Page 5 of Patience
“He doesn’t need your help.” If Eli needed help, it would come from Haruka, not his conniving aunt who had more than a passing interest in Eli. “Drop it. Now.”
His aunt gave a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. Back to the board meeting—”
“I’m not going.” Haruka had far better things to do than to get bogged down in company politics.
“I suppose I could have Chiharu-chan come.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
He was tempted to throw his assistant to the wolves, but his aunt would make her suffer far worse than she would Haruka.
“You get one hour.”
“Excellent. See you at eleven,” his aunt purred, proving she hadn’t cared which outcome she’d gotten. She was simply content creating chaos.
He put his phone away and saw Eli hovering by the door. He was twisting his hands in his sleeves, and his shoulders were curling inward. Even in Tokyo, his aunt was close enough to ruin their day.
Chapter3
Haruka
He shot off a quick text to Chiharu, telling her to send him a helicopter ASAP. Then he took a deep breath and joined Eli inside.
“What happened?” Eli asked.
Haruka’s hand throbbed faintly, like it was being pricked. He took Eli’s arm and pulled his hand out of the sleeve it had been hiding in and placed it in his own for safekeeping. He rubbed his thumb over the red marks Eli’s fingernails had made against his palms, and he felt the boy’s tension levels drop. “Obasan needs me to come in for the vote.”
“Oh.” Eli’s face wavered before he put on a smile. It was fake. Haruka hated those smiles more than any expression Eli made. It was worse than fear. Worse than anything because it meant Eli was trying to protect Haruka from his demons. “I haven’t been to Tokyo yet.”
“I don’t want you to go with me.”
Eli’s anxiety spiked like Haruka slapped him.
Damn it. He’d been far too blunt. His aunt had him on edge, and it was causing him to make stupid mistakes. For a moment he forgot that his focus was and should always be Eli.
“I don’t want your first visit to Tokyo to be for business.” Or when his aunt was there. “I want you to enjoy it.”
“So, you’re going without me.” Something inside Eli shifted, and he went from anxious to something else Haruka couldn’t quite place.
“Yes.”
“Leaving me here alone, while you go to work.”
“Yes . . .?” He was missing something important, Haruka was certain of it. But he didn’t know what.
“Again.” Eli’s eyes flashed, and Haruka realized the danger he was in.
But he decided to play dumb and hope for the best. It could work. It usually didn’t, but he could always get lucky.
“You’ll have a bodyguard.” It was a concession they’d both had to make now that Haruka was becoming a more visible figure in his company. When they traveled outside of Haruka’s building, they both had to have a bodyguard while in Japan.
“I want Kamakura-san.”
This wasn’t what Haruka remembered luck feeling like. More like the opposite.
Haruka tried to get a read on Eli’s thoughts. He knew Haruka hated Kamakura because the man was a pushover when it came to Eli. Was he doing it to punish Haruka for leaving him behind, or for some other reason?
Eli’s mind shifted into high gear, and random flashes of various languages started pelting Haruka’s mind. He winced as his temples began to throb, and he dropped Eli’s hand. His boyfriend was definitely mad if he was translating nonsense this hard.
