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I look closer at my grandfather. My actual grandfather. I don’t know if I believe it or not. It seems too far out there, but that’s my life. Who else gets kidnapped as many times as I have and has a secret marriage without having “out-there” moments constantly?

I don’t see any resemblance to him or me, unless it’s just the Japanese parts that make me sort of blend in with the family. Though far enough in the background that you don’t even see me.

But there’s something about him I recognize from years of living with him. A twitch in his eye when he knows more and keeps it to himself. When he knows what others know. I’d seen it before when he spoke to Reina the night she came in and claimed she and Benji were in love, that it wasn’t just her taking what was mine. I was in the room, but she never saw me; I was hidden behind a half wall that Grandfather sent me to the moment Reina was announced to come in and talk to him. I guess she suspected I would be too hurt to seek him out so quickly after finding them tangled up. She had no idea I went to him the second I left them and stayed there till long after Grandfather sent her away.

Again, the same eye twitch another time when I walked into the kitchen and saw him talking to a cook. He asked if she was stealing, and she denied it, but Grandfather had her removed without another word. I was young and didn’t understand what was going on, so I asked, and he told me he knew she was stealing from him.

It’s that eye twitch I see now.

“You know he’s dead,” I state.

“Yes,” he says with a bowed head.

“And you know it was because of me.”

Grandfather nods.

I lick my lips and look at Atom, then down at my hand as I flip it face up on his lap. His eyes squint slightly, just barely moving, not noticeable unless you’ve locked eyes with him. Like I am.

He moves his hand from my back and laces his fingers with mine, giving me a nod and a small raise of his lip for half a second. Then his face turns neutral, and we both look at Grandfather.

“Then you know that the Devils Damned had no other option. Once I killed Duke—self-defense, of course—they learned the truth. Their leader figured my life should be spared for what happened to his sister, and he was tired of the war between him and Hounds. As an old lady, I was given back to my man.”

I don’t know if that’s how it was played out for the public, but from what Atom told me, I pieced together the best story I could have come up with.

His thumb rubbing circles on my hand gives me strength to not cower as my grandfather watches both of us.

“I see. Well, in that case, I think it is time you started taking over the family business.”

Chapter 22 - Atom

As soon as I shut the door behind me to our bedroom, I can’t help but chuckle at the way Natalie face-plants onto the bed. Not even bending a knee or holding out a hand to stop the descent.

And then she screams, long and hard. And despite that it’s completely muffled by the bedding, I can hear the anguish in it.

Rolling onto her back, she throws an arm over her head and looks up at some sort of bird of paradise design painted on the top of the four-poster bed.

Leaning against a post, I cross my ankles and my arms. My ribs irritate me still, but just like I’ve done before now, I continue to ignore them as I look at my girl. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“How in less than twenty-four hours did I go from about to join a cage-fighting team to learning that Grandfather is my actual grandfather? Or that my father, who’s just some random son, probably figured out who I was in relation to my grandfather and treated me like shit out of spite? Or that somehow the old man thinks that me taking over his companies is the best plan since I’m the one true heir?”

“Add in the new husband angle and you deciding to cut your hair just a few hours short of getting a hair comb, and you’ve got a monopoly for fucked up.”

She moves her head just enough to glare at me from under her lashes before looking back up at the painting.

“Yeah, let’s not forget that little detail. Fuck, what I would give for a time machine right now.”

I swallow the fear that bubbles to the surface so fast that I have to adjust my stance to keep from falling over. I stick my hands into my pockets and stand fully instead.

“What time would you go back to?”

“I don’t know. Yesterday? Would have taken the back entrance for sure. Or hell, all the way to when dear old Grandma thought shacking up with the son of a Yakuza family was a good idea. Yeah, stopping that would probably have cured my entire life.” She laughs, but there’s no humor in it.

“If you did that, who’s to say you would still be alive?”

“Yeah, who’s to say.” She closes her eyes, but I watch as her once-serene face, at least the one she was hoping to keep, dies and her brow scrunches. With an agitated cry, she sits up.

“What the hell am I supposed to do? I can’t take over the old man’s businesses.”