His Revenge Baby: 50 Loving States, Washington (21 page)

She looked even smaller tonight beside Dallas Montana, the big man No had hired to oversee the house.

Mr. Montana, an American with a thick New Jersey accent, had a big cross tattoo—

with an Italian and Korean flag wrapped around it—spanning his throat and clavicle.

The rest of his neck was tattooed with black barbed wire and birds. No had hired him to drive, oversee the house’s state-of-the-art security system, and perform other tasks that weren’t typically listed in most “security guard” job descriptions—like breaking into someone’s apartment to deliver a large TV in lieu of a written message. At the moment, Mr. Montana was tightly clutching the nurse’s arm with a thick, meaty hand.

And No could see the nurse was furious. Her chest heaved up and down with indignation as she attempted to wrench her arm free from Mr. Montana’s meaty grip.

“Let me go!”

No found himself tilting his head a bit to the side, the old instinct to watch her taking over as if it had never left. He realized then that he’d never before seen her angry. And he had to admit she was beautiful when angry. Her anime eyes, usually so wide and gentle with fake concern, were now blazing with wrath.

“Where is Ruby? What the hell did you do with my niece?”

“Caught her trying to jump over the electric gate,” Mr. Montana informed No, his face grim. “Had to turn the fence off to go out there to drag her down. Crazy chick coulda gotten herself ‘cuted. Don’t know why she didn’t just ask real nice to be let in over the ‘com system.”

“Because I was attempting to rescue my niece!” Lilli shouted back at him. “I wasn’t interested in broadcasting my arrival to the people who abducted her.”

“Well, I think any hope you had of a stealth entrance is long gone, sweets,” Mr.

Montana answered, letting her go with a gentle push toward No. “I’m heading back to my perimeter sweep, unless you need me for anything else, boss.”

No bowed, thoroughly pleased with his decision to hire Dallas Montana, despite the fact that the large man took such great pride in his “Korean-Italian” neck tattoo, even going so far as to wear deep v-neck t-shirts under his suits so as to better show it off. But Mr. Montana had done good work for him here in Seattle, and No found himself not minding his rather unorthodox appearance so much.

It may also have been that his most recent home, the super tattoo-friendly city of Portland, had rubbed off on him. He’d moved there a year ago to team up with Go and launch their GoNoRobo start-up. And just last week, Go’s overly pierced wife, Nyla, had teased him about his decision to finally start wearing a hoodie underneath his suit.

“Congrats, No, you’re officially an American techie.”

But right now, at this particular moment…No wasn’t at all interested in appearing more American. As he carefully studied Lilliana, he knew this moment was all about Japan.

“
Hai
,” he said to the security guard, though his eyes stayed fixed on Lilliana. “You may return to your post, Montana-san.”

HE’D ALWAYS WATCHED HER, but now Lilli watched him right back, her anger making her breathe hard, long after she’d recovered from the exertion of attempting to scale an electric fence (whoops!). She simply could not believe he’d do this. Kidnap her niece, and leave nothing but a note and one of his creepy spy TVs behind.

And to find him here, in this large glass-and-stone house overlooking Lake Washington. Standing beneath a large Japanese maple as if he’d never left Osaka.

Looking down his nose at her with complete detachment; as coldly calm as she was wildly angry.

No still had not said word one to her, but Lilli had quite a few to say to him.

Including, “What the hell, No? You kidnapped my niece!? Who the hell does that?

Where is she? Where the
fuck
is Ruby!?!?”

No watched her ask her questions, his eyes as cold as a boy reflecting sunlight onto an anthill through a magnifying glass. But the only answer he gave her turned out to be to a question she hadn’t asked.

“You are no longer permitted to call me by that name. From now on, you may address me as Mr. Nakamura, like the rest of my American staff.”

Lilli blinked at him, her head so hot with rage, it felt like the top of it might blow right off in a volcano worthy explosion.

“You are out of your freaking mind if you think I’ll
ever
call you Mr. anything again!

Where the hell is Ruby?” Lilli repeated. “Where the fuck is my niece!?”

