Erica laughed. "None. If anything, she'll probably end up chaperoning you two. My daughter is very mature for her age."
"A very mature two month old. I'll be in good hands I see."
* * *
Dwayne felt the tension of the past four days drain out of his shoulders as he slipped into the warm mineral infused water of the Hakone onsen. The natural outdoor baths, famous throughout Japan, were supposed to have healing qualities, and while Dwayne wasn't sure about their ability to heal disease or skin problems, he was certain the waters were great for healing tired, stress-filled bodies.
The train from Tokyo to Hakone was exciting for both of them, as part of it was on the famous high speed Shinkansen train line. From there, a quaint normal style train had wound its way up into the mountains before they finished by taxi. For Dwayne and Erica, it had been a fun filled morning, even more so because Erica's cell phone, which she insisted on taking with her in case of emergencies with the show, had so far remained totally silent.
Dwayne was startled out of his reverie by the sound of a sliding wooden door opening. He looked up, and saw Erica standing on the walkway to the natural pool, a towel wrapped around her.
"I gave the onsen operator the extra money to reserve this as a family bath for a few hours," she said, crossing her legs in front of her.
Dwayne could feel his mouth water, and he knew that under the slightly milky white water of the bath that his cock was beginning to swell. It had taken them a bit by surprise, the Japanese tradition of using the onsen nude, but he could see the benefits. One of the best was standing above him, her long legs and beautiful body easily visible despite the barely adequate towel.
"Well, I suppose you should enjoy the bath then," he said with false nonchalance, as he draped a washcloth over his eyes, leaning his head back and sinking deeper into the pool. "It really is amazing."
Erica's chuckle at his poor deception made him smile, and he heard the soft whisper as she unbound her towel and let it fall to the walkway. She slipped into the water, and the sound of her exhalation aroused him even more than her appearance had. If he wasn't careful, he was going to have a flesh colored periscope sticking out of the water pretty soon.
"You know, Kyoto was nice, but I think we could come back here instead." Dwayne had used a few hours the day before to run over to Kyoto and get a first person visual of the big city. It had been a whirlwind tour, but he had come back impressed.
"No way," Erica replied. "It's nice here, but your sister showed me a picture of some of the sites near Kyoto. We're getting married there."
Dwayne shrugged. "Okay. I'm not going to stress about it anymore for the rest of today. Today is about you and me and remembering what is important."
"And what's that?"
"That we're getting married, and that we love each other very much. That’s all that matters.”
He settled himself deeper into the water, letting his breathing slow and his chest rise and fall with the rhythm of his heart, just letting himself float away with the breeze through the air.
When he felt the soft hands of his fiancée on his thighs, he was surprised at first, his surprise turning to lust as her slender fingers wrapped around his cock. "Now that's something that I've been wanting all day," Erica whispered.
CHAPTER 13
"Have you ever seen such a beautiful baby?"
It was the fourth time Peter had said the exact same question, and for Kelly it still wasn't tiring. Starting at just after seven in the morning, they had been taking care of baby Elizabeth, and for Peter, it had been mutual love at first sight. Crying at first at not having her Mommy and Daddy nearby, Liz had quieted quickly once Peter picked her up, snuggling into the crook of his elbow and sticking a tiny little thumb in her mouth before falling asleep.
Since then, the morning had been quiet and pleasant. Because Liz was so little still, they stayed in Erica's hotel suite, ordering room service and enjoying a casual breakfast. Kelly enjoyed the pancakes and bacon, while Peter contented himself with some grapefruit.
"The show is in two days," he explained, as he carefully spooned a section into his mouth, mindful of getting juice on the still sleeping baby. "Time for me to shave off a few pounds in preparation. At least Erica's designs are full men's wear. If this had been a swimwear or underwear show, I'd have started this days ago."
Kelly felt guilty as she forked a bite of maple syrup infused pancake into her mouth. "I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop?"
"Hell no," Peter replied with a laugh. "I spend too much time around overly skinny people who obsess over every single calorie that goes in their bodies. I love the fact that you enjoy food."
