Page 25 of Crossed By the Stars
I couldn’t catch up with the shock.
What game were they all playing?
What must my mother think of her dear friend, Ichika, sleeping with my father? Did she even know? My mother, like my grandmother, much preferred to live in a bubble where everything dark aboutOtosan’sworld couldn’t penetrate. They liked to pretend he was an honest and respected businessman instead of the evil ruler of one of the largest crime syndicates on the planet.
My cell phone rang, and I was so dazed by the revelation that I picked it up without even looking at the name. “Hello.”
“Musume, you must accept the invitation.” Speaking in Japanese,Otosan’svoice was deep but emotionless, and yet it still sent waves of feelings through me. Pain. Anger. Hope. I hated that, even after everything he’d done, I could still long for my father’s acceptance.
“I’m confused,Otosan. Wouldn’t this bring me into your world when you’ve made it clear I’m not welcome?” I responded in Japanese.
“If there is even a small piece of you that wishes to repair the damage you’ve done to this family, you will accept Akari’s invitation,” he said.
I had no desire to fix anything I’d done except the threats to Dawson. My father seemed to know this without me having said it, and his next words reiterated it. “If you wish to remove this threat against you and to keep your friends safe, you will go.”
“Akari invited me because she felt she must do what her mother said, but I have no idea why Ichika would want me there. I’m the reason their son and brother are dead. It would dishonor them all for me to go.”
“Akari does not understand the things her mother does.”
It was like he expected me to be able to read some hidden code that I’d not been given the key for. I was baffled. How could immersing myself deeper into his world ever help? My mind and body recoiled at the thought.
“Why was Kaida driving Akari?” I asked, changing the subject rather than giving him the answer he wanted.
He sighed, impatient, as always, with both my questions and my lack of acquiescence.
“I believe she was visiting Isamu,” my father answered, which surprised me even more. How did Akari know my cousin? What could they possibly have to talk about?
“Just accept the invitation,Musume,” he said before hanging up.
I stared down at my phone for much too long and then crossed back over to my desk. The invitation laid there, a reminder of everything I didn’t want in my life. And yet, a teeny-tiny voice deep inside begged me to do what my father asked. I hated it.
I’d just put my finger under the seal when the door opened again. This time, Dax emerged with Ashton on his heels. My heart and pulse leaped in a different way. He had a suave, knowing smile on his face and was dressed in another suit jacket, but this time, he’d paired it with jeans. If he’d wanted to, Dax could have modeled for his father’s company and increased their sales just by appearing on magazine covers. The dynamic energy wafting off of him was like a cologne. Strong and heady. Joel had a long way to go before he’d bottle the essence of Dax Armaud. Joel’s Romeo scent still needed a lot of work.
“I brought lunch,” Dax said, lifting the box filled with bags in his hands.
Ashton winked behind Dax’s shoulder and mouthed “Lunch” with air quotes. Every time Dax showed up atForce de la Violette, which usually only occurred when Dawson was there, Ashton made a new bet about how long it would be before Dax and I were tangled in the sheets together. He didn’t understand how long I’d gone without ending up in Dax’s bed. The one time had been enough. The one time that had ended in a rejection I’d been saved from facing because Kaida had burst into the room, looking for me.
“What made you think my answer to lunch would be any different than the one I gave you yesterday?” I asked.
“Hence me not asking,” he said, eyebrow lifting in that deadly way of his that was accompanied by an equally deadly smile.
“How’d you make it past Nyra?” I groused.
Dax looked offended. “I’m on the approved list.”
“Who put you there?” I asked, eyes squinting.
Dax set the box of food down on the table between the brocade chairs Akari had just barely vacated.
“Even Rana knows better than to try and keep me out.”
He started to unpack the Chinese food containers, and when I hadn’t moved from my spot behind my desk, he paused and took me in.
The lazy look turned up the pace of my heart another notch. Desire fluttered through my veins just like it did every time his gaze landed on me. My eyes slipped to his lips, and even though it had been years since he’d kissed me, I could still feel his mouth strong and sure on mine. Confident and languorous. Easy to lose myself in. I hated that I couldn’t forget it just as much as I hated the tiny piece of me that still longed for my father’s approval.
“If I didn’t know better, Armaud, I’d think you were trying to seduce me,” I threw out, hoping to send him running like talk of us and anything hinting at sex usually did. To my surprise, it only made his firm lips grow into an even wider smile.
“If I was seducing you, there wouldn’t be any question about it.”
