Page 27 of Cunning Lies
I close my eyes and shake my head. “No.”
“All right. After he’s good and happy,that’swhen you ask to cut me in.”
A set of eyes land on us. Cherry’s brown eyes, circled with black eyeliner, are fixed on me. She adjusts the red robe on her shoulders. Her eyes narrow with suspicion, but then her eyes flicker down, seeing my balled fist and Patrick stroking my bare arm. I internally plead that she’ll come over here, but she peers around, searching for someone or something. I swallow a dry gulp. I level myself, pulling myself out of those foggy memories before they spiral out of control.
This isn’t a lesson,I tell myself.This is just—
“It’s easy, Vi. You can do it,” Patrick says. “And if you can’t pull it off, well—” he leers, “I can teach you how to do it better next time.”
Anxiety weighs down on my shoulders and I fidget nervously. I need a way out of this conversation. Cherry taps Kenzo on his shoulder, and Kenzo spins around to address her, but his eyes immediately land on me. I’m mostly hidden behind the tree, but I pray to the gambling gods that he’ll come over here soon.
Lightning fast and ready to strike, Kenzo barrels toward us. Relief flutters through my veins.
“Oh,” Patrick says. He pulls back and straightens his suit. “Here comes the groom.”
CHAPTER10
KENZO
“You’re Patrick, right?”I ask, pulling Vi’s cousin into a firm handshake. He pushes blond curls out of his face, his blue eyes rimmed with red blood vessels, like he did one too many lines of coke last night. “Mind if I call you Pat?” I scrunch his fingers between mine. He tries to squeeze back, but I’ve already got the upperhand.
“I haven’t been called that since second grade,” he says politely, faking a laugh.
“Well,Pat,I’ve been neglecting you, haven’t I? Maybe we need a little man-to-man time.”
Patrick smirks, and I grit my teeth, forcing a smile. Vi’s cheeks are red, and there’s a vein throbbing in her neck. She’s anxious as hell, but still frozen in fear.
Patrickdid that to her. But why? What is their relationship like, anyway?
“Go help yourself to another drink from the bar,” I say to Vi. “Cherry will take you.”
She starts to explain: “I—”
“Go on, now,” I interrupt.
“There’s nothing to take care of here.”
My skin tingles, surprised that she’d actually defy me. She must be protecting her cousin from me, and I admire that. It’s loyalty, even if he makes her uncomfortable. She’s putting their bond before herself.
But Cherry wouldn’t point out the two of them together unless she suspects something. Cherry is protective of others. But Vi hasn’t earned her loyalty like that, which means that this little family discussion is inmybest interest. We like to give each other shit, but Cherry would never lie to me.
“I know,” I say to Vi, gently this time. “We’re just talking. Go get a drink.”
I brush a strand of hair out of her face. Her big blue eyes soften, and she nods, believing me. She shuffles off.
Whatever her cousin said or did—he rattled her, and I don’t care for that. The only one who should have that kind of power over her isme.
“Pat,” I say to him, pulling my lips into a wide grin.
He wipes his nose like he’s itching for more blow. “Ken,” he says. No one calls me that either, but I don’t mention it.
“You know, some yakuza gangs forbid their members from using drugs. It’s kind of funny, right?Clean gangsters.Who ever heard of such a thing?” I laugh, pretending it’s a joke. Inside, I imagine the life draining from Patrick’s eyes, purple blood pooling in his cheeks as I strangle him with a rope around his neck. Patrick laughs too, scratching the back of his head, but before he opens his mouth, I continue, “To be honest, there’s not a lot that we keep from our predecessors in Japan. Here in the States, we do our own thing.” I put an arm around him, and he stiffens, but like an obedient little bitch, he bobs his head. “Have you tried our Shabu Eight yet?”
“About that—”
“Good shit, right?” I say. Patrick opens his mouth, but I cut him off again. “What am I talking about? I know it’s good. Hell, I don’t follow that no-drugs rule myself. Dice might. But not me.”
I laugh, a cold, hard belly laugh, and Patrick chuckles too. “You think I can—”
