Chapter 16 - Tatiana
The next morning, the nurse was gone, which meant Kon was either perfectly fine or dead. A quick peek into his room told me he was fine, and I didn’t dare go beyond the doorway. Even lying motionless in bed with the drip attached to his arm, he looked far too dangerous.
He could still move with the speed of a striking snake, and I backed away, my fingers rising to touch my lips. They did not still tingle from his kiss, and I was not going to think about it anymore.
Nor would I ever bring it up to Kon when he woke up, because there was no explanation for it beyond being out of his mind on painkillers. That had to be the only reason, and it meant nothing, so why was I still thinking about it?
I was not going to examine my feelings about it, because I had none. The stupid kiss already kept me up half the night, tossing and turning and… no, not yearning for more. Stress kept me awake; that was all.
In the kitchen, I pulled out enough eggs for both myself and the invalid, only because it seemed surely not to when it was no extra effort.
I had on my bulkiest sweatshirt and baggiest pants and was beginning to regret my attempt to be as unsexy as possible as the heat of the frying pan wafted up to raise beads of sweat on my hairline.
As if Kon thought I was sexy in the first place.
But that look in his eyes, not just when they flew open last night, right before the kiss, but a couple times before.
“Stop thinking about it,” I hissed to myself as I added grated cheddar to the eggs.
Once again, I was so lost in unwanted thoughts that I jumped when Kon filled the doorway to the kitchen.
The sling on his arm was the only clue he’d been lying bleeding all over the newly scrubbed floor less than twenty-four hours ago.
His golden bronze color was back, and he stood tall and strong and commanding as he stormed into the kitchen.
I dragged my eyes away from his muscular chest as he dragged in a breath to bellow at me.
“I’m done being nice. Have a seat, Tati.”
While the rough demand almost had me complying, I continued cooking, flipping the omelet, and turning to him with a forced smile. “When did you start being nice?”
To my shock, he stifled a laugh, but it was bitter rather than filled with mirth. I watched him forcefully gain control of whatever had him so worked up, a soft smile settling on his face as he changed his mind about how to get answers out of me.
“I need your help. Please be honest with me,” he said, waving his hand toward one of the kitchen chairs.
My laugh was real as I turned off the burner and reached for the plates that I’d set to warm in the oven. “You’re a horrible actor, and I have no interest in helping you with anything.”
His eyes darkened, honing in on me. “Not even with finding your father?”
Oh, he knew exactly what to say to break me. My facade cracked, my shoulders slumped as I set the plates down. I was burning up under his intense scrutiny, my very un-California clothes further weighing me down. I pulled at the collar of my sweatshirt and finally met his eyes.
“That’s the only thing I want,” I said. I already knew Kon was my only hope, perhaps the only one I could count on to be as determined as I was to find him. But what if…
No. I refused to think that Papa had anything to do with betraying Kon, or stealing from him, or whatever else he believed. Kon might want to find Papa, but his reason might end up getting him killed. I had to stick to my guns.
Shaking my head, I turned away, pretending we weren’t in some kind of standoff to continue serving breakfast like it was the only thing that mattered.
“Okay,” Kon said, crossing his arms over his broad chest, barely wincing in pain as he remembered he had an injury. If someone could be so single-minded even while recovering from a gunshot, what chance did I have to outlast him? “Tell me what you know about Riku Yoshida.”
I was pretty sure I didn’t flinch at the mention of the name. “Only what you told me.”
“Never heard of him before you landed in LA?”
Okay, maybe I flinched then, but there was no way he could know I came here solely to find the man. I faced him, standing as tall as I could in the same room with such a giant, and raised my chin.
“You might have shared everything in your life with your children, but you might recall I was kept out of the loop where my father’s business was concerned. Supposedly, that was to keep me safe.” I shook my head and huffed out a breath. “Look where it got me?”
“You are safe, Tati,” he told me for the hundredth time. “That was the whole point of taking you away from the Yakuza’s headquarters.”
“Kidnapping me,” I muttered.
He rolled his eyes. “Regardless, I’m trying to keep you safe. Even now that I’ve caught you in a lie, because who else were you trying to see in that place but Riku? Who else but the head of the organization here? Whether you believe me or not, we want the same thing.”
I hugged my arms around myself in spite of being overly warm and glared at him.
As much as I wanted to despise this man who refused to believe Papa was innocent, he was right.
We did want the same thing. Just for wildly different reasons.
Every second that passed without finding Papa could mean he was in unbearable pain.
It could mean his life was slowly slipping away, and I’d never be able to save him.
Did that mean I had to capitulate to Kon? He glared right back at me. I wasn’t used to being interrogated, no matter how benign. No matter how hard I tried to blink them back, a few tears ran down my cheeks.
Kon immediately stepped forward, removing the safe buffer between us. He gently wiped away the tears, shaking his head. As if he didn’t understand me at all. I felt the exact same way about him.
“Would you listen to my father? Really listen to him, if you find him?” I asked, having to drop my gaze. I was already burning up from my winter weather clothes and the hot stove. His intense eyes didn’t help at all.
“I will find him,” he said in such a way that my hope soared. No one argued with that tone, not even the circumstances. There was nothing he couldn’t control or bend to his will. He would find my father, but…
“And what then?” I asked.
He tipped up my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes again. “If he’s truly innocent, nothing bad will happen to him.”
“He is,” I said, wiping sweat from the back of my neck as I gathered my hair into a ponytail.
It was clear he thought I was delusional, but he stopped questioning me.
With his fingertip resting under my chin, he gave me a long, proprietorial look that had me tugging at the neckline of my thick sweatshirt.
Scorching. Hotter than the stove. I swayed on my feet, about to combust with the urge to whip it over my head and get rid of it.
It was almost like he could read my mind, his eyes dropping to my chest, then back up. A smile curled his lips as his finger trailed from my chin down the front of my throat.
“You’ve been through a lot,” he said. Yes, true. “You need to relax.” Very true. “But first,” he said, grinning now, “you need to get out of these clothes.”
Oh, no.