by Koko Brown
“Oshun,” she heard Aesop’s voice calling through her loud heartbeats pounding in her ears. “This is Masaki, the leader of the Canarsie Yakuza family.”
She watched as Aesop extended a hand to the man, giving him a friendly dap before continuing his introduction. “Masaki, this is the leader of the Brownsville Council, Oshun.”
There was an awkward silence in the room. Neither of them saying a word, their eyes locked on one another, forgetting about their business companions who were now standing on either side of Oshun.
“Izzy, ‘Sop,” Masaki called to the two men standing beside her, but kept his eyes fixed on hers. “Please leave the lady and I to discuss things amongst ourselves.”
Aesop leaned down and whispered quietly in her ear, “You wit’ it?”
She nodded, giving him permission to take his leave. Aesop stood still next to her, looking back and forth between she and Masaki.
“I promise no harm will come to her in my company, ‘Sop.”
With that, Aesop took his leave. She remained standing in front of the table uncertain of what to say. She’d never wanted to find this, had given herself every excuse in the book for why Masaki’s company would be involved with the Yakuza. All the excuses except for the one answer sitting in front of her now.
“I guess I understand now why you gave me such a hard time about moving in.”
She yanked the chair out from under the table, and sat down in it.
“Was this a setup all along? Were you playing me this whole time? Was this just about taking over my community?”
He leaned forward quickly, planting his forearms on the table as he glared at her.
“If I had known who you were…,” his voice trailing off, leaving her to wonder what the other end of that thought was. Would he have walked away from her? Could he have? She’d been trying to loosen his hold on her since they’d met three months ago. Would it have been so easy for him to cut his losses and move on?
“This was not my doing, Oshun. I didn’t know, but I have a feeling you did. You’ve been jumpy as hell since I found you at the scene of the fire. You even attempted to cut me loose. Was it because you knew who I was?”
She shook her head. “I suspected you had some kind of involvement with the Yakuza when you told me you owned AAM. I thought they might be using you for a front. I didn’t think you were actually running the damn organization.”
They sat quietly in their chairs, both seeming at a loss for the right words to deal with this situation.
“What do we do now, Masaki? How do we move on from here?”
She was proud of the even control of her voice. It surprised her. If he could sense the tremors cresting and crashing on her insides, he’d have known how afraid she really was.
This man could ruin her and her community. The worst part was she’d given him the ammunition.
“I can’t let you destroy my community by bringing drugs and violence back into its borders.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he snapped. The sharp tone forced her to focus on him, instead of the mounting apprehension swirling in her gut. “I don’t deal in the drug trade. It’s too risky, and the officials I have in my pocket wouldn’t be able to remain loyal to me if I dealt in drugs.”
She assessed him carefully, hoping to see if she’d learned enough about him to know when he was lying or not. His eyes were focused steadily on hers, his words were direct, and his breath even.
He wasn’t lying.
Then what the hell is this all about?
“Oshun, drugs are not my family’s business.”
“What exactly is your family’s business then?” Her question drew a crooked smile from him, making her pulse quicken. Here they were, engaged in a conversation that could impact the lives of thousands, and he still found the time to be so damn sexy it made her blood bubble with desire.
“That’s something only family should know. Don't you think?”
She eased back in her chair, attempting to process the unfolding events. She’d somehow missed the fact that her lover was the head of an enemy faction, and now the reason she thought they were about to go to war seemed nonexistent. None of this made much sense.
“If I’m to be completely honest, Masaki,” she answered, “I don’t know what to think.”
FIVE
“None of this is making sense to me either, Oshun.” She felt his gaze weigh on her as he watched her stand up and slip into a smooth rhythm, pacing back and forth. He stood up and fell into rhythm alongside her as he continued the conversation. “I can’t speak for Aesop, but Izzy has been loyal to me, and to my family, since we were kids. You on the other hand have been lying to me since you met me.”
His words and proximity halted her motion, making her tilt her head back slowly to gaze up at him. She’d always loved the fact he was taller, his wide shoulders and chest making her feel protected and secure every time he held her. But, standing here now, the near-closed slits of his eyes coupled with the flat line of his mouth made her tremble with a strange mixture of fear and desire.
Get your shit together, Oshun. This is your territory. You are Brooklyn born, Brooklyn strong. No man can take that from you.
Committed to holding her footing in this conversation, she crossed her arms against her chest. Glaring at him, she pushed the uncertainty plaguing her down into the pit of her stomach.
“Exactly what did you expect me to say, Mas? Hello, my name is Oshun and I run a crime syndicate that’s determined to destroy yours.”
She threw up her hands in frustration, walked away from him, and resumed her pacing. Movement helped her think, and more than ever she needed her brain power to kick in.
“I just don’t buy it,” he said. “Why would you move in with me when you already suspected I was involved with the Yakuza? It doesn’t make sense.”
