Page 11 of Her Fearless Ronin

“Her brother has gone missing.” I knew it was better to come clean now; Hoka would know one way or another.

“Jiro.” My name in his mouth carried so much weariness and worry that I was not sure I could ease him right now. “How do you even know that?”

I couldn’t blame him for being worried about me stepping back into Anna’s world again. He’d been so concerned about losing me. The bullets didn’t finish the job, but my mind almost did, and it took months to get me out of the depths of depression.

“But this time, it’s different.I’mdifferent.” I took a deep breath, steadying myself as I continued. “Her brother has gone missing, and her sister, Hope, just appeared where I was. It was fate, Hoka, and I know you believe in fate.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, and I could almost feel Hoka processing the information. I knew he would understand. Violet was his destiny; he’d known that from the moment they’d locked eyes.

I sighed. “I couldn’t turn her away, not when I saw the pain in her eyes, the weight she carries. I want to find him, to bring him back safe, and to help Hope find the answers she seeks. But I need to enter one of Doyle’s Wonderland clubs in Seattle to get the information we need.”

Hoka muttered under his breath. “Getting into Doyle’s world is difficult, but I’ll have a word with Sandro. Maybe he can help.”

I pursed my lips. “I’m sure Alessandro Benetti is dying to help me after all the pain I caused his sister.”

“You didn’t cause his sister pain.Hedid, and you took the fall for him. He owes you that much.”

“I didn’t do it for him.” I was selfless up to a point, and I would never have stepped away from my life, my culture, everything I knew for anyone other than Hoka.

“I know you didn’t.” Hoka’s voice was much softer now. “I’m worried. This place—this family—brings back a lot of dark, scary times. I almost lost you,” he admitted, and it was something else that Violet changed in him. He was showing his vulnerabilities now, his doubts, not with everyone, of course, but with the people close to him.

I had difficulty swallowing past the lump of emotions in my throat. There were few people I considered family in this world, and Hoka was it.

“I’m not the same Jiro as I was back then, and I can’t walk away just like you would not walk away if Violet had an issue.”

“Do you— Was Anna your Violet?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” I looked down at the golden token on my night table. “I was…we werereally young, and she was the first girl I ever loved.”The only girl I ever allowed myself to love. “And it was almost fleeting. We never got time to come down from the height of passion.”

“I see.” I didn’t miss the cautiousness in his voice.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I sighed. “Hoka, I thought we were past that.”

“I just—” He sighed. “I just think that if she had beenyourikigai, you would know.”

I nodded mutedly. I’d suspected that much once I saw how Hoka loved Violet and how fiercely she loved him back, but it didn’t change the fact that her life had been cut short because of me and that an innocent was now six feet under because of my foolishness.

“I need this, Hoka. I need to make amends no matter how foolish it is. I failed you when I didn’t support you with Violet. Don’t make the same mistake.”

He muttered something under his breath and let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll take care of it. Doyle can be…”

“An asshole, yeah.”

“Do you need any help?”

I couldn’t help the lump of sorrow that formed in my throat. We both knew he couldn’t help, not if he didn’t want to get himself into more trouble than he already had been. A lesser boss would have been taken down already, with all the exceptions he had made to the Bushido, the ultimate being his marriage to an outsider, and not any outsider, but the sister of an Italian Mafia boss. He had to shun me for the sacrifice I made to ensure his happiness. A sacrifice I owed him after almost destroying his life.

“You know you can’t, and I’m okay. It’s way beneath my pay grade.”

He laughed at my poor attempt at a joke. “Well, the offer stands nonetheless. I’m sure Oda would love to come help, and I’m also almost certain Alessandro would be happy to get rid of him for a while. The kid drives him crazy.”

I chuckled. “I’m sure he’s doing it because he knows it pisses him off.”

Hoka laughed, too. “Yeah, I’m sure of it.”

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