Soon, Katie and Mr. Harry are out of earshot, and Lily and James disappear into the VIP room. Once they’re gone, Niko grabs my shoulder.
“What was that?” Niko growls. “Have you lost your mind?”
“He abducted Piper,” I say gruffly.
“Who the hell is Piper?” he asks. As he figures it out, he stiffens. “That’s Lily’s housemate, isn’t it?”
“What’s up with you and Lily, anyway?” Vi asks.
Kenzo squeezes his wife’s shoulders. “Let Dice do his thing,” he says. “He’ll tell us what’s going on when he’s ready.”
“When?” Vi asks. “He never talks about anything. You know that.”
“You mean he doesn’t talk toyou,” Cherry teases Vi.
“Enough,” Tomo says, raising his voice and waving a dismissive hand in front of Niko. “We’ve never stopped Dice from protecting Lily before. Why would we stop now?”
My blood cools at those words, though my arms are rigid. To my yakuza family, I’ve been protecting Lily this whole time. It’s pitiful. How can I be an enforcer when I’m letting my obsession with Lily get in the way of our business negotiations?
“This isn’t about Lily though, is it? It’s about her housemate,” Niko snarls. He glares at me. “You’re going to let his dick ruin our entire operation? It’s a crush, oyaji, and we’re atwar.We don’t have time for his—”
“My relationship with Lily willnotinterfere with the yakuza business,” I say bluntly.
Everyone looks at me. I bare my teeth, covering up the sinking sensation in my chest. My own words startle me.
My relationship.
With Lily.
I simultaneously declared that I would put the Endo-kai first, while also exposing how far Lily and I have come.
Lily isn’t a crush anymore. She’s more than that.
Niko shakes his head in disbelief. “Do whatever you think is necessary,” he says, his black and blue eyes searing into me. “But don’t let her or her housemate get in the way. Not after everything the Endo-kai has done for you.”
As much as I hate it, I agree with Niko. Tomo freed me from that box and showed me how to use my inner strength to control my actions.
I can’t let my attachment to Lily get in the way of my loyalty to the Endo-kai.
CHAPTER8
DICE
seven years old
I can only choose one:to hear or to see. I can’t do both. The hole is too small, and the box is narrow. So I choose to see. To see if they hurt Mother again.
If they see you, they won’t pay me,she had said.Trust me, sweet boy. It’s safer inside the box.
The hole is about the size of a ping-pong ball, and I let my eye adjust to the light. I don’t like watching her when she’s working; I justneedto watch. If Mother has to go through something like this, then I need to see it. I need to know what she goes through so that I can be a good son when it’s over. I can give her a hug. I can take care of her. Maybe then, I’ll be her favorite again.
The client rubs Mother’s neck. He pulls her bra strap off of her shoulder.
I flinch away. My head accidentally knocks into the wood. A dull pain throbs in my temple.
I’m supposed to be quiet.
I’m in trouble again.
