Pure Harmony (13 page)

“Ready?” her mother asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She watched her father rise from the chair and shrug into his suit coat. Then he helped her mother up. Both of them paused and stared at something behind her. The feeling in the pit of her stomach and the way the hair on the back of her neck stood up told her in more ways than one whom it was that approached.

“Hello, Harmony,” Jonathon said. “I saw you earlier and wasn’t sure I wasn’t mistaken as to who it was. Then I saw you walk in here and I knew.”

She turned and met his gaze. Determination shone in it.
Damn Wrights. Always so sure of themselves and taking what they wanted.

“Jonathon. Good to see you.”

Before turning back to her parents, she shot him a glare, which she knew didn’t faze him in the least. Still, it felt good.

“Who are you?” her father asked, his accent thick.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Jonathon stated in his smooth lawyer way. “Forgive my lack of manners, I was so pleased to see her again. I’m Jonathon Wright.”

She wanted to sink beneath the floor. However, her father was nothing if not a consummate businessman. He held out his hand.

“Katashi Oshiro. This is my wife, Diandra.”

Jonathon bowed over her mother’s hand and brushed a kiss on the back of it. “Lovely to meet you, ma’am.”

“How do you know my daughter?” Her father posed the question.

“We live in the same town and have become friends.” He gave her a smile. “I was happily surprised to see her out here.”

“You live in McKingley?”

“Yes, sir. I have my whole life.”

Her mother glanced between them both. “Would you like to join us for dinner, Mr Wright?”

“I’d love to. Only if you call me Jonathon, however.”

She saw it on her father’s face that he wanted to refuse. However, her mother rarely didn’t get things her way. So she swallowed back her stress at the knowledge that he would be joining them for dinner.

Jonathon escorted her mother and left her with her father. They walked side by side, not talking, which was the complete opposite of Jonathon and her mother. He held her by the arm and was engaging her in conversation.

“How did you meet this man?” her father queried in Japanese.

“I met him one night at the auction I was at and then we ran into each other again at the college.” She answered in the same language.

“He is going to school?”

“No, he was there teaching law, stepping in for a friend.”

“A lawyer?”

“Yes.”

Her father gave a noncommittal grunt and she licked her lips. They walked to the restaurant and she was grateful they didn’t all have to be in a vehicle together. Her head hurt and she wanted nothing more than to head back to her room and sleep. Well, there was
something
else she’d be fine doing. That brief interlude in her hotel room had only fanned the flames in her, it hadn’t dampened them.

Dinner wasn’t all bad. Jonathon kept the conversation going by asking her parents all kinds of questions. And he had no problem answering theirs either, which she knew got points in his favour from her father. Just when she thought it would be okay and had taken a relieved breath to enjoy her dessert, she discovered she never should have assumed it would end any other way.

“When are you coming back to Japan?”

“I don’t believe I am, Father.”

“You need to. I have set up a concert for you.”

Her heart seized, the spoon in her hand clattering to the bowl. “There will be no more concerts.”

She could feel Jonathon’s gaze on her but she steadfastly refused to meet his eyes. She didn’t want to see the question in them.

“You are healed. After all our sacrifices, you can’t just give up.”

Tears pricked and she gulped, trying to hold onto her tears. “I am not ‘healed’, Father. It hurts to play. I can’t withstand the rigours of a full concert. And
we
didn’t have sacrifices,
I
did. Me! I was the one who wasn’t allowed to play with the other children. I had to stay home and practise, or go to get tutored by your professional who loved to yell at me. I had to be perfect all the time—heaven forbid I messed up and embarrassed the Oshiro name.”

Her mother’s gasp almost stopped her but it couldn’t. Not quite. The floodgates had opened.

“My first concert, do you remember what you said to me? There were no congratulations, nothing like that. You told me what I’d messed up then walked away. That was it. Do you know what that is like for a child? For a little girl who only wanted her father’s approval?” She stared at her mother. “And you, never standing up for me when I wanted to do something else. Telling me how lucky I was to live in all those fancy hotel rooms as I travelled doing concerts. The money I got from endorsement deals, which you both took. I don’t have the money.”