His voice was distant, almost quiet. She couldn’t tell if he were talking to her, or directing his question to himself. It wasn’t until she turned around and saw the distinct blend of anger and hurt blazing in his eyes that she understood he wanted an answer from her.
“My intel on you came back clean. And the truth is, I wanted to believe you were clean. I wanted to forget about my business life for once and focus on how good it felt to be with you.”
And it had felt good. The truth, being with Masaki, being treasured, being treated as if she were something precious and meaningful, quieted the screams of her sins in the dark of night. Being with him made her forget about the ugly blemishes on her soul.
She’d known better, but she would’ve done anything to keep that feeling, even lie to herself about the possibility of who Masaki was.
“I knew allowing myself to become deeply involved with you was a bad idea, but I didn’t care. It didn’t matter as long as I got to be with you.”
She watched him step carefully toward her. When he reached her, he stood quietly looking down at her. His proximity made her uneasy. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was a threat to her, or if it was because he was close enough for her to smell the woodsy fragrance of his aftershave.
The mild, but spicy aroma called to her, making her want to lean in and bury her nose in the strong curve of his neck. She shook her head attempting to clear it, but breaking free of the hold he had on her seemed impossible.
“Why would being with me matter that much to you, Oshun?” He pulled a hand from his pocket, lifting a single finger, using it to slide away an errant lock that fell over her eye. “You’ve fought me from day one. Why was it so important to be with me now?”
She tried to dip her head, to break free from him gaze. But, he lifted her chin with his finger, keeping their eyes locked together, demanding she answer his question.
“Because even though getting close to you was a bad idea, the thought of being without you made me ache.”
He cupped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him. The firm grip keeping her excited yet apprehensive a
t the same time.
You never let an enemy get this close to you. She knew this. She had the means to defend herself resting at the small of her back. But even with this knowledge, she still went willingly to him.
“You’re right. This was a bad idea.”
His words pulled a heavy sigh from her chest. He was right. She’d echoed those same words only moments before. However, hearing them cross his lips, hearing them from the man who’d always had endless hope where their relationship was concerned, felt like a heated, sharpened blade slicing through her heart.
She cleared her throat as she stepped away from him. Closing her eyes tightly to hold back the emotions she knew were clouding them, she took a calming breath.
“We can figure out this personal shit later, Mas. Right now, we gotta get outta here.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s settled,” he answered, making her heart sink even further inside her chest.
“Agreed,” she answered. He’d made his decision, and she couldn’t blame him. There was no sense in focusing on the obvious. There was no way they could continue being lovers, not with warring criminal enterprises to consider. “What’s the plan now, Mas?”
He pointed to himself as he shook his head. “You’re seriously asking me? You started this bullshit, and now it’s my job to fix it?”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Masaki.” Yes, she’d been the first to attack. But, he’d been the first to show aggression by moving into her territory without showing the slightest bit of deference to her and her people.
“You know, I extended an invitation to you months ago. I had Izzy find out the lay of the land, and he connected with your boy ‘Sop. If you’d just agreed to the first meeting, where I offered you a very lucrative cut for access to your streets, none of this would’ve happened.”
He threw his hand in the air in marked exasperation. A gesture she was finding hard to understand considering his plan had been to take over her community.
“Instead, you answered my kind gesture with an attack on my site. The shit we’re in the middle of is your fault dear, not mine. It was never my intention to make this a war zone. It doesn’t benefit either of us. I even extended myself again, something I don’t do, just because I wanted to protect Brownsville from the bloody war you’ve been doing your best to start.”
His words didn’t make sense. He was speaking English, her native tongue, but what his words implied didn’t make sense at all.
“Why would you extend my council and my people any courtesies?” she asked. “If you didn’t know I was the person on the other side of the curtain until I walked in here, why would you go out of your way to try to make peace?”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
He sat back down at the table and motioned for her to join him. When she was seated, he leaned in across the table and gently placed his hand atop hers. The confusion she’d felt since she found him sitting in this room began to dissipate as she latched on to the truth that shone brightly in his eyes.
“I knew the club was in the hot zone. I didn’t want you to wind up a casualty. So, I decided to make a deal for peace instead.”
She felt herself swaying to the soft lull of comfort his hand against her skin provided. Too afraid of compromising herself further, she stood up and planted her hands firmly on the table.
“If what you say is true, Mas, something is terribly wrong. Because I never received any messages from you about peace or otherwise.”
He shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he stared at her.
“That can’t be possible. Izzy said he was there when ‘Sop told you, and you refused.”
She focused hard on his words. Something about them seemed wrong.
“‘Sop? That’s mighty familiar for someone you’ve just met.”
“Just met? I’ve known ‘Sop now since we initially broached the subject of leasing your streets. That’s how I know Izzy was telling the truth about meeting with you. ‘Sop was standing next to Izzy when I got the report. He confirmed everything Izzy said.”
Her chest tightened, and her stomach felt as if she’d fallen twenty stories.