"Is that a nice way of saying I'm fat?" she joked, running her hands over her stomach.
Peter's cocked eyebrow caused her to chuckle. "You are hardly fat, Kelly. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, your stomach is very nicely toned. If you'd like, I can check it again. Perhaps if I used my tongue?"
Kelly felt her face flush at his playful words, and shook her head. "You're incorrigible. Not around the baby, okay?"
"Okay," Peter said comfortably, making his way to the bed any stretching out. Baby Liz squirmed for a moment at the change of position, but within moments was asleep again.
Kelly looked on with amazement. "You're magic with that baby. I'm almost afraid to try and pick her up, she seems to have bonded to you so well."
"She'll find you just as comfortable," Peter reassured her. "Babies aren't all that difficult. Treat them with love and affection, and you're good to go. I really think humans are low level psychic, and babies more so. We just lose that ability after we figure out how to talk."
After breakfast, the couple stretched out together on the bed, Liz between them, and tried to watch television. Unfortunately, they quickly discovered that the only English channels available were either CNN or the Disney Channel, and within an hour both reached their fill of cartoons.
"Do you think Erica and Dwayne would mind if we took Liz out for a walk?" Kelly asked.
At the mention of her name, the baby squirmed, looking up at Kelly with wide, soft brown eyes. She smiled, and Kelly felt her heart melt at the expression. "I think we have our answer," Peter said, watching the two. "Besides, they did leave behind the stroller. Although I've never unfolded one of those things. Think you can give me a hand?"
It took them close to twenty minutes to figure out the complex European stroller, with Kelly stumbling upon the final catch by accident. Sliding the blue plastic collar to the side, the stroller slid open easily, locking in place with an audible click. "Well, that was easy," Kelly joked, "but I’m not taking that thing anywhere we have to fold it back up."
"I agree," Peter said, bending over and picking the baby up from the bed. "So, little Liz, are you ready to go out on an adventure?"
Baby Liz cooed and smiled, causing the adults to join in. "But first, I think a certain little girl needs a change of diaper and some outdoor clothes."
The late winter weather was still chilly, so Kelly and Peter bundled up, making sure Liz was wrapped securely in her tiny little snow suit and tucked in a blanket in her stroller. In a total affront to her high fashion heritage, her snow suit was covered in little hearts and cartoon characters, her face framed by a pink hood. In fact, she looked like a regular little girl, albeit one in a very expensive stroller.
Walking along outside the hotel, the sidewalk leading to the small Oceanside park was thankfully clear of snow and ice. "The weather is nice today," Kelly remarked, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face. She was wearing the leather bomber jacket that she had picked up just for this trip, but still shivered. How did American bombers actually get anything done freezing like this? "But compared to Miami I'm still chilled to the bone."
"This is warm compared to where I grew up," Peter replied, pushing the stroller. The exact opposite of Kelly, he was wearing a simple long sleeve t-shirt to go along with his jeans and light gloves. "There, we had d
ays where the sun barely rose above the horizon, and even the idea of a suntan was unheard of."
"I'm glad we didn't grow up in the same place then," Kelly laughed, threading her arm through Peter's and snuggling against him. "I'm much too comfortable in shorts, skirts and tank tops."
Peter smiled, his green eyes alight with desire. "You know, we haven't talked about it, but I was kind of hoping this wouldn't be just a single trip thing."
Kelly's mind whirled at the implications of Peter's words. Her entire life, relationships with men had been short term things, or casual relationships that never developed past the initial stages. But with Peter, she felt a deeper connection, and it scared her. To find such a connection in a man who was, of all things, a male model? How would it work, with him traveling the world from job to job, and her living in Miami working with Elizabeth? Could she even let someone in so deep inside, as Peter threatened to do?
Her troubled look caused Peter to pause. "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"
Kelly shook her head. "No, not at all. It's just that... well, honestly it scares me a bit. I've never felt this way about someone before, and that scares me."
