Page 24 of Emperor of Wrath

It looks like Fumi’s brought takeout from my dad’s favorite Vietnamese place. But when they offer me some ch? giò, I shake my head.

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” Fumi shrugs and takes a big bite of fried spring roll. “How’s your other dad?”

Hideo wheezes another deep laugh as I shake my head.

“Sota is good, thank you.”

“And his treatment?”

I smile warmly. “They’ve got a lot of hope going into this new round of chemo.”

“Good, I’m glad,” Fumi nods.

“If I can deal with that goddamn poison,” Hideo chuckles, “then Sota will do it dancing around the room. He was always the best at taking a punch and getting back up again.” He pats my arm. “He’s a tough son of a bitch.”

He understands that his best friend from back home effectively took over as a surrogate father in his absence. And I think that makes him happy.

But that’s as far as the conversation goes with him about Sota and my life with the Yakuza. He prefers to not talk about that world at all, considering what it cost him. Fumi’s the same way.

So in a sense, I have two lives these days: the Yakuza one, which I talk about with Mal, Tak, Hana, and Sota. And then the other one, that I share with Hideo and Fumi.

Sometimes I like having that dual life. But it’s also exhausting.

“How’s Gabriel?”

“Oh, you know…” Fumi sighs. “Tons of free time to spend with me. Not a care in the world. Slacker workload.”

I smirk. “That rough, huh?”

“Oh my God, it’s endless. And I thought managing partners put in the hours.”

Some might think it an “in” for man like me to have the damn Governor of New York as a brother-in-law. And I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t crossed my devious mind.

But nothing funny is ever going to happen, and I have no plans to push for it. I mean, it’d be nice to have a “special relationship” with a US governor. But I’ve also met Gabriel, and that shit is not happening.

There’s a darkness in that man, definitely. Not the kind that would ever hurt my sister. The kind that would murder for her. It’s also clear that darkness doesn’t extend to corruption.

“Oh, by the way,” Fumi mumbles, her mouth full of Bún bò Nam B?. “I don’t know if she mentioned it, but I grabbed a drink with Hana the other day.”

“She didn’t, but that’s fantastic,” I grin.

“She’s cool, I like her a lot,” Fumi shrugs. “Great style. What’s new with you?” Fumi asks around another bite of beef noodle soup.

“Oh…” I puff out a breath. “Not much.”

I’m just marrying a lying, backstabbing little bitch to stop a war with the Bratva.

“Really,” Fumi deadpans with a wry look.

Fuck. I have to remember that this woman is one of the best lawyers in the city. She can smell bullshit a mile away.

“I’ll fill you in later.”

“Better.”

We chit-chat for another twenty minutes or so before Fumi announces she has to run to get half an hour with her husband before he’s pulled away to yet another governor’s function.

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