His Revenge Baby: 50 Loving States, Washington
Page 1
His Revenge Baby
50 Loving States, Washington
Theodora Taylor
Contents
Copyright
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Dedication
Part 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Part 2
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Part 3
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Epilogue
HIS FORBIDDEN BRIDE
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Theodora Taylor
Copyright © 2016 by Theodora Taylor
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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To Grace, who I told rather fearfully while walking in New Orleans that I’d been thinking about setting a story in Japan—a country we both love—and who replied with a happy smile that I should.
Part One
Chapter One
“First time?”
Lilli took a break from tapping her fingers against her bare knee, and looked over at the woman who’d just taken the seat beside her. Her heart sank when she saw that this woman, just like all the other women waiting in Mr. Nakamura’s ante lobby, was her complete opposite.
Whereas Lilli was short and a size L to XL by Japanese standards, this woman was tall and so slender, she could probably fit into a Japanese medium. And unlike Lilli, who’d had to rely on a flat-iron this morning to straighten her hair out of its usual large bush of curls, this woman had clearly found someone who was fully capable of putting in a waist-length blond weave. Her golden locks combined with light hazel eyes put Lilli in mind of a certain pop singer who regularly sold out stadiums here and in Japan.
She had the same color skin as Lilli…a tawny brown that hovered between light and dark. But other than that, they had nothing else in common.
Well, nothing else aside from the fact that they were both here.
Sitting in the same waiting room for the exact same reason.
And, oh yeah…they were both completely naked.
Along with at least ten other black women who were also Lilli’s complete opposites. But that was definitely where the similarities ended. Like the blond woman sitting beside her, the other naked women looked like they would easily qualify if someone ran into the room and called out, “Hey, we’re looking for extra girls to shoot a high-end porn we’re filming downstairs!
So here she was. Surrounded by yards of blond weaves, flat stomachs, and perfect C-cups.
No wonder the other women hadn’t spared Lilli, with her off-black, flat-ironed hair, dimpled tummy, and heavy breasts, so much as a second look (after the first disdainful one) when she’d walked in and taken the seat farthest from the door leading into Mr. Nakamura’s private office.
But this new girl was smiling at her as if they were old friends.
“Um, yeah. I mean, yes, it is my first time,” Lilli answered, remembering the instructions she’d been given by the agency about only speaking her best English with this particular client.
Figuring now was as good a time as any to practice her cover story, she told the friendly blond, “I’ve only been signed up with Osaka Charm for a month. Before that I was an ESL teacher. They’ve sent me to a few parties, but this is my first special request interview.”
“I could tell by your bare feet,” the blond said, grinning.
And that was when Lilli noticed something else that set her apart from all other escorts waiting to be “interviewed.” The friendly woman who’d instructed her to strip down in the vestibule outside the lobby had suggested Lilli go barefoot rather than enter Mr. Nakamura’s office in such mundane footwear as the sandals she’d arrived in. But everyone else seemed to have gotten the “heels to impress” memo. A couple of them even had the kind with red soles.
“I don’t even own a pair of heels,” Lilli admitted.
Why would she? Before the cloaked voice on Doug’s phone had turned her life upside down, she’d been working as a school nurse at an international school in Minoh. Mostly dispensing band-aids and determining, day in and day out, whether the students who came to see her were truly sick enough to be sent home. Two weeks ago her biggest problem had been trying to figure out how to keep Doug clean during his off-season. But now…
Well, now she was sitting buck-ass naked in some Japanese billionaire’s lobby.
The blond slid her a sympathetic look. “I used to only own shoes that came from Payless. But don’t worry, you have that fresh, college-girl, just-off-the-plane thing going for you. You’ll be going on shopping trips in Shinsaibashi in no time.”
Shinsaibashi, Osaka’s most upscale shopping district. A place Lilli wouldn’t even know of if a few of the other gaijin girls she worked with hadn’t taken her clubbing there a couple of times.
Even then, Lilli had goggled at all the beautiful shop windows, pretty sure the H&M would be the only store in the district she could ever afford. But the woman sitting beside her wore a beautiful pair of red heels, which she’d probably bought from one of district’s more expensive stores.
Or had bought for her, Lilli thought, recalling what her han
dler at Osaka Charm had listed as one of the perks of being assigned to a single client.
