Scandalously Expecting His Child(74)

                Saying goodbye in her heart, because hope was more mutilating than despair, she turned and walked away from him.





                                      Ten

                Raiden watched Scarlett walk away                     unsteadily, passing through her colleagues, feeling as if his life force was                     draining out of his body with her every receding step.

                Now that everyone realized this was for real, that he’d just                     sent her away, their yammering curiosity turned to vocal concern. Some strode by                     her side, anxiously asking if they could help, if she needed anything. The way                     she waved away their interest and offers of help told him she was barely holding                     herself upright and together. He wanted to roar for everyone to leave her alone,                     but had to stand there and suffer every heartbreaking second of her                     disappearance.

                The moment he could no longer see her, he turned away,                     struggling with the tears that surged from his depths. He didn’t want one of                     those people catching a photo of him in this condition. It might undermine all                     he was trying to do.

                Getting his phone out, he called Steve, went over the details                     of the next few days. The specific bodyguards assigned to Scarlett’s constant                     guard duty, the protocols they’d follow, the hourly reports they’d relay to him                     and everything else that ensured she’d have security no head of state ever                     had.

                Afterward, he stood there, in the office that was no longer                     hers, waiting for Steve to take her away from him, struggling not to run out                     after her, come what may. Letting her go was the hardest test of his control                     ever.

                But he had to do it. He had to make the Yakuza think he’d given                     her her marching orders. And he had to do it where people would witness it and                     run to make it public knowledge.

                He didn’t know how long it would be before the plan he’d                     concocted with his brothers worked, and worked perfectly. And the next two                     weeks, until the date of his supposed wedding, were the most dangerous time for                     Scarlett to remain here.

                After the threat had been made, her continued presence,                     especially now that her pregnancy was a widespread scandal, would be considered                     a direct danger to the Yakuza’s interests, and a flaunting of their displeasure.                     The Yakuza might consider both transgressions worthy of a disciplinary                     strike.