Page 5

RAVEN

There was something about this guy, but I just couldn’t place it.

I had known when he first sat down next to me that what he was really after was only a hookup.

But after seeing him save me from the men my fiancé had sent after me, the way he had absolutely taken charge and gotten me out of the situation, there was more than meets the eye about him.

What was he hiding deep under his tough exterior?

So, I let him lead me from the scene of the fight, and I followed him blindly.

For all I knew, he could attempt to sell me off to the highest bidder or actually be working for my fiancé without my knowledge and this was all some elaborate setup by him.

But I felt in my soul that none of that was the case.

When he’d said he would keep me safe, I’d believed him.

That was how I wound up sitting next to him on this bus, which was obviously making its way to the shipping docks of Yokohama.

We sat in silence, his arm draped over my shoulders, keeping me close to his side, preventing anyone else from touching me.

I was sure we were a pair that would draw a lot of attention wherever we went.

I usually did on my own, being half Japanese.

My height and eyes alone got me countless questions.

But he was a presence that could not be ignored.

Confidence radiated from him, even more so right now with him on high alert after the fight.

I glanced down at his knuckles next to my cheek, noticing they were red from the impacts he had delivered.

I brought my hand up and stroked a spot that looked extra agitated. His hand twitched before he brought it to my cheek, turning my face toward him.

“You good?” he asked as his eyes searched mine.

I could see worry, but he was doing a good job of hiding it with his cocky exterior.

“Yes, I’m fine. My wrist is a little sore, but that will go away. Where are we going, AJ?” I asked, hoping for brutal honesty in his reply. I’d prefer if he told me if this was all some cruel ploy.

“Unless you have somewhere you’d rather go, I was going to bring you back to my place. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but I thought you just needed to get away from whoever the fuck those guys were. Since they don’t know me, I figured this would be the best place to go.”

His words were full of sincerity, and I gave a nod as his thumb stroked my cheek. Such a comforting movement, and I leaned into it. It’d been so long since any man had touched me in such a gentle way. I’d almost forgotten what it could feel like.

“No, everywhere else I could go, they would know where to find me.”

I glanced back up to look at his face. I hadn’t taken the time to really study his features until now.

He had dark brown hair. It looked almost black under the shadows of the hood he had on right now.

Those eyes of his were dark amber, and they almost seemed to shift colors as the lighting changed around us where we sat in the back of this bus.

His jawline was strong, and he had some stubble, as if he hadn’t shaved for a few days.

His lips were not full, but still enough for me to wonder how they would feel pressed against mine.

Raven, there is no way that’s going to happen. If Kaito found out, he would kill you and your sisters. You are his, remember? There is no escaping that now. This is your fate. You need to accept it.

“Like what you see?”

I blinked through the thoughts that clouded my mind and felt heat creep into my cheeks as his eyes bore back down into mine.

“I only wanted to get a good look at you. Don’t let it go to your head,” I said as I snapped my face forward, looking out the front windshield.

We sat in silence the rest of the way until he motioned for me to stand up with him at one of the stops. I did, and we exited the bus and walked down the sidewalk toward the shipping docks that were full of exporting cars and trucks.

We continued through the rows of vehicles toward a larger warehouse. I hesitated as we approached the side door. He paused a couple of steps in front of me and turned.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I know it’s nothing fancy, but it’s warm and quiet.”

I barely heard him as my thoughts had become louder than anything in the real world.

What are you actually doing? You know how furious he will be once he finds out that his men who were sent to collect you were beaten senseless.

Why are you going to risk your family and everything else you’ve been sacrificing for?

And over what? A hot stranger you met at the bar?

For one night where your fiancé doesn’t know where you are so you can live some stupid, naive dream of being with a man who doesn’t look at you like you're a belonging, and instead, he looks at you like you are something he wants to devour and devote himself to.

“Come on, baby. What’s wrong?” His voice snapped me out of my thoughts again.

But would I regret not going inside with him more than doing it?

I took a deep breath and shook my head. “Nothing. I apologize. Tonight was … a lot. Please, lead the way.”

He resumed walking to the door and shoved it open. Inside was a mechanic shop, which was funny because I didn’t take him for a mechanic based on his looks. But then again, looks could be deceiving.

I continued to look around the space as he shut the door behind us. There were cars by the lifts, most likely in their final inspection stages before being shipped across the sea to some far-off country. The thought of getting far from Japan had me jealous for a moment.

Then I remembered why I couldn’t, all the reasons I was trapped here, until the end of my days.

“It’s up there,” he said as his hand stretched out from behind me, pointing at a stairwell that led to some rooms above the shop.

I shivered as his warm breath fell across the skin on the back of my neck. I turned and glanced up at him, meeting his intense and smoldering gaze.

“All right,” I said as I took a few steps forward, relaxing when he followed.

We made our way up the stairs, passing a bathroom and a couple of more closed doors before coming to a halt at the end.

He turned the knob from behind me and pushed it open. There was a light on over the small kitchen, which illuminated the rest of the space. I took a few steps inside, and he closed the door behind me.

“It ain’t much, but make yourself at home, baby,” he said as he kicked his shoes off before he walked over to the closet, opened it, and tossed his hat inside.

“It’s lovely. Size doesn’t really matter,” I said as I continued to take in the living and sleeping areas of the space while removing my shoes as well, setting them neatly off to the side.

“Size always matters,” he said with a chuckle.

I could feel a smile on the edges of my lips, and I quickly pushed it away as I walked to the kitchen.

“Do you have anything to drink?”

He gestured to the kitchen refrigerator.

I opened it and grabbed a water container.

“Thank you … for earlier. I wish you hadn’t gotten involved, but I am grateful you did. The man who had sent those two after me can be quite possessive—and not in a good way.” I shuddered to think about what would have happened if he had come to collect me himself tonight.

“Why not leave his ass? Doesn’t sound like there are any feelings involved. Someone as sexy as you shouldn’t be with a man like that,” he said as his eyes trailed up my body.

I shook my head. “There is no escape from him. This was the only solution to save my family and our legacy.”

I searched around his kitchen until I found a glass and poured myself some water. I brought the glass up to my lips and took a long drink.

I could feel his eyes on my back as I drank again.

“Why don’t you explain it to me better, baby? I might not be the smartest man, but I’ve been known to get out of a few shitty situations pretty well.”

I sighed. He would never be able to understand the feelings of duty I have to my father’s legacy and to protect my sisters at any cost. Even if it meant giving up any chance of joy for myself in the process.

“My father got into debt before he passed. A lot of debt. He’d made a bet far too large because he was overly confident in his chance of success. And he failed. And the shame it brought him, it’s what pushed his health over the edge, and he passed not long after.”

I thought back to that night in the ring.

My sisters had been too young to attend the dangerous events in the underbelly of