He holds out his hand. This time, I don’t hesitate at all. I shake it, sealing our agreement.
I tried asking Mr. Harry for the truth. I tried asking the police to find my friend. Maybe trusting a yakuza gangster is all I can do right now.
It’s strange: I know I can trust Dice.
CHAPTER7
DICE
The next eveningat the Gilded Stage, the air stinks of cigarettes, alcohol, and vanilla perfume. The key Endo-kai members are present tonight: Tomo, Niko, Ronin, Cherry, Kenzo, and Kenzo’s wife, Vi. Ronin sits in the corner of the booth, adding to the stench of tobacco. Cherry lounges with crossed arms, her red leather jacket snug over her biceps, while Kenzo tucks his wife closer into his side. Kenzo is adopted like me, while the others—Niko, Ronin, and Cherry—share Tomo’s blood.
Mr. Harry opens a case of cigars, offering one to his younger brother, James. The brother has the same facial structure as Mr. Harry, although he looks a decade younger and dyes his hair brown.
Next, Mr. Harry offers a cigar to our oyabun. Tomo gladly takes it. Mr. Harry clips his cigar.
“You drinking whisky again, Tomo-san?” Mr. Harry asks.
Tomo nods. “You know it.”
“What about you?” Mr. Harry asks James.
“Whisky all around!” James hollers.
As they talk, I keep my ears open for whispers of missing women. In the past, I forced myself to see Mr. Harry as insignificant. If he wasn’t willing to break rules inside of the strip club, then it was unlikely that he would hurt Lily outside of it.
Now, I’m on high alert. If he kidnapped Lily’s friend, then there’s something strange going on right now.
How could I have missed it?
“What do you have for me now?” Mr. Harry asks.
“We’re willing to double our original offer,” Niko says, taking over negotiations. His eyes shimmer with ferocity, and I straighten my back, knowing that once Niko gets involved, wewillget what we want. “The Ito-gumi may be offering your boss an arranged marriage, but you can’t ignore a business deal like this.”
“Who said anything about the Ito-gumi?” Mr. Harry smirks.
“Cut the shit. We know it’s the Ito-gumi,” Kenzo says.
“You can choose to work with us, or you can choosenotto,” Niko continues, ice penetrating each word. “Either way, the Ito-gumi won’t be around for much longer. We’ll make sure of that.”
For a few seconds, no one says anything.
Then Mr. Harry lifts his nose, eyeing James.
“They’re talking about a mafia war,” James shrugs. “Do you want to get in the way of that?”
Mr. Harry mulls over the prospects, then turns back to Niko. “Doubling the offer is a good deal,” he says. “I can get the owner to agree to that. You’re eliminating the Ito-gumi?”
“They sent a spy to expose our secrets,” Tomo says, subtly bowing his head toward Vi. She blushes, and Kenzo kisses the top of her head.
“Let’s meet at my place to sign the contracts soon,” Mr. Harry says. “We’ll have to negotiate the endgame of this war. The owner will likely want the Ito-gumi daughter alive.”
Ronin stiffens. Though he’s never spoken about it, I know he feels something for Ito Akio’s youngest daughter, Mitsu. He grew up protecting her.
“We can discuss the details at the contract signing,” Tomo says. “I’m sure we can find a suitable arrangement for both of us, even if the young daughter is kept alive.”
As soon as those words come out of his mouth, two strippers with linked arms bounce up the stairs to the bottle service booth. A stripper I don’t recognize and Lily. That cotton candy scent wafts in the air, and my spine tingles with thoughts of her orange hair tangled in my palm. Blood rushes to my groin as she angles in my direction.
We never make eye contact directly. We have to pretend like we don’t know each other. It’s the only way to keep Lily safe.