Perks she’d probably never know about. Every woman in the lobby looked about ten times more appealing than her. Exactly what a billionaire who’d put in a special request for a black girl would want to fulfill his fantasy.
Too bad Doug’s entire future was riding on her landing this job. He is so screwed, she thought to herself, her heart constricting with guilt.
An older Japanese woman dressed in a conservative dark blue skirt suit came out into the small waiting area. Her black and grey hair was arranged in a bun so severe, it put Lilli in mind of a stern, disapproving math teacher from the Japanese school drama she and Doug’s daughter, Ruby, watched a few weeks ago. But aside from the severe hairdo, Lilli was pretty certain this woman was the billionaire’s assistant—not some mean lecturer sent in to teach Lilli and all the other naked escorts math. Fairly certain…
The assistant scanned the room’s occupants, her stern face curdling a bit when she spotted Lilli. She then switched her gaze to the much more stunning woman sitting beside Lilli.
“He will see you now,” the assistant told the friendly blond, beckoning her forward with a palm down waggle of her fingers.
“See you when I get back,” the blond told Lilli, before standing up and walking through the door on the other side of the room.
Just a couple of minutes later the blond returned, apparently done with her interview. Which gave Lilli some solace. There was no way this meeting would be comfortable for her, but at least it would be quick.
“Miyuki will help you with your clothes in the lobby,” the stern Japanese woman informed the pretty blond, before beckoning another girl into the office.
Lilli expected the blond to be on her way, with nothing more than a wave. But instead, she came back over to Lilli.
“See you later, girl,” she said with a bright smile. Then to Lilli’s surprise, she actually leaned down and gave her a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek. Like they were dear friends as opposed to two escorts who’d most likely never see each other again.
Her perfume smells like flowers and diamonds, Lilli thought to herself, doing her best not to appear too uncomfortable that she was exchanging a kiss with a lovely but virtual stranger in the nude.
“Don’t worry, you got this,” she whispered in Lilli’s ear.
Then she stood back up and disappeared again. This time to the outer lobby, where Miyuki would be waiting for her with the clothes they’d all been required to remove.
Yeah, right, Lilli thought, as one by one, each woman was beckoned into the office beyond. Each of them save her. She definitely, definitely didn’t have this.
In fact, even when she was the last woman left in the waiting area, rather than call her forward, the stern older woman disappeared back through the door, closing it firmly behind her. She stayed in there for longer than most of the girls who’d interviewed for the job.
And when she came back out, the look she gave Lilli was so disparaging, her disdain seemed to take on a presence of its own, like a cloying perfume.
“You can go in now,” the woman said, her voice flatter than flat.
Doug is so seriously, seriously, screwed, Lilli thought to herself as she stood and walked through the door.
The sun had still been high in the sky when she’d first walked into the Osaka Nakamura Worldwide building. But thanks to the picture windows lining both sides of the corner office, she could now see it sinking behind a bank of low hanging clouds on the horizon, casting the city and the Yodo River in interesting cross shades of orange and pink. Osaka had turned its lights on, its usual dull brown and white cityscape now lit up in brightly colored neon and LEDs.
The office windows had some kind of dark film on them, she noticed. Which meant she could see out, but no one could see in. Not that anyone could see in anyway. They were too high up. This was the tallest building for miles and miles, with nothing to disrupt the view but clouds. Still, if a helicopter flew by, or Spiderman decided to scale the building or anything like that, she’d be safe from prying eyes, she supposed.
Oh God, Lilli, why are you thinking about helicopters and Spiderman? Or about anyone outside this room?
This rather cold room.
Lilli shivered. It had been warm enough in the outer office, but the office was a good ten degrees cooler than the one she’d just left. On purpose? she had to wonder as her nipples pebbled and goosebumps raised on her arms.
She looked around the office, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light. For someone who’d insisted on seeing her naked, Lilli didn’t understand why Mr. Nakamura hadn’t turned on the lights in his office. In fact, the only light in this cold space was from the setting sun. Nevertheless, she could just make out the main details of the room. Ebony hardwood floors, abstract modern sculptures, a simple desk made of beautifully marbled wood, and…
Her eyes widened when she saw the man sitting behind the desk.
“It’s you!”
Chapter Two
It was her. It was really her.
