Scandalously Expecting His Child

by Olivia Gates

  “Raiden-san, I truly expected better from you, far better. I never suspected you’d be so gullible that a woman like that could trick you into such a catastrophic position.”

  He pursed his lips. It was time to put him straight and end this. “Ms. Delacroix is a noble, courageous and benevolent woman, Takeo-sama, and I won’t allow even a hint of disrespect toward her. She is the woman I love, the mother of my future child and the one I’m going to marry.”

  Hashimoto now looked as if Raiden had hacked off his arm.

  Raiden exhaled forcibly. “I truly hoped we’d be family, Takeo-sama. I would have been honored to be your adopted son. But this will ultimately be for the best. I’m sorry I didn’t end this earlier, but circumstances dictated the timing. You beat me to this confrontation, but the result would have been the same no matter who instigated it.”

  Hashimoto sagged down to his chair as if Raiden had shot him between the eyes. “You can’t do this, Raiden-san... You can’t. I—I called you here to demand you end your liaison right away, send that woman...” At his warning glance, Hashimoto swallowed. “Send Ms. Delacroix out of Japan.”

  “And now you know why I came to see you.”

  “But even if you no longer care about entering our family, or about destroying our honor, there are billions at stake. For everyone. And everyone includes Yakuza bosses.”

  This brought Raiden to the edge of his seat. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Did you think a merger of this magnitude can happen without them insinuating themselves in it for a sizable piece of the pie? There are a dozen Yakuza branches counting on you becoming the head of our family, once this marriage comes through, and remains solid and producing heirs. But thanks to your lack of discretion, they found out about your liaison with Ms. Delacroix and were worried.”

  Before Raiden said everyone could go to hell for all he cared, Hashimoto drove his point home. “They are waiting like vultures for the mergers to occur so they’d have their commissions. They were already considering intervention to put an end to your liaison when they had no doubt you’d still marry Megumi. If they find out you won’t, Ms. Delacroix will become an obstacle in the path of their interests. They wouldn’t think twice about removing her from yours...permanently.”

  Nine

  Raiden stared down at the city of Tokyo, sizzling with light and nightlife, his uproar ratcheting with every breath.

  Unable to bear looking down anymore on this city where he’d once felt an intense sense of belonging, he closed the automatic blinds and crossed the penthouse in the dark.

  Not that he needed lights. He’d operated in darkness more than half his life. He’d needed nothing but his skills, his will and his brothers. To succeed, to excel, to survive.

  To live, he needed only Scarlett.

  Everyone kept telling him he couldn’t have her. His brothers, his uncle, society. All these didn’t matter. Their opinions could be either changed or disregarded.

  The Yakuza mattered. Their opinion was unchangeable.

  And they’d sent him his uncle with a simple message.

  Get rid of Scarlett, or they will.

  He’d thought he’d once known fear, as a helpless child in the hands of monsters. He hadn’t experienced its acrid taste since he’d become part of his brotherhood, had long forgotten the sensation. But he’d never known what fear really felt like. Now he knew. Fearing for her safety was unadulterated, sanity-destroying dread.

  His uncle had told him he wouldn’t make public Raiden’s intention to cancel the wedding and to marry Scarlett instead. Not until Raiden decided how to handle the Yakuza’s threat. Though he’d been angry and upset that Raiden had reneged on his promises, he was more worried about him.

  When Raiden, murderously angry, had told him he could protect himself and his own, his uncle had made valid arguments to the contrary.

  The Yakuza needed an ongoing merger to reap the benefits, the kind that came only from stable marriages and legitimate heirs. They’d already bought stock and placed bets depending on the marriage that wouldn’t come to pass. His relationship with Scarlett had already hurt their business, but they probably hadn’t removed her nuisance already since they expected Raiden to do as he was told, and they’d rather not alienate him unnecessarily. But if they thought they were losing him anyway, they’d have nothing at risk. Eliminating Scarlett would serve as a punishment to him, and a cautionary tale to anyone else who didn’t abide by their rules.

  He’d sworn to his uncle he would kill them all first.

  His uncle had only looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. Then he’d told him he’d do everything in his power to mollify them, to buy him time, until Raiden got his act together.

  Even in his maddened wrath, Raiden had known that his uncle was right. Killing them all wasn’t a viable option.

  He alone could eliminate a dozen Yakuza heads before the night was out. Enlisting his brothers’ help would widen his preemptive strikes by a factor of six. But there was no way they’d get everyone. The Yakuza were a cancer. Remove the main tumors and others sprouted in their place. There would be retaliatory hits sooner or later. Apart from keeping Scarlett hidden indefinitely, or changing her identity all over again, she’d always be in danger. Even if he disappeared with her, that still left his brothers. The Yakuza didn’t forget their vendettas, needed to demonstrate their lessons viciously to keep their future quarries in line. When their original target escaped them, they forced the target to surface by hitting at their nearest and dearest. If that didn’t work, they’d at least made an example that would ensure no one crossed them again.

