by E A Hunt
“Damn,” Joanne said, flustered.
“Having issues?” Audra asked. She needed to figure out a way to get this chick to at least loosen her hand ties.
“Shut up!” Joanne hollered and redialed her phone. “I can’t believe they aren’t answering. I told them I would call once I had you,” she said, as she listened to the phone ring.
Audra laughed. “Maybe they’re hanging you out to dry,” she observed. “Once you end me, Ren will know it was you and he will kill you and then they’ll be free and clear.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” Joanne defended, dialing her phone once again. “They love me,” she insisted, still listening to the phone ring.
“Love you? Really?” Audra questioned. “If they loved you, they would answer your call. They would help you with this, since it seems like it was all their idea.” Audra was sure that there was no way Joanne had come up with this all on her own. It was too laid out. Not only had Joanne taken out her guards but she’d done it with some sort of sleeping pill. Which wasn’t easy to get in the amount she needed for guards who were the size of mountains.
“You’re talking to me about love?” Joanne questioned and laughed. “You left the man you love thinking you were dead. Then you had his child in secret.” She shook her head, “That ain’t love. That’s you being selfish.”
“No, that’s me surviving for myself and my child.” Audra countered. She would not allow this woman to tell her how she should love Ren. “I know Ren was hurt when he thought I was dead. And if I could take back what I did I would. But I can’t - all I can do is love Ren and our child with all of my heart and be better for them in the future.”
“Nice speech. It would mean something if -”
“Ugh,” Audra spat as Joanne’s blood spattered on her face. “That’s so disgusting,” she said as she watched Joanne fall to the floor with a hole in the middle of her head. Looking up, she smiled at her man. “We will have to have this place cleansed before anyone moves in.”
Pulling out his knife, Ren nodded. “We’ll have it cleansed and blessed,” he replied, walking over to her. He cut her ties then pulled her into his arms. “I am so glad you are safe.”
“So am I,” Audra replied as she wrapped her arms around him. “The boys?” she questioned.
“I have our doctor Carl caring for them. According to Carl they should be all right,” he told her, bending to kiss her hair. “Come, let’s get you cleaned up.”
That sounded like the best idea Audra had ever heard.
Picking up the samurai sword that had been passed down through the generations, Ren rotated it as he walked around his training room. He took his fighting stance, practicing a few swings before he started to rotate his sword once more. He moved around the room waiting for Kenzi and Hiro to come up for air. A sinister smile graced his face. Neither were aware that Joanne, and Rico; who his men had found hiding in Joanne’s apartment, hadn’t succeeded in killing Audra, according to the guard he’d placed on them. Neither had left Kenzi’s room and they hadn’t checked their phones either, which the guard said were still in the library. Their assigned guard had wanted to answer their phones when they were ringing every five minutes, but he hadn’t wanted to alert either of them to his presence. Ren had been glad the guard was thinking because Joanne hadn’t. That was how he got the drop on the woman. He’d come up the back stairs listening to Audra tell the deranged woman how much she, Audra, had loved him and how she regretted her mistake. He couldn’t regret what she had done because she had protected herself and their son from his sister and her lover. Fate had intervened and like always had got its way.
“Ren?”
He turned at the sound of his sister’s confused voice. He knew why she was confused. It was very rare that he called anyone to his training room. This was his place to work through his issues and his frustrations not somewhere to have a conversation or make deals. “Kenzi” Ren acknowledged. He stopped rotating the sword as he stepped into the middle of the training room.
“Is there something wrong?” Kenzi questioned. Once she’d opened her room, she’d been informed that Ren wanted to see her in the training room. She’d been ready to tell the guard she would see Ren later but the look on the man’s face told her that wasn’t an option.
“Is there something wrong?” Ren mimicked. There were a lot of things wrong. But he wasn’t going to name them until Hiro, who’d snuck out of Kenzi’s room ten minutes ago, was beside her.
“Ren, Kenzi?” Hiro acknowledged, walking into the training room.
“I’m glad both of you could join me,” Ren said, walking towards them.
