Page 19 of Crossed By the Stars
I inclined my head in a gentle greeting that she returned.
“My grandmother’skyususwas broken. The nurse threw it out before we could send it to akintsugiartist to repair. While I want to replace it, I’m not sure I truly can. It was…sentimental.”
The woman took me in, seeing not only my designer clothes and expensive jewelry but also the bodyguard watching over me. She offered, “I have some very special ones behind the counter.”
She led me to a display behind locked glass where every teapot was exquisitely crafted and engraved with varying symbols. I didn’t want to choose one that looked too similar to the teapotOjichanhad givenObaasan, but I still wanted it to be special. A particularkyususwith a unique shape to its side handle and signs of hope drew my attention. The gold etchings on the clay were embedded as if they’d been part of the earth and sand all along.
“That one.” I pointed, and she smiled.
“My uncle made it,” she told me.
“He’s very talented.”
She nodded, and I arranged with her to wrap it and ship it to my grandmother, knowing the shopkeeper would put more care into how the present looked than I could ever do.
After thanking the woman, Rana led me out of the store with her eyes darting along the street. We’d taken a few steps toward the SUV where Nyra waited, looking broody and unapproachable, when two women nearing the store caught my attention. My heart skipped a beat as I recognized them. I was unsure what to do, but they decided for me by calling out to me.
Rana had placed herself between me and them before I could even take another breath. One hand was on her gun, the other was shoving me toward Nyra and the Cadillac. The women approaching hardly seemed worth her effort. They appeared harmless in their perfectly tailored suits with their carefully groomed black hair gleaming in the sunshine that had broken through the fog.
“Mori-san,” Ichika Matsuda greeted me, all but ignoring the fact that Rana was standing between us. Ken’Ichi’s mother gave me a bow much lower than I deserved, so low it was almost insulting. As she rose to her full height, her eyes met mine over Rana’s shoulder with a calm I hadn’t expected.
“It’s okay,” I said to my bodyguard, sending her a look that all but screamed back down and wishing I’d actually studied the list of signals she’d given me. Rana relented with a grunt, stepping to the side.
“Matsuda-san,” I said, returning her bow with merely a slight one as I had no intention of acknowledging her mocking. Then, I inclined my head to her quiet daughter, two steps behind her. “Matsuda-san.”
The last time I’d seen Akari Matsuda was the day her brother had shot me, and like some Pavlovian bell ringing, it triggered memories and emotions I didn’t want. The fear that had pervaded me that stormy night returned with every nerve ending going on high alert and my heartbeat becoming unsteady.
Locked in the safe room with Ken’Ichi, I’d been terrified he’d shoot Violet just to spite me, to get even with me for betraying him, my father, and theKyodaina. My body filled with the same fiery pain I’d felt when the bullet had seared through me while fighting with him over the gun. My hand traveled, involuntarily, to the scar on my stomach, and my ears echoed with Violet’s and Dawson’s urgent cries for me to stay with them.
My palms turned sweaty as I saw, once again, the rain mixing with my blood as the EMTs wheeled me out to the ambulance. The black spots that had caused me to lose consciousness that day littered my eyes. I inhaled deeply, trying to rid myself of the memories before I gave away my panic to the women in front of me.
A flicker of almost pity crossed Ichika’s face, and that did the trick of jerking me back to reality. I didn’t want or need her sympathy.
Rana had somehow sensed my discomfort, and she shifted closer, ready to grab me and run if needed. But the threat wasn’t on the street in front of us. It was dead and buried with Ken’Ichi…or at least I had thought it was.
Ichika looked from me to the building behind me. “I see you’ve found our favorite tea shop. Akari-tan is hosting achakaifor some dear friends in a few days. She is a tea ceremony master now.”
Ken’Ichi’s sister blushed. If it was because she was embarrassed by the nickname or the fact that her mother was bragging about her, I wasn’t sure. What I did know was that mastering thechakairequired years of practice and experience.
“You must come,” Ichika said before I could respond. She had asmile Icouldn’t read, and the invitation hanging between us raised the hair on the back of my neck. As the wife of my father’s West Coast boss, she was very aware that I waspersona non grataat any activity where members of theKyodainaor their relatives would be. Even further, as the mother of the son I’d essentially been responsible for killing, I couldn’t imagine her wanting to be in the same room with me, let alone invite me to a ceremony that honored its guests as if they were royalty.
Ichika seemed to sense my hesitancy and added on, “I think you would enjoy the group of women we’re gathering. I think you might find some kindred spirits there.”
Akari was looking down at the ground, her face still flushed, but I thought I read anger or frustration there. Maybe disappointment. She was unhappy her mother had invited me.
I inclined my head. “Thank you, but I am not sure it would be wise.”
Ichika waved her hand. “Don’t be as silly as the men in our lives. Shall we send the invitation to theForce de la Violetteoffices?”
My spine tingled again, something my subconscious was trying to tell me.
“Kaasan, do not insist,” Akari said with a hand to her mother’s arm.
Her mother shot her a look, and Akari looked down at the cement again. Subservient. Obedient. Everything I was not. I’d long since given up trying to get approval from my father by being quiet. As much as I hated what I’d seen…hated what I’d done to myself because of it, I wasrelieved Ihadn’t ended up like Akari. Thoughts of living her life only filled me with another round of panic.
I needed to leave. Get away from them and the life that could have been mine.
“It was nice to see you, but I’m due at the office for a meeting. Please take care,” I said, inclining my head again. Both women mirrored it, but I felt their eyes on me as I climbed into the car with Rana and Nyra shielding me once more.
