“Richard Yumi, I take it my men told you why I summoned you?” My father spoke and my eyes stayed focused on him. He stood two feet from the bound man Richard with a grim look on his face. Rei stepped forward and took the gag off the man.
“I swear I didn’t do it. I made sure the girls were clean. I would never dishonor you, sir.” Richard pleaded his case, but my father clearly wasn’t moved.
“You were to bring me girls from the United States for our VIP customers. They were to be clean, unsoiled, and yet you brought me whores and trash from the street. You threatened my reputation with your failed scam,” my father spat, and then another man I didn’t recognize stepped forward with a knife and before I thought to close my eyes, chopped off one of Richard’s fingers. He screamed and sobbed, but his tied hand continued to bleed onto the concrete floors. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I watched the men in my life, the men I respected and loved, torture this man. They hired him to secure women for their clients. I didn’t need them to spell it out for me. I knew exactly what they wanted the women for. My stomach rolled and my knees wobbled.
“I won’t do it again, I won’t. I’m sorry.” Richard’s pale face beseeched my father, and I feared for the man. Before this moment, I would have sworn my father would stand up for anyone . . . that he lived as a genuine human who cared for others. But now it wasn’t Tatsou’s powers keeping me from swearing it.
Takeo held something out to my father, and I narrowed my eyes in the darkness to see what it was.
“No, unfortunately you will not have that chance again,” Father said calmly, and with a quick move of his arm, severed Richard’s head from his body with a samurai sword. Splintering pain laced through my body and we moved through shadows once more. Once we stepped into my studio, I collapsed to the ground and vomited all over my wooden floors.
“Still think your family is perfect? You’re all murderers, liars, and deserve what’s coming,” Tatsou yelled while watching me lose it.
Everything I knew was a lie. I didn’t know how to feel, or what to say. Did I think my family deserved to die? I didn’t want anybody to die! Not even a bug, let alone a human! Should they pay for what they’ve done? Yeah. But I was part of the family. I’d surely get dragged down just by association.
“What are you gonna do?” I managed to croak while trying to ease my heaving. Tatsou sneered at my gross display of sitting in my own vomit, a mere human with human problems.
“You’re going to help me get acquainted with this era, then you and I will insert ourselves in their little world. You’re going to be the perfect daughter, earn their trust, and then betray them when it means the most.” He smirked at the betrayal part of his plan, and my head ached. I didn’t want to do any of it.
“If you value your life, Little Kitten, you’ll do as I say.” He leaned down as he spoke then grimaced when the bile stench hit his senses.
“Clean your pathetic self up and this mess. We have work to do.” He stomped off into my home somewhere, and I was tempted to lay down even with my vomit everywhere just to piss him off. I had zero control over my life right now.
“For fuck’s sake.” I cursed as soon as I thought the words. I’d been utterly blind, naïve, and stupid. Arukas were the notorious mafia clan in Osaka. Arukas spelled backward is Sakura. How lame is that? Truly, I’m sure anyone could have put it together. My family had power, money, and everything to fight the authorities off. I hated myself for being so blind. I just watched my father slice someone’s head off with a samurai sword, with Rei and Takeo being a part of it!
Then my despair and shame became fear. Did my sister know about this? Did she know the man she wanted to marry worked for my father in the mafia department? I jumped up and quickly cleaned myself up and the mess. The sooner I played the vampire’s game, the sooner I could talk with my sister and see if she was okay. She needed to know who she was planning on tethering herself to.
Chapter Six
Katsumi
We waited until sundown to head to Osaka in my red minivan. My sister loved to joke that I drove a mom car but when you carried long dresses and boxes of materials, you needed space. Yes, I could have gotten a fancy SUV but I wanted to pay for half of my car. Father matched the other half. He refused to have me drive a beat-up vehicle, tarnishing his business brand. Tatsou was not amused by my choice in car, either.
“The others were far nicer and based on the design, I’d wager they moved faster, too.” He sneered at my beautiful ginger.
“Oh, so you’re a vampire and a car expert?” I murmured and he narrowed his eyes, then vanished. I heard the loud crack of splintering wood. I barely had time to scramble out of the way before the tree to the right of my car fell on top of it.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I screamed, and a man who had been patrolling the area ran over. One of my father’s mafia men, no doubt.
“Ms. Sakura, are you all right?” Sweat beaded his brow. He might be punished if I’d been hurt, and the bitter taste in my mouth thinking about it sucked.
“I’m fine. A tree fell on my van.” I didn’t mention my suspicions that an asshole vampire did it. I had a feeling he’d use his superspeed thing and kill me before I uttered the words to betray him. He hated me and didn’t even so much as warn me before tossing a tree on my beautiful vehicle. If the tree had hit me, he would be able to cross a Sakura family member off his hit list.
“I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you head up to the main house? Uri will escort you there.” The guard spoke as another man appeared, wearing a suit. He offered his arm like Rei did earlier in the day, but this time I didn’t take it. I stomped toward the main house and yelled at my sister as I walked to the garage.
“I’m taking your car, Romi!”
I was angry, and screw that vampire. Now I’d go for a drive to get away from him. As I entered the garage, I stared at the spot where the man had been murdered recently. The floor was spotless, and I never would have known it had happened unless I’d seen it with my own unfortunate eyes.
“Just get in the car, Kat.” I gritted my teeth and grabbed Romi’s keys. I’d driven her SUV before, and it pulled out of the garage with ease. The farther I drove from my family’s property, the more emotions crashed into me. My heart hurt, my brain hurt, my everything hurt. My sight blurred from tears that flooded my face, and I pulled over to the side of the road. I needed to talk to my sister, but beyond that I had no idea what I wanted.
Suddenly, the passenger door opened, and I screamed. A hand was at my throat and the piercing golden eyes of Tatsou stared into mine.
“You will take me to the city, and you will cease your sniveling and crying. I heard the sounds of your wailing miles away.” He squeezed my throat one more time, then released me before settling into his seat. My tears dried via his command, and I slowly inched back onto the road. Even though my body refused to cry, the emotions inside me still whirled.
“I can’t believe you made a tree fall on my car.” I dared to glance at the vamp. His long black hair was tied back with some sort of string. His body looked big in the medium-sized SUV.
“Believe it,” he stated while he took in every detail of the car.
