Page 27 of The Queen's Denial

For some reason I don’t understand, those words are like a red-hot poker to my gut. “An uncle? What does he do, send you a $50 check on your birthday?”

She laughs at my joke, but answers honestly. “Way more than that. He’s like family, is what I mean. He helps my father and I make big decisions; he takes care of operations in Japan. He’s the only one besides my father that has any substantial contact with my family there. Probably even more than my father. He’s sort of like what you are to Cas.”

I weigh this in my mind a bit, and although I’m still not sure I fully understand the nature of her relationship with Daiki, I feel a little better about it.

I sigh; it’s time for me to get back to work. “Well, it’s been fun.” I get up and start buttoning my shirt.

“Hit and run, huh? Gosh, what a lady’s man you are.” Chi is obviously joking, of course. It’s just that when she says it, there’s this slight twitch in her half-cocked smile, making it look as though it’s faltering ever-so-slightly.

Something in me tugs on me to stay, but as usual, I ignore it. “You know I always have fun with you, Chee-chee. But I gotta go.”

“Well, my entire purpose in life has been fulfilled now that you’ve had fun. Thank goodness.”

I grab her and pull her closer. “That smart mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one day, little girl.”

She smiles at me with that one, very slightly prominent incisor, and I just want to suck her mouth into mine again and swallow her whole. God, I want to consume this woman: body, mind, and soul.

“I like trouble,” she breathes into my face.

I give her a scorching kiss, hard and long, and then stand up to leave.

“I’ll be back around nine. If you have another schoolgirl outfit, wear it.”

*****

Despite our heart-to-heart while she was drunk, I can tell Chi’s issues continue to linger, although neither of us bring them up. We fuck during every free moment of our day. The fact that I know something is going on with her is of no importance to either of us. Or at least, that’s what I tell myself.

But the lie doesn’t hold me for long. My curiosity gets the better of me. I decide that I need to figure out what the hell is going on in her head. And to do that, I need to figure out what’s going on around her to see what’s causing this big change in attitude.

For as long as I’ve known her — admittedly, not that long — she’s been sweet, but with a fiery side. It occurs to me that while we were at the mansion with Cas and Mara, that might have been because she was traumatized. Still, I’m surprised by this almost hostile change. She’s acting like she’s trying to push her freedom in someone’s face, giving me the most intense sex I’ve ever had in my life and running out after I asked her not to. I don’t think she’s trying to push it into my face, but if she is, it’s fucking working.

Part of my job here includes training the new guys that Akio employs, so I try to busy myself with that to stay occupied. Akio has hired a squad of new guards due to the ongoing mafia war we’re in the middle of, and it feels somewhat overwhelming to test them all. It takes days to interrogate them, and I might be a sick fuck when the situation warrants it, but I don’t love torturing men who have never done anything to deserve it. Some of them stand up to testing, but for every one that gets through it, there are five more that I have to turn loose. And testing them until they break is mentally and physically draining.

I take my frustrations and disappointments out on Chi each night for the next few days, and she lets me. She’s distant, and so am I, trying to figure out what is going on with her and why I care.

One night, during crazy sex, it seems that I’ve somehow ripped my pants. This has happened too much over the past couple of weeks — I’m going to have to make my way to my small safehouse to pick up some more clothes over the next couple of days. I usually like to have some separation from my job and utilize my safehouse often, but I haven’t been there for more than thirty minutes at a time for weeks. Ever since I met Chi, actually.

For now, I’ll make do with what I have here, but tomorrow afternoon I’ll take a break. I’ll stay in my safehouse and get some distance from all of this.

I head over to my small wing on the opposite side of the mansion, and as I pass, I overhear Chi’s father. We didn’t think he’d be home yet, which isn’t that strange because he has a tendency to just pop in and out randomly. I also hear Daiki’s voice though, and I realize I’m dying to know what they’re saying. And for some reason, perhaps since they’re speaking in Japanese, I don’t think they’re going to tell me about it. Those two are secretive as fuck.

It looks like they’ve just gotten back from Japan, and in their haste have forgotten to close the door all the way. I peek through the crack as they speak. “Kanojo wa daijobudarou, Tomodachi.” She will be okay, my friend.

Daiki puts his hand on Akio’s shoulder — a friendly, gentle gesture. “Kanojo wa keikaku no henko ga sukide wanai, Aki-chan.” I’m so surprised by the extremely informal nickname he’s used that I nearly forget to process the rest of the sentence into English. She does not like the change of plans, Aki-chan.

“-Chan” is a Japanese honorific, sort of like a surname, used often only for young, childhood friends and more for girls than boys. It’s used sometimes by parents with their children, but often it is an endearment left in childhood, except for extremely close family.

It takes me so long to process the sentence that I only get the tail end of the next. Something about this always being the plan, anyway. I’m sure they’re talking about Chi, but I don’t know what exactly the plan is. I step closer to the door, drawn in by the promise of learning more about the elusive young Yakuza princess I left in her bedroom, but as soon as I put my foot down, Daiki’s ears perk up, his hand falling to his side as he turns toward the door.

I’m sure they can see me, as the door is slightly ajar, so I do the only thing I can think of at the moment, and I knock to make it seem as though I just got there. Now I imagine I have about 10 seconds to come up with something to ask before I look suspicious.

Daiki swings the door open and looks at me skeptically. “Andy-san. What do you need?”

Luckily, I have the kind of brain that comes up with excuses, even fake ones, quickly. “I was just wondering why we have another wave of new recruits to be tested? We don’t really need any more people.”

Daiki’s expression changes from one of skepticism to one of annoyance. “We needed to replace multiple men from the attack two weeks ago.”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I feel like bringing on this many new men is just asking for a mole.”

---