"Nao," she called softly. "Akiko wanted me to give you her regards."
Nao shifted uneasily in his sleep, a frown chasing across his face.
"Did you think she wouldn't keep an eye on you? She doesn't like that you would attempt to harm the rest of her family."
Nao scowled and batted at the air. "Go away." His hand fluttered in midair and then dropped to his chest. "Stop coming here."
There was some satisfaction in knowing that Akiko was still on Nao's mind. Ricco pressed his knee into the mattress to help wake him. The movement caused the man to thump his fist into the pillow and scrunch his eyes closed tighter.
"Go away, Akiko. You're dead."
"Yes," Mariko said. "I'm dead. You killed me. That means I can come visit you anytime I want to. You've been sending men after my sister to kill her. I don't like that. Wake up and look at me." She put command into her voice.
Nao's eyelids fluttered and then he forced himself to peek at her. His sudden inhale was audible and his eyes widened with shock. He reached behind him for the crosspiece running along the four posts, gripped with both fists and pulled himself into a sitting position, the entire time staring at her. He fumbled for a moment and then hit a button. The large panels on either side of the headboard lit up, throwing a dim light across the room.
"Who are you?"
"Mariko. Akiko's sister. Where is my brother, Ryuu?"
Ricco was proud of the low demand in her voice. She didn't overplay it or act theatrical, she just stated the truth softly.
"How the fuck should I know where your twisted wreck of a brother is? That double-crossing bastard stole my companies' research right out from under me. Hacked into our computers and then got his company the patents without doing any of the work. Osamu put him up to it. Feeding him lies about me, blaming me for Eiji's and Hachiro's deaths. She never wanted to believe they threatened my family if I didn't go with them."
"Where is he?" Mariko persisted.
"Get out of my bedroom before I call the cops." As Nao gave the order, he reached for the phone beside his bed. Ricco's hand was there first, so Nao's fingers tried gripping his. Nao's head swung around and he gasped in alarm. "Ricco Ferraro."
"Not dead, Nao. Wet work didn't suit your team of assassins."
"I heard your father died."
Ricco nodded. "He did. No one else."
"That's too bad."
Nao grinned, looking both sly and evil. Ricco didn't like that his attention kept straying to Mariko. He wanted Nao's entire focus on him at all times. There was just something nagging at him, something he couldn't put his finger on, but he was worried. He didn't want Mariko anywhere near Nao or danger, and he sensed they were all in danger.
"Where's Ryuu?" He kept his voice low but commanding.
"I told you, I have no idea." Nao gripped the bar behind him tightly and dragged himself into a very upright sitting position. He glanced at the bell on his nightstand, the one that presumably called his caretaker, but made no move toward it. Instead, he clasped his arms behind his head and leaned back, his eyes on Mariko.
"Osamu told me you'd fuck Ricco. You really are a little slut just like your mother. Osamu and the other women did their best to tell your father, but he wouldn't listen. He was weak. We didn't need weak riders. We can't tolerate weak riders. It was our job to weed them out."
"Whose job?" Stefano spoke for the first time, and Nao's head swiveled to face the new threat.
Ricco watched him closely. Nao had that same superior look he remembered so vividly in his nightmares from his teenage years.
Nao leaned toward Stefano. "All of us. All riders. We can't allow the gene pool to grow weak. It should be pure."
"Pure?" Stefano echoed, one eyebrow shooting up. "Pure what?"
"Not tainted by weak men or women."
"Akiko defeated you," Ricco reminded. "I was there. I saw what she did. You couldn't take that a woman was stronger than you."
"She wasn't stronger." Nao spat the words at him, glaring now, his famous temper rising. "She was slutty, just like her mother. I heard the talk about Tanaka. What a worm he was. Throwing away greatness. His name. His honor. All for what?" He sneered the last as he looked at Mariko. "A whore."
"She wasn't a whore," Ricco said softly, his voice so low Nao swung his head back toward that thread of a sound. "We investigated her, just as your father's family would have done before he married her." He didn't look at Mariko, he couldn't. He knew he was revealing far too much. She would know his family had investigated her. "Marie Hammond was a good woman, not a whore. Osamu and the other women were jealous that Daiki Tanaka married her instead of one of them, and they were vicious, turning everyone against her. The lies Osamu told Chiharu caused her to turn on Marie."