"Me too. But with you, I'd be willing to take the chance," Peter said, his eyes turning out to the sea. "Ever since we met, my mind has been going to unfamiliar places, and I can only think it's due to you."
"What sort of places is that?"
"Family, settling down, children of my own," Peter said quietly, his eyes looking out at the ocean with a thousand yard stare. "It's been too hectic a life these past few years. I'm tired of it all."
Kelly looked up at him, her mouth opening before she even knew what she was going to say. "You know, Miami is a great place for tired people to re-energize."
Peter turned his gaze back to her, his eyes softening as he looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something when his eyes were drawn to something behind her. "Kelly, take the baby and go," he said, pushing her down the sidewalk with the stroller.
Kelly looked back and saw two men, both obviously foreigners, standing on the sidewalk behind them. One of them was a huge man-mountain, easily close to seven feet tall, with a bulky physique that spoke of strength and intimidation, wearing a black leather jacket that had to have taken most of a cow to produce. The other was an older man, in his sixties Kelly thought, with a gaunt face and gray wool pea coat and fedora hat that made him look a bit like a retired diplomat. The thing that jumped out to Kelly most though was the blazing green of his eyes, identical to Peter's.
"I would prefer if your friend and the child didn’t leave," the older man said in heavily accented English. He sounded Russian, she thought, almost the caricature of a Russian agent from a spy movie. "After all, shouldn't you be happy to introduce me to your lover, Piotr?"
"My name is not Piotr anymore!" Peter spat vehemently. "I've lived on my own for twelve years, and my name is Peter Tanner now."
“No. You’re my son. And your name is, and always will be, Piotr Zubukov," the man replied. "Now, let us take a walk.
Before Peter could say anything, the old man pointed at Kelly and the stroller, gesturing. "They come with us. Trust me Piotr, you don’t want Mischa to have to intervene."
Kelly grabbed Peter's arm, worry and anger in her eyes. "Peter, what the hell is going on?"
Peter sighed deeply, and looked down at Kelly with eyes full of pain, shame, and a hint of fear.
"I'm sorry, Kelly. We have no choice. The man next to my father undoubtedly has a gun, and if I know my father, there are other men around we can't see."
"What do you mean? Who is your father?"
"Ivan Migyonevich Zubukov. Head of the Odessa Russian Mafia."
* * *
T he drive across Tokyo felt surreal to Kelly. After having such a wonderful morning with Peter, for it all to change so quickly would be enough to knock the wind out of anyone. Sitting quietly in the back of the Mercedes sedan, holding Liz in her arms, she tried to keep the fear out of her voice and movements so as not the scare the baby.
"Peter, please tell me what's going on," she said quietly, reaching across the seat to hold his hand. Up front, the two henchmen sat silently. Peter's father was in a different car. "I promise I'm not angry. I'm scared, and I need you to talk to me."
Peter entwined his fingers with hers and looked her in the eyes. The fear was still there, but the rest had been replaced by what looked like anger. "My father is right. I was born Piotr Zubukov. My father is the head of the Odessa Russian Mafia, and when I was fifteen, I watched him murder four people in front of me. One of them was my mother."
"My God," Kelly gasped, her mouth dropping open. "Why?"
"Since I was born, my father was an abusive, dominating man, who insisted on full obedience in every one of his whims. He ran both his business and his family like some sort of feudal Russian noble, acting as if he was above us the whole time. Even before I knew what he was doing, I knew my father had numerous girlfriends that he would spend days with, only to return home to my mother and I without a shred of shame or humility."
"When I was fourteen, my mother had privately had enough. She knew she couldn't leave my father, but her heart finally couldn't handle it any more. She started an affair with a local man, a teacher in my school. When my father found out, he had my mother, the teacher, and both of my mother's 'bodyguards' killed. He made me watch, supposedly as a lesson in how I was supposed to lead the business after he retired."
"What did you do?"
Peter shook his head. "What else could I do? My mother was a good woman, who only responded the way she did after being pushed to the point of desperation. The teacher was also a good man, who only had the bad luck of falling in love with a gangster's wife. I loved my mother, and the bastard fed her to dogs to die a death I wouldn't wish on anyone. As soon as I could, I siphoned money off of his accounts, and got the hell out of Odessa.
