Page 81 of Boss of the Year

17

MISO SOUP

*strive for balance over strength of flavor.

This time, when Lucas suggested I take the private cabin on the jet, I accepted without argument.

Not just because we had to travel twenty-eight hours to get to Tokyo from Brazil.

Not because things had been awkward since Daniel had interrupted that almost kiss at the state dinner.

And not because Lucas spent the rest of the evening dancing with threeotherwomen before he locked himself in a room with two presidents and the CEO of a cattle company and didn’t come out until two in the morning.

No, I took the private cabin because I wanted tosleep.

Was I feeling petty and bitter?

Yes.

But pragmatism took precedence.

As a result, when we arrived in Tokyo more than a full day after leaving São Paulo, I felt relatively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I followed Lucas off the plane. He had raccoon-level dark circles under his eyes, and his crooked tie was alreadyloosened as he barked into his phone and disappeared into a waiting SUV with his security team.

“Konnichi wa,” Robbie drawled as I sat beside him in the back seat of the other waiting car. “Welcome to the land of the rising sun.” He passed me a canned coffee, eyes twinkling behind his sunglasses.

“You saint,” I said after I drank half. “I think Lucas needed this more than me, though. I slept most of the way.”

“He has a cooler full of them in his car. What did you do to him? I haven’t seen him that jacked up since the Kawasaki deal imploded and he tried to out-negotiate a samurai.” He leaned closer. “Spoiler: the samurai won.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I downed the rest of the coffee.

“Jet lag?”

“Manageable.”

“Good. Because I’ve already scouted the best izakaya in Shibuya, figured out how to order grilled squid without accidentally joining a crime syndicate, and located the world’s tiniest jazz bar. Lucas-san is spending his first night in the city before joining us at the ryokan, so we’ve got a day to ourselves. You up for an adventure?”

I blinked. Normally, I’d say no. I’d ask to see my room, cower there for several days, binge Netflix, and pretend the world didn’t exist until I figured out a way to cope with it.

But now, all I could see was that stupid, pitying expression on Lucas’s face when I freaked out at the state dinner.

Just breathe, baby.I have you.

Fuck that. I wasn’t a baby, his or anyone else’s.

“You know what? I am,” I told Robbie. “Let’s go shopping for the week. And then I want to see something cool.”

An hour later,we had left the sprawl of Tokyo and had burrowed deep into the countryside, where ancient temples nestled between rice paddies and the sound of traffic was replaced by birds and a running river for a solid fifteen minutes before we stopped at a compound that looked copied off a Japanese woodblock print.

The ryokan—a traditional Japanese inn—was stunning. It was, Robbie informed me, a collection of wooden buildings built around a natural hot spring, connected by covered walkways and surrounding a central courtyard. The entire compound was ours.

“The owners vacated for the whole time, so we have our fill of the place. A cup of serenity, please.”

“Wow,” I breathed as I stepped out of the car and took in the paper screens and curved rooftops, gorgeous but simple landscaping that made the entire place look like it had risen out of the earth. “My brother-in-law, Xavier, had told me about the onsens when he visited his family here, but he never described them like this. It’s incredible. So balanced with everything around it.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Robbie agreed. “Though I have to say, I was surprised when Lucas requested it.”

“Why?”