by Staci Hart
“No one will harm you, Kim. I will always protect you. Always.”
She pulled him down to her, and their kiss held all of their relief. The burden was gone, the decision made. He was hers, and she was his, and in their hearts they knew it would be forever.
What's Been Done
YUKI SHIFTED HER SHOPPING BAGS on her arms and and pushed open the door to her apartment, dropping her haul in the dark entryway.
She’d been shopping all day and didn’t feel any better. She hadn’t heard from her thug and was worried. The job should be done. He should have called.
Something was wrong.
She fumbled in her clutch for her cigarettes and pulled one out, then struck a match, nearly dropping it when she heard her father say, “Hello, Yuki.”
Tanaka sat in an armchair in front of the window, a silhouette against the city lights behind him, with a fat cigar in his mouth, his body language casual and comfortable.
Yuki lowered her hands and walked into the living room, trying to tamp down her nerves. “Why are you sneaking around in the dark like a snake?”
He assessed her as he took a puff, the embers of the cigar glowing orange, prolonging the silence as he blew the smoke out in a stream. “Sneaking around seems to be a family specialty.”
“I learned from the best.”
Tanaka propped his elbow on the arm of the chair, holding the cigar in the air. “You have lost your grip, Yuki.”
She wasn’t sure if he was referring to her grip on Katsu or on herself, and realized that he probably meant both. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I am talking about. Etsuko did not finish the little job that you sent him to Vegas for.”
Her heart stopped.
Tanaka chuckled. “Yes, Daughter. Did you believe that Kato would not tell his boss what you had planned? I thought that you were smarter than that. And now,” he shifted, leaning back in the chair further, “now you have dishonored me. You have shamed your husband. Your tantrum cost a man his life. You are bad for business, Yuki. You always have been. But this time? You disobeyed me. You made a spectacle in a public place, full of people who know me, and you. There is no going back from what you have done.”
She was numb, but her fury burned bright. It was the only thing she could feel. “You think I want to go back? Go back to what? To being in a loveless marriage? Being thrown away? Discarded? He is mine. I am his wife. I’m better than any whore he’d find in Las Vegas, of all places. Why can’t he see that?” She huffed and rolled her eyes, her fear subsiding as her mouth ran. “I suppose you wouldn’t understand, Father. You’re fantastic at throwing things away. You threw your wife away, threw your daughter away. So, fuck you, Tanaka. You don’t own me.”
He leaned forward and snuffed out his cigar slowly, then stood. His shoulders squared and his jaw flexed, his posture sending off alarms in her mind, her bravado gone in an instant. “You know nothing. Whatever lies your mother has told you are just that. Do not presume, Yuki. It is unattractive.” His voice was still and calm, but the edge in it rippled through her, trailing goosebumps in its wake as he stepped toward her. “What makes you think that you are better than a whore? You would do anything to get what you want, with no regard for honor or family. You’ll even use your cunt to get it,” he said, matter-of-factly. “That, daughter, is the very definition of a whore. Just because you are paid with tears instead of silver does not make you any more honorable.”
Her face was still as the shock of his words tore through her. He looked at her for a long moment, and she tried to read him, seeing pain, disgust, regret. He turned and walked away, pausing by the door. “You will leave America. Pack your things and go.”
The door closed behind him, and she gazed out at the city. For the first time in her life, she looked back and saw what she could have done. What she should have done. It felt like she’d been released, like some cord had snapped in her, and she could see everything clearly. The knowledge that the clarity brought appalled her as she realized that she had been the maker of her own pain. No one else.
But it was too late. There was no going back. Tanaka was right.
Yuki realized that her cigarette and matches were still in her hand. She struck a match and took a long drag, stepping out onto the patio, facing her shame and regret alongside the Manhattan lights.
Yuki set her last suitcase by the door and turned to take a last look around her apartment. She was surprised that she didn’t feel any loss, and she supposed it was because there was nothing left for her there.
She heard keys in the lock and turned to the door, her pulse speeding. When it opened, she was rooted to the spot.
Katsu stood in the entryway, looking down at her bags. “Going somewhere, Yuki?”
Yuki stared at him, tall and beautiful in front of her, a dangerous calm about him. She shook herself and lifted her chin, but didn’t move closer to him. “I’m leaving for Paris in a few hours.”
He stepped around the suitcases, and she instinctively took a pace back. “You were not going to say goodbye?” His voice was hard as stone.
“What’s there to say, Katsu?”
The muscles in his jaw flexed. “Oh, Yuki. There is much to say.”
Her bitterness bubbled out, unbidden. “All I have to say is enjoy your stupid Vegas bitch.” She shot the words at him, wounded still, even though she knew it was all her fault. “You don’t have to worry about me interfering anymore.”
The muscles in his neck flared, and he closed the space, arching over her, his voice even. “You will never be what she is to me. You will never be half the woman that she is. And if you had hurt her, I would have killed you.”
