Page 102 of Cunning Lies

And Kenzo didn’t lie about that.

“Did you get a car yet?” Jay asks. “Let’s go.”

I stand in front of him. Jay tries to go around me, back into the building, but even as he jumps into the street, I block his path. I don’t let him pass me.

“We’re not going,” I say.

His forehead furrows and his swollen eye flutters open. He leans down to me, his breath sour.

“Are you defying me, Vivian?” he asks calmly.

I straighten my shoulders. “We’re not going to steal their guns,” I say. “We’re leaving.Right now.”

“Guess I’m doing this by myself, then.”

The back of Jay’s hand whacks me in the face so hard that my head crashes against the window of the building. I fall to my hands and knees, then wipe my mouth with the back of my hand; blood smears my skin.

“Are you all right?” a stranger asks.

“What happened?” another person asks. “Did someone hurt you?”

Jay.

I scan the area for Jay. A flash of his gray-brown hair catches my eye across the road and I shove myself up to my feet.

“What the fuck?” a man shouts as Jay cuts in front of him. Jay slides into the back seat of the taxi, slamming the door shut behind him.

I race across the lines of oncoming traffic, tires screeching, horns honking, but Jay’s taxi is already gone.

Shit!

My throat aches. I grab my phone, my fingers shaking as I dial Kenzo. It rings, but he doesn’t pick up. I stand in the taxi queue, then flip through my wallet, finding a hundred. I hand it to the person at the front.

“Please,” I beg.

He scowls. “Screw you.”

“I’ll take it,” the woman next to him says.

“Thank you,” I say. I stand in front of her and we wait. I could try a rideshare app, but instead, I dial Kenzo again, and this time, the call goes straight to voicemail. I smack my phone to my chest, cursing that my call isn’t going through. My temple drums.

What can I do?

I take the taxi over to the penthouse, but the front desk clerk won’t let me up.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Petrus, but you’ve been removed from the—”

Petrus.Kenzo had them change my surname back to Petrus. Because he thinks I chose Jay over him.

And I did in a way. I couldn’t kill Jay, but I could leave. It was the only way I could make things right for Kenzo—by making sure Jay and I left.

Truth isn’t only about what you say with your words. And loyalty isn’t about blindly following someone into the desert.

Love is standing beside someone, even when you realize you’ve made a mistake. Love is fixing it, even when it hurts to do the right thing.

I owe this to Kenzo.

I hail another taxi and take it to the Samurai Castle. It’s a death wish to show up at the Endo-kai headquarters like this, but I need to find Kenzo. It’s the only way I can make this right.