“Instead, you answered my kind gesture with an attack on my site. The shit we’re in the middle of is your fault dear, not mine. It was never my intention to make this a war zone. It doesn’t benefit either of us. I even extended myself again, something I don’t do, just because I wanted to protect Brownsville from the bloody war you’ve been doing your best to start.”
His words didn’t make sense. He was speaking English, her native tongue, but what his words implied didn’t make sense at all.
“Why would you extend my council and my people any courtesies?” she asked. “If you didn’t know I was the person on the other side of the curtain until I walked in here, why would you go out of your way to try to make peace?”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
He sat back down at the table and motioned for her to join him. When she was seated, he leaned in across the table and gently placed his hand atop hers. The confusion she’d felt since she found him sitting in this room began to dissipate as she latched on to the truth that shone brightly in his eyes.
“I knew the club was in the hot zone. I didn’t want you to wind up a casualty. So, I decided to make a deal for peace instead.”
She felt herself swaying to the soft lull of comfort his hand against her skin provided. Too afraid of compromising herself further, she stood up and planted her hands firmly on the table.
“If what you say is true, Mas, something is terribly wrong. Because I never received any messages from you about peace or otherwise.”
He shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he stared at her.
“That can’t be possible. Izzy said he was there when ‘Sop told you, and you refused.”
She focused hard on his words. Something about them seemed wrong.
“‘Sop? That’s mighty familiar for someone you’ve just met.”
“Just met? I’ve known ‘Sop now since we initially broached the subject of leasing your streets. That’s how I know Izzy was telling the truth about meeting with you. ‘Sop was standing next to Izzy when I got the report. He confirmed everything Izzy said.”
Her chest tightened, and her stomach felt as if she’d fallen twenty stories.
“Oshun, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is I’ve never met Izzy before today, and I sure as hell have never had this conversation you’re referring to. I don’t know anything about an invitation to meet and talk business. If Aesop and Izzy say I did, they’re lying.”
He stood up, walking around to her side of the table. “Why would they lie?” he asked.
She pulled her gun from its holster, removed the safety, and cocked it. “I don’t know,” she answered. “But I’m sure as hell not sticking around here to find out.”
6
M asaki pulled the weapon he’d had holstered at his back. He followed Oshun’s suit, cocking his gun, and making certain he was prepared for anything that came at them. He watched her take two steps toward the door when the room became shrouded in darkness. He pulled out his phone and tapped the flashlight app on. Once he could find Oshun in the room, he stepped in front of her, taking the lead to the door.
How had he let this happen? How hadn’t he seen Izzy for the conniving son of a bitch he’d become? They’d been friends since birth, raised as brothers. How could someone he trusted so much deceive him like this?
Masaki still couldn’t figure out what Izzy’s end game was. What would starting a war do for him? Even if Masaki had gone to war with Oshun and the Brownsville Council, how was that supposed to benefit his second-in-command?
“It looks like our comrades have plans for us. Any idea what those plans might entail?” he asked.
Oshun remained quiet until they reached the door, shaking her head when she leaned against the door frame.
“I haven’t the slightest,” she answered. “I have no idea what Aesop could be after. War with you would only hurt us. Even if his plan was to take my place, he’d have to deal with the rest of the Council, and worse yet, my father.”
He readjusted the angle of the phone to find the door knob.
“I can’t think of a reason why Izzy would want to do this either?”
“Does he want your spot?” she asked.
“He might.” He shrugged. “But he’s not going to tell me that. Not to mention, taking me out doesn’t guarantee he’d get top spot. I’m just the boss of this region. Any admin within the organization is hand-picked by an Oyabun, the big boss.”
He watched as Oshun pointed toward the door. “Can you hear what’s going on out there?”
