She was dressed for bed. Skimpy black shorts. A black tank top. Her long black hair was loose. She was stirring something on the stove. I watched her a moment in the shadows where I knew she couldn’t see me. She’d feel me soon enough, but right now, I was glad for her relaxed state.
I saw the dragon tattoo circling her entire arm, all the way to her shoulder where the dragon’s tail would end just beneath her neck. Someone who didn’t know better would think it was simply a cool tattoo.
“You’re Yakuza.”
She went still, her only reaction. Slowly, she turned to find me where I stood.
I stepped forward, and she turned the oven off, half facing me.
I didn’t go any closer.
She knew who I was, just like I knew who she was. There was no fear in her eyes. Only awareness. She tilted her head up, her chin almost challenging. “I’ve been waiting for you to introduce yourself. You skirt around me the other nights, going to your girlfriend upstairs.”
So shehadknown who Blake was to me. “My reports tell me that you are not here acting as a current member of the Yakuza.”
“I’m here as a student. I’m getting my PhD.”
“And when you’re done?”
A warning flashed in her eyes. “When I’m done is none of your business.”
“You are here. You are either a threat or you are an asset. Which are you?”
Anger gleamed back at me. Her nostrils flared slightly. She forced herself back so she was leaning against the kitchen counter and reached for her stirring spoon. She began moving it around her hand, her wrist flicking back and forth. She did it so naturally, as if she weren’t aware she was doing it. She seemed contemplative before her face cleared. “Youput your girlfriend here.”
She was connecting some dots. I was interested if she could put it all together.
She commented further, “I’m the reason she came here.” Her chest rose swiftly as she landed on some theory. She shifted to her side so she could stir her food. “Were you hoping I’d become attached to your girlfriend and use that connection to your benefit? I’ve not even met her. And I am not Yakuza. My family is. They will not give one fuck about your girlfriend, even if I had formed some sort of fondness for her. Which I haven’t. If you were hoping to use me to grow some sort of alliance with my family, you are mistaken.”
Ah. Yes. That would be a normal way of doing business.
“Your brother is second in command, along with your uncle and three of your cousins. They killed your father.”
The stirring spoon halted abruptly; only her pinkie held it in place.
I continued, “His death was the penance received as payment so you could come here as a student.”
“You’re lying.”
I almost smiled at that. “Psychopathsareknown to be skilled liars.”
The stirring spoon fell out of her hand, clattering to the floor. She didn’t dare look away from me. Since this conversation started, she had a certain arrogance to her. She was cocky. Yes, she’d been aware of me, and yes, she knew when I skirted around her on the nights when I would go to Blake.
So many looked at my face and put their own judgments on me, and I was okay with that. It usually served my purpose, but it was important right now, for this particular girl, to have a full understanding of who I was.
I don’t care if she thought I was lying or not.
“I know about you. I know you have only one weakness.” Her eyes flicked to the ceiling.
“I should gut you for that threat.” I said it casually because, well, it actually was a casual consideration to me. But I’d also learned that normal people tended to get nervous when I said words like that, as if I were asking if they had a pen I could use. Her chest paused and held, and there, right there, I saw a slight trickle of fear begin to show.
It was easy for me to read normal people. People were like paintings to me. Each emotion had a different color, and all of the many emotions woven together made up such pretty masterpieces. I had a certain appreciation for each normal human, and unlike other psychopaths, I had no interest in pulling apart each emotion in order to better understand where they came from.
Her pinkie finger began to shake. I didn’t think she was aware of it.
Her eyes stayed wide and almost unblinking, glued to me.
I should get back to Blake. “I did not put Blake here to get to your family. I would never use her in that way. I putyouhere because you are an added shield. You and the Nogoskeski boy. I am in a war right now, and if anyone moves on her while she’s in this house, your familycould use that as a perceived threat against their organization. West and Walden will not want to risk another fight on their hands.”