Her breath shuddered as she looked into his eyes, knowing that he meant every word.
“Leave and never come back. And if you ever, ever try to hurt her again, I will make you pay.” His voice was just over a whisper, and she was unable to move, afraid to make a sound.
He leaned back and took a deep breath, glaring at her for a long moment, the disdain written on every curve of his face. He turned and left, and never looked back.
Yuki let out a breath and sat on the couch. She lit a cigarette, the cherry on the end wavering in her trembling hands.
Well-Placed Promises
DITA STEPPED OFF THE ELEVATOR and into Zeus’ entryway, her pumps clicking on the marble floors. She found Hera on her patio, looking out at the city lights, bright against the night.
“Damn you, Hera. Are you happy now?”
Hera glanced over her shoulder. “You think this is what I wanted?”
“Your bullshit just ruined everything. You are such a bitch. You wanted to get back at me? GREAT. You just ruined Yuki’s entire life. I mean, good gods. Your dumbfuckery knows no bounds.”
She turned and leaned against the rail, and Dita couldn’t help but notice how defeated she looked.
“This wasn’t just about getting back at you, although that was a motivating factor.” Hera let out a heavy breath. “The plan failed. If it hadn’t, you and I would be having a very different conversation right now.”
“Well, what the fuck was the point then? To try to kill a couple of innocent humans because you’re psychotic? Just to make everyone miserable? Because you’re doing that already,” Dita fired at her, ready to fight, waiting on Hera’s reaction, but she didn’t get one.
“Don’t pretend to understand why I make the choices I do. You think you have everyone figured out, but you have no idea what’s really going on. You only see what you want to see.”
Dita cocked her head, wondering what in the world she was talking about. “You’re mental, Hera. And now, you’ve fucking ruined your own pawn. You didn’t get your way, so you crushed her. Well played, you heartless asshole.”
Dita stormed out of the room, and Hera turned back to the city, considering her failures, her many, many failures across every aspect of her existence. Thousands of years rolled past her in an in
stant, and she saw every mistake, felt every one.
When the elevator door opened, Dita blew into Perry’s apartment.
Perry popped her head out of her doorway. Her hair was a mess, and her naked shoulder peeped out. “Uh, just a second, Dita,” she said, and her blushing face retreated.
“Are you naked?”
“Just a little. Hang on,” she called from the other room.
“I can come back,” Dita said, tentatively.
“Oh my gods. Just sit down, shut up, and give me a second!”
Dita huffed and sat, scowling, and Perry came in a moment later in a long T-shirt.
“What’s the matter?” Perry asked as she sat next to Dita and folded her legs in.
Dita blurted it out, too mad to care. “When Hera blew shit up with Yuki, she ended up pushing the woman so far that she just got banished from an entire continent by her father.”
“You’re joking.”
“I wish. I just bitched Hera out.”
“Wow, no cat fight?”
“No, it was actually really weird. She just sat there and told me I only see what I want to see.”
“Hmm,” Perry said, and Dita didn’t miss that she didn’t deny it or think it was weird. As she opened her mouth to press the point, Perry spoke up. “It seems like Yuki actually may have discovered some clarity.”
“I know. That may be the only thing that doesn’t suck about the whole situation. I wanted Katsu happy, but I didn’t want to implode Yuki’s life. Even though she’s a troll.”
“Super troll. She’s going to Paris?”
Dita smiled. “Yup. And you know what they say about Paris and love. If she really has figured her shit out, I’ll find her a match. I wouldn’t put that crazy on anyone on purpose, otherwise.”
“I think starting over will suit her. I wonder what Hera will think when she sees that Yuki is having an affair too?”
“I don’t know, but if she tries to stop me, so help me gods, I will ruin her.”
“You’ve been ruining her for literally thousands of years,” Perry said.
“Oh, yeah,” Dita laughed, feeling better, but in the back of her mind, she wondered why she still felt so sad.
———— Las Vegas ————
Kim sighed as Katsu ran his hands through her hair, down her bare back. He had flown back and forth between Vegas and New York three times in thirty-six hours. When he’d walked in, rumpled and exhausted, his face was full of relief. Kim’s shock at discovering that Yuki had set the whole thing up faded faster than she should have been comfortable with. But when Katsu told her that Yuki would never try to hurt her again, she believed him wholeheartedly.
Before he left her to go back to New York, the pain on his face cut through her heart like knives. He held her like he was drowning, like she was his salvation. He left three enforcers with her, which was a relief. Without him there, after everything that had happened, she didn’t want to be alone. And the second he was back, everything in the world was right again.
“How long can you stay?”
“Tanaka gave me a week.”
“A week vacation for cheating on his daughter?”
Katsu laughed. “She caused a scandal that made him look very, very bad. He has become like a father to me, especially through all of this. I suppose we had a common enemy to bond over. Yuki had been causing problems for him and his image. People were talking, saying that if he couldn’t handle his daughter, how could he handle the clan? Her leaving was the only solution.”