“I’m not sure we had a choice,” Hiro replied. He’d opened his bedroom door to a guard giving him no way to refuse Ren’s request.
“There is always the choice to refuse,” Ren replied as he circled them. “Some refusals are good, and some are bad,” he finished, coming to stand before the two of them. He looked them in the eyes.
“Ren -” Hiro didn’t get a chance to finish his statement before Ren removed his head from his body. He turned towards his sister and held the sword, still dripping with Hiro’s blood, out to her.
“You took Audra and Iain from me.”
“She wasn’t worthy,” Kenzi replied stubborn to the end.
“That wasn’t your call,” Ren replied.
“It was my call when I saw what you were about to do. Bring her here. Make her your Queen. She didn’t deserve it, she never did.”
“But you do?” Ren asked sharply.
“I’ve always deserved it,” Kenzi answered arrogantly.
Ren stepped back.
“People who deserve places of importance work for them. They don’t kill for what they think they deserve,” Audra said as she walked around Kenzi to come stand beside Ren.
She’d been at Nelle’s cleaning up when she realized she needed to be here at her home taking care of Kenzi herself. So, while Nelle kept Seamus busy, she’d snuck out and come home.
“What world are you living in?! We are Yakuza. We kill for what we want,” Kenzi replied. “I wanted the throne and you would have kept me from it.”
“You care nothing for the fact that a woman is dead for your greed?” Audra asked.
“My greed? There is no greed just power. I wanted the power and so did Hiro. Joanne was just a lonely spinster looking for the happily ever after. Hiro and I gave her what she craved and all she had to do was kill you.” Kenzi shook her head. “I should have known she couldn’t do that right. She was always whining, asking if we loved her. God it was so exhausting.”
“And so are you,” Audra countered, removing the sword from Ren’s hand. “Say ‘hello’ to Joanne and Hiro in hell,” she said before removing Kenzi’s head from her body.
“Yuck. I have blood all over me again.” Audra said, dropping the sword.
“Come let’s get cleaned up together,” Ren replied, scooping up his woman. “While in the shower we’ll work on a brother for Iain.”
“Sounds yummy” Audra purred.
Epilogue
Watching his brothers dance with their women, in Bram and Sara’s case with a baby, and in Ren and Audra’s with the happiest little boy he’d ever seen, had a smile gracing Kendrik’s face. They all deserved the happiness they had with the women in their arms. Taking a sip of his drink, Kendrik turned from the happy couples and headed out onto the balcony of the hall where they were holding Iain’s fifth birthday party. According to Japanese culture it was an important birthday. It meant the child was no longer a baby and was heading into childhood before leading to adulthood. It meant a huge celebration - one which the Tsao’s clearly deserved.
Taking a sip of his gin and tonic, Kendrik released a breath. It had been an interesting four months for The Four. The Tsao’s had found a trusted solider to run the Yakuza in Japan. Audra’s design business had picked up and Iain had skipped another grade. They’d also found out that Audra was pregnant with another son and everyone
was excited for the birth. He smiled into his glass. The Tsao’s had also got married in Japan in a beautiful ceremony that everyone had attended while cherry blossoms rained on the delighted couple.
While in Japan, Seamus and Nelle had announced they were having twins while Bram and Sara had announced their own pregnancy - even though little Ana wasn’t yet a year old. Bram had confessed it was an ‘oops’ baby, but no child was an oops and they all knew it.
Kendrik was a little envious of his brothers in arms. Each man had a beautiful woman on their arm while he was the last to find a woman who could handle this life. Bram, Seamus, and Ren had been lucky that all their women were strong and fearless. They knew this life but only cared about being there for their husbands.
Looking out over the expansive green of the lawn behind the hall, Kendrik knew a woman like the ones his friends had wasn’t easy to find. But Fate would present her to him. He knew she would. He just had to give her time and hope she hadn’t forgotten about him the next time she placed a woman in the path of the final member of The Four.
Coming Attractions
Love’s Little Surprises: Jean Carlo and Anya
Shifter Chronicles: The Hart’s – William and Martina
Viktor and Peter (The Cage – Book Two)
Contact EA Hunt
[email protected]
