Page 77 of Who Said Mobsters Were Scary?

The team leader sends a group to handle Goro’s men and jogs over to me, taking over my father’s lieutenant who’s still passed out. A few more instructions back and forth, and I let my men handle the rest.

“Did you find the Americans?” Leo asks, hoisting himself on one of the stools. He places the two guns on the counter and snatches a bottle of water from the tray sitting there.

I sit next to him and lace our fingers together, nudging him with my shoulder. “I sent teams to all emergency exits. There have been no signs of anyone.”

“Shit. They must’ve slipped away.”

I bring his hand to my lips. “They weren’t here for you.”

“Yeah, I kinda got that part. But it worries me that they want to do business here, Chai. They deal with some real nasty stuff.”

“You mean the drugs?”

He nods and relaxes against me, letting me support his weight. “I was a nobody, so I didn’t really get involved with the serious stuff, but Cindy had a few friends who got hooked on it. They were super weird once they started taking it. Like completely different people. You really don’t want to mess with that stuff.”

That must be the real reason why he screwed his former gang over that last job and ran here to Japan. “When they hear about Goro, they’ll stay away. At least for a while. That should give us enough time to figure out how to keep them off this part of the world.”

After my men have swept the place and taken our prisoners away, Leo and I go back to the hotel. He seems a little out of it and I have a pretty good idea why, considering this is his first time killing someone. I remember mine and no matter how ready I was for it, it still hit me hard once the adrenaline wore off.

But I’m here for him, just like Aran was there for me.

“You did what you had to,” I speak into his messy blond curls, pressing a kiss to the side of his head as I wrap him in a tight hug.

He trembles, burying his face in my neck. I feel him inhaling deeply, but even though sparks prick my skin all over, I don’t act on them. I just hold him and let him find solace in my embrace until the small shivers racking his body stop and he drifts off to sleep.

Chapter 31

Aran is piiiiiiiiiiiised. Likethe most pissed off I’ve ever seen someone be. He gives me a massive scolding about how dumb I am for letting Chai get in danger, and then fucks off to sort out the mess we have caused. I’m positive Chai could’ve done it himself, but we are requested back in Nagoyapronto,along with Goro and the asshole minister.

The flight this time is bumpier since we are using the private jet Aran hired. He somehow manages to make it to the plane just as we are about to leave, but his prominent scowl prevents me from asking him how he got things taken care of so expeditiously. I reckon I’ll get another chance to find out later, so I don’t dwell on it.

The moment we enter the Akiyama Headquarters, I know my second encounter with Chai’s father will be far from pleasant. Tension is palpable in the air as we head up, but I try not to let it get to me. The way we went about exposing the mole was far from ideal, but we saved the Akiyama Group a lot of trouble down the line. And that’s gotta count for something.

Right?

The conference suite we are taken to is similar to the one at the Keikai Estate, all modern interior and neutral colors. I wonder as I am instructed to sit on the chair next to Chai if there is an underground Arena here too and whether I might end up fighting again. I’m a little tired from the flight and not really having slept for over twenty-four hours, and if I am being honest, I’d much prefer to go home with Chai, cuddle in bed and binge watch that show about the sentient demonic hound looking for its lost mate.

Aran sits on Chai’s other side, and a short young man with bleached gray hair styled in that same K-pop idol way that Chai sometimes has his takes the next chair. He’s in his early twenties, so my age, and has a ring piercing in his right nostril, the poutiest lips I have seen, and some kind of a tattoo I can’t fully see peeking out from under his oversized ‘#Nr1ZombieHacker: Need more brains, where is my lasagna?’ hoodie. I barely suppress a snort. What’s with the caption? It’s so random and dumb. The hoodie looks cute on the guy though, especially with the too-long sleeves hanging off his hands.

As I study the man, I decide he’s definitely a twink. His size is just so compact, and he’s sort of cute and delicate with his pretty face and elegant wrists. Since I realized I fancied Chai, I’ve done some research about everything relating to liking a man, and things like bears and silver foxes and twinks and twunks and a bunch of other terms keep popping up. I’m more of a twunk myself, I think, but don’t quote me on it.

My stomach churns quietly as I move on from those thoughts. I’m hungry as hell, but I don’t think now is an appropriate time to dig into the bento I got on the wayhere, so I place the plastic bag on the floor, by the table’s leg. I’ll eat after the briefing is over. Hopefully.

The young man’s very light brown eyes smile when he catches me staring, and he even waves at me before producing a laptop from his backpack. It’s riddled with stickers of men in extremely explicit and compromising positions and as he loads up whatever he’s loading up, I just can’t tear my eyes away from them. I mean,holy fuck, that one where a guy is standing and holding the other one upside down while they are sucking each other’s dicks looks like something only certified athletes should be allowed to try. No one else seems fazed by the X-rated stickers on the dude’s laptop, not even Chai’s father. Whoever he is, they must be used to him, which then leads me to believe they probably know him well.

A couple more people enter the room. I recognize a few from the introduction meeting, but unlike then, their scowls are perceptibly less hostile.

Nice. I must be doing something right then.

Laptop Guy yawns loudly and stretches as the rest take their seats. Aran aims a pointed glare his way, probably an unspoken warning to behave appropriately, but instead of apologizing or shrinking in his seat, the guy flashes him a shit-eating grin, wiggles his eyebrows and says something in Thai that makes Chai’s ex-bodyguard roll his eyes and struggle to maintain his usual sternness.

I blink.Oh my god.I’ve never seen Aran so flustered, not even when Chai and I are being total dumbasses.

The young man props his elbows on the table and places his chin in his hands, batting his eyelashes. Whatever he says next has Aran shaking his head and reprimanding him in an exasperated tone that seems to fallon deaf ears if the amused chuckle he gets in response is anything to go by.

“Yo, what’s with that guy? Who is he?” I nudge Chai with my leg under the table, keeping our thighs pressed because it feels nice.

Chai rests his hand on my hip, the touch firm and possessive. “You mean Hex?”

---