by E A Hunt
“Your office ... Audra,” he moaned, when her hand wrapped around his cock. “Is not suitable. Security is a joke and it is too far from me,” he breathed.
“I can’t get anything... harder” she begged, pushing against his fingers on her clit. She moaned before continuing to plead her case, “… done while sitting in an office with you.”
“I’m close Hana,” Ren moved his hips in time with her hand. To “compromise” he needed to finish her before she finished him.
“My own office on the same floor?” Audra moved her hips in time with Ren’s ministration.
“The same suite.” Ren told her. That was the extent of his compromise.
“God, Yes!,” Audra cried out as the waves of her orgasm ran hard through her body.
“No God, Hana just yours,” Ren said, covering her mouth with his as he released into her hand.
Chapter Eight
Her office, in the same suite as Ren’s but at the opposite end, consisted of a little sitting area positioned in front of a big screen which she could tether to her laptop to show any clients her designs. She was awed by the space, especially since before she’d got here this space had been nothing but storage. Now, along with the sitting area, there was a work bench and any colors or pallets she could think of to show clients color samples. This place was a designer’s dream and it had all been put together by her Ren in a matter of hours.
“You could have told me you knew Ren.”
Audra smiled at the sound of Sara’s voice. She and Nelle had called about their outing and she had invited them to her new office. “I didn’t know if you knew him,” she replied and walked over to the office door to embrace her friend. She released Sara and stepped aside to allow her further entrance to her office, then smiled at Nelle, “How is my mom to be?”
“Tired but happy,” Nelle replied, as she embraced her friend.
“That’s all that can be expected,” Audra replied as she released Nelle. She ushered the women into the office. “I have water and snacks for anyone who wants them,” Audra told them. She looked out of her office door to the small army standing in her hall, “And there is water and snacks in the break room for you also.” When they all acknowledged her, she turned and closed the door, facing the women in her office
“So, why didn’t you tell me you knew Ren?” Sara questioned as she sat back on the couch.
“It’s not like that’s something you tell a lot of people. Hello, I’m Audra Parks. Mother to Iain and baby momma to Ren Tsao, head of the Yakuza,” Audra replied, placing water bottles before each of the ladies.
“You’re a little more than a baby momma,” Nelle replied, taking a gulp of her water. It was so refreshing going down her throat.
Audra sat on the couch next to Sara, “If you’re suggesting -”
“No one is suggesting anything,” Sara replied looking at her daughter on the vid screen. She and Bram had finally got around to hiring a nanny and this was her first week on the job. Though the woman had passed her background check, Sara wasn’t taking any chances when it came to her daughter and her security. All knew they would answer to her if anything happened to her baby on their watch. Assured that her daughter was safe, Sara looked up at her friend, “The Four don’t act the way they have in the last twelve hours unless one of their women has been attacked,” Sara enlightened.
“I’m not his woman,” Audra protested.
“Ha!” Sara reached for her water, “If you weren’t his woman you wouldn’t be on his estate. In his office. And your detail wouldn’t be as big as mine or Nelle’s!”
Audra wanted to disagree with Sara but she couldn’t, and she knew it.
“I should hate him. Shouldn’t want to be anywhere near him but -”
“You can’t think of anywhere else you’d want to be,” Nelle finished, chuckling.
“Yes,” Audra replied, telling the women why she should hate Ren. “When he tells me it wasn’t him, I believe him. But I know what I saw that night.”
“Eyes can play tricks on you sometimes,” Nelle said. “But when you’re involved in a traumatic situation, it gets burned in your memory.” And she told Audra about her own experience with the hitman who Seamus had ended.
“Nelle is right. Trauma is not something you forget easily,” Sara replied, relaying her own traumatic story to Audra.
“And here I thought I was the only one someone was trying to kill,” Audra told them.
“Trying to be killed is not something I would wish on anyone. Especially when The Four are seeking to eliminate any threat against us,” Nelle replied as she placed a hand on her stomach. It was doing somersaults.
“I’m not exactly an integral part of Ren’s life. Well I wasn’t when we met,” Audra confessed.
“How did you and Ren meet?” Sara asked. “Because the fact that he is Yakuza doesn’t really seem to concern you.”
“Not like me,” Nelle replied. “When I learned Seamus was Irish Mob I freaked out. Sara had to talk me off a ledge.”
“I knew when I meet him at the Cherry Blossom festival, that he was different. I didn’t know how different, I just knew he was,” Audra told her friends.
********
Moving to another makeshift booth, Audra admired the handmade lanterns on display. Today was the last day of the Cherry Blossom festival. On the last night you brought a candle and lantern lighting them while asking the great spirit for prosperity and growth. She would really love all of that - especially if she wanted her time here in Japan to be worthwhile. She’d only been in the country for a few months and, in that time, she’d secured a small job with a local souvenir shop and started working on a Master’s degree that would hopefully lead to a lucrative position somewhere. Picking up one of the lanterns on the woman’s small table, she admired the beautiful images in front of her - a black dragon on one panel and a light grey koi fish on the other. When spinning the lantern, it looked as if the dragon and fish were wrapping around each other in a loving embrace.