  No. Neither striking first nor hiding was the answer. Too much was at stake. Everything was at stake.

  Scarlett was everything.

  Keeping her and their baby safe required a different mode of attack. And for that, he needed his brothers. All of them. This had to be planned with no margin of error. None.

  He entered his pitch-dark bedroom, knowing without needing to see that Scarlett was still out on his bed like the lights. Her scent enveloped him; her essence permeated him.

  Doing what he’d wanted to do before his fateful meeting with his uncle, he stripped, joined her on the bed, rid her of her own clothes and cocooned her in his body, as if he’d taken her inside him, where she’d be totally safe.

  He had to rest now, while she did.

  Tomorrow a war began.

  * * *

  Raiden woke up the moment she did.

  Keeping his eyes closed and his body relaxed, he hid the fact that he was awake, too. He needed her to go about her daily business as if nothing was different. The Yakuza would be watching both him and her more closely now that they’d sent their message. Yet he couldn’t alarm or distress her a moment before he had to. It already killed him that he would soon have to.

  He lay there on his side as she separated her precious flesh from his, as she’d been doing every morning, gently, careful not to disturb him. Then as if she couldn’t help herself, she pressed back to him for a moment, feathering his chest with kisses. His heart almost imploded.

  Pretending to turn in his sleep so she wouldn’t feel it thundering against her chest, he separated from her. A tiny sigh escaped her, a blissful little sound, as she placed a final kiss over his shoulder, then left the bed.

  In the fifteen minutes it took her to get ready to leave, he almost suffocated with a dozen conflicting urges. To drag her back to bed and drown in her, to grab her and run out of Japan and disappear, to tell her everything now, not later. But the main need remained to go out and take down as many of those who threatened her as possible. A need he knew would go unfulfilled. But he still swore he was adding those goons to his list of undetectable and unendurable punishments.

  But her safety came first, and last.


  As she exited the bedroom, he thought he heard her humming a song. His heart stopped to make sure he’d heard right, before it rocketed into a whole new level of turmoil. She’d never done anything so spontaneous around him. He’d never heard her sound so...cheerful. For the first time in her life, he believed she was happy.

  And he’d soon have to mar that happiness.

  The moment the penthouse door clicked closed behind her, he exploded from bed. In minutes, he’d set off the general alarm, set up a meeting with those of his brothers still in Japan, with the others joining them on videoconference.

  He needed a solution before this day was over.

  And he would have it.

  * * *

  “Which Yakuza bosses made this threat?”

  That was Numair, as usual the first one who spoke up with the most relevant question or comment after one of them made a report on a problem they were gathered to resolve.

  Raiden had made his investigations. He now knew where the threat was coming from. He told his brothers.

  All of them had intimate knowledge of every figure of power in the world, from heads of state to criminal masterminds. The names he’d just mentioned were among the most vicious.

  After a minute of silence, Richard was the first to talk. “Are you sure you want to antagonize those vipers? You Japanese people have this weird obsession with honor and ritual, your vendettas last centuries and it makes your criminals the most tenacious on the planet.”

  Raiden turned to hold the Englishman’s gaze. “I wouldn’t only antagonize the very devil for Scarlett, I’d die for her and take down anyone with me. But that’s why I gathered you all, to find another way that doesn’t include antagonizing them. I want this done gracefully and faultlessly, to ensure no fallout of any kind, ever.”

  “I’m missing something, it seems.”

  This was Jakob Wolff, their resident Norse god, as the media called him and as all women agreed. Having been given the codename Brainiac during their years with The Organization, he’d turned his weaponry and tech virtuosity into an R&D division that produced the next level of technology, probably Black Castle’s highest grossing. He and Raiden had always had their...differences.

  Jakob now looked out of the screen at him, his steel-hued eyes boring into Raiden’s. “I assume when you say you’d take down anyone with you, that includes us? And we should agree to that, why?”

  Raiden shot him a glance in lieu of a kakato-geri ax kick over his thick head. “Because you owe Scarlett your fortunes, your security and your very lives. Medvedev uncovered my identity and by association yours, and was coming after all of us. She almost sacrificed her own life taking him down. That’s why.”

  Jakob met his infuriated gaze in utmost composure. “Now, that’s a good reason. I thought you expected us to do that for you. My bad.”

  “Shut up, Brainiac.”

  Numair’s silky command got a dismissive grunt from Jakob. But he did break off the visual duel with Raiden. Numair would always remain their commander. They’d entrusted their lives to him when they’d been children, and no matter how they changed or how powerful they grew, they’d always take orders from him, and he would always have the last say.

  “What do you need us to do, Raiden?”

  That was Rafael, probably his closest brother, and the one Raiden had been reluctant to call, since he was a newlywed with a baby on the way, too. Raiden hadn’t wanted to take him from Eliana’s side. After that memorable encounter with her before their wedding in Brazil, where they’d settled down, he had a permanent soft spot for Rafael’s bride. Eliana was also just the kind of friend he wanted for Scarlett.