Riyu had told him only one candidate remained in the area. One completely unsuitable candidate. So No hadn’t expected much. Just one more disappointing interview in a string of disappointing interviews. But now here she was, padding into his office on bare feet. He watched her look around, her eyes as big and brown as a Nara deer as she took in his office.
Yes, it was definitely her. The girl from the end-of-season party his father had thrown for the Nakamura Hawks.
The Hawks franchise had strict rules concerning their players. No sex for at least two days before a game, even with wives. No alcohol during the season. No excessive weight gain. No drugs of any kind, ever. And the players were carefully monitored to ensure they abided by these rules.
Therefore, the end-of-season party was, at its basest form, a reward to the players for eight months of squeaky clean living.
A bacchanal complete with alcohol, food, and all the sex the players could want, courtesy of Osaka Charm, the same upscale service that had been supplying the men of the Nakamura family with mistresses since the eighties.
He and his brother, Hayato, usually only attended those parties as a courtesy to his father, Kazuo Nakamura. Baseball was Kazuo’s favorite past time. In fact, the team had been a gift from Norio’s grandfather on his son’s second, much more auspicious, wedding day. As head of RoTeku, Nakamura Worldwide’s robotics division, No had barely paid attention to the game until this year. And as part of the marketing department, Hayato could barely be bothered with the least profitable subsidiary of their global company.
But RoTeku had recently provided the team with a new mascot: a bipedal humanoid robot that could throw underhand pitches. So at tonight’s party, both No and Hayato would stand beside his father as Kazuo announced the mascot change to the team. Baseball players in general tended to be a superstitious lot, and Japanese players even more so. No knew his father would expect his sons to field any questions or protests the drunken players might have about the unexpected removal of the team’s previous mascot—a large hawk.
As his father often said, solidarity in all things so our decisions are never considered weak.
Also, attending this party had been a good way to avoid an uncomfortable conversation with his current Osaka Charm mistress. An Australian sous chef who’d decided to stay on in Japan, even after her working holiday visa was up. A natural blond with a degree in the culinary arts and almost flawless Japanese, she was popular at the agency, and it had cost rather a lot to secure her exclusively for a full six month period. Luckily, No had rather a lot of money, and the sous chef had been worth it.
She was more than adept in bed and he’d enjoyed the meals she made for him. But unlike many of his Japanese mistresses, she didn’t seem to fully grasp their relationship’s time constraints. Six months. No more. Possibly less. This was his standard contract. What he preferred.
Unfortunately, the Australian mist
ress had become pushy of late. Hinting at a desire for a new arrangement between them after her six months were up. No had no wish to anger her, but he also had no wish to be with her beyond their contracted time. After all, he only had a year left before he’d be required to settle down with whatever distinguished woman from a good family his father chose for him.
He wouldn’t exactly say the Nakamura family was the product of a series of arranged marriages. In fact, his father had married a Chinese woman against his own father’s wishes. But the marriage had gone poorly. So poorly that it had ended in the Chinese wife’s suicide and his father’s estrangement from the hafu—half Chinese, half Japanese—son he’d had with her. His second wife, No and Hayato’s mother, had been chosen by No’s grandfather, a Japanese beauty who like the Nakamuras, hailed from a great samurai clan.
Kazuo Nakamura had recently informed Norio, his oldest “full” Japanese son, that he hadn’t any intention of letting him make the same mistakes he had. He was already reviewing a list of possible candidates, and hoped to announce No’s engagement at the end of next year’s baseball season.
So iie, with less than a year to go until his lifelong marriage sentence would begin, No didn’t want to waste his time with just one woman. No matter how wonderfully she cooked.
“Do you think we can go somewhere quiet and have a little chat later?” Carina asked as their limo approached Void, the high-end nightclub Nakamura Worldwide had rented out for the party. “It’s the last night of my contract.”
Hai, he was deeply aware of this, and already putting together a mental composite of what his next mistress would look like. Maybe a Russian girl this time. Or perhaps a Brazilian….
But to the woman currently on his arm, he simply said, “We will see,” before getting out of the car.
As they walked to the nightclub entrance, side-by-side but as far apart as two people could get, he wondered if he’d be able to stave off this uncomfortable conversation long enough to have sex tonight. It might not be worth the effort. He’d have to run a cost benefit analysis while putting in his time at this party.