“So she can never come back? She has to be away from everyone she knows and loves? That’s horrible, Katsu.”
“She tried to have you killed.”
“I’m very familiar with that fact. But part of me understands her. If it were me, I would fight for you. She just went about it backwards. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad her little plan didn’t work, but to be banished?”
“Do not feel for her. She loves no one. And, besides, Yuki will be back. She has duties to her father and to me that require her to come to New York. She will return, but there is nothing is left for her.”
She traced the scales tattooed on his chest. “What will become of us?”
He rolled her onto her side and thumbed her cheek. His soft, brown eyes looked into hers. “Kim, I love you. In my heart, you are my wife. You are my soul. You are my everything. I will always be yours.” He kissed her tenderly, and pulled back to gaze at her again, but his eyes were sad. “I would give anything if you could come to New York.”
“I know. So would I, but my life is here. I can’t leave, and I don’t want to be a problem. I can imagine that if I were in New York, things could get very complicated for you. And I don’t want to be that close to your … work. It’s better if I stay. Plus, I could never afford a studio there.”
“You have thought about this quite a bit, it seems.”
“I have. As much as I want to be with you every day, our lives aren’t normal lives. We’re victims of our circumstance, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make that work.”
“Is there any way I can change your mind?”
“No. I love you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything. This is best for you, and for me.”
He looked into her emerald eyes, and his heart sped up as he asked, “What about when we have children?”
She blinked. “What?”
The corner of his mouth pulled up slowly. “Do you want children?”
She paused, confused. “Well, yes, of course.”
He said, slowly, deliberately, delicately, “Will you have my children?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
Katsu laughed, and she did too as her eyes welled with tears.
“I want to have children. With you. Children with your eyes, and your soul.”
“And your smile,” she whispered. “Yes.”
He pulled her close, their hearts beating together, and after a long time, she spoke.
“If we’re going to do this, then I definitely want to stay here. We could all be in danger if we live in New York.”
“Kim, I will protect you. No one will harm you.”
“How do you think Tanaka would feel about that?”
Katsu frowned. “He would not like it very much at all. The miles between you and me are a proper buffer to keep, out of respect. He will not stop me, as long as I play by his rules.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I wanted to discuss some ideas with you.”
“Oh, really? Are they big ideas?”
“Very. First, you realize that I have the means to support you. Will you let me take care of you?”
“No,” she said, not missing a beat.
He laughed. “I did not think so. All right. I have a proposition.”
Her eyebrow raised. “I thought we decided against that.”
“This is a business proposition. I have been looking to invest in a business in Las Vegas, and I think I have found one worth the money. A dance studio. I believe you know the prospective owner.”
“Katsu … ”
“Kim,” he pleaded gently, “please let me do this. To think of you working two jobs, struggling, when I can help … it is unbearable. I want to be your legitimate business investor, not give you a handout. You can invest the money that you have already saved, and I will match your price. And when I am not here, I will know that you are happy and whole when I am away.”
She let herself imagine what it would be like. No more days at the casino, and even the club. No more getting manhandled and hit on. No more late nights or sore feet. She could have her dream, and he could give it to her. It was too much to pass by.
“So … partners?”
“Yes, partners.”
She stuck out her hand. “Well, Mr. Katsu, I think we have a deal.”
He pulled her to him and kissed her, promising her forever.
Epilogue
KIM AND KATSU HELD HANDS in the back seat of the Town Car. She smiled at him,
feeling like a teenager, wondering how after nearly thirty years he could still do that to her.
“Where are we going, Katsu?”
“It is a surprise, Tsuma.”
They pulled up to a strip of businesses in Brooklyn, and a guard opened Kim’s door. She stepped out onto the sidewalk, wondering what they were going to do. They rarely went shopping or dining outside of a few high-end places. Katsu’s enforcers always caused too much of a spectacle, and they both hated all the attention.
Katsu laid a hand on the small of her back. “Come, Kim. I have something to show you.”
They walked up to a shop door with the windows shaded and a for-sale sign in the window. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door.
“Katsu … ”
He gave her an innocent look. “What?”
She rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. “Oh, just show me.”
Kim stepped into the huge studio, lined with mirrors and rails. The shiny floor gleamed, lit beautifully from the windows.
Katsu whispered in her ear, “There are two more floors above this one.”
She gasped and turned around to face him. “You didn’t buy this, did you?”
“Kim, I would never buy this without your consent. Partners, right?”
“But, the studio in Vegas—”
“You have your dancers taking care of everything. Do you need to be there? Can they manage without you?”
“Well, yes, but …”
“What is keeping you there? Tanaka is retired, and the clan is mine, no one will touch you, and no one will deny me. Katsumi and Keiko are here, and I do not think they will be leaving. Kim, we can be together. Truly together. Can you think of any reason not to come to me?”
Her breath hitched as a tear rolled down her cheek. “We can be together,” she echoed.