Scandalously Expecting His Child(66)

                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.