by S. Young
“We seem to have a difference of opinion on that.”
“You were set to fight the biggest fight Tokyo has ever seen. Oji-chan put a lot of money on you … and you reneged. Kiyo, you owe us that money.”
“I don’t think I do. But if it’ll settle our score, I’ll pay you the money. I’m good for it.”
Sakura laughed prettily and then pressed her body against his.
Yup, Niamh was going to kill her.
Kiyo’s hands came to rest on Sakura’s hips and she slid her arms around his neck, settling deeper into him.
Any urge to kill Sakura transferred to him. He might as well have taken his katana to Niamh’s chest.
She lowered her eyes, hating that she was jealous over this cold, mercurial bastard.
“You know it does not work that way, Kiyo-chan. You have to pay the debt you owe.”
“You want me to fight?”
Niamh looked at them, despite how much it hurt to see their intimate embrace. They looked stunning together.
They looked right.
For a moment it distracted her from what was happening.
“I don’t have time.”
“You will make time.”
Kiyo sighed heavily, his expression softening as he gave her hips an affectionate squeeze. “Sakura, can’t we just put this behind us?”
“Do not try to charm me. You will pay your debt or you do not leave Japan without losing a limb. Do not make me do that. You know how I love every inch of you.”
Trying to slow her speeding pulse, Niamh dared to speak. “What’s going on?”
“Keep the mahoutsukai quiet.” Sakura flicked her a dark look. “Or I will do it for her.”
Before Niamh could break her fecking neck, Kiyo leaned down and brushed his lips over Sakura’s. “Show Niamh some respect … or I walk.”
His words should have made her feel better, but they didn’t.
That lip brush pushed Niamh further from Kiyo.
She felt like an outsider.
She felt alone.
Always alone.
She couldn’t understand why this hurt so much when she barely knew him and she never knew where she stood with him, anyway. Who needed that? If she had a friend and a friend told her about a guy who was nice one second and a cold bastard the next, she’d tell her friend to dump his arse.
Niamh couldn’t dump his arse physically, but emotionally …
The alpha seemed to bristle at Kiyo’s command, but she didn’t respond to it. She slid her hand into his top knot and gripped it, pulling his head toward hers so she could demand against his lips, “You will fight.”
“One fight,” he relented, to Niamh’s surprise. She didn’t know what this fight was they spoke of, but she couldn’t believe Kiyo was giving in. She hadn’t thought anyone mattered to him anymore, not since his mother, but clearly this snooty, stunning wolf had wheedled her way into his affections.
“We will see.”
“One fight.” He pushed her away gently, his expression hardening. “One fight, Sakura.”
She considered this and then sighed. “One fight. But it needs to be a big one. Shinjuku Gyo-en in two weeks’ time. We are closing it to the public for a big international fight. Some of the best wolves are coming from all over. Big money, Kiyo. I want you in that fight so I hope you are not going anywhere anytime soon.”
“We’ll stick around for the fight. We’re staying at the Natsukashii. You can send for me when the time comes.”
“No. You will stay here.”
Niamh’s stomach dropped at the thought of being under the pack’s guard.
“We have reservations elsewhere. I’m not your prisoner, Sakura. You’ll have to trust I’ll be there when you need me.”
The alpha smirked, her eyes drawing licentiously down his body and back up again. “Oh, you will be there when I have need of you. Hai?”
He stared stonily at her as Niamh felt nauseated.
“Kiyo.” Sakura tilted her head and gave him a mock petulant look. “If you want to stay at the Natsukashii, you will be there when I have need of you. Hai?”
“If I’m not busy, then yes.”
Niamh couldn’t look at him now.
“I call, you come.”
Niamh really, really wanted to get out of there. Now.
Finally Kiyo answered, “You know where to find me … speaking of which … how did you find me so quickly?”
“We are tapped into all security cameras. Airport, stations … we have them rigged with facial recognition. You are on our database. As soon as you stepped into Narita, our systems pinged.” Sakura grinned. “I never let a debt lie, Kiyo. I am not Oji-chan.”
“No. Your uncle knew when to let things go.”
Sakura glared at him. “You may leave. But do not think I am not eager to know why you are in my city with a peculiar-smelling mahoutsukai.”
Kiyo didn’t respond. Instead he turned and nodded his head at Niamh to leave. Feeling as if she were somehow separate from the situation, she seemed to float out of the room, barely aware of Kiyo’s hand on her back.
It wasn’t until minutes later as Haruto led them across the hotel lobby to the exit that she was aware of Kiyo’s touch.
She didn’t want him to touch her.
She didn’t want anything to touch her.
He’d made it clear when he woke up on that plane that he didn’t want any connection with her. He’d regretted telling her about his mother. That was the only conclusion to be drawn after his cold behavior since.
Having thought they’d connected, that she finally had someone who understood her, someone on her side, Niamh had been in a wonderful mood before he woke up.
Ever since, and now more than ever, her mood had swiftly declined.
It was still a relief to know that her visions were manipulations from Astra.
