Page 104 of Dangerous Deceit

But, damn it, I chose Uncle Jay over him too.No—he’s just Jay. But almost two decades have passed since my parents were killed; is it possible Jay learned to love me like his real family? Does Jay love me like he loved Patrick?

Why am I so desperate for love in all the wrong places? A con artist uncle? A yakuza husband? I’m an embarrassing joke. And still, my stomach twists in knots. I want Kenzo right now. I want his arms around me. His lips on my forehead.

My lips quiver. I feel so stupid for caring, but I can’t stop the emotions from pouring out.

Jay finally finds his feet, but I put up a hand, asking him to stay still. For once, Jay listens to me, and I’m relieved. I want to handle this myself.

“You’re a hypocrite,” I say to Kenzo. I grit my teeth and aim all of my rage at him. “You promised?—”

“I’m doing this to protect you, Vi,” Kenzo shouts, veins throbbing in his forehead. He lowers his voice: “I want to kill your uncle, and my family wants me to kill you, but I just?—”

Kenzo stops, dropping his head. Then he slams his fist into the concrete wall. Blood smears the gray surface.

That’s why he left me here.He wanted to protect me from his family. If he brought me with him, there’s no telling what they would have done to me. And yet, he still brought Jay to me. He saved Jay from his family.

Kenzo saved me.

A soreness lingers in my throat while tears sting my eyes. The tears keep falling, and I wrap my arms around Kenzo, begging him to hold me.

He stiffens. My heart breaks.

Kenzo saved me from his family. He values me. He chooses me. Even now, after everything we’ve been through, I know he’d never let anyone harm me.

And yet my whole life, I’ve seen Jay as my family, and he’s let other people hurt and use me. And now that we have a target on our backs, I have no idea what will happen. Will Jay still keep me safe? I’ve always seen him as family, but how can I be sure I’m truly familyto him?

Kenzo protects me, but will Jay?

Jay doesn’t deserve my protection. I know that. But how can I abandon him when he raised me? When he could have killed me with my parents, or even killed me after he got the money, but hechoseto let me live?

I’m so fucking confused, and it hurts.

“I don’t want to leave. Please,” I whisper, my lips trembling. “Please don’t make me leave.”

Jay shifts his head back and forth between the two of us and the door. I bury my nose into Kenzo’s chest, and Kenzo pats my back awkwardly, like I’m a stranger. His energy drains in a long sigh, and I’m desperate for reassurance. For the safety of his promises. I want him to tell me we’re going to be okay.

But Kenzo won’t lie.

“Then you choose,” Kenzo says. “Right here. Right now. Because my family is ordering me to kill himandyou, and I?—”

He stops again, not finishing his words. He goes to the wall and rests his forehead against it. Blood drips from his knuckles, dotting the floor in red spots.

After a minute, Kenzo faces me again. “If you want to stay with me, then you have to kill him,” he says. “Kill Jay. That’sthe only way my family will take you in. It’s how you prove your loyalty to us. Trust me, Vi. Jay doesn’t care about you.”

Jay.Not Uncle Jay.He’s just Jay now.

Jay grumbles to the side of us, inching toward the door, and Kenzo holds out a knife, offering it to me. I’ve never killed before, but I know if it weren’t for our emotional connection, Kenzo would’ve killed Jay and me by now. I’m only alive because Kenzo has been fighting for me.

And I don’t fucking deserve it, because I can’t kill Jay. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, or that Jay was using me this whole time. Hestilltook care of me when my parents died. He could have taken me into our house and killed me too, but he raised me. It doesn’t matter how we met; what matters is the result. I can’t kill someone who saved me. I owe this to him. And even if I could kill Jay, there’s no guarantee Kenzo’s family would let me live.

My hand shakes, but I don’t take that knife.

Kenzo throws the knife on the ground, then turns his back on us. “There’s a car waiting for you. The driver will take you to the airport.”

This time, Kenzo leaves the lights on. The door crashes behind him.

I fall to my knees.

CHAPTER 46

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