Page 104 of Wrathful King
Her eyes flitted to Hiroshi. “I didn’t. It was supposed to just beher.”
Amon jumped to his feet, his growl animalistic. I wrapped my hands around his arm. “Don’t. We don’t need you losing your shit today too.”
My heart hammered against my chest. I really just wanted to learn the truth and then finally rest. To stop worrying about people who wanted us dead.
“Why was Itsuki there?” I asked. “At the auction.”
Hana’s shoulders slumped. “He was supposed to buy you back. Outbid anyone else and then bring you to me.” I swallowed my emotion down and exchanged a look with Amon.
“Why?” The calm expression on his face portrayed nothing. He could be a hard man to read sometimes.
“I didn’t want her tortured,” Hana whimpered. “I know what Perez Cortes does… did… to women. So Hiroshi worked out a deal with Itsuki, promising him everything if he just outbid everyone and brought you to me.”
My back stiffened. “Why didn’t he?”
Her eyes moved to Hiroshi again, then back to me. “He said you died on the boat.” A muscle clenched in Amon’s jaw but he said nothing. “You have to believe me.” Her hands were folded in her lap and her voice was a soft plea. “I knew I’d lose Amon if something happened to you, but you were part of a deal I made five years ago.”
Amon’s spine stiffened. “Fiveyearsago?”
She nodded, locking eyes with him. “Hiroshi helped me arrange a deal with the Cortes cartel, and going back on it wasn’t an option.”
“But… Amon and I weren’t together five years ago,” I said, confused.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Hana rasped, her voice shaking. “I would have pulled you out of Cortes’s clutches even if you had no connection to Amon.” Her eyes sought out her son. “Please believe me. I went too far, yes, but I would never have done this. I wouldn’t cost you, my only son, his life. Or hers.” She looked at me begrudgingly.
I didn’t like the woman, but I believed her.
“Do you have any idea what she went through?” Amon bellowed so loud I swore the house shook. “What she endured? It wasn’t your place to risk her life. Fucking ever!”
She let out a whimper. “Musuko. It was the only way to save Dante.” Five years ago. Dante. Holy fuck… Did this mean…? “Angelo broke his agreement with the Cortes cartel, and that put a target on our family. You were spared because the Yakuza had dealings with Perez Cortes. But Dante—”
“He wasn’t so lucky.” My heart shriveled in my chest.
Hana’s eyes filled with tears. It was amazing to me that a woman who could hate so passionately could also love so fiercely. I had no doubt she’d burn down this world for Amon and Dante. But her love for Papà became twisted and ugly between her hate and jealousy.
“He wasn’t,” she whispered. “So I traded the only piece of information I knew. Angelo’s illegitimate daughter’s life for Dante’s.” Amon looked baffled, the struggle on his face clear. I didn’t blame him. His mother saved Dante’s life. “Cortes has been trying to get his hands on Reina ever since then.”
Amon looked at me. He had been saving me all these years. I smiled even as tears burned behind my lids. He had been my protector since I was six. I knew for a fact I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for him.
“What about the ransom I paid?” I forgot Amon said he had to pay to get his brother back.
“It was a diversion,” she admitted. This was truly a masterful deception. I didn’t know whether she deserved a medal or to rot in hell.
“Did you or did you not marry Hiroshi?” I blinked at the sudden change of subject. Amon narrowed his eyes on Hiroshi and Hana. “You’ve been awfully quiet, Hiroshi. Is it wedded bliss? Or trying to figure out how to get out of this one?”
The plethora of information made my head spin.
“How… when…” Hana was at a loss for words, her lips opening and closing. “How did you know we got married?”
Amon ignored her question. “Who suggested it?”
“Hiroshi.” Somehow that didn’t surprise me. “Why?” Hana remained silent, staring at her son with a lost expression. “Why did he suggest it? And why did you agree when you knew the truth about the annulment?”
He needed to know how far his mother was willing to go for power. Although, as I watched this scene unfold, I had to agree with my papà. Hana would go to great lengths, but not at the cost of her son’s power. She wanted it all for him.
“You have no right telling your mother what she can and cannot do,” Hiroshi snapped, then followed it up with a mocking laugh. “It actually feels good to drop this fucking act. You and your cousin are the most annoying Takahashis to date.”
Amon sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Nobody ever asked you to be around us. You could have always left.” Hiroshi’s smile still held a note of mockery. “But you needed to get close enough to us, didn’t you? To get your hands on the document Ojisan drew up.” He turned to glare at his mother. “Or was that your doing, Mother?”