"Unfortunately, that led to a whole host of other problems. My false identity didn't have any sort of formal education, and I knew if I actually enrolled in a real school, my father would be able to track me down. I also knew if I tried to make money by using the knowledge of criminal enterprise that my father had taught me, I would also quickly be discovered, either by him or by one of his enemies who would use the information to keep me under their thumb."
"I was in Helsinki, that wasn't a lie, when I was approached by a man asking me to pose. I thought he was a gay guy looking for a date, and at first I just told him no thanks, but he turned out to be a local fashion designer. He had a show, and three of his male models had gotten food poisoning from some bad lutefisk. I took the job, and the rest is history. I tried my best to keep a low profile, but I guess eventually it had to come out."
"So that's why you never tried to make the big designers or shows," Kelly commented, thinking back to what Erica had told her. "You were trying to stay under the radar."
"Yes. Also, I totally refused jobs in the types of design that my father or his associates would favor. So no Italian suits, no leather designs or hip-hop clothing that some of the younger members favored, stuff like that. Also, I used some of the money I siphoned from my father's accounts to get a little bit of plastic surgery. Not enough to totally change my face, but I hoped it would help. After Erica's show here in Japan, I was going to retire, disappear again. Then I met you, and I knew I couldn't just disappear."
Kelly blinked, tears forming in her eyes, and looked forward. Liz started to squirm, and she looked down at the baby girl, kissing her softly on the forehead. "So what's going to happen to us?”
"I don't know," Peter said honestly. He leaned over, and whispered in her ear. "I hope that I can get my father to agree to let you go. Whatever you do, do not let it be known that Liz isn't yours. Your skin is a light enough tone that I don’t think it’ll cross his mind that you’re not the mother, and young biracial babies can often be very pale anyway. If my father learns that Dwayne is the father, he'll kill both of you for sure. He
doesn’t like complications, and having a father like Dwayne involved is a very big complication. If he asks, tell him Liz is yours, and you don’t know who the father is. It's safer for now. I promise you Kelly, even if it costs me my life, I will try to get you and Liz set free."
Kelly looked into Peter's eyes, and nodded, speechless.
CHAPTER 14
"Dwayne? It's Elizabeth."
Dwayne slipped his jacket on, his body relaxed and languid after the onsen and the wonderful lovemaking with Erica. They had stayed another two hours, enjoying snacks and delicacies out of the water, making love one more time before their reservation was finished. Changing into his clothes, he had never felt more at peace, until he heard the worried tone of his sister's voice.
"What's wrong, Elizabeth? Is it the show?"
"No," Elizabeth said coldly, which Dwayne knew meant his sister was scared silly. She had an inner steel, a reserved place she mentally went when emotions threatened to take over, that allowed her amazing mind to act even when everyone else around her was losing theirs. It was a trait he envied, but also feared. When Elizabeth sounded like this, you knew that things were desperate.
"I tried to contact Kelly and Peter an hour ago. When they didn't answer, I asked Tina to go back to the hotel and look for them, thinking maybe they fell asleep. Dwayne, Tina found the stroller outside on a nearby sidewalk, abandoned. Peter, Kelly and Baby Liz are missing."
"Have you called the cops?"
"Of course. However, the Tokyo police are less than helpful. They won't do anything unless you or Erica file the report, and even then they won't get involved until they have been missing for at least twenty four hours. Also, not to put too delicate a point on it, but as foreigners, they really don't care about the case. There's no Japanese nationals involved, so they aren't going to expend manpower on this."
Dwayne felt a sick, helpless rage settle over his heart, and part of him recognized this must be the feeling that Erica had felt numerous times in her life when she had encountered prejudice. He'd spent his life among wealth and power, and when he asked for something, people usually bent over backwards to accompany it. Now the shoe was on the other foot. He noted the feeling, and filed it away for reflection later.
Mr. Forrester: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 9