Page 21 of Pragma
I give her a bow, not trusting myself to say something she’ll make me regret. I’m a devil-may-care hot-headed motherfucker, but I’ll never disrespect mykumicho, nor the woman who took me under her wing and gave me this life.
“Keep up the…good work,gaijin.” Her parting words are addressed at River.
As the doors close behind her, I drop on the sofa, head back on the headrest, eyes closed.
“Antagonizing her isn’t the best move.”
“Oh, he speaks!” I state sarcastically, glowering at the ceiling. “Is yourgiriso strong as to keep your mouth shut when it should move?” I fill every word with contempt. “Do you still feel like you owe her any kind of debt after all you’ve done and still do? Is this personal sacrifice of yours going to stop anytime soon?”
“Giriis not the word I’d choose.” His voice is emotionless.
“So what’s the right fucking word, River?” I push my head up to send him a blazing glare.
Those piercing, blue pools are staring back without even a shadow in them. “On,” he simply utters, taking my breath away.
The Japanese wordonstill expresses a feeling to be indebted to someone, but contrary togiri,it doesn’t involve a sense of obligation, but of gratitude and a heartening desire to return. And the way he looks at me is so genuine, unfeigned, that I know hisonis toward me. Not her.
Fucking River. Is that all he feels for me? A desire to give back? He has done that over and over again during the past years. How many more times does he need?
There’s another sudden knock on the door just before Trevor’s blond-dyed and gelled head peeks inside the office. “Boss, you need to sign the contract with Agil Tech regarding the old factory in Brooklyn today.” He points at the file on top of my desk. He wears rings on every finger.
“Also, the zoning board manager accepted the…gift and gave you the approval over the land use in Queens. While the guy from the environmental agency needs, and I quote, ‘a more convincing one.’”
Greedy asshole. When did bribery become so hard? “Send a couple of men to his home. Let’s see how convincing he finds that.”
“I can go with Masa, tenderize him for you,” Trevor says, taking a step inside the office. “That fucker thinks he’s the shit. I’d be happy to give him a reality check.” He cracks his knuckles.
“Not during work hours.”
“Soma needs some action,” River says, still standing there so fucking delicious and dutiful. I want to scratch his face and lick off every drop of blood he sheds.
I keep looking at Trevor as I nod. I’m still so fucking annoyed at River. He can take a knife for me, but he can’t express his disagreement with my aunt? Always fucking following orders blindly. IfKumichoorders him to suck my dick, will he do it? Damn, but my dick likes that, even though there’s zero chance for it to happen.
“Also, we had a small problem with one of the warehouses.”
“What?” I ask.
“It was vandalized. Three men in ski masks. They threw rocks at the windows during the night and released mice inside. It will take pest control a day or two to take care of it,” Trevor explains. I feel River’s eyes making a hole in my head.
Mice…Fuckchill retaliated fast. Fucking hell, he has no imagination. “Fix the windows today. Yuna and Karin?” I ask Trevor before he leaves.
“They are in your…fortress of doom.”
Oh, I need some of that right about now.
I go to the desk, and after reading the paper inside the file, I sign it. Then I move to the door without glancing River’s way even once, and of course he just follows me.
All I hear is silence on his part. Crickets. The way he always has the capacity of scolding me while remaining quiet rubs me the wrong way. It’s like arguing with a damn wall.
I turn left into a dim corridor and pass two empty rooms before stopping on the threshold of the fortress of doom, the room filled with all my baneful thoughts. Black walls, two bulbs hanging from the ceiling, one illuminating a cheap plastic table where my crew is playingshoji. The other is on the opposite side over my red velvet and black leather throne of doom, which I use when I’m entertaining murderous intentions. The room is stripped to the bare essentials, but the view of the East River and Long Island is why my crew hangs in here—and the mini fridge.
“Want my knife skewing your tiny balls, Masa?” Yuna emphasizes the threat by crashing the golden can of Yebisu beer in her hand.
“I’m not cheating.”
Soma snorts at his words.
“Just say you want me naked, and I’ll oblige you. Karin can watch!” Masa winks at Karin, who’s on Yuna’s lap. He is at it again. He’s one of my aunt’s men, that’s why I’ve been screwingwith him. I hate to know thatKumichothinks I need oversight, but I have to confess, he’s growing on me. He’s different from the rest of the men in black. For starters, he talks.
