day long and was now getting worse.
Why should it matter to her if her client wanted to end the threats on his life in any manner possible, even by dying?
Daniel returned to the command center as soon as Charity left. Anger was like a hot lance inside of him and had been for the last three days since he’d realized that Sekijima was still alive and after him.
He knew his old friend well enough to know that he wasn’t just toying with him. He was tearing down the house that Daniel had built from the ashes of Sekijima’s old empire. Causing him to lose face. Daniel wasn’t Japanese but he’d been so much a part of the Yakuza that he knew in his soul he was.
Daniel went to the weapons cabinet and opened it up. She had an arsenal…that shouldn’t turn him on the way it did.
He fingered the samurai sword that hung there. It looked like one made by the Matuza. He had one in his own collection in the San Juans. Swords weren’t used in fighting much anymore but he’d always liked the way they felt in his hands. He suspected that was because he’d first learned to kill with a knife.
Maybe he should have taken this break she offered, this respite, but he didn’t want a break.
He had to keep moving so he could focus on his anger and not remember that he’d betrayed Sekijima first.
He didn’t regret his actions…wouldn’t let himself. There were some lines that should never be crossed, but at the same time, he did regret the loss of the man he’d once considered a brother.
“Do you like the sword?” Charity said, entering the room soundlessly. He glanced over his shoulder at her and realized she’d put something on her lips that made them glisten. He bit back a groan. His eyes fixated on her mouth…on her luscious mouth. Hell, if she’d suggested spending an hour in her bed instead of the workout room, he suspected he wouldn’t have turned her down.
“Yes. Are you trained with it?”
“With all these weapons. I started training when I was twenty.”
“In college?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I…I was a model so I traveled around doing jobs and partying.”
“How did you go from that life to this?” he asked, needing the distraction of talking about her. But the truth was, he was fascinated by her. By everything about her. And he knew that he should leave her. Get further away than he’d agreed to.
Protecting her by keeping her with him had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he wondered if there wasn’t more to it. Had he kept her around because of lust?
“Um…something happened,” she said. She walked over to the computer and sat down.
Dismissing him. But he wasn’t the kind of man to be set aside. “What happened?”
“My parents were killed.” Her fingers moved over the keys, opening her e-mail program and sorting through the messages there.
“Car accident?” he asked.
“No. Murdered for their money and jewelry by some street punk when they were in Japan,” she said, opening a photo from the e-mail program. “I didn’t have a chance to ask you if you recognize this woman.”
He leaned in close over her shoulder and stared at the woman who’d shot Alonzo. He didn’t know her but there was something familiar about her and her features. She reminded him of one of the wakushu—gang deputies trained as assassins.
There was something cold in her almond-shaped dark eyes that he recognized, harkening back to his own time working for Sekijima. Dammit, he felt that old life drawing on him. A part of him wanted back in that world. At least there he could act.
Life was so much easier when you went after what you wanted and took it, instead of spending hours in meetings and negotiations. But another part of him, the man who covered his tattooed back in thousand-dollar shirts and suits, knew that he’d made a choice a long time ago and this life…was the one he had to continue to lead.
“I don’t know her.”
“We can’t find her in any of our
Why should it matter to her if her client wanted to end the threats on his life in any manner possible, even by dying?
Daniel returned to the command center as soon as Charity left. Anger was like a hot lance inside of him and had been for the last three days since he’d realized that Sekijima was still alive and after him.
He knew his old friend well enough to know that he wasn’t just toying with him. He was tearing down the house that Daniel had built from the ashes of Sekijima’s old empire. Causing him to lose face. Daniel wasn’t Japanese but he’d been so much a part of the Yakuza that he knew in his soul he was.
Daniel went to the weapons cabinet and opened it up. She had an arsenal…that shouldn’t turn him on the way it did.
He fingered the samurai sword that hung there. It looked like one made by the Matuza. He had one in his own collection in the San Juans. Swords weren’t used in fighting much anymore but he’d always liked the way they felt in his hands. He suspected that was because he’d first learned to kill with a knife.
Maybe he should have taken this break she offered, this respite, but he didn’t want a break.
He had to keep moving so he could focus on his anger and not remember that he’d betrayed Sekijima first.
He didn’t regret his actions…wouldn’t let himself. There were some lines that should never be crossed, but at the same time, he did regret the loss of the man he’d once considered a brother.
“Do you like the sword?” Charity said, entering the room soundlessly. He glanced over his shoulder at her and realized she’d put something on her lips that made them glisten. He bit back a groan. His eyes fixated on her mouth…on her luscious mouth. Hell, if she’d suggested spending an hour in her bed instead of the workout room, he suspected he wouldn’t have turned her down.
“Yes. Are you trained with it?”
“With all these weapons. I started training when I was twenty.”
“In college?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I…I was a model so I traveled around doing jobs and partying.”
“How did you go from that life to this?” he asked, needing the distraction of talking about her. But the truth was, he was fascinated by her. By everything about her. And he knew that he should leave her. Get further away than he’d agreed to.
Protecting her by keeping her with him had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he wondered if there wasn’t more to it. Had he kept her around because of lust?
“Um…something happened,” she said. She walked over to the computer and sat down.
Dismissing him. But he wasn’t the kind of man to be set aside. “What happened?”
“My parents were killed.” Her fingers moved over the keys, opening her e-mail program and sorting through the messages there.
“Car accident?” he asked.
“No. Murdered for their money and jewelry by some street punk when they were in Japan,” she said, opening a photo from the e-mail program. “I didn’t have a chance to ask you if you recognize this woman.”
He leaned in close over her shoulder and stared at the woman who’d shot Alonzo. He didn’t know her but there was something familiar about her and her features. She reminded him of one of the wakushu—gang deputies trained as assassins.
There was something cold in her almond-shaped dark eyes that he recognized, harkening back to his own time working for Sekijima. Dammit, he felt that old life drawing on him. A part of him wanted back in that world. At least there he could act.
Life was so much easier when you went after what you wanted and took it, instead of spending hours in meetings and negotiations. But another part of him, the man who covered his tattooed back in thousand-dollar shirts and suits, knew that he’d made a choice a long time ago and this life…was the one he had to continue to lead.
“I don’t know her.”
“We can’t find her in any of our
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