Page 224 of Prickly Romance

I give him a tight-lipped smile and hunker low in my seat.

Thankfully, Howel gets the hint and drops the subject.

I barely make it through class. The moment it’s over, I’m the first to head through the doors. I don’t want to hear another stupid comment from Taylor’s ignorant mouth.

The sun is hot on my skin, but inside I feel cold.

Everywhere I look, I see memories of Sazuki.

Him bounding up the stairs in his black jacket like a dream come to life.

Him and his bodyguards surrounding me on the path to the quad.

Even that black SUV reminds me of…

A woman pops out of the truck and I gasp. “Akira?”

“Miss Williams, if you have some time, I would like to speak to you.”

“Uh… about what?”

Akira pins her lips together. She looks particularly pale today with her slashing red lipstick and trim black pantsuit.

“Is there anywhere we can talk?”

“We can go to a café on campus.” I offer.

She nods and I lead her there. The café isn’t too crowded. There are a few students on their laptops, working quietly and sipping on their coffees.

Akira and I snag a free table.

She sits straight as a pin, her shoulders tense and her eyebrows knitted.

I wait for her to say something.

She doesn’t.

The silence makes me squirm. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

“So… is this about The Sazuki Foundation?”

“It is about Ryotaro.”

I jolt a little. Feeling off-kilter, I drag my hands off the table and set them in my lap to hide their trembling from her eyes.

Akira hesitates, her lips pursed, then she seems to come to a decision because she leans forward. Speaking in low, urgent tones, she says, “When Ryotaro got married, his family was largely against it. They threatened to kick him out. They turned their back on him. Through it all, he remained strong. He took responsibility for the woman he had slept with and the baby they had made. He was determined to do everything he could to make life better for them.”

I suck in a rasping breath, hating that I’m interested in Ashanti and Sazuki’s story despite the sharp pain that it brings.

“After the divorce, Ryotaro adjusted to the new normal. He willingly shared custody with his daughter, although his heart broke to have her so far away. He flew back and forth on many exhausting trips. He began to plan how he would move to America to spend more time with her. Through it all, he remained determined. He bore the setbacks with a relentless fire.”

I’m cupping my chin at this point. I don’t know if Akira was a storyteller back in Japan, but the way she’s weaving the threads together has me by the throat.

“No fear would stop him. No threats of being cut out of the family ancestry. No doubt about moving to a foreign country where he knew few people and had even fewer friends. Nothing has ever stopped Ryotaro Sazuki in his tracks… until you.”

I can’t name the feeling that slices me open at that moment. I swallow hard, digging my fingers into the table.

Akira’s eyes are as black as marbles. They hammer into me with a powerful force. “He is working, he is moving, he is breathing, but he is crumbling beneath it all, Miss Williams.”

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