It was not a relief to realize she was still as alone as ever.
Niamh moved away from Kiyo’s touch and when Haruto opened the SUV, she slid along the bench until she was pressed right up against the door.
Thankfully Kiyo didn’t scooch close to her again.
She felt his gaze on her for a moment.
But it didn’t touch her. Not like before.
Nothing could touch her. Her emotions were too dangerous. And she needed to focus on following her true visions and doing what was right. She’d stop Astra.
And then she’d go into hiding again.
Alone.
Far away from Kiyonari Fujiwara.
18
Something was wrong with Niamh.
Kiyo didn’t know what it was and so he didn’t know how to fix it. More alarmingly, it disturbed him how much he wanted to know what it was so he could fix it.
He’d put it down to jealousy, but it was more than that. He could feel it.
And he didn’t like it.
He told himself not to question her. To let it be. After all, he was the one who had decided to create distance between them after their conversation on the plane. Niamh was just following suit. Kiyo should be happy.
But even though Niamh was right at his side, she felt millions of miles away. Her remoteness bothered him on multiple levels.
It was easy to keep quiet in the SUV as Haruto escorted them to Chūō City. Kiyo didn’t want the pack knowing his business or who Niamh was to him. Sakura’s performance at the hotel was born of her own jealousy. She thought Niamh was his female. How she came to that conclusion so swiftly, he didn’t know, but her cozying up to him, flirting with him, her less than subtle demand to service her needs when she wanted him, was all to needle Niamh. If Niamh hadn’t crackled with energy the moment Sakura touched him, the alpha might not have pushed the topic.
Then again, she might have.
No, she probably would have.
Kiyo sighed inwardly as Haruto dropped them off at the hotel.
“Anything new I should know about the city?” Kiyo asked him as he got out of the vehicle, k
nowing Haruto would understand his meaning.
“Vamp coven has taken over Akihabara. As long as they leave the rest of the city alone, we stay out. No wolves.”
Kiyo nodded. The gaming ward wasn’t his cup of tea, anyway. “Anything else?”
“You might have heard Tsukiji Market moved to Toyosu, but the outer market with the food is still there.”
He almost laughed. Trust Haruto to think anything regarding food was important. “Good to know.”
Haruto nodded, looking satisfied he’d imparted news of great importance. “Arufua-san will call on you when you are required.”
Kiyo fought his frustration and nodded in agreement. Turning to Niamh, who waited at the hotel entrance with a coolly distant countenance, Kiyo cursed the damn vision that brought them to Tokyo. He knew Niamh felt they had to be there to protect him (from who knew what) and while he appreciated her motives, it had only landed him in trouble.
And exposed Niamh to Sakura and her pack.
He didn’t like that either.
He strode over to her. “Check in.”
She nodded and as she turned, he placed his hand on her lower back to lead her into the tower block. Kiyo didn’t think anything of it. The gesture was instinctual. Yet he was forced to think about it when she moved away from his touch.
Rejection and anger burned in his gut.
Not anger with her.
But with himself.
He’d fucked up from the moment he woke up on the plane.
Earlier, she’d been pissed at him. He got it. He could handle it.
This … not so much.
He hurried to catch up to her but didn’t touch her again.
Kiyo spoke in Japanese with the woman behind the reception desk, and she relayed that the lobby for checking into the hotel was on the thirty-eighth floor. He told Niamh who again nodded quietly and followed him onto the elevator.
“This place must have some views,” he said inanely as the elevator moved quietly upward.
“Mmm,” she acknowledged.
He gritted his teeth against a growl.
When the doors opened, Niamh seemed to jump out to get away from him. Her eyes had widened ever so slightly and while the change in her was infinitesimal, Kiyo already knew her well enough to know that the hotel pleased her. It lacked the western opulence of Sakura’s hotel. However, Kiyo preferred the Natsukashii’s warmth with its hardwood floors, midcentury furnishings, floor lamps designed to look like framed paper lanterns, and walls created entirely from shoji screens. There were open staircases that led down to the floor below. Incredibly impressive floor-to-ceiling windows reached from that floor to the height of the ceilings on the lobby floor. Tokyo could be seen for miles.
“Do you like it?” he asked Niamh as they approached the check-in desk.
She nodded, still not looking at him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Nicer than the pack’s hotel?”
“Much. Theirs is all about showing off how much money they’ve got. This is about Tokyo and thoughtful design.”
He agreed.
“Is Fionn paying for this?”
“Bran called it a bonus.”
Silence fell between them again as they waited in a small line at check-in. When Kiyo approached the clerk, he used the name on the passport Bran had provided.
The clerk checked his computer, relaying to Kiyo in Japanese that they had two deluxe suites booked. Kiyo shook his head, replying in their mother tongue, “We need one room. A suite with a sofa bed. And views of Mount Fuji, if you have one available.” He didn’t know why he added the last part. Maybe because he thought it might cheer Niamh up and pull her out of her strange mood.
“We don’t have sofa beds but our suites have sofas.”
