Page 19 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy

“It’s not possible,” Jake muttered. “You went on birth control while we were together. I never used condoms. Your pussy was mine and with you on the pill...” His dick twitched at her shocked gasp. “I didn’t worry about you getting knocked up. Never happened either.”

Rage sizzled in his blood, mixing with the embers of the arousal Jake still had for his wife. Oscar got her pregnant on purpose. The how’s or why’s of the situation he wasn’t sure about yet. But, he had a feeling the fucker got wind of her wanting a divorce and became desperate to keep her around because he knew if she walked out, there went his case.Fuck.

Later, once Ginger was in bed or perhaps in the coming days, he’d have a conversation with Rae to find out how it happened—how Ginger got pregnant. Until then, he had his theories, none of which he wanted to talk about.

“You did nothing wrong,” Jake said. “In fact, with as well as Fawn is doing, you having another child seems right. We’re past all of Fawn’s surgeries, and we’re past finding adaptive technologies. We have appointments every six months now, not every three weeks. It’s not a tremendous deal.”

“Aren’t you mad, though?” She stared up at him. “I went back on my word to you.”

“To put it bluntly, Ginger,” he said, “you don’t owe me a damn thing. I broke every promise we made the minute I pushed you away. You also thought you found a person to be happy with for the rest of your life. My wants and needs aren’t relevant anymore. You having more kids was never my decision to make for you.”

She frowned. “I don’t know...”

“I get it,” he murmured. “Your life is FUBAR right now and your husband betrayed you. Your job betrayed you. For fuck’s sakes, you’re now staying in the same facility as your ex-husband. If I were you, I’d be a raving, fucking lunatic. The fact you’re not... You’re incredible, Ginger.”

She blushed, dipping her chin. “I am so angry, Jake. I saw the warning signs, and I was trying to get us out. Now, I’ve traumatized our daughter. Probably scared her for life.”

“Nah, give her more credit than you are,” Jake said. “She’s probably scared but proud of you, too. You know, the base has a psychologist for kids and adults now, according to the updated information I received from Rae. If you’re that worried, take Fawn to see him. Heck, both of you go see him. I bet you could use the support right now.”

“Where was this Jake O’Malley five years ago, hell seven years ago?” She stared at him, tears brimming in her eyes. “Where was this man when I needed him most?”

“Stuck with my head firmly up my ass, feeling sorry for myself because I didn’t think I would ever be good enough or secure enough for you or Fawn.” He gathered her in his arms and pulled Ginger in for a hug. “I’m so sorry, Gingersnap. I fucking hate myself for abandoning you like I did. Forgive me, please.”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” she murmured. “You saved our lives, Jake. That’s more than enough.”

God dammit, he wished he could tell her he still loved her so much. He wished he could take away the shallow glint in her eyes. Most of all, he wished he could erase the last seven years and go back to the happy family they could have been. Not this broken, battered version. He pulled back and gave her a small smile. “You should also thank Wyatt. He saved all of us that day.”

“You’re absolutely right,” she agreed. “When we get a chance, I will.”

Chapter 5

Jake ambled into the interrogation room. Asher, Noah, and Drew were already inside. The strategy for today was to break Kiyoshi Yamamoto. As much as Ginger didn’t believe the man would hurt her, he had. He scared Jake’s ex-wife and the kids. All of them would need therapy just to lessen the shadows in their eyes. But that wasn’t here or there. At the moment, they had bigger fish to fry.

Namely, Kiyoshi Yamamoto and Itsuki Itadori.

Of all the men at the base, Jake trusted Drew. He was like a chameleon. He slipped in and out of situations without people being the wiser and could speak so many languages, he could change the power dynamic in a conversation in an instant. For them, Drew was their secret weapon. Jake only hoped Kiyoshi cooperated once he realized they had someone who could speak fluent Japanese.

“You know what you’re about to do?” Asher said, glancing at Jake. “Start out in English and when he pulls the Japanese card, hit him hard. We need to find out what the Yamamoto Syndicate knew about Oscar and why they went after him at Ginger’s house.”

Drew grunted. “Roger that.” He exited the room, closing the door behind him. A few seconds later, he entered the small interrogation space where Kiyoshi sat. Drew gave the man a once over before grabbing a chair. As many times as Jake had seen his teammate in action, it never got old. His affability afforded him the ability to look non-threatening and, of course, clueless to anyone who might not speak English.

“So, you’re Kiyoshi Yamamoto,” Drew drawled. “I was expecting someone more...” he scrubbed his chin, “intimidating.”

Kiyoshi kept his head bent. His eyes focused on the floor. Drew’s quip wasn’t meant to get the man to react. Heck, Jake figured it would take a hell of a lot more to rile the guy up. While Drew read over the file they gave him, he drank his coffee, totally unconcerned about the man beside him. Jake saw the move as more of an irritating factor, meant to break a person, get them curious, or sometimes, break and try to lash out. Either would work in their situation. As it was, even after what Ginger told him last night, they still didn’t have enough answers.

“Says here, your father owns a tailor shop,” Drew stated. “Psycho, shit-so suitsu.”

Jake smothered a laugh as Drew butchered the hell out of the name, knowing full well Drew would be the first one to say it correctly. “Shit, Asher.”

His commander smirked. “I mean... Phonetically, that’s how it sounds, kind of.” He shrugged and motioned to the room. “But it did the job, Kiyoshi looked at Drew.”

So he had. The man turned his head slightly, cutting his gaze at Drew. Thrashing the name of his father’s business stung. Had to have. From everything Ginger told him, Mr. Yamamoto was a kind man. Didn’t negate all the shit he did in the dark, but he also treated Jake’s ex-wife and kids better than he had. Defiling the father’s business was an easy way to get what they wanted out of Kiyoshi.

“Looks like you’ve been here for twenty-two years.” Drew took another sip of his coffee. “Wonder if you’re legal? What do you think the Japanese government would do if they found out you were here illegally? What about your father?”

Kiyoshi stiffened.

The intelligence they gathered on a somewhat limited search so not to alert anyone showed Kiyoshi had been born at the US base on Okinawa Island. His mother was a US citizen stationed at Camp Foster as a US Naval nurse. From there she returned home with her family to Virginia, where she finished out her military career stationed at Dam Neck. Unfortunately, she passed away ten years after returning home. Metastasized breast cancer had spread from her breasts to her lymph nodes to her spine and eventually her brain.

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