No crooked his head at her, gaze cold, but somehow burning. “For some reason I expected you to pretend to be as you were when you deceived me in Japan. But even more so. Softer, and more caring. Yet you are very different now. Much more emotional.”

“That’s because I’m completely freaking out!” Lilli all but shrieked at him. “I don’t know why you decided to bring my innocent, thirteen-year-old niece into this, but—”

“You care about this girl,” he observed, cutting her off. “She is a weakness, and for some reason you have unwisely decided to make that fact clear to me.”

Lilli had no idea how to answer his observation, so she just asked again. “Where is she? Please. I’ll do whatever you want. Just leave her out of this.”

He stepped forward. As close as one could get without actually touching. “You will do whatever I want. Regardless.”

His words sounded more like a promise than a threat, and Lilli reared back, fear overpowering anger as she remembered the newspaper article about the suicide. And what she had suspected all along about Miyuki’s death. But then she got ahold of herself. Because this situation wasn’t about an assistant who’d crossed the wrong boss.

It was about her niece, the only blood she had left.

“No, no…I won’t,” she whispered. “Especially not if you hurt her. She’s only a child.”

He held up a hand as if Lilli’s words were boring him. “Come,” he said.

Then without waiting for her answer, he moved toward the house. Probably assuming she’d follow. Which she did, because what other choice did she have?

He was fully clothed now. But as Lilli followed him into the house, up an open, modern staircase with red oak stairs, then to the left, down a long landing lined with books, she couldn’t help but remember what she’d seen on his back just over a year ago at the samurai mansion. In fact, it felt like the angry dragon tattoo with the bulging eyes was staring at her from beneath his tailored jacket.

No stopped at the first door on the landing and quietly opened it, just wide enough for Lilli to see inside…and there, in a room dimly lit by a single nightlight, was her niece.

In stark contrast to Lilli’s wildly beating heart, Ruby slept peacefully in a wide sleigh bed. The huge room with its rich red oak hardwood floors and Persian carpet, along with two modern, overstuffed accent chairs, hardly seemed appropriate for a teenage girl who’d only previously known a townhouse and a small apartment. But Ruby seemed right at home in all this opulence. In the dim light, Lilli could see her open suitcase on the chair closest to the bed, along with the shadow of Ruby’s temporary prosthetic draped over a mess of clothes. Lilli spotted a wet towel on the floor—so her niece must have gone through her usual night time routine: cleaning her body at night so her leg would be completely dry when she put on her prosthetic the next day.

Relief flooded Lilli’s heart, even as confusion took over. Because…why wasn’t Ruby in a corner, shaking and afraid? She thought about the petulant text message, and the note on the TV, scrawled in messy but not shaky handwriting.

“Did she…?” Lilli found herself asking No. “Did she come with you of her own accord? Like, she didn’t even put up a fight?”

Closing the door, No apparently decided it would be easier to tell her the full story.

As it turned out, Ruby had, contrary to his and his hulky security guy’s intel, come home early, so she’d caught Dallas “delivering” No’s gift. However, she’d not only
not
called the police, she’d also asked Dallas if she could meet with the man who’d sent this present to her aunt. No had allowed it, on the condition that she pack a bag for her stay.

But then his meetings with the Seattle Fishers management had gone over, and by the time he’d arrived home, Mrs. Santos, a housekeeper who apparently lived somewhere on the property in a guest house, had put Ruby up in a guestroom.

Lilli digested this, not wanting to believe what he was telling her. But even though he’d done a pretty shitty thing here, she also knew immediately that what he’d said was true. Ruby had decided to leave home with a complete stranger. A huge, tattooed stranger. Just so she could ask whoever was rich enough to gift them with a TV for an athletic leg.

Lilli closed her eyes against the truth of her niece’s stupidity, taking a moment before evenly responding, “Okay, I understand why she wanted to come here, but I still don’t understand why you would let her—and tell her to pack a bag. I nearly called the police. Was this some kind of scare tactic? Your idea of revenge?”

Now, and only now, did his eyes light with amusement.

“Come,” he said again, heading for the stairs.

