Page 31 of Spider Demon's Kiss

“We can figure that out later,” I said not wanting to say what we were both thinking.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

“So, if Kuroi isn’t tryin’ to kill me, how do I stop him from killing me?”

“Gather intel, assess the situation, and come up with a plan,” he suggested.

“Right. Who would have intel on Kuroi? Everyone who has known him best is dead.”

“Not everyone,” Lorenzo suggested telling me what I had to do next.

Keeping eyes on Yuki Sato wasn’t something the Ricci pack often did. We knew of her. We had a general idea of how she spent her day. But considering she wasn’t Sato’s heir apparent, it wasn’t a priority.

Having said that, we knew where to find her on any given day if we had to. And now I had too. It being Thursday, she was most likely at the flower market. That made things simple. Because the two of us needed to have a conversation about her brother, and I knew how to find her.

Sitting at a coffee shop across the street from her favorite flower stand, I held up a newspaper and kept an eye out. My intel told me that she bought camellias in the winter and lilies in the summer. It was still lilies season and she would get them in white.

Like clockwork, she appeared. Even without the traditional garb she wore to social events, she was hard to miss. Put together perfectly in a sleeveless summer garden dress, she carried herself with the elegance I once imagined bringing calm to our chaotic Ricci pack. Instead, I ended up with Kuroi. Sure, he was hot as hell. But he was more likely to get us into a war than Matteo was.

Quickly folding my paper and crossing the street, I approached Yuki.

“Yuki, can I talk to you a second.”

Instead of being startled, Yuki didn’t even look up.

“Mr. Ricci, it is pleasant to see you.”

“Pleasant to see you too. Listen, I was wondering if I could talk to you about Kuroi.”

That was when she turned around and stared at me.

“It would be improper to involve myself in my brother’s marriage.”

“Right. Of course. Proper. Yeah, fuck that. I need your help or either me or your brother is gonna end up dead. And, you can rest assured that if something happens to me, everyone in your family is next.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that I have no choice but to talk to you?” she asked calmly.

“What I’m sayin’ is, we gotta talk.”

Yuki returned to her shopping.

“Perhaps my honorable brother-in-law would like to join me for tea once my shopping is done.”

I didn’t like being rescheduled.

“Where?”

“There is a tea shop two blocks from here. Are you familiar with the area?”

I knew where she was referring to. It was where she always went after buying white lilies.

“I know where you’re talking about.”

“Then I will see you there,” she said dismissing me and going about her business.

I had to admit, our interaction didn’t go as planned. Everything I personally knew about her made me think that she would bow her head and avert her eyes the whole time. She had more backbone than I would have guessed.

Leaving her to do her thing, I headed to the tea shop and found a table. She did not rush over to join me. It took 45 minutes for her to arrive and by then, I was a little pissed. There was only so long a wolf could sit still.

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