“Oshun, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is I’ve never met Izzy before today, and I sure as hell have never had this conversation you’re referring to. I don’t know anything about an invitation to meet and talk business. If Aesop and Izzy say I did, they’re lying.”
He stood up, walking around to her side of the table. “Why would they lie?” he asked.
She pulled her gun from its holster, removed the safety, and cocked it. “I don’t know,” she answered. “But I’m sure as hell not sticking around here to find out.”
SIX
Masaki pulled the weapon he’d had holstered at his back. He followed Oshun’s suit, cocking his gun, and making certain he was prepared for anything that came at them.
He watched her take two steps toward the door when the room became shrouded in darkness. He pulled out his phone and tapped the flashlight app on. Once he could find Oshun in the room, he stepped in front of her, taking the lead to the door.
How had he let this happen? How hadn’t he seen Izzy for the conniving son of a bitch he’d become? They’d been friends since birth, raised as brothers. How could someone he trusted so much deceive him like this?
Masaki still couldn’t figure out what Izzy’s end game was. What would starting a war do for him? Even if Masaki had gone to war with Oshun and the Brownsville Council, how was that supposed to benefit his second-in-command?
“It looks like our comrades have plans for us. Any idea what those plans might entail?” he asked.
Oshun remained quiet until they reached the door, shaking her head when she leaned against the door frame.
“I haven’t the slightest,” she answered. “I have no idea what Aesop could be after. War with you would only hurt us. Even if his plan was to take my place, he’d have to deal with the rest of the Council, and worse yet, my father.”
He readjusted the angle of the phone to find the door knob.
“I can’t think of a reason why Izzy would want to do this either?”
“Does he want your spot?” she asked.
“He might.” He shrugged. “But he’s not going to tell me that. Not to mention, taking me out doesn’t guarantee he’d get top spot. I’m just the boss of this region. Any admin within the organization is hand-picked by an Oyabun, the big boss.”
He watched as Oshun pointed toward the door. “Can you hear what’s going on out there?”
Masaki leaned his head against the door and listened for movement. It was late when they’d entered the diner, so only a few patrons remained. He could hear the owner’s distinct baritone voice directing the handful of people, made up of diners and staff still present, out of the diner, asking them to walk calmly to the illuminated exit sign.
“The owner is getting everyone out,” he offered. “I don’t hear many steps, there can’t be but a few people out there.” He went to open the door and she placed her hand on top of his, stopping him.
“They could be waiting for us to open the door.”
She was right. He was certain there was some sort of ambush planned. He just had no clue what it was. This wasn't out of any playbook Masaki encountered. This was something totally new.
“I don’t think Izzy and Aesop are still in the dining area. With no windows in this private dining room, there’s really no way to tell if they’re still out there. But, this room is in the back, and they’d have to walk through the rest of the diner to get to us. It may be black in here, but there are windows throughout the rest of the diner. The streetlights outside would keep the diner lit enough for witnesses to see.”
Oshun nodded her head. Apparently, he was making sense to her, if only any of this made sense to him.
Whatever Izzy’s plan was, Masaki was going to make sure his underling lost his life before it came to fruition. He’d broken the father-son code of the Yak
uza. There was no coming back from that.
“You think they’re outside waiting for us?”
“That would be my guess,” Masaki answered. “The parking lot is empty this time of night. Between the big windows in the diner, and the few cars in the open parking lot, there’s not much coverage.”
They were sitting ducks in this private dining room. They couldn’t see, which meant their ability to protect themselves was jeopardized.
“All right,” she said, her clipped tone pulling his attention to her. “Crack the door.”
He did as she said, and watched as she crawled through the doorway on her hands and knees. Staying low to the ground was a smart move. The windows stopped at the height of the tables. If someone was outside looking in, they’d need to be elevated to see them.
He followed her, closing the door quickly behind them to prevent tipping off prying eyes. They made it to the foyer. Enclosed completely in glass, there was nowhere for them to hide. Both coming to the same silent conclusion, they stood up and readied their weapons.
The side of the parking lot they entered was isolated. There were two vehicles in the middle of it, making the open space seem larger and more daunting than ever before.
A shrill squeal of tires filled the air, placing Masaki’s senses on alert. He pushed Oshun in the direction of a large SUV, and they both took off running.
As they sprinted toward the vehicle, Masaki heard bullets being fired through a suppression device somewhere in the parking lot.
Contrary to popular belief, silencers didn’t actually silence firearms. They only took the firecracker bang out of them. If you were close enough, you could hear the muted thwap, thwap sound of shots being fired through the air.
Masaki heard glass shatter around them. He didn’t have time to look to see what direction the bullets were coming from, he just needed to get him and Oshun behind the large SUV for cover.
Heart racing, breath coming in heavy huffs, Masaki fought to focus. He needed to figure out which direction the bullets were coming from. A quick peak around the vehicle, and he saw a flash of light coming from a sedan on Linden Boulevard.
