Page 4 of Ruin

I’d do anything for Mimi because she was a sweet woman. The problem was she just wasn’t mine, and it made me feel like a heartless jackass since she’d made it clear she wanted me for more than just the one-night stand.

While we had our personal shit to deal with, I hoped it didn’t mess with her other crap we were heading into. I followed Mimi and her brother as they drove to a nearby diner that was always open in the early hours. Once parked, I slipped off my ride and went inside after them.

Sitting a couple of booths away from them, I rested back and waited for the server to come and take my order. I needed a damn strong coffee to keep me going, and the day was just getting started. I hoped, with being far enough away but still in earshot, it would give Wolf a sense of comfort that I wasn’t listening in, which I totally was.

“As I was saying in the car, Mimi, Father is on his deathbed. He wishes to see you, and you’re telling me you do not want to come home?”

She winced and shook her head. “No, Taro.”

“Mimi, I would not have come if I didn’t believe I could take care of you.”

“I know, brother, but you know what our uncles are like.”

“They are not in charge. I am. They will listen to whatever I say. I will make sure of it.”

“Taro, I trust you, I do. Leaving you has been the hardest decision in my life, but I knew you were strong, not like me. Women in our family aren’t respected. We’re ordered.”

“I will change this.”

She gave him a sad smile. “I hope you can, but it has been this way for decades.”

The waitress approached them, and they asked for coffee. When she stopped at my table, I ordered two extra hot, double-strength coffees.

“Under my ruling, it will. Please, Mimi, come home with me this final time. I know you will regret this if you don’t see him one last time.”

“Taro….”

“Please. I will protect you. You could even bring him along for extra security.” He thumbed over his shoulder my way.

Her nose screwed up as she shook her head. Mimi drew in a deep breath. “Are you certain the uncles can’t force this marriage on me?”

What the fuck?

“They won’t. I will not allow it.”

“My intended was fifty, Taro.Fiftyto my nineteen years. Father was going to give me away to an old man for an alliance. Why would I want to see him?”

That was so messed up, I didn’t even know what to think about it. Her father, the man who was supposed to take care of her, wanted her to marry an old fucker. I had a shit dad who beat my mum, but then Declan Stoke came into our lives, became my dad, and he was a man who loved with every fibre of his body. I goddamn looked up to him in many ways. He wouldn’t stand for this shit if it was happening to anyone he knew. I wasn’t going to either.

If Mimi was heading home, I’d go along for the ride and make sure no one screwed her over, since I didn’t completely trust her brother. I’d feel better for having her back.

“Do it for you,” Wolf said. “Tell Father exactly what you think. Be there for Mother. She will need you.”

“She is the one who told me to run in the first place. If Father found out, he would have killed her.”

“I wouldn’t have allowed it. I have control over the family, the faction. I have my own people within the gang, ones who will only follow me, ones who I trust with my life and the lives of those I love. It will never be that way again. You and Mother will be taken care of. Things have changed. Trust me, Mimi, everything is better.”

It had better be.

I gave a smile to the waitress when she dropped off my drinks before I pulled my phone out, placing it on the booth.

“Thank you,” Mimi said to the waitress before she left and then looked back to her brother. “All right, Taro. I’ll come back, but I will not stay long.”

“I understand.”

I shot a quick text to my club president, Talon.

Me:Mimi’s heading back to Melbourne. Her dad’s on his deathbed. But shit at home don’t look good. She ran because the dick dad tried to marry her off to a fifty-year-old dude for an alliance.

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