“Then I had the accident and you make me feel like that is also my fault. Like I asked to be shoved through that window. The first thing you ask then is when do I think I’ll be able to play again?” The tears escaped. “I can’t do this anymore. I know, I know—you’re disappointed in me because I’m a failure. Well, let me top it off for you. You really want to know how I know Jonathon? Because we were dating and sleeping together.”

Yes, those gasps she’d expected. Shoving to her feet, she ran from the establishment and up the street to her hotel. Once she had made it into her room, she collapsed on the bed in a torrent of tears. Would she never learn? Would she always be a disappointment to her parents? Eventually the tears became too much and she sank into oblivion.

When she woke, she had a moment of panic. Strong arms were around her. The next second, before the scream could escape, she inhaled and knew exactly who it was. Jonathon was in bed with her. She’d know his scent and his touch anywhere.

They spooned in her bed and she could feel the strong cadence of his heart, calming her. He nuzzled her behind the ear and pressed a light kiss to the shell of her ear.

“I know you’re awake, Harmony.”

“How’d you get in here?”

“I have my ways.”

Of that she had no doubt. “I don’t have it in me to do this right now, Jonathon.”

“Too bad.”

She stiffened. “What?”

“That’s your go-to phrase for everything and I’m tired of it. You need to face it, face me, face us.”

She didn’t want to face anything.
Nope, no thank you.
She wanted to go back to sleep and forget the entire day.

“Tell me about your accident.”

Her fingertips itched to touch her scar but she refrained. One, because she didn’t want to move and two, because it wouldn’t help anything.

“What’s to know? It happened.”

“Why are you so set on being difficult, Harmony?”

“Why are you so damn set on figuring everything out for me?” she countered angrily.

He stiffened before rolling her towards him and holding her gaze. “Okay, we’ll handle this first. I’m sorry. For all the times I pushed too hard about your living conditions or place. I’m sorry for wanting to treat you like a princess and put you in a castle of your own.”

“Don’t try to get me to feel guilty, Jonathon. You’re ashamed of me living in a smaller place.”

A tic appeared in his jaw. “We both know you looked me up. Do you really think that I give a damn about that?”

She sat up and he followed. Shoving a hand through her hair that had come free, she finally just jerked out the comb and let it all fall loose.

“Yes.”

He blinked a few times and she knew he’d not expected that answer. “How can you say that?”

“You’re questioning my opinion now?”

“Yes, I guess I am.”

“On paper, all of your family is impressive and yes, you all do a lot of good for others. None of that matters about your personal feelings on those you may be dating.”

He ran a hand over his mouth and sighed heavily. “We’ll agree to disagree on that. Regardless, I am sorry I made you feel that way. Okay?”

“Fine.”

He held her gaze a bit before nodding. “Now. About this?” He touched her scarred arm and hand that remained hidden beneath the sleeve of her dress.

“My scar.”

Chapter Nine

“Yes, your scar. More specifically, your accident.”

Jonathon stared at the woman he sat across from on the bed. The protectiveness that had surfaced when her father had started in on her had been expected. The fury that had accompanied it as she’d shot back at her parents hadn’t been.

Each tear she shed was like a dagger to his chest. The torment in her voice had made him want to cringe and hold her. Tight. Protect her even more. And get her away from her parents. Having the family he did, he wasn’t used to being treated as she’d obviously been her entire life.

Win or lose, his parents had always been supportive of their children. There was not a single time he could remember either of them walking up to him after something and telling him what he’d done wrong. Sure, in sports he could always go to his dad and ask him for pointers, but he would never have said anything like that to him at the game.

To not know the joys of going to school and having friends was something he couldn’t fathom. When she’d told him she’d already done the living in fancy places, he honestly hadn’t given it much thought, past that she was upset and ranting. But now… It was an entirely different situation. No wonder she’d resented it so much, his insistence over the house and pushing her for a larger place, as well as Deyon’s amount of purchased clothing. As she’d pointed out, stuff she’d had to pay back because she wasn’t about to take anything from him like that.

