Page 49 of Love on the Run

“Don’t call me that,” she snaps, hot anger singeing me.

I feel my brows stretch toward my hairline at the rage in her voice.

“Why are you here, Akchiro?” She demands right on top of that sentence. Then comes a flurry of accusations that hit me like little bombs of hate.

“Don’t you have your Aussie bitch waiting for you at Midtown?”

“Where is my baby?”

“Why did you take my son from me?”

“Why. Are. You. Here?”

Watchingher with eyes guarded as she looks at me she looks hollowed out, like all emotion has been scooped out of her and nothing’s left but a husk of the woman I love.

I wonderif I should call the medic to give me something to calm her. But I know she’d never forgive me for making her give face in such a way in front of staff.

“Will you listen?”I compartmentalize everything she’s hurled at me quickly shifting through the morass of her words.

She waves a nonchalant hand. I can’t help the way my eyes stray to her bandaged wrist.

“May I sit?” Another careless wave. Going around the side I sit alongside her with my feet out. I can’t help noticing how curled as she is that she barely reaches half of my length.

“I was always coming back.” I turn just as her head snaps around to look at me. She knows I would never lie to her, so I press down my anger when I see her doubt. “Ahem,” Clearing my throat, I continue swallowing back the reprimand quietly reminding myself that I put that doubt there with my treatment of her.

“I’m not sure what went on here when I left you resting—” Nothing. She is an absolute blank canvas. I can see she is barely holding it together, so I keep going. “We docked in Japan late last night. When I rose, I took Asa to Takeda Manse because I wanted to spend time in Tokyo alone with you. We’ve rarely spent more than day alone together since we’ve had our son. I know I bare responsibility for that with my work schedule and trying to migate the threat I believed my cousins presented. Nowthat assassination by them is no longer a concern I wanted to give us some time in the flat — Just us.”

A dead heavy silence drops. Her breathing is deep and labored like she’s struggling to breathe. I want to hold her but fear she may scream if I do. I don’t know how to help her.

I allow the truth of my words and the conviction in them to sink in. Eventually she sighs as everything sinks in after she seemingly plays my words over and over in head several times to process.

My hand curls into fists, the longing to comfort and hold her in my arms is so great. “Patience,” I tell myself. “Soon.”

“Y-you weren’t taking Asa from me?” Her voice sounds so small it’s my undoing.

“Hana,” I stop hearing the harsh incredulity in my voice. I can’t very well castigate her when this is the very thing I promised I would do if she failed to give me another child.

“Iie,” I shake my head. “Never. I will never take Asa or any of our children from you.”

A trembling hand touches her lips. Then she casts her gaze down. Then she looks up with firm resolve. She sniffs and lifts her head looking me square in the eyes. She swallows deeply. “Midtown? I know you got that Aussie girl an apartment there.”

“I didn’t get the apartment for her.” I slash the air between us. “I was the conduit. She wanted a protector after I let her know with no equivocation that person would never be me. I told her the requirements of what prominent businessmen expect such as good health and a clean medical record. She worked with Dr. Ito. Severance is all I provided. The apartment is a gift from her protector which I will say for the last time is not me.” I try not to raise my voice, but I can’t hide the edge to my voice. That she would doubt me after all this time. “Flower, even when you went to the US for a year and a half, I never fucked another woman. The fact you think I’m capable of dallying with the helpis galling.” I can feel the heat rising to my jawline as I hold her gaze steadily.

“Well,” she sniffs, her gaze sliding from mine. “She felt way too comfortable coming to you for anything. You should not be helping her do shit. She was way too familiar with you and you with her. She said—” Waving her hand again she rests her elbow on her bent knee cupping her jaw looking away from me, despondency rolling off her in waves. Towering over her smaller form I can still see the anguish on her face — the way she swallows away a sob.

“Stupid,” she whispers harshly furiously wiping tears away.

Seeing her in pain like this feels like someone one has stabbed my heart with a katana is blazing fresh from the forge.

This time I do touch her. She flinches and I draw back. “Hana, please don’t talk about yourself in that manner.”

She shakes her head. “I-I…” Heart wrenching sobs rack her small frame.

For the first time since I held my son when he was born. I can’t take it, seeing her in so much pain is eviscerating me.

I pull her into my arms. She struggles. “Stop.” I shake her a little. “Stop it. Just let me hold you, baby.”

She stiffens and I prepared to release her or allow her to fight me if she needs to. Instead, she collapses against me in a soft heap her shoulders shaking as she sobs.

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