Page 84 of Cunning Lies
A sour taste lingers on my tongue. Kenzo and Uncle Jay are the same. It doesn’t matter if someone lives or dies, as long as they finish their business.
Business as usual. Nothing changes. Life goes on.
We still die.
CHAPTER26
KENZO
A few dayspass like that. My office is locked—only the higher ups in the Endo-kai have access to my penthouse and the office—but that’s not why I’m on edge. The Endo-kai is ready to ‘take care’ of her, and I’m not going to let it happen. If anyone handles her, it’ll be me.
That’smyduty.My wife.
So I take her to work. Vi leans on the passenger door of my car. In black pants and a nice blouse, she’s playing the part of a good girl ready for her husband’s work. Burnt sugar invades my nostrils, and I scoff, then open the car window. If I can’t smell her, maybe I won’t be fooled by her lies. But damn it, even past the wet cement and exhaust outside, that burnt sugar perfume breaks through.
Perhaps my mistake wasn’t believing in her lies; it was thinking that she was part of the family just because I put a ring on her finger.
I know better now.
My phone buzzes, and I glance at it before focusing back on the road. Tomo must be riding Niko’s ass, or he wouldn’t be texting me so much.
Niko texts:Take care of her.Four words that make my skin crawl.
I’ll take care of her, all right.
Shimmering yellow walls of a warehouse come into view.Gold Cine HQshines in big letters above the doors. Gold Cine is a movie theater company, and with the way the world has shifted, there’s a lot less of a need for traditional theaters. It’s the exact kind of target we like to extort—the desperate kind, especially when they’re trying to cover up certain secrets, like an executive who harassed the interns and paid them to stay quiet.
We park near the front entrance, and a valet opens Vi’s car door. I toss him my keys.
“You’re taking me to work?” Vi asks.
It’s the first words she’s spoken to me since we left the penthouse. All I do is nod. It was that, or leave her at home, and with Niko’s incessant pestering, I can’t chance leaving her there. I know Niko, and when he doesn’t like the way business is run, he deals with it in his own way.
Niko’s next text comes in:Take fucking care of it, or I will.
Point proven.It.My wife is an ‘it’ now. Still, she’s not his problem to deal with. If Vi has to pay, then it’s going to bemewho makes sure her debt is fulfilled.
We ride the elevators in silence, but on the second floor, some of the other stockholders join us. I make small talk, keeping Vi behind my back and out of the way. Her posture changes behind me, almost like she’s shrinking inside of herself. I want her to feel small and insignificant, like she’s here because shehasto be, not because I want her here. Not because I can’t stand the thought of leaving her alone. Not because I want to protect her.
Because this isn’t about protecting her.
And yet, she’s here. Hiding behind me.
God fucking damn it.
The crowd of businessmen go to the meeting. I gesture to a set of chairs posted along the wall outside of the conference room. There’s a glass wall between the meeting and these chairs, so it’ll give me the perfect view of Vi.
“Sit here,” I say.
She does as she’s told without saying a word. She’s been doing that a lot lately. The sassy quips are gone, replaced by obedience, and it makes me wonder if she’s got something planned. But I don’t dwell on it. Even if she’s rethinking her decisions, it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done, and sooner or later, I’m going to have to take care of it.
Her.
I take my seat inside, using my charm to get these assholes to laugh, and the stockholder meeting begins. Vi twists her fingers in her lap. Her bright red hair gleams like a demonic halo over her head, and those blue eyes twinkle.They fucking twinkle.Like she’s scared of me. No—like shewantsme. Like I’m some kind of tragic monster. My head spins.
Why does she have to be so beautiful?
The conversation drags on, and usually, I’d be making subtle, yet suggestive comments about the past to make the leaders upfront uncomfortable, but my mind is elsewhere. I can’t stop staring at Vi fidgeting in the lobby.