So yes, he’d screwed this up majorly. And wanted to fix it all, but first he had to get her to open up to him.

“Harmony?”

Her body jolted and he knew she’d been lost in a memory. From the look on her face, it hadn’t been a pleasant one either.

“Tell me.”

She blew out a breath and cleared her throat. “It was after a concert. There was a thing after it, you know, a food and drink kind of thing. Anyway, I was one of the youngest ones there and was keeping mostly to myself. My chaperone was off drinking.”

“Where were your parents?”

“Home.” A shrug. “Not sure. They rarely travelled with me. Paid another to watch me. I only had a chaperone to make sure I didn’t get into trouble, and I’d always had one. Age didn’t matter to my parents—they had their plans for me.” She sniffed. “Anyway. There was a younger man who also played piano. Riku. Handsome and very talented. We were talking by a large window, looking at the fountain beyond it, when the girl who wanted to be his girlfriend came up and yelled at me for talking to him.”

Jonathon got a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had a really bad feeling he knew where this was going.

“After some name calling, Riku tried to tell her she needed to calm down and it only upset her more. After all, if he was protecting me, then we must have been sleeping together.”

She stopped and rubbed her arm. When she looked back up at him, her eyes shone with tears. “She shoved me. Hard. I threw my arm in front of my face, which is why it got so much damage. The rest is self-explanatory.”

He felt like such a heel. Reaching over to her, he dragged her onto his lap. “Harmony,” he began.

“Don’t, Jonathon. I just… I can’t.”

“Your parents?”

“Are who they are. I know deep down they love me. Mom says it on occasion, but I also know how disappointed they are in me. I’d been groomed from a young age to play and I can’t anymore. Not how I need to in order to do concerts. I can handle the short bits at school and I can play on occasion for Lana and her drama class. I don’t like crowds anymore when I play, because I think they can tell I’m not playing as well as I should.”

He shook his head. “Baby, you play better than many on their best day. You can’t let that stop you.”

“You don’t know that, Jonathon.”

He cupped her face and placed gentle kisses along her jaw. “I know a lot of things, Harmony Oshiro.”

“This isn’t talking,” she sputtered around sharp breaths.

“Oh, but it is. I like this kind of talking the best.”

A knock came on the door, interrupting them. Her entire body went ramrod straight before she relaxed. He watched her climb off him and slip from the bed, winding her hair up and using the same comb from earlier to secure it on her head. He stood up and straightened the bed before sitting on a chair. Tensions were high enough between her and her parents, and he had no wish to add to them.

He watched her talk to them in Japanese. Even from across the room he could see her tension increase. With an easy push, he got to his feet and made his way to stand behind her, offering strength and support.

“This is private,” her father said in English.

“Harmony?”

She spoke to her parents again before they scowled at him then left. The door remained open and she looked up at him. “You need to go.”

“What?”

“You wanted to talk, Jonathon. We talked. You know about my scar.”

“We’ve not talked about us.”

“There is no us.”

Hearing those words did not feel good in any way, shape or form. He scowled at her. “Yes there is. Dating. Sleeping together. You. Me.”

“We went over this already.”

He chuckled but there was no humour in it. “Do you really think I would let it go so easily? I’m an attorney, Harmony. Arguing is nought but foreplay to me, especially with you. So you’re gonna have to do much more than that to get me gone. You don’t want me out of your life. You’re scared. I get it. We can work through it.”

Lightning flared in her gaze and she shoved his chest and knocked him through the door to the hall. “You arrogant bastard! I… You… Argh!”

Bam!
The door slammed in his face. He blinked at it a few times before knocking. Nothing. He waited but she never opened it. Reluctantly, he left and went to his room down the hall from hers. He tried several times to call her room and in the morning, he called down to have some room service delivered to her room. They could eat and talk this out.

“I’m sorry, sir, but there is no one in that room. The guest has checked out.”