“Mrs. Takahashi, I need you ladies to come with me. There’s a situation outside.”
“Where’s my husband?” I ask, trying not to panic.
Daiki smiles at me. “Your husband is fine. The men will be in shortly, but if you will all follow me.”
Nikita helps Cleo stand as she holds Emily.
“Let’s go.” Cleo sighs as she and Nikita fall into step with Daiki.
“I don’t like this,” I whisper to Miya.
“Neither do I,” she murmurs back.
We make our way into the safe room, and the guard seals us and himself in.
“Might as well get comfortable.” Cleo sighs as she sits. “I just wanted one day of normalcy.”
“Normal is boring,” I say lightly, trying to choke down my worry.
What the hell is happening?
* * *
“You knowI heard that Ricardo is planning to present his daughter this year at the Gala?” Kai tells me as Declan and Kenji hold their own conversation. Kado is at the edge of the roof looking down.
Fuck, I hope the big guy doesn’t jump. All the women are fond of him. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking, though. Especially with him being mute. The only way he communicates is through his phone or writing. He doesn’t even know sign language.
“I heard. Are you thinking about putting one of your men forward?” I ask.
Kai shakes his head, “Nah. As much as it would be nice having them at my back, I can’t trust them. The cartels are too volatile. For all I know, they could send the girl to us only to have her slit his throat in the middle of the night. Then I’d be on the hook for the deal, and the girl would be dead.”
I nod. “I offered Declan to go in my place again. He has expressed that he never wants to marry, so naturally I have to thrust him into every situation that discusses marriage to annoy the hell out of him.”
Kai chuckles. “He hasn’t caught on yet?”
I shake my head. “He still thinks I’m going to force him to marry. Those rules are archaic. I wouldn’t have a problem with it if both parties agreed, but I won’t force anyone to get married if they don’t want to.”
“Falling in love has made you soft, Callum.” Kai snorts.
I shake my head. “I don’t see you forcing your men to marry either, Haruaki.”
He gives one short nod. “My men do not have many freedoms in this life. If this is one I can give them, I happily do it. With that being said, I would force them if I had to.”
“Let’s hope you never have to.” I hold out my glass for him to clink with his.
He clinks it before taking a swig.
I’m about to change the subject when Kado comes running over. He points at the sky.
I squint, trying to see what he sees.
“Oh fuck.” Kenji jumps up, causing the rest of us to as well. We all have our weapons drawn within a second as the item grows larger.
“Is that a fucking helicopter?” I hiss.
“It is, and this is a no-fly zone. Declan, are you sure that date of yours isn’t up to no good?” Kai asks.
Declan snarls, “This isn’t her. She hasn’t even had contact with anyone outside our people since she moved in.”
