Page 102 of Dangerous Deceit

“If you don’t know by now, then I guess you’re fucked,” Jay cackles.

Dice raises his brow at me, exchanging a silent look. I don’t know exactly what Dice has planned, but I nod. He takes out his knife and stabs it into Jay’s thigh. Jay howls like a dog, but it’s a non-lethal spot. He won’t die from it, but it will fucking hurt.

Once the agony cools, Jay looks at me with a grin.

“You couldn’t get it out of Vi, could you?” He licks his bloody lips. “You’re in love with her, a pathetic little puppy dog. You can’t hurt your master, can you?That’swhat we were banking on, you fucking idiot.”

Everything inside of me boils red.Maybe I am in love with Vi. What’s done is done. I can’t change that.

But we need those words out of his mouth.

“Did the Ito-gumi hire you?” I ask.

Dice swings toward Ronin, his fist still gripping the bloody knife, ready to strike. Jay laughs again. Tomo and Cherry face Ronin too.

“Ito-gumi?” Tomo asks. “Did they send you too, Ronin?”

Ronin lifts his hands in a show of defense. But Dice takes another step forward, his anger aimed at Ronin.

“I came here because I’m not going to watch Akio destroy decades of honor,” Ronin says, his voice strong. “A low-lifekumichodeserves no respect.”

“You think we’re better than Akio?” Tomo snarls. “If we have to, we’ll kill you right now. Did you or did you not know Akio hired the Petruses to spy on us?”

The room is completely still. Even Jay is quiet, his eyes wide as he gawks at us. Ronin licks his lips, his nose twitching.

“I heard about a wedding. But Akio and I haven’t seen eye to eye in years,” Ronin says. “I refuse to serve anoyabunwho doesn’t deserve another breath.”

“That’s low,” Tomo laughs, wiping his mouth. “But it doesn’t mean shit if you’re lying.”

Dice throws a punch, knocking Ronin in the cheek, but Ronin doesn’t retaliate. My jaw drops; I wouldn’t fight Dice either—he’s a fucking boulder—but I’m shocked Ronin isn’t defending himself. Cherry moves forward, her fists flying. I shove Dice into the wall, and then pull Ronin aside until Cherry’s off of him too.

I stand in front of Ronin, blocking him from their attacks. He may be an outsider, but he didn’t question my decisions when it came to Vi. And so far, he’s kept his word. He could have told everyone about me fucking her in the warehouse or told them I left her unguarded, but he hasn’t. I have to defend him.

“He’s our family,” I say, repeating Dice and Tomo’s words from before. “He’s not our enemy.”

Dice wipes a hand across his cheek, and Cherry crosses her arms in front of her chest. Ronin’s lip is bloody, and his cheek is slightly swollen. Dice landed a good punch. I half-smile at that.

“You want to prove yourself?” I ask Ronin, going right back into business. “Tell the Ito-gumi we know they sent spies, and if they want our guns, they’re going to have to meet our new prices.” I turn to Tomo for approval, and he nods deeply. “Fuck it. Tell them we don’t need their Shabu-8. We’ll get a new cook out here. A better cook. We don’t need them.”

“What will it be called this time? Shabu-9?” Jay cuts in.

I sneer, and Dice immediately rams the back of his elbow into Jay’s face.

“Can you do that, brother?” I ask, turning back to Ronin.

The word “brother” hangs in the air.

“I’ll make it happen,” Ronin says.

Tomo clears his throat. “Wait for Niko. He’ll sit in on the conversation,” he says. Tomo dips his chin at me. “You need to take care of Jay and Vi. They may be your legal family, but they’ve betrayed us, Kenzo. There’s only one honorable way to fix this.”

A weight settles on my chest, my insides shuddering. I couldn’t give a fuck less if Vi’s “uncle” dies. But when it comes to her?

It kills me.

She’s a bad con artist, but she’s believed in Jay’s lies her whole life. I can’t kill her for that. But the Endo-kai has beenmy only family since I was a kid, and this is an order from myoyabun.I took a blood oath and exchanged cups of sake, knowing I would always,alwaysobey Tomo. You put theoyabun’sword above everything else.

But Tomo is just as careful with his words as I am. He never said I had tokillthem, just that there’s only one honorable way to fix this. It’s almost like he knows my position and sympathizes with it. Tomo has a shady past of his own, especially before he split off from the Ito-gumi and started the Endo-kai. He knows what it’s like to disobey an order when it comes to a woman.

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