I was here. I took the power. It’s just what was going to happen if I was in a room, and he sensed that.
That seemed to fit more.
He didn’t feel in control, so therefore he was throwing a man-size temper tantrum.
Finch looked my way and jolted, seeing that I was staring at him.
He wavered in what he was saying, then finished, “—I don’t give a fuck. No guy should give a girl the command to eat or not. That shit’s not right.”
Marshall Finch was red in the face. He wasn’t going to let this go, not until he’d drawn me into the fight.
Nogoskeski was almost as red in the face, shooting me an alarmed look, his hand holding down his friend’s leg. “Shut the fuck up, Marsh. I mean it.”
“Is this what happens whenever you enter a room?”
The room fell silent because that question was directed at me, and it was spoken in Japanese and from the roommate they barely knew.
Her face was solemn, almost serene, as she waited for my response.
I waited a second before sending back, in the same language, “This is a pleasant surprise.”
She barely reacted. “Why? You know the business my family is in. This is my first language.”
“The surprise is that you would address me in it.”
She raised an eyebrow, staring at me steadfastly. “You speak it fluently. Where did you learn?”
Learning languages came naturally to me. Almost eerily naturally. But I would never explain that I didn’t quite understand how easy learning and speaking languages were to me, or how I wondered if having an eidetic memory had anything to do with it. Both items I hadn’t even shared with Blake, who I was now ignoring as she was sending me a very searching look.
I skimmed the group and tipped my chin up to her. “Point to you.”
She raised her second eyebrow in question.
We were still conversing in her language. I said, “A fight was going to happen, but with your one comment to me, you derailed it from happening and at the same time, forced something out of me that hadn’t been known.” I chanced a look at Blake, and knew as soon as we were alone she’d be tearing into me. Blake was the one that knew the most about me. I could see that she didn’t like being in the dark.
Interestingly, Finch was calming down.
Ah. The fascination of covert maneuvers.
Because of her housemate’s question, I was now the bad guy and Marshall Finch was able to settle back into his usual role of the “good boy.” The sudden shift in dynamics helped him return to his normal place in the group, where it was comfortable. He felt a semblance of control again.
The Yakuza housemate had stewed at how I deftly used her presence in this house. I learned that most people didn’t enjoy being used. Of course, most everyone used everyone for different reasons, even simple reasons such as feeling good about themselves, but they didn’t like being told they were being used. This one was smart. She struck back how she could.
This entire conversation was a hidden fuck you to me.
I held her gaze until she began to grow uneasy. I moved my foot away from a weapon she hadn’t taken into account.
I unleashed Levi.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Blake
“Languages aside, what the fuck’s your problem?” Levi asked.
It took a beat before everyone clued in on who the question was for. Marshall scowled. “Uh. What?”
“You. What’s your problem? You’ve been a bitch for a full week. I’m sick of it. You have a problem with me, with Creight, either say your shit now or shut your trap.” Levi shifted forward, gesturing to me. “You don’t think this comes on her? You think you can have a problem, but it’s not going to bother Blake? You don’t know Blake, if you think that.”
