Page 12 of Crossed By the Stars
“But you would easily risk your family,” he said, and for the first time in many years, I thought I heard emotion in my father’s voice. A hint of sadness.
I scoffed anyway, “Were we? A family?”
He didn’t respond.
“Look,” I continued, “I want nothing to do with you or whatever organization is trying to take you down now. I just want to run my business and stay the hell away from yours.”
“Threaten her again, and there will be consequences,” Dax’s voice broke through, choppy in Japanese in a way it never was in French, or English, or even Italian. I wished he’d remained quiet, because it drew my father’s eyes to him once more.
“And an Armaud would know how to deliver these consequences?”Otosan’svoice was amused as he switched to English for Dax’s benefit.
Dax shifted uncomfortably, but I could feel the anger in him building. Dax rarely lost his temper. In all the years I’d known him, I’d only seen it twice. One of those times, he didn’t even know I was coherent enough for it to register. I still had a hazy recollection of Dax’s power and strength on display that night. Traits he rarely let out of the controlled box he normally lived in.
Before Dax could actually respond to the rhetorical question, my father turned back to me with narrowed eyes. “You’ve been receiving threats?”
“I’ve got it under control,” I told him.
“What did they say?”Otosandemanded.
“Read it yourself,” Dax said, shoving his phone in my father’s direction.Otosanhesitated before taking it, zooming in on the note Dax had taken a picture of that morning.
Even though he’d already been sitting, barely moving, my father seemed to go even stiller, like he’d been turned into rock by a spell cast on him. The impregnated air was stagnating, turning stale, cloying at me until I wanted nothing more than to lunge for the door just to feel the breeze on my face.
WhenOtosanmoved again, his hand trembled ever so slightly. Dax took the offered phone back. My father assessed Dax as if he’d never seen him before, as if he was adding up the parts to determine how much Dax was worth.
“There are factions,” my father said. “I’m slowly weeding them out. They are demanding stronger justice for Matsuda’s death.” The words were torn from him as if he hated every second of the admission. And I knew he did. It made him look weak to not have his entire organization held tightly in his fist, to have anyone slipping through his fingers instead of going in the direction he pointed.
Otosanhad told his organization that Dawson and I were off-limits, even as he’d tossed me from his life for good, and that should have been the end of the story. His people should have followed his command without question. So, who would dare go up against my father? Only someone powerful enough that they felt comfortable to do so. His advisors?or a regional boss?would have to be involved. I drew in a sharp breath.
“Hiroto Matsuda?” My voice shook saying the name. Ken’Ichi’s father?the man in charge of the entire West Coast operation. The man who’d lost a son because Dawson had killed him defending Violet…and me. The son who’d been my fiancé for a few hours and who’d put a bullet in me defending theKyodaina. Loyalty that had not been rewarded when my father had insisted that the FBI’s breach into their world had been Ken’Ichi’s fault.
The fact that Matsuda was based out of San Francisco had been the only thing that had given me pause in following Violet to the West Coast. But I truly hadn’t believed anyone would dare go against my father.
Otosanshook his head. “No, Hiroto was humiliated by Ken’Ichi’s failures. There is no anger in him.”
“Humiliation is as good of a motive for revenge as anger,” Dax said, reminding me that we were still talking in English, reminding me that Dax was listening to this entire conversation when normally he ran for the hills when my father’s world was even hinted at.
My father seemed to consider Dax again. They shared a look that spoke of some shared knowledge that pissed me off. What did Dax know that I didn’t?
A knock on the window drew my father’s eyes to his watch. “Do I have your word,Musume, that the listening device was not you?”
“You do,” I told him the truth. I may have helped the FBI and Dawson, but I hadn’t lied to my father while doing it. I’d only lied to him once. I’d told him I’d gone into business with Violet before we’d actually done so. It had been a tool to get me out of his house, to get me away from Ken’Ichi before he could lay his hands on me. I would have done just about anything to keep that man from touching me. A shiver ran down my spine at the memory of his dead eyes and cold hands. The viciousness in him. The stories I’d heard whispered about him by the staff.
The knock repeated, and then the door opened with Kaida tilting her head to look inside.
“Yano-san has news. He’s at your office,” she said.
Hearing my cousin’s name surprised me. Isamu’s parents, my mother’s sister and her husband, normally wanted nothing to do with my father, which meant I’d been around my cousin very little growing up. My aunt and uncle must have been beside themselves to find Isamu working for my father. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who could disgrace their parents.
“Musumeand her friend were just leaving,” my father said in acknowledgment.
I pushed at Dax, and he clambered out of the vehicle, offering his hand to help me just as he had earlier. On the sidewalk, Rana’s relieved expression greeted me.
When I turned back to the vehicle, my father’s eyes were on Dax’s fingers tangled with mine. “You remind me of your aunt, Armaud,”Otosansaid and then looked forward, waiting for Kaida to close the door, as if his words would make perfect sense to Dax, or me, or both of us. And it was obvious Dax did understand, because he stiffened at the comment, sending a glare in my father’s direction as if him mentioning Dax’s aunt was its own kind of sin. I hadn’t even known Dax had an aunt.
After the door was closed, Kaida glared at me. “Everything that happens from here is your fault,Uragirimono.”
Then, she turned her back on all of us, got into my father’s car, and drove him away.