Audra smiled, an old fable coming back to her. ‘A bird and a fish can fall in love but where will they build their home?’ That was how polite people expressed their opinion that people from different races or backgrounds couldn’t be together because they were too different. Audra didn’t believe that for a minute. If you loved and respected each other, you could make anything work.
“You would like?” The woman asked in broken English, as she gestured towards the lantern in Audra’s hand.
She loved it but she was sure it was too much. Her job allotted her the basics. This trip to the festival from the University in the city center had cost her a pretty penny but she’d wanted to see the grove of Cherry Blossom trees and celebrate as the locals did... “Thank you but -”
“Beautiful.”
Audra turned at the sound of the light tenor voice. She swallowed. The man before her was quite handsome. His jet-black hair was cut short with a little bit of a widow’s peak. His swimmer’s body, which slightly towered over her five foot five frame; giving her the impression he was no taller than five eleven, was in peak physical shape and the soulful black eyes that were boring into her, spoke of knowledge and strength with a hint of danger.
“It is,” Audra replied, licking her lips.
“I wasn’t speaking of the lantern, Hana.”
He’d called her blossom. Why had he called her blossom? Audra was under no impression she was anything special. Just a girl from Bangor, Maine who had dreams of being an interior designer. Something there wasn’t a lot of need for in Bangor - which was why she had applied for the study abroad program. She could earn her Master’s in Design and hopefully land a job before she returned to the States.
“How much, mother?” he asked in Japanese.
“It is yours, Kokushibyo,” she replied, bowing her head.
Why had she called the man Black Death?
“Nothing is free, mother,” the man replied with a bow.
Audra watched as the man laid
several bills on the older woman’s table. What he’d given the woman was more than Audra was sure she’d make in a week selling her lanterns.
“I think you made her day!” Audra said as she turned to face him. She could see from the corner of her eye that the woman was quickly stowing the money away for safekeeping.
“I give what is needed and deserved - especially when it places a beautiful smile on a beautiful woman’s face,” he replied, taking her lantern from her hand and grasping her elbow. “Come Hana, lets walk. Then when the time is right, we will light your candle and send it to the Great Spirit asking for love and prosperity for you.”
“I thought it was joy and prosperity,” Audra countered.
“Is there not joy in love?” He asked.
“Yes, I believe there is,” Audra replied with mirth in her voice.
**********
“That has to be the most adorable beginning to a love story I’ve ever heard” Nelle gushed.
Audra smiled, “We walked through the festival and tasted different dishes made by the locals. And looked at the different crafts. By the time night had fallen I had already fallen a little in love with Ren.”
She speared a piece of salad. While she’d been telling the origin of her love story with Ren, a member of her new detail had brought in food that Bram had ordered from an Albanian place not far from the office.
“I wish that was how Bram and I met,” Sara said, while finishing some of the most delicious food she had ever tasted. Between bites, she gave her and Bram’s story.
“Well at least you weren’t falling all over yourself with Bram like I was with Seamus,” Nelle replied, giving her and Seamus’ origin story.
“Both of your origins are just as cute as mine,” Audra assured the women.
“It’s too bad your story is following ours with the ‘someone-is-trying-to-kill-you’ aspect. I could do without that,” Nelle replied.
“Same here,” Sara said. “Though it is fun when our men avenge us.”
“Rampaging is not that fun,” Audra said “Ren is ready to tear the city apart looking for the people who tried to harm me last night.”
“Last night?” Nelle questioned. “What happened last night?”
Audra relayed the previous night’s events to her friends.
“Well you’re not going to get Ren to calm down until he has these people’s heads,” Nelle confided. “Seamus wasn’t happy until he had killed every single person who threatened me.”
“Bram was the same way. It’s what makes them charming and scary at the same time,” Sara added. “They will do anything they can to protect us - including shooting someone in the face if they believe they’ve disrespected us or our family.”
“You know,” Audra said, “Some people would be scared by this kind of thing.”
“They would, but then they would not be wives of The Four,” Nelle replied. “It takes a strong woman to deal with these men and we are strong women.”
“We are, aren’t we?” Audra agreed, raising her water bottle “to The Four.”
“To The Four!” Nelle and Sara echoed.
“What do we know?” Ren questioned the men sitting in a semi-circle around him. Their wives were having lunch and talking nurseries while he and the other members of The Four were attempting to figure out who in their right mind would come after one of their wives. You would think people would learn from the past.
“Not much,” Bram replied, “My men weren’t able to find out who went into Audra’s home. Nor is anyone talking about the break-in.”
“I’m having the same issue,” Seamus offered. “No one knows who would be stupid enough to come after Audra especially when she has Yakuza tattoos on her body”
“You get to mention her tattoo once and only once,” Ren reminded his friend. He didn’t like anyone seeing his woman’s semi nakedness but him even if they were his life long friends
“Ren,” Kendrik started. “I’m sorry to say that even with our resources we haven’t been able to find out who came after your woman and son.”
