have refused. He was definitely old enough to refuse to marry me. But he hadn’t. He went through with it without fighting back.
Perhaps it was his demon’s power, but Sato had some sort of hold on him. What else would he do if Sato asked him to? Could he refuse his father’s wishes even if he wanted to?
My new purpose in life was to protect him from that. Sato would die for what he did to him.
“I love you,” I said staring through the windshield with my hand engulfing his.
When he didn’t say it back, I glanced over at him. He looked conflicted. That was fine. My loving him didn’t require him saying it back.
“I will always be there for you. Do you hear me? From now on, you come first. You are my family and my pack. I want you to know that.”
I relaxed into my seat having told him. It was enough that he knew it. Finding a spot on my parents’ street, I pulled over and parked.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked Kuroi squeezing his hand one last time.
“If you are,” he replied squeezing my hand back.
Getting out of the car, I waited for Kuroi to retrieve our contribution to dinner from the trunk. With it in hand, I led him to the steps of the brownstone I grew up in and ascended.
Knocking and entering, the first person I saw was Lorenzo.
“You’re late,” he told me clearly on his second glass of bourbon.
“You can’t rush perfection,” I told him raising my eyebrows hinting at my own frustration.
“I didn’t want to be here,” Lorenzo reminded me.
“I know. Thank you for coming. It is a momentous occasion for our family and it was important that you be here for it.”
I grabbed Lorenzo by the back of the neck, stared into his eyes, and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you,” I told him letting him go.
When Kuroi entered behind me holding the box, Lorenzo greeted him with a nod. Kuroi coolly nodded back. I followed Kuroi’s shifted gaze and found Matteo staring him down.
There was still tension between the two and I had to take my husband’s side on whatever was going on. But Matteo had made his loyalty clear by not showing up to give Uncle Vinny the gun.
“Matteo,” I said grabbing him by the neck pulling him to me. “I want you to crush what beef you have with Kuroi. Do you hear me? He’s my husband. You’re my brother. Don’t make me have to choose. Because he’s family too.”
“I hear you,” Matteo said before I kissed him and let him go.
Watching him as he approached Kuroi, I stood ready to react.
“Kuroi,” Matteo said approaching him.
“Matteo,” Kuroi said staring at him as if my brother was a snake about to attack.
“Do you want me to take that?” Matteo offered referring to Kuroi’s box.
“He has it,” I interjected wanting to present it personally.
After Matteo, I introduced Kuroi to Giovanni and Marco and then stepped into the kitchen to find Ma. Wearing her white and blue apron with the bird print on it, I watched her as she dished up the serving plates. Without turning around she said,
“I hear you’re responsible for Lorenzo joining us today?”
“I asked him to be here. Ma, can I introduce you to someone?”
She turned around spotting Kuroi in the doorway behind me. She stared at him.
“I want you to meet my husband, Kuroi.”
Her eyes bounced to me. She didn’t know what to say. I had to add some context.
“It was an arranged marriage to link our two packs after what Matteo did…” I caught myself. Ma was in the dark about what we got up to in pack business. So she definitely didn’t need to hear about what Matteo had done. “But it doesn’t matter. Kuroi’s my husband now,” I said pulling him to me and putting my arm around him. “And I’m happy.”
That was when Ma smiled and approached him. Throwing her arms in the air in celebration, she tried to hug Kuroi and was prevented by the box.
“What’s this,” Ma said asking about the box.
“It’s a surprise, Ma.”
“Well, do you want to help him with that?” Ma said trying to free Kuroi from the box.
“I got it,” I said taking it from him. When I did, Ma hugged him.
“It’s always a blessing to have another son.”
She turned to me. “Don’t think this relieves you of your duty to give me a grandchild.”
Kuroi’s eyes darted to me.
“One step at a time, Ma.”
“Yes, one step,” she agreed. “Sit, sit. Your father will be down soon. I’ll set another plate.”
With everyone gathering in the dining room, I took my seat at the opposite end of the table and placed the box on the side table behind me. When we were all settled, Pa descended the stairs like an emperor. I couldn’t tell whether he was surprised or disappointed to see me. Either way, I stared at him coldly.
His eyes momentarily turned to Kuroi before looking away. Pa didn’t like Kuroi. Considering who his father was, I didn’t know if Pa ever would.
That was okay. He didn’t have to like Kuroi. But he sure as hell was going to respect him as the man married to the alpha.
Pa sat without a word and Ma finished setting the food on the table. After she sat and before she led grace, I stood.
“If no one minds I want to say something before we start because we have a special guest here today.”
Everyone turned to look at Kuroi.
“I know only a few of you have met him. The rest of you have heard about him. But we can all thank Pa for him being here today. That’s right. It was Pa who invited him.”
Everyone turned to Pa.
