Shadow Reaper (Shadow #2)(53)

"How is that?" It was true. He couldn't deny it. He knew he had a concussion. The doctor had said so. His head wouldn't stop pounding and if he didn't move his head, he could focus, otherwise his vision was impaired.



"Your way of thinking is really messed up right now and not at all like your normal way of thinking. You don't want a woman in your life for more than a night or two. It's a way of life for you, changing women the way other men change their shirts."



He winced because everything she said was the truth. Until now. Until she'd come into his life and turned it upside down. Until he knew the woman coming to kill him had to belong to him. He was born for her. To love her. To cherish her. To spend his life shielding her from men like the one who had taken her brother.



"Stefano told me my idiot way of living would come back to bite me." He hissed the last few words through clenched teeth. His head hurt like a son of a bitch. "You asked about Nicoletta." Changing the subject was the only safe path.



"You and Vittorio were willing to die to save her. That was twice that you fought for her. Who is she?"



"She's a woman capable of producing riders. That's rare, as you well know."



She shrugged. "None of the riders I grew up with would have done that for me."



       
         
       
        



"That isn't true. They might not have shown any interest, but I can guarantee, they'll be very upset that I have you here with me." He waited for her to protest, but when she remained silent, he continued, this time musing aloud. "If it was another rider who took your brother, they would have come after me themselves. Why involve you? Or take the risk of kidnapping your brother? I saw you out there tonight. You're as good as a rider gets. Of course, coming from the Tanaka lineage, you would be."



Her head snapped up, her eyes moving over his face, probing for the truth. For the distinctive sound of a lie. "A Tanaka? Why would you think such a thing? That lineage is revered in my country. Everyone knows the tragedy."



"Do they? Tell me."



"Daiki Tanaka married a woman from another country and had one child, a girl, Akiko. She was on her way to being as great a rider as her father when she died in a car accident with her father and grandmother. Four other riders were killed as well. The accident nearly wiped out all the shadow riders in Tokyo. Everyone knows the story."



Every word she said made that horrible hole inside him bigger. It was filled with the helpless rage of a fourteen-year-old boy.



"You don't have it quite right, Mariko," he said softly. He forced himself into a sitting position and indicated she sit close. He was surprised when she obeyed him. His head protested the movement, but he ignored the crashing pain. This was far too important. She could very well leave him when she heard what he had to say, but he was through hiding the truth.



"I was there, Mariko, so I know the truth of what happened. All of it. I was training under Daiki Tanaka, Isamu Yamamoto, Dai Saito and Mikio Ito, the four top riders who also made up the council in Tokyo. At that time, Nao Yamamoto, son of Isamu, headed up a small-time gang. Nao was the leader and a bully. He despised the riders coming in from other countries, but more, he despised any female rider and considered them inferior to him and the other males." He fell silent, allowing the memory of that terrible night to sweep over him.



Mariko didn't say a word but remained quiet, not asking a single question or hurrying him. Her gaze didn't once leave his face.



"Akiko defeated Nao in a tournament. He was weakened because I had beaten the holy hell out of him earlier that day. He and three of his closest friends  – Eiji and Hachiro Saito, sons of Dai Saito, and Kenta Ito  – had jumped me earlier because I'd gone with two others to the council and warned them of Nao's behavior. Then my times beat theirs in the trials. I kicked their asses. Nao's father was furious with him, first that I had beat the crap out of him, but mostly because Akiko, a lowly female, bested him in the tournament in front of everyone. The judges had no choice but to call the win for her." 



Mariko didn't take her eyes from his face. She almost didn't blink she was holding herself so still.



Ricco pressed his fingers to his eyes and shook his head. "I was fourteen. That's not much of an excuse. It isn't an excuse. I knew Nao would hit back at Akiko. I heard him boasting about using the shadows to hurt his enemies. It was forbidden, of course, but two of the riders had gone with me to the council to tell them of our suspicions earlier and they dismissed what we told them."