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“Do you want a glass of wine, Claire?” Julia held up a bottle of California chardonnay.
“Of course!” I answered back.
“Aiden, do you want wine or beer?” Julia asked as she poured wine into a glass for me.
“Beer is fine.”
Will walked over to the refrigerator, took a chilled can of Saporo, and handed it to Aiden.
“Here you go. By the way, I’m Will.”
Aiden took the can with his left hand and stuck out his right hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Aiden,” he said.
While the guys shook hands, I wondered what they thought of each other. It didn’t seem as though they found each other a threat, but I didn’t get much time to ponder.
“Here’s your wine,” Julia said and handed me a glass filled with a light amber liquid.
“Thanks!” I lifted my glass in a salute before I took a sip.
“This is really good,” I said, lifting my eyebrows. “The wine has a faint peach taste along with another flavor I can’t place.” I took another sip to see if I could name what I was tasting, but I came up short. “I wish I knew more about wines,” I let out a small groan in frustration.
“If you’re still here in a few months, we’ll have to check out some wineries in Napa. It’s not too far from the Bay Area,” Julia said. Then giving me a sly look, she added, “That is… unless you and Aiden already have plans to visit the wineries.”
Aware that Aiden and Will were looking at me, I narrowed my eyes at Julia who had an impish grin on her face. “Uh…um…,” I fumbled for an answer, but I was saved by Julia’s husband.
“Okay, we’re ready to eat,” Tristan called out. He had laid out the sushi in a buffet style, so we could pick and choose what we wanted.
Oh, thank God! Saved by the bell. I sighed in relief and handed Julia a plate. “Go ahead, Jules.” Then, I grabbed a plate and looked at my choices. While Julia went straight for the eel rolls, I took a couple pieces of tuna and went to the couch to sit next to Grumpy.
Seeing the little dog reminded me of Trevor’s cat. “Hey, where’s Leo?” I searched the open space to see if he was hiding in plain sight.
“Annisa took him with her.”
“She did? I didn’t think she liked animals?”
Julia shrugged. “She said that she didn’t want to be alone in her apartment. I offered to stay with her for a bit, but she said that she was tired.”
“That makes sense, but we should check on her and Leo tomorrow.”
Julia gave me a thumbs-up because she was chewing her sushi roll. When she swallowed the food, she said, “This is so delicious. Where did you guys get the sushi from?”
“Tokyo House,” Aiden responded for me because I had taken a bite out of the tuna roll.
“Isn’t that the same place that you guys met for lunch?” Julia asked.
Aiden and I exchanged smiles. “It was. The food was good, and the restaurant was on the way to your place, so it was a good place to get takeout.”
“It was also the same place where we saw Annisa,” I said after finishing my roll.
“Hey, Will, didn’t you tell me that Tokyo House was a front business for the Korean mafia in the Bay Area?” Tristan said casually, as though it wasn’t a big deal.
“What?” we yelled in unison. Julia and Aiden set down their plates in alarm. It was like they were holding a hot potato by how quickly they set the food down. I was stunned and looked down at my own plate of food. The tuna rolls no longer looked appealing.
When Tristan saw we lost our appetite, he winced. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ruin the dinner.”
“That’s okay, but I’m curious to know more about the restaurant,” Aiden said, recovering quickly from his shock. He looked at the guys for an answer.
“Ah-hem.” Will cleared his throat. “I don’t know how much you know about the underground activities here.”
