Page 99 of Cunning Lies
Why am I so desperate for love in all the wrong places? A con artist uncle? A yakuza husband? I’m an embarrassing joke.
And still, my stomach twists in knots. I want Kenzo right now. I want his arms around me. His lips on my forehead.
My lips quiver. I feel so stupid for caring, but I can’t stop the emotions from pouring out.
Jay finally finds his feet, but I put up a hand, asking him to stay still. For once, Jay listens to me, and I’m relieved.
I want to handle this myself.
“You’re a hypocrite,” I say, gritting my teeth, aiming my rage at Kenzo. “You promised—”
“I’m doing this to protect you, Vi,” Kenzo shouts, veins throbbing in his forehead. He lowers his voice: “I want to kill your uncle, and my family wants me to kill you, but I just—”
He stops, dropping his head. Then he slams his fist into the concrete wall. The punch is dull, but blood smears the gray surface.
That’s why he left me here.He wanted to protect me from his family. If he brought me with him, there’s no telling what they would have done to me. And yet, he still brought Jay to me. He saved Jay from them.
And Kenzo saved me.
A soreness lingers in my throat, tears stinging my eyes. They keep falling, and I wrap my arms around Kenzo, begging him to hold me. He stiffens. My heart breaks.
“I don’t want to leave. Please,” I whisper, my lips trembling. “Please don’t make me leave.”
The machine next door grumbles to a stop, and Jay shifts his head back and forth between the two of us and the door. I bury my nose into Kenzo’s chest, and Kenzo pats my head awkwardly, like I’m a stranger.
His energy drains in a long sigh, and I’m desperate for reassurance. For the safety of his promises. I want him to tell me that we’re going to be okay.
But Kenzo won’t lie.
“Then you choose,” Kenzo says. “Right here. Right now. Because my family is ordering me to kill youandhim and I—” he stops again, not finishing his words. He rests his forehead against the wall. Blood drips from his knuckles, dotting the floor in red dots.
Kenzo faces me again. “If you want to stay, then you have to kill him,” he says. “Kill Jay. That’s the only way my family will take you in. It’s how you prove your loyalty to us. Trust me, Vi. Jay doesn’t care about you.”
Jay.Uncle Jay.
Jay grumbles to the side of us, inching toward the door, and Kenzo holds out a knife. I’ve never killed before, but I know that if it weren’t for our emotional connection, Kenzo would’ve killed me and Jay by now. I’m only alive because Kenzo has been fighting for me.
And I don’t fucking deserve it, because I can’t kill Jay. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, or that Jay was a shitty uncle, or that he was using me this whole time. Hestilltook care of me. Looked after me when my parents died. He could have taken me into our house and killed me too. But he raised me. It doesn’t matter how we met; what matters is the result. And I can’t kill my only family. Especially not when Kenzo is telling me that he’s going to leave me too.
My hand shakes, but I don’t pick up that knife. I can’t.
Kenzo throws the knife on the ground, then turns his back on us. “There’s a car waiting for you. The driver will take you to the airport.”
This time, Kenzo leaves the lights on. The door crashes behind him, and I fall to my knees.
CHAPTER32
VI
For once,Jay is quiet on the car ride to the airport. Usually, he rambles so much I can barely think, but this time, the silence eats away at my brain. It almost proves that everything Kenzo said is true. Like Jay knows he should feel guilty, but he doesn’t. He’s not even denying it anymore.
Breaking the silence, needingsomethingto fill it up, I ask Jay, “Are you okay?”
“Don’t you worry about me, sweetheart. You know I always fix things,” Jay says as he rubs his raw wrists.
Bile burns the back of my throat.Sweetheart.I never like when he calls me that, but I always accepted it, because after my parents died, having a nickname made me feel safe. Now, I know it was just a trick to make me believe his lies.
Jay scrutinizes my healthy body. My neck is still faintly green from Kenzo’s hands and ropes, but I doubt Jay can see that. On the other hand, Jay is so bruised, he’s almost unrecognizable. One of his eyes is completely shut, his face is a deep purple, and there’s a good chance he has a concussion. Still, he gives me that shit-eating grin with his bloody lips. Seeing him like thisusuallymakes me sick.
