Page 109 of Cunning Lies
Dice stiffens to the side of us. Then I recognize the stripper; her hair is dyed different than before, but by the way Dice acts, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’sher,his crush.His Lily.Lily’s eyes subtly twitch like Dice’s gaze is burning her skin, but Dice keeps staring. He doesn’t say a word.
“Ah, we were just messing around,” I say, dismissing her as gently as I can. “You know though, my brother may be interested.”
Lily quickly glances at Dice. “Hi,” she says.
Dice’s eyes fixate on a random point on the wall behind her. His lips are sealed shut.
Lily’s nostrils flare. “All right.” She forces a smile at us. “I’ll come check on you later.”
As she leaves, Vi’s jaw hangs open. “Oh my god. She smelled like a snow cone,” she says.
I smack my lips. “Oh, you like her then, huh?”
“I almost smacked you for not saying ‘yes,’” Vi says. “I want her hair. And why can’t we let her watch us? Don’t tease me—”
“No,” Dice says loudly, cutting Vi off. All of us—Vi, Niko, Cherry, even Tomo, Ronin, and the rest of the soldiers—turn toward him. The muscles in his neck are rigid and bleak, a vein throbbing in his neck. “You will not dance with Lily.”
I lift my hands in defense. “All right, brother,” I say, nodding at him. Finally, Dice relaxes into his seat. “Goddamn,” I mutter. The man has watched Lily for a long time, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s never said a word to her. It’s insane, yet he still stops by here every shift to see if she’s working. He’s fucking obsessed.
“What was that about?” Vi whispers. “Does he want to murder her?”
She’s joking, but I get why she’d make that joke. Dice isn’t exactly the talkativeorfriendly type. Those seven words he said to Vi just now make up about half of the words he’s spoken to her since the wedding.
“That’s just Dice,” I say. Dice is a cold, heartless killer, but he’s obsessed. You don’t get in between a man and his obsession. I know that now.
“She dances for Harry Hayes,” Niko says, rubbing his thumb over the edge of his glass. He shoots back the rest of his whisky, then glares in Dice’s direction. “You need to look into that.”
Dice doesn’t acknowledge Niko; instead, he continues to watch Lily. Interesting—Lily dances for the director of the Golden Honor Firearms, Mr. Harry. She may know a few things we’d like to know. We haven’t gotten them to move forward with the contract; they’re stalling, but no matter how much booze and strippers and gambling perks we throw their way, we can’t seem to figure out how to get that final signature.
It probably has to do with the Ito-gumi. Like Tomo said, if this is a yakuza war, it’s a war on business fronts first, before we turn to violence.
But the deal hasn’t fallen through yet.
A few songs pass and we throw money at the stage—hundreds flying up at those half-naked goddesses—but I always let Vi lead the way. She gets to pick who we tip. And because we’re a generous bunch of gangsters, I make sure our members tip the other strippers soeveryonegets paid.
I’m grateful that Vi was open-minded about celebrating here; Tomo may have been disappointed otherwise. Tomo and Gracie wave at us as they follow a stripper into the VIP room. It’s their favorite spot to drink outside of the Samurai Castle, and who am I to judge?
But right now, all I want is Vi. If Tomo is preoccupied, that’s our cue to leave.
“Let’s get out of here,” I whisper in Vi’s ear.
“Already?” she asks.
I pull her hand and we sneak out the exit. “Trust me.”
“Are you going to take me to the desert again?” she asks, and I smile like a jackass. I love how flexible she is; she indulges my weird habits, even if it is fucking her out in the open. Most recently, we went to the desert and I tied her up in this old shack, pretending like she was my damsel in distress. She loved it.
But there’s nothing in distress about her right now, and I love that about her.
“Nah. Something else. A lot more pathetic, actually,” I say. I run my fingers through my thick hair, then close her car door. I slip into the driver’s seat.
“Pathetic?” Vi asks as she buckles her seatbelt. “That’s a strong word.”
“You’ll see.”
We drive back to the Samurai Castle, and I make a call on the way there, telling one of our staff to get the rooftop ready. We take the elevator up to the top floor, then the stairs to the roof, and I can’t keep my hands off of her. Her wrists. Her plush hips. Her bare neck. I want hernow,but I have to wait and give her this gift.
When we reach the door to the rooftop, I stand in front of it, blocking her way.