“I never invited your disgrace into my home,” he sniped.
I turned to him.
“First of all, you better watch your fucking mouth before I cut out your tongue.”
“Dante!” Ma said shocked.
“Dante, you can’t talk to Pa like that,” Matteo chimed in.
“I can’t talk to Pa like that, huh? You think you can talk to me like that? You wanna see what happens if you keep talkin’?” I said readying to shift.
Matteo backed down. I continued.
“You all might be thinking that I’m referring to Kuroi. Although it is a special occasion to have my husband here with the family for the first time, I’m not. Who I’m referring to is…”
I turned behind me and retrieved the box. Forcing it onto the table in front of me, I untied the bow holding it together and lifted the top off.
“…it’s Uncle Vinny.”
Pa looked into the eyes of his brother’s head and gasped. He flung himself back in his chair in shock. Everyone did, except Kuroi. My husband, instead, stuck a roll into his mouth, which was a bit of a taboo because at this table, we didn’t eat until after we prayed. But he was new here, so I didn’t correct him.
“What the fuck, Dante?” Lorenzo said after scrabbling away from the table.
“Oh, don’t thank me for Uncle Vinny being here. You have to thank Pa. Isn’t that right? Because after years of banishment, Pa offered our Uncle Vinny a deal. He could come back as long as he did one thing for Pa, kill me.”
Everyone gasped.
“Don’t fake your fuckin’ surprise, Matteo. I know you were in on it.”
“I swear to you, Dante, I could never go through with it. I could never betray you like that!” He proclaimed now fearing for his life.
“I don’t know if that’s true. But you didn’t and that’s what’s important. That’s why your head isn’t in the box next to his. Do you understand me, Matteo?”
When he didn’t respond, I repeated it louder.
“I said, do you understand?”
“Yeah, Dante. I understand.”
“Good.”
I turned to Pa and circled the table to where he still sat, his eyes darting between his brother’s head and me.
“Now the question is, what do I do with Pa? You hired someone to kill me. A family member, no less. And why? Because I married someone who will probably end up being the love of my life.”
I got close and looked him in the eyes.
“Ya know, if you can’t accept that, I should probably put you out of your misery now. Because neither he nor I are going anywhere. Would you prefer that, Pa? You want me to put you out of your misery?”
Pa’s mouth moved without words coming out. I could see that he wanted to shift but he didn’t dare.
“What was that? You need to speak up a little louder. Everyone here needs to hear what you say.”
“I can accept it,” he said practically shitting himself.
“And you’re not just saying that, right? Because I remember what you taught us about how to handle liars.”
“I’m tellin’ you the truth,” he said still in shock.
I dipped my chin in satisfaction.
“Good. Good. Then that’s settled. Come on everyone, take your seats. Let’s enjoy Ma delicious Sunday dinner.”
Everyone stared at me not moving. Once I sat down, Lorenzo said,
“Dante, you can’t expect us to eat with that thing there,” he said gesturing to the head.
“Lorenzo, that is your Uncle Vinny. Sit fuckin’ down and have some fuckin’ respect!” I said slowly losing my cool.
“Dante, Ma,” Matteo said gesturing to our mother who was a white as a ghost.
“I wasn’t the one who invited him here. If you have a problem with this, tell it to Pa. Now everybody, sit your fuckin’ asses down and eat!”
When everyone was again seated, I led the family in grace. I didn’t say anything clever or witty. I just got the job done and dished up.
“The roast is very good, Ma. You’ve outdone yourself,” I told her.
“Yes, my compliments to the chef,” Kuroi added with a smile.
It didn’t up being the most relaxed dinner our family had ever had, but it was also not the least. How relaxed our dinners were was always a matter of perspective. Growing up, there were times when Pa would whip us so hard the skin would peel from our flesh. When dinner followed, Pa would make us sit and eat as relaxed as could be.
Today, the shoe was on the other foot. Pa ate Ma’s roast unable to take his eyes off what could have been his fate. I, on the other hand, had assured Kuroi and my survival, at least at the hands of my pack.
The only thing left to do after this had to do with Sato. I wasn’t sure I could just kill him. He was one of the most protected men in New York City. Getting to him might take some time. Taking the head with us when we left, I put our three heads together to come up with a plan.
I’m joking, of course, we got rid of Uncle Vinny’s head like we did his body, with the help of Sato’s facilities. I did have to hand it to Sato, the Yakuza was an organized bunch. I could learn a thing or two from them. It was no wondering Sato was able to capture the heroin trade in New York so quickly.
In someone ways, I admired him. That didn’t change what I was going to do to him. He had earned his place in hell the minute he sold Kuroi into sex slavery. And I wasn’t going to deny him his rewards.
The only question was, how would I do it? And how would Kuroi respond if I told him?