  “I want you to use every resource and connection at your disposal, call in all your favors and practice every pressure tactic to make sure it’s in the Yakuza’s best interests to forget Scarlett exists.”

  Rafael was the one who nodded immediately. Raiden could see the others thinking of the logistics of his demand, wheels turning in their heads as they planned its execution.

  Not that he even considered any of them would reject him. He knew they’d do all they could to help him. But he had to leave them in no doubt how grave the situation was.

  “If I can’t be assured of her total and permanent security, I won’t only relinquish my identity and fake my death and hers, like we did before, but when we resurface, to make sure all of us remain safe from retaliations, I won’t even tell you as whom. You’ll never see me again.”

  “And how can any of us live without your aggravation, Lightning?” That was Ivan, his tone teasing, but his eyes alarmed, unable to contemplate losing another of their own. Like they’d lost Cypher.

  Richard added his vote. “You and Rafael are the only reason I put up with this group of weasels and your moose of a leader. I’d do anything to keep you around, lad.”

  Richard’s comment was met with generalized snorts, before each man followed with his own pledge in his own way.

  “Losing one of us, even pains in the neck—” Numair’s gaze singled out Jakob “—or extra baggage—” his gaze flicked to Richard “—is never an option.” He stopped, no doubt remembering how they’d lost one of their brothers before, and hadn’t been able to do anything about it. Cypher had disappeared without a trace. They all carried guilt that would never go away for their roles in his loss. Numair exhaled. “As for your beloved...”

  “She’s my everything.” Raiden interjected forcefully. “And now she’s giving me even more than that. She’s carrying our miracle child.”

  Looking gratefully again at Antonio, the one who’d given him the best news of his life, he explained what made their baby such a miracle. His brothers took a minute to digest the new info before they bombarded him with their teasing and congratulations.

  He allowed himself those moments to accept yet another form of his brothers’ support, his heart stuttering at realizing he was beginning to feel like a proud—and insanely anxious—father.

  Then came Numair’s summation, the decree they’d all abide by. “We would have scorched the earth for Scarlett, just because she’s yours. But now we know she almost sacrificed herself for you, and us by association, and we know what she suffered because of her sacrifice, what it almost cost her, and you, anyone daring to threaten her will pay. Long after they back down.” Numair looked around, getting corroborating nods from everyone. Nodding in turn, he drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair as he sat forward, as he used to when a direction was settled and it was time to drum out details. “Now let’s see how we’ll make the Yakuza offer to guard Scarlett and your baby with their lives, for life.”

  For the next three hours they discussed every detail and possibility, and came up with a plan. Then Ivan and Antonio left, and the others signed out of the videoconference, each going to initiate his part in the tapestry of manipulation.

  Numair stayed behind a few minutes longer to make sure Raiden wouldn’t postpone the first thing he had to do.

  Pain crushed his heart as he conceded the necessity of that action. It was the hardest thing Raiden would ever do. Giving the Yakuza what they were now waiting for.

  And he had to make it look convincing.

  * * *

  The first thing Scarlett noticed as she walked into the downtown office was the avid looks everyone gave her.

  She’d already been drawing extreme interest since Raiden had first come for her here. And that was before they’d learned who the god who regularly swept her away in his chariot was.

  But now they were making no attempt to hide that they were talking about her. Gossip was a paramount pastime around here, even more than anywhere else in the world she’d been, and she’d already been the subject of the mandatory form, as a gaijin who looked the way she did. But now she couldn’t understand the reason for their sudden in-your-face nosiness.
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  She didn’t wonder long. Finding Hiro waiting for her in her office explained everything.

  Hiro was the second billionaire who’d come for her in as many weeks. Not only that, but she’d recently learned he was one who was considered a hero of the people, a man who had left his father’s path in crime and made himself into a major power in Japan out of nothing. And while it was common knowledge they were friends, her colleagues had only heard about this, as they always met outside of their respective workplaces. For him to be here must be the stuff of folktales to them.

  She was happy to see him as usual, and just truly, deliriously happy for the first time in her life. Her lips spread wide as she rushed toward him. Deciding to give her openly watching colleagues more to gossip about, no doubt all over the cyberspace everyone here practically lived in, she hugged him exuberantly. She thought a few took photos.

  She pulled away, still holding Hiro by the arms. “To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?”

  “You won’t think it wonderful when you know why I’m here.”

  It was then she noticed his pained expression, her delight turning to concern. “Is something wrong with you? With Megumi?”

  Hiro gave a difficult nod. “There is something terribly wrong. Something she and I are guilty of.”

  “For God’s sake, Hiro, just tell me what it is.”

  Looking as if he’d choke on guilt, Hiro stood with shoulders slumped. “That night of the ball, one of my guards told me he saw you and Kuroshiro arriving at the garden house one after the other. Afterward, you were...different, and I just knew it was because of him. So I followed you. The moment I became certain that the two of you had something going on, I told Megumi.”

  She gaped at him. That was out of left field. She’d never suspected he suspected a thing. Went to show how totally blinded by Raiden she was. She was unable to see anything but him.