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It washisfault she was this way in the first place. Constantly picking at her, berating her, telling her she wasn’t good enough.
She’d come all this way to get away from him when he wouldn’t take no for an answer; when he tried to railroad her into a marriage she’d long decided she couldn’t go through with.
When he’d charmed her family so they took his side until Kimika had felt so trapped and out of control that she’d secretly applied for this job more than seven thousand miles from her home just so she could escape.
A wave of sadness rippled through her. Her family still didn’t understand. They had only ever seen the good side of Haruto, the way he had treated her like a princess whenever he was in their company. They never witnessed the way he turned on a dime when they were alone to criticize her clothing, her hair, her weight, her lack of social skills.
Everything about her.
Slowly whittling away her confidence and self-esteem until she was a mere shadow; good for nothing except to do his bidding.
When Kimika had tried to talk to her family about her reservations, they had brushed them off. Told her how lucky she was, what a catch Haruto was. Tried to convince her that it was simply pre-wedding nerves.
A wedding she had never wanted but had been bulldozed into. A wedding where her own likes and dislikes counted for nothing as it was arranged around her whether she was interested or not.
A wedding that was the precursor to a marriage that felt like nothing but a trap; a cage that grew smaller and smaller with each passing day.
Haruto had never hurt her physically, but she honestly believed that was only because she was so biddable. And, Kimi had truly believed, it was only a matter of time before that changed. Once she was tied to him and under his roof, she fully expected that Haruto would take his frustrations out on her in a far more physical form. Maybe he only held back because to harm her would give her the visual proof she desperately needed to change her family's belief that he was the perfect fiancé.
So without anything but the small savings she’d managed to keep secret from a job Haruto expected her to quit, and the only other thing she had going for her; a diploma in leisure and hospitality, along with some solid experience and an excellent set of references, Kimika had quietly plotted her escape. And when the post of receptionist had come up at the Eden Resort, with the requirement of a second language for their multicultural guests, Kimika had seized the chance and prayed with everything she had in her that she could land the job.
And she had!
She had packed up her life, written letters to explain to her family and Haruto, which she hadn’t posted until she was safely out of Japan, and started anew with a great deal of trepidation, but not a single moment of hesitation or regret.
But not all of the damage her ex had done to her psyche was so easily outrun.
CHAPTER5
“Well… there’s a surprise,” Shay murmured as the three of them watched the angelic vision make her way through the crowd with what was obviously a lot of encouragement from her friend. “I’ve never seen Kimika Murakami in here before, and I’m pretty sure it’s not because I missed being here at the same time.”
“Fuck! She’s hot.” Craig almost seemed to be talking to himself, rather than contributing to the conversation, but it wasn’t anything the rest of them weren’t thinking.
“I've never seen her here before either,” Colt admitted. “And it sure as hell wasn’t because I didn’t look.”
Because he had looked. Every time he came to Iniquity his eyes automatically sought out the shy, deferential Japanese girl who starred in so many of his fantasies. She was never here, but he never stopped looking, even though Colt had figured it for a lost cause.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve made excuses to go into the Tartarean reception when I know she’s working. Craig spoke for all of them.
Every single one of them was guilty of the same, and probably a lot of other guys who worked at the resort.
But Kimi, as Colt knew her friends called her, had a kind of ethereal, untouchable quality about her, so he had always respected her obvious need for space.
But now she was here, and all bets were off because he knew damn well that if he didn’t make a move, someone else sure as hell would.
Kimika Murakami was a shy little thing. She pulled at every one of his protective instincts. She was someone to be cared for and sheltered against those who might take advantage of her pliant nature.
And Colt didn’t trust anyone else to do that but the three of them.
“You realize that a scene with all of us might be pushing Kimi just a little too far, don’t you?” Shay commented, glancing over at Colt with a raised eyebrow. “Especially if she’s a bit of a kink virgin. She might find us rather overwhelming, all together.”
Colt considered his friend's words. Looking like a cheerful kind of surf bum, people often mistook Shay as the superficial type.
Jeez, the guy hadn’t even bothered getting dressed up for the party tonight; content in one of the usual plain t-shirts that he wore like it was his own personal uniform. Then again, in his job as events manager, spent mostly on the beach, it kind of was.
But people would be wrong. Sure, Shay came off as happy-go-lucky, but he was far from shallow.
In fact, he was one of the most thoughtful and considerate people Colt knew; both as a man, and as a Dom. And in a security job, where he generally spent a lot of time dealing with all the assholes, that was something Colt valued a great deal.
