Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
FINN
Kurosaki’s property is outside the city, and it’s large enough that I haven’t found the end of it.
In the center of the main buildings is a large garden with a gazebo suspended over the water. While other members come and go freely, this space is reserved for Kurosaki and his invited guests.
We won’t be disturbed or overhead.
“Your arm.” Dr. Kenji points at my hand.
My entire sleeve is soaked. Blood drips from my fingertips to the boards below my feet. In the water, Kurosaki’s pet fish gather to suck at the blood dripping between the slats.
“This way.” Dr. Kenji makes a polite gesture to the bench. He sets the first-aid kit next to him, pops the top, and takes out a pair of scissors, a roll of gauze, a bottle of antiseptic, and a cotton swab.
“How long have you been working for Kurosaki?” I ask.
He has his face downturned, so I can’t tell if he’s frightened by the question, but his hands don’t tremble at all when he grips the cotton with a tool and turns the bottle over it. “You can ask him if you’re curious. Be careful. This will sting.”
“You don’t… ah.” I hiss as the medicine hits my skin. The pain is as sharp as the knife that sliced me. “You don’t act like the rest of the members.”
“I am not a member.” He sets the cotton swab down and takes a clean cloth from the kit. Carefully, he wipes away the excess that ran down my elbow. “I am a… private doctor on payroll.”
He’s the yakuza’s private medical staff.
“Then Kurosaki trusts you.” I study him with new eyes.
“I don’t have any answers for you.”
“You haven’t heard my questions.”
He pauses and then unrolls the gauze. “If I may be so bold, I’d like to ask you something first.”
“Go ahead.” The medicine is still stinging.
His eyes lift to mine. “What is your relationship with J?”
I stare at him blankly.
“Will you continue to see her?”
“She has something I want,” I say.
“She suffers from a serious heart condition. Are you aware?”
I dip my chin.
“The electrical signals that control her heartbeat are blocked between the upper and lower chambers.” He wraps the gauze firmly around my arm but not too tightly that it feels like it’ll cut off blood circulation. “She requires a permanent pacemaker to regulate her heart rhythm.”
“A pacemaker?” I don’t remember seeing or feeling any wires when I touched her last night.
“She has to measure her heart rate at all times to ensure the upper and lower chambers of her heart are beating regularly.”
I rub my chin. “That’s why she wears the watch?”
“It’s an alarm, not a cure. There is no cure for her.” Dr. Kenji pauses. “J has to live like the dead. No adrenaline. No stress. No excitement. She cannot handle this life.”
Would he be so concerned if he saw the way she told me off in the chem lab last night?
“She’s stronger than you think.”
Dr. Kenji snips the gauze and secures it with a pin. “Yes, but her heart is weaker than you think.”
“She will never know this part of me.”
“You are the son of the oyabun. That is your new identity. You cannot separate who you are from who you used to be.”
“My business with J has nothing to do with the yakuza,” I insist. “It’s a separate matter.”
He laughs in disbelief. “That is no longer a possibility for you or for anyone you care about. Do you not understand the danger you are in?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your name will be whispered around very important tables in this city. If it is not already so.”
“My adopted father is Jarod Cross.” I arch a brow. “Gossip isn’t frightening to me.”
“The kind of people talking about you is…” He stops and takes a breath. “Your father has many enemies.”
That is one bit of information I am not surprised by.
“His enemies are now yours.” Dr. Kenji swallows so hard his Adam’s apple rolls all the way up to his jaw before falling down again. “And they would like an introduction.”
At his words, a puzzle piece falls into place. “The shooting outside Redwood Prep last night. You’re saying those bullets were for me?”
He nods.
“Who are they?”
“They’re called The Grave City Crew, a rival group who despises your father for taking over their territory. They were stomped out many years ago, but a small fragment carried on, gaining strength. And now they are back and want revenge.”
That explains why Kurosaki’s training ramped up. He wants me ready for a fight with the crew.
“I patched up Kurosaki’s men after a few rounds with the crew. They are ruthless and chaotic. And they have a young leader as well. He’s ambitious and he’s heard of you. He wants to draw you out and size you up.”
Something cold sweeps over me.
I glance at my freshly dressed arm and see tiny dots rising on my skin.
Goosebumps.
Is this fear I’m feeling?
“W-why are you still so calm?” Dr. Kenji’s eyes widen behind his glasses, and he leans away from me. “Has nothing I’ve said registered?”
Once again, I’m reminded that my face does not reflect my emotions at all. Why can’t people sense what I’m feeling?
How can they when you can’t understand your own emotions?
“Thanks.” I lift my newly wrapped arm. “Don’t tell my father I know about any of this.”
I get up to leave. The fish thrash in the water, eager for more blood.
“You should go to a hospital to check for infections,” Dr. Kenji yells at my back.
I lift a hand in acknowledgment.
“You might need stitches!”
Ignoring him, I hurry to my car and immediately look up The Grave City Crew.
There are a surprising number of articles about their members being arrested.
The photographs are all of burly, tattooed men with golden teeth and flashy chains.
Murder, arson, sexual assault, and domestic violence are just a few items on their rap sheets.
These guys don’t screw around.
Before I joined the yakuza, I promised my brothers, Grey, and Cadence that I would never become the monster my father wanted me to be. I swore I would bring the yakuza down from the inside.
But now…
I lift my hand and see it slightly shaking.
Before I can destroy this organization, I’ll first have to survive in it.