Ren wanted to punch or kill something. “We run this city and we can’t find one person who can tell me who the hell walked into my woman’s house and tried to hurt her and my son?!” he fumed. Standing, he started to pace. “Someone has to know something!”
“Have you considered that this attack might have something to do with whoever attacked her five years ago?” Kendrik asked.
“It’s crossed my mind,” Ren replied. It had more than crossed his mind. He had Hiro working all their contacts in Japan to see if he could come up with some answers about whoever had tried to kill Audra then.
“Why come out of the shadows now? Audra has been alive for a very long time.”
“But you have not been with her,” Bram commented.
Ren stopped pacing. “Audra and I didn’t reconnect until your wedding Bram.”
“Meaning whoever tried to kill her before must have realized they hadn’t succeeded and tried to do it again,” Bram told him.
“But who?” Ren questioned. “My rivals within the Yakuza?” He shook his head, “No one but my detail at the time knew of Audra.”
“No one knew about Sara and looked what happened there,” Bram said.
“So, you’re thinking it was someone on the inside?”
“That’s the only option,” Bram answered honestly. “You admitted yourself that only your detail knew about your relationship with Audra. If your enemies didn’t know then there’s no reason they would have come after her. But if someone in the organization knew and thought you were getting too close to her...” He trailed off, shrugging.
Ren knew where he was going with this. Some people in his organization were purist. Thought that the head should only have an equally balanced heir. In fact, he’d taken several of his Japanese detail into the training room his Uncle provided when he’d heard them disrespecting Audra. It meant he’d gone through a good number of men, but those that followed knew their life depended on them keeping their observations about the woman he loved to themselves.
“If that is the case, then there’s no telling who was behind the original attack and this newest one!”
“No there isn’t.” Bram replied. “And it could be someone you least expect. Look at my situation with Isadore. Who would have expected everything she did?”
“Anyone who knew the batshit crazy woman,” Kendrik replied.
“And to think when she was offered to you, you accepted,” Seamus replied, thanking his father every day that he hadn’t been offered the woman.
“Family obligations,” Bram replied.
“I would have killed her for you,” Seamus offered. “All you had to do was ask. It would have saved you and Sara a ton of trouble.”
“To know you would have killed for me is so sweet,” Bram smiled at his friend.
“Save that for the wife,” Seamus told him.
“How am I supposed to find a mole in an organization that spans two countries?” Ren asked, retaking his seat. Not only did it span two countries, but they had hundreds of soldiers, informants, and guards all around his family day in and out.
“Use Audra as bait,” Kendrik replied.
Ren would have slugged the man if he’d been standing.
“Before you threaten to cut my head off, which you are so fond of threatening, listen to what I have to say,” Kendrik said. “Whoever tried to kill Audra before has tried again. That means they want to clean up this mess before you start weeding people out. So, use Audra to draw them out.”
“I get what Kendrik is saying,” Bram replied. “I’d hate to agree to use her as bait... But you already have us and possibly Hiro looking into her attacks. And as you’ve already said, someone must know something. And as we dig deeper, this person is going to get more brazen. So, pull some of Audra’s security back. Let them think they can get to her and that you think the situation is all over because you can’t locate who’s behind it.”
“
Using my Hana as bait for someone who tried to kill her is not an idea I want to entertain,” Ren replied.
“It may be the only way to end this,” Seamus said simply.
Running his fingers though his hair, Ren was not sold on the idea even though it was logically sound.
“Are you gentlemen done?”
They all turned towards the voice.
“I believe we are,” Bram answered his wife.
Ren watched as Audra walked into the room. After their little give and take game this morning, she’d cleaned up and put on the marble colored wrap around dress. It hugged her curves making him want to take her to bed instead of the office. He reached out a hand to her, giving a sigh of relief when she walked over to him and took it. He pulled her onto his lap kissing her neck. “My Hana,” he breathed, as he listened to the women talk about the nursery, the babies, and what they had planned for the rest of the week.
Chapter Nine
Sinking into Ren as the elevator descended, Audra closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. It had been a long and emotional few days and the fact that she was back safely in Ren’s arms had her lost in a comfort she hadn’t known for many years. Opening her eyes as the elevator doors opened, Audra straightened. Once she was in the back of the car she would settle into Ren’s side and get a little bit of sleep before her son, in all his exuberance, told her about his day with his Grandfather. She knew a little about his day already from the call she’d made to the house after their friends departed. Iain had been so excited about the atrium and learning about his Grandmother Mieko, he hadn’t even taken a breath whilst talking. So she knew he was going to be extra talkative at dinner tonight. Walking from the building with her hand in Ren’s, and a small army surrounding them, Audra was about to get in the car when the first shot rang out and the guard to her left fell.
“GET DOWN!”
Before she could react, Ren had pulled her behind him, his gun in hand while shooting at the building they’d just exited. “Where’s -”
