Page 20 of Bound By the Yakuza

Karina shook her head. “No, you don’t have to,” She insisted.

“I do,” I said and opened the door for her. The crisp evening air hit us in a wave. It was going to rain soon. “You’re on the edge of our territory. Cops are everywhere lately. I’m going to take you back.” This was not up for debate.

Karina shrugged. “Alright.”

“I need you to be extra careful until this blows over,” I said as we walked. “You never know where Shimazu-kai are lurking. The cops aren’t exactly on our side right now either. If you run into any trouble, call me.”

Karina raised her eyebrows. “I thought I had proven that I was capable of taking care of myself.”

“Just do as I say.” I kissed her when we arrived at her apartment.

I didn’t care that I was offending her, not when I was trying to look out for her safety. I couldn’t imagine losing her now, not after everything we had shared together. I knew I had bad luck, and I knew this would probably blow up in my face one day, but right now I wanted to ride it out as long as I could. All my life I had never met a woman who fit with me so perfectly and I was determined not to lose her.

-

“Where were you last night?” Tadao hissed through gritted teeth.

“Busy,” I said with a shrug and brushed past him.

I knew he disliked me and the feeling was mutual. I would not give him respect simply because he was the younger brother of our leader. Respect was earned no matter what your title. Yeah maybe he had finally got in his first kill not long ago, but he was still a sniveling bookkeeper. He didn’t belong on the streets.

“Ah, there you are, Tatsuya.”

I plopped down on the couch and nodded my head towards Kenichi. “Himura-sama, I apologize for my lateness.”

“You missed my financial reports,” Tadao added.

I rolled my eyes. “Shame,” I said sarcastically.

I ignored his glare and kept my focus on Kenichi, our leader. He was the only man in this world that I answered to. I was a soldier of the Himura clan. I had sworn my loyalty to this family and I would give up my life for him.

I was silent for the rest of the meeting. Kaoru caught my eye a number of times. He looked concerned, and I guessed he had every reason to be. He was my partner in crime and the only man in the world I trusted, besides Kenichi Himura, the Kumicho. I gave Kaoru a discrete nod that seemed to do little to placate is worries. I could read him like a book.

Kenichi continued the meeting without acknowledging my apology. He was pissed. There was no denying that.

“I need everyone on high alert. A few of our junior members got cornered by the Shimazu-kai last night and they were lucky to make it out alive. They are still hurting from last time we took them out, but those bastards are like a disease. We need to cut them off at the source.”

The tension in the room was high. We had been battling our rival gang since before Kenichi’s father was killed. Every time it looked like the war was won, they turned the tables on us again. The increased police activity was sure as hell not helping. We needed to wait for them to slip up.

“There has been talks of the new police chief being bribed by some of the older syndicates. I have meetings with them soon. Right now, I just need everyone to keep their heads down, do your jobs and stay the fuck alive!”

I bowed my head towards Kenichi.

“Yes sir,” We all said together.

I pushed off the couch and left without looking back.

My bike was standing next to Kaoru’s; I ran my hand across the scratches in the paint. When I heard sounds of boots on the pavement, I turned around to see my partner in crime.

“Where the hell were you last night?” Kaoru asked. His grip was tight around his motorcycle helmet.

I took a long drag from a cigarette before replying. “I was with a girl.”

“You still ignored me,” Kaoru snapped. “What if it had been serious?”

“Then I would have been there,” I said. It was the truth. Karina meant more to me than I’d like to admit, but the gang was my family. If there had been even the smallest hint of danger, I would have dropped everything to fight by their side.

Kaoru sighed. “I know you would have. Tatsuya, what’s going on? You’ve never hid anything from me before.”

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