Page 87 of Cunning Lies

“You’re not an enforcer. You’re the sokaiya—”

“I don’t care what I am. She’s my problem, and by proxy, that makes Jay my problem too.”

A few beats pass, then Niko lets out a sigh.

“You’re in love with her,” he says in a low voice. Hatred boils through his tone, and it burns in me too.In love with her?What the fuck does he think this is? “You’re protecting her. Shit. You’re protectingthem.”

“I’m not protecting anyone,” I howl. “Get your head out of your own ass. You’re projecting your failures onto me.”

The speaker crackles.Shit.That may have been a step too far. Niko once regularly fucked a woman when he had no idea that she was messing with his head, just to get to in on our drug trade. By then, it was too late.

“Fine,” he says. “Lie to yourself all you want. For now, they’re your problem, but if you don’t take care of it? You know what happens.”

The line is cut.

I rub my forehead. The car still smells like Vi’s come. Sweet and citrusy. It’s intoxicating and infuriating, and my mind blazes with Niko’s words:You’re protecting her.

By procrastinating, I’m putting off the inevitable. I’m not sure if that’s protecting her, but I don’t like it, and yet, I can’t help it. But am I in love with her? That seems—

I grit my teeth. I’mnotin love with her.

Maybe Iamlying to myself, but I refuse to accept that I’m in love. She’s a traitor. A liar. A beautiful hypocrite.

But she’s stillmywife. My problem. My issue to take care of. I can accept that.

CHAPTER27

KENZO

As soon asI’m done with Niko, I call Jay, telling him to meet me at John’s Town, the place where I killed Patrick. Inside, it’s smoky. Bulbed lights line each card table from above, and the carpet is covered in angular shapes, like a shit brown kaleidoscope. I spot Jay at the bar.

“Son,” Jay says. He hugs me, and I force a smile.Son.How irritating.

“Let me buy you a drink,” I say.

“Please.”

Once we get our drinks, me a whisky and Jay a long island, I click through my phone, activating the recording app. I turn off the screen so he doesn’t know that it’s still in use, and I sit the device beside us. He’s going to say something that I can use against him; all it takes is a little time. I’m not a patient man, but for Vi, I’m willing to try. With some truth in my arsenal, Vi won’t be able to deny it. And once I get the truth out of her, everything will become clear. It has to.

“So what do I owe the pleasure?” Jay asks.

“Vi mentioned that you had been feeling nervous about our family. Yakuza and all.”

“But the yakuza is one of the least violent crime groups. That’s what they say, right?” He beams like a wolf baring his teeth, as if he’s mocking us. “I’ve been reading up on it. Apparently, the yakuza likes to brag about that. Lack of violence. Peaceful criminality.”

I grit my teeth. There may be groups like that in Japan, but out here, in the United States, it’s fight or die, and the Endo-kai isnotgoing to die.

I ignore his comments and move on. “Your son worked for us for a while, but what about you? Are you looking for work with us too?”

A vicious excitement bubbles in his eyes and he bobs his head. “I thought you’d never ask. I was thinking guns—”

“Do you have any smuggling experience?”

He rubs his forehead, bashfulness reddening his cheeks. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have caught onto Jay right now. This fucker is good.

“Shit. I don’t know,” he says. “I guess I don’t have any. But I’m good at negotiations. Amazing, actually.” He gives a fake nervous laugh, and my lips pull back into a smile. I can play that pretend game too. “But you transport firearms, right? I’ve got contacts all over the country, and—”

I wave a hand to stop his rambling. “We’ve got that side of the business covered, but I’m looking to expand. What kind of business can you bring to the Endo-kai? Something we don’t already have?”