That would do.
“A suite with a view,” he reiterated.
The guy typed and then sighed dramatically. “I’m afraid the only room available with a view of Fuji is our Oriental. It’s a one-bedroom suite with a separate living space. Quite an upgrade.”
Kiyo didn’t know if it was the guy’s tone and its insinuation that he couldn’t afford it or if it was something even more stupid, like a need to do something nice for Niamh, but he said, “We’ll take it.”
“It’s two hundred thousand yen per night.”
Roughly nineteen hundred dollars a night.
Damn it.
Fine.
Fionn was paying him a shit ton of money to protect Niamh. He could afford it. Kiyo would pay Bran back. “We’ll take it,” he replied more firmly.
It must have been firmer than intended, with a hint more of alpha behind it, because the clerk blanched and hurried to book the room.
A while later, once the clerk had photocopied their passports, he handed over two room cards and seemed relieved when Kiyo turned down the offer to be shown to the room.
“What was that about?” Niamh asked as they got on the elevator.
“Bran had us booked into two rooms. I changed it to one. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“I’d prefer my own room.”
Kiyo worked hard to beat down that growl again. “The last time you had your own room, you took off.”
“So I’m being held hostage?”
If she’d snapped at him in anger, he could have handled it. But her dull, emotionless tone irritated him. “No. But in case you didn’t notice, I have enemies here, and by association, you’re in danger. Not to mention the vision you keep having that brought us here in the first place.”
“I hardly think Sakura is your enemy,” she muttered as the elevator opened.
Following the room signs, Kiyo stopped at their door and swiped a key over the lock.
When they pushed inside, he heard Niamh let out a gasp of wonder, and satisfaction filled him.
They stood in a living room with a huge sectional that looked comfortable enough for him to sleep on. It was stylish, minimal but warm, with the same Japanese midcentury design as the lobby. The most impressive aspect of the room was the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling window at one end where not only did they have amazing views of Tokyo but on a clear day like today, they could see the snow-covered Mount Fuji in the distance.
Niamh moved past him, striding across the room to stand at the window.
He followed, closing in beside her, subconsciously needing to be close to her scent of caramel and spice.
It felt like they were floating above the city.
“What does the hotel name mean?”
“Natsukashii?”
“Yes.”
“Technically it means nostalgia.”
“That’s beautiful. The hotel, this room … it’s beautiful. You booked this?”
“The room, yeah. Thought you might appreciate the view.”
Just like that, the light in her gorgeous eyes dimmed, and she turned and walked away. She picked up her backpack where she’d dropped it upon entrance and strolled through the open sliding doors that led into the bedroom.
His patience snapped.
He followed her in.
The room was long and narrow, with a mammoth bed and dual-aspect windows overlooking the city. Behind him was the door to a polished marble bathroom with a shower big enough for five people and a tub a person could swim in. He studied Niamh as she wandered into the bathroom, fingers trailing across walls and counters, before returning to brush past him. Without a word, she dropped her backpack on the bed and stared out at the city.
“Is this how it’s going to be from now on?”
“How what’s going to be?”
The growl he’d been holding back rumbled out, drawing her attention. Finally. “What the hell is going on with you? Are you pissed because I didn’t tell you about the pack, about Sakura, before we came here?”
“It might have been good to know so we could have avoided an ambush, but I’m not pissed about anything.”
“You’re something. You’ve barely said a word to me since we got off the plane.”
At the hurt he heard in her voice, the hurt she tried to hide, Kiyo took a step toward her, his voice gentle as he replied, “Niamh, it isn’t personal. I just don’t have friends.”
“Lies. Fionn is your friend. Conall’s father and grandfather were obviously your friends. Not to mention Sakura seemed pretty friendly for an enemy …” She pushed up off the bed and her look of disappointment bothered him. “And it’s always personal when someone doesn’t think you’re worthy of friendship.”
“Of course you’re worthy of friendship.” His anger grew at her disappointment in him. “And do I have to remind you that I’ve told you things I haven’t told anyone?”
“Things you obviously regretted telling me by the very fact you woke up acting like a cold bastard.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair that was coming loose from the top knot. “I don’t regret telling you about my mother if it helped you.” Kiyo tried to find the words that would soften the impact of what he said next. “But I didn’t want you to think my telling you meant something.”
It was the exact wrong thing to say.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew it.
Hurt flashed in Niamh’s ocean eyes and was quickly chased by anger.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment while he braced for a verbal assault.
Instead, once more she surprised him.
Her expression softened. “I understand.”
Discombobulated by the sudden tonal change, he raised an eyebrow. “Understand what?”
“What it’s like to be afraid of your own emotions. I don’t want to get too attached to you because I know you aren’t the kind of man someone gets attached to and comes away intact. And you don’t allow yourself to get attached to anyone because you don’t trust anyone.”
Her bold honesty stole his breath.
She glanced away but not before he saw the dark loneliness in her eyes.
“Niamh …” He didn’t know what to say.
What could he say when she was right?