Page 13 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy

No surprise, the movies got it wrong.

She shivered, not because she was cold. No, she shivered because she could finally see through the bruises and place who sat in the chair on the other side of the wall. Kiyoshi Yamamoto. Her boss’ son. Kiyoshi came into the shop occasionally. He’d meet with Mr. Yamamoto behind closed doors for a couple of hours every few days, then left. Kiyoshi had always been respectful to her, even kind. He even flirted with her a time or two. The man had a secret passion for rare and exotic flowers. They often spoke about the different roses Kiyoshi grew in his spare time. Most times, when he visited, he would bring her the most beautiful bouquets of long-stem rose in the most breathtaking of colors. Not to mention the trinkets he brought for Fawn as well.

Seeing him at the base, and not some nobody, did funny things to her stomach and her heart. Why did he come after her family? What happened that she didn’t know about? Had he used her? Had his father?

“You okay?” Jake’s gruff voice had her jerking out of her thoughts.

“Yea,” she whispered. Jake could always read her like a book, so she needed to throw him off and lie. “This—” she gestured to the wall— “wasn’t what I expected.”

“It rarely is. He can’t see you,” Jake assured her. “Asher is going to ask him a series of questions. If you think or want to know something specific, let me know, and I’ll relay it to him through our comms.”

She nodded, wondering how many more hits her mind and body could withstand before she completely shut down. Right now, only two things were keeping her going. Fawn and Declan. The last couple of days, Ginger had been sure, seeing this man, hearing this interrogation would give her the answers she needed. Instead, she only had more questions and even more concerns.

Jake walked over to stand beside Asher, and she struggled to focus and pay attention. The Kiyoshi she knew from the shop, and this man was not the same. The man in the chair was cold, calculating. Nothing like the man she knew. His brown eyes were emotionless. They were eyes of a killer who chuckled and refused to answer a single question. If he could see her, would that sweet man she thought she knew return?

No. Gut deep, she realized this was the real Kiyoshi, which begged the question, who did she really work for?

Ginger knew she should get Jake’s attention, to tell him what she knew about the man and how. The only reason she hadn’t was because she didn’t want to place her sweet boss, Mr. Yamamoto’s, in R.O.O. T’s crosshairs. Plus, the fact she could, but couldn’t reconcile the man sitting before her.This has to be a mistake, right?There was no way her boss had any involvement in what went down at her home. First, Mr. Yamamoto was a sweet old man. Second, he’d been good to her and her children from the moment he hired her. For Christ’s sake, Fawn calls Mr. YamamotoJiji. A shortened name for grandfather in Japanese.

Her mind raced.

Oscar had fooled her. Had Mr. Yamamoto done the same. If she lost another integrated part of her life, she’d scream. As it was, she had a raging headache from clenching her teeth and her wayward thoughts. It wasn’t helping that Jake kept watching her. She’d noticed him glancing her way every couple of minutes, checking to make sure she was okay.

Truth be told, she was barely paying attention. Thank goodness there wouldn’t be a test later on integrations procedures by black ops badasses. She’d fail it.

It didn’t matter. Kiyoshi wasn’t saying much. He kept stalling them, responding in Japanese. Ironically, in all the time she’d known the family, she’d never heard Kiyoshi speak anything but English. She had just assumed his father had never taught him or they were being courteous to her. And unless Asher could speak Japanese, which wouldn’t surprise her if he could, this exercise was pointless.

“Fuck this,” Jake growled out. He’d always been a wordsmith, cursing like a sailor and having the otherworldly ability to use fuck as a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. It was impressive. “Get an interpreter down here immediately.”

The young man at the desk picked up the phone, mumbled into it, nodded, and then hung up. “We’ll have a person here in ten.”

Ginger took that as her cue to leave. She’d been there long enough, and her breasts were sore. Telling her Declan would be hungry soon. She got up from the seat Jake had dumped her in and walked over to where the guys were standing.

Neither were talking, both were glaring at Kiyoshi through the glass, almost like they were willing him to speak. “Jake?” She placed her hand on his forearm. “I need to get back to the kids. Declan will be hungry soon.”

His gaze flickered to her full breast and flared with desire. He sighed, closed his eyes and when he opened them again, all emotion had been wiped away. The dead stare was familiar and pissed her off. He’d done that often during their marriage.

“I’ll walk you back to your room.” Jake paused and turned toward Asher, perhaps remembering he was now back working with Asher. “That’s if you don’t have any issue with it.”

Asher smirked. “None. Just make sure you come back as soon as you drop her off,” he warned, eyeing them both up.

Jake snorted. “Let’s go.”

Arrogant ass.

It hadn’t been that hard to get here. It was a freaking elevator ride. “I can find my way.”

“Unauthorized personnel require R.O.O.T. staff to accompany them,” Asher deadpanned.

“Whatever,” she muttered before turning to head for the elevator. When she arrived, she pushed the call button so hard, her finger jammed.

By the time the doors opened, Jake had joined her, stepping in and leaning over to swipe his card and press the button. He eyed her warily.Smart man. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, Jake,” she said.

He chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” she snapped, narrowing her eyes.

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