And once again she followed. Knowing without him having to tell her that she really didn’t have a choice.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

NO’S OFFICE matched the rest of the house. It was an impressive feat of stone and glass, with a fireplace that flared to life seemingly on command when they entered the room. Despite all the glass and monochrome furniture, the red oak floors, cream-colored Berber carpet, and total absence of a desk, the room seemed warm. Inviting even.

But Lilli didn’t feel either warm or welcome standing in the middle of Norio’s office.

Neither of them sat on any of the couches after they came through the door. As if they were in mutual agreement that this office was a battlefield, not a social arena.

“Okay, why are you doing this?” Lilli asked as soon as he closed the door behind them. “What do you want from me?”

No didn’t respond. Instead he went over to a small bar area and returned with a bottle of whiskey, which he then handed her. His favorite brand, she remembered from the copious notes Miyuki had given her.

Miyuki…Lilli’s stomach dropped just thinking of his former assistant. And what had happened to her after she’d dared to cross No.

“Please,” she whispered, even as she fell into the old Japanese custom of the woman pouring the drink for the man, tilting the uncorked whiskey bottle with both hands and letting it stream into his slanted glass. “I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have spied on you for your father. I didn’t know he was the one who sent me, but that doesn’t matter. It was a bad thing to do. A terrible thing to do. And that’s on me. I get it.

But please leave Ruby out of this. She’s only a child, and she’s already been through so much. I’m all she has. So please don’t use her to get your revenge on me.”

No took a slow sip of the whiskey she’d poured him, then said, “Please forgive me for my confusion. But I am under the impression you think I care what you want. Or how you
feel
about this situation. But I do not care for you or your feelings, so you should stop begging. It has no effect on me.”

Lilli blinked. Stared. Shook her head. Only to realize he wasn’t kidding. Or exaggerating. He really was completely unmoved by her pleas.

He really hated her that much.

“Okay,” Lilli said, rubbing her temple. “Are you planning to hurt her? That’s all I want to know. I know you don’t care about me or about my feelings, but if you want

me to continue talking with you, then you will have to reassure me that you won’t hurt my niece.”

No remained silent in the wake of her latest request, once again looking down his nose at her from his greater height.

“Look! I’m all she has—I have to protect her,” Lilli began.

“I have no plans to hurt the girl,” he finally relented in a bored tone, as if they weren’t talking about a child’s life.

Nonetheless, Lilli let out an audible sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I know it was stupid of her to ask to come here—”

“How much did he pay you?” No asked, cutting her off.

Lilli stiffened, knowing exactly who and what he was talking about.

“It must have been a large amount,” he continued, “but my investigators could not find a trace of extra money in your bank accounts, or the monies Miyuki paid Osaka Charm on your behalf.”

Ignoring the fact that he’d obviously had her investigated within an inch of her life, Lilli answered, “It wasn’t for money. Well, not for me at least. It was more like a trade.”

“A trade?”

She nodded and confessed, “My brother’s baseball career in exchange for spying on you. I didn’t do it for money, I did it for my brother.”

He looked away, his face going even harsher as he processed this information. But then he simply said, “I see.”

“You see,” she repeated, not really believing he was going to let her off the hook that easily.

She was right.

“A room has been prepared for you,” he informed her. “On the other side of the house from where Ruby is located. So you will need to turn in the opposite direction from her room when you reach the top of the stairs. It will be the second door on your right.”

Lilli looked at him. Waited for further explanation. Which did not come. So she ended up sputtering, “You—you want me to sleep here?”

“Yes,” he answered with another bored look. “Or I would not have had a room prepared you.”

“For how long?”

“As long as it takes,” he answered.

“As long as it takes for what?”

Another long look. Then he replied, “As long as it takes you to become pregnant with my child.”

Chapter Thirty

LILLI WENT VERY, very quiet. Because of the back-to-back shifts, the search for Ruby, basically the whole damn day…

“I’m sorry,” she told him. “I’m exhausted and coming down from a serious adrenaline spike. It must be messing with my brain, because I could have swore it sounded like you said ‘as long as it takes for me to become pregnant with my baby,’ but that can’t be right.”

No took another bored sip of whiskey. “
Hai
, that is what I said. I want you to repay me for your betrayal by having my baby.”