Page 95

“Casualties?”

“Takahashi-san got a bullet to the shoulder. We’re calling for somewhere to go now. Attack was in-house.”

“And my people?”

“Don’t know. Still making rounds.”

“Merda.”

“Sums it up. How long till you get back?”

“I have a team headed to you now. I’m too far out. Give them fifteen.”

“They’ve got ten.”

I hang up and make my way outside, just under the awning. I’m too exposed to go farther, but I can see far and wide enough to know that at least one man lying outside the gates is Vinny’s. He’s going to be pissed.

But that’s his problem. Mine is keeping my girl alive long enough to get out of here.

I make my way back to the room and see that nothing has changed.

“Ride’s inbound,” Gina says.

“Can we trust it?”

“Called in people I know for the travel. Shin gave me an address to use and said he’s getting a doctor sent over. Considering things, it’s the best of the unknowns we have.”

I nod as a noise from the front pulls my attention.

“I got it,” Gina says, pulling two guns out and aiming them high as she walks toward the front.

I wait at the doorway till I hear her talking and no bullets firing. I lower my gun but don’t put it away until she comes back with a group of three men with her.

They go to Takahashi-san and lift him easily, then move him out of the room while I grab Natalie’s hand and follow.

I feel her stiffen and jolt at each body we come across, but I don’t let her stop to linger even if she never looks away from them. Not that she would mourn their deaths, but I don’t want her to think too much on how they died. Or more so, by whose hand, being that it’s the one currently holding her own.

Three SUVs are waiting for us. Her grandfather goes into the first, and Gina and I take Natalie in the second with the last one following till we get through the gate. Then we all go separate ways.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Natalie shifts in the back seat, looking out the window as she watches her grandfather’s SUV go in the opposite direction.

“Relax,” I tell her, grabbing her wrist and running my thumb over her pulse point. “We need to split up.”

“But why?”

“Because this isn’t over,” I say as I look out the window and note each car that we pass, memorizing the turns we take and the street names. I might have killed a dozen-plus men, but I know more are coming. The Yakuza have always had strength in numbers.

The ride seems to last forever, but I know we’re still inside the city, taking more detours than usual to avoid any threats behind us. When we pull into a parking garage and stop, I see Shin waiting with a team of men.

I hold tight to Natalie’s hand when I feel her wanting to jump out of the car, but I shake my head once and she stills. Gina exits first, says a few things, and then opens our door.

“Your grandfather arrived five minutes earlier than us. They already have him upstairs, and the doctor is looking after him.”

We exit the car quickly, and Shin gestures to the elevators that opens before us.

“This way, Mrs. Natalie,” he says with a bow. His men bow as well, none of them noticing my girl’s nerves at the honored actions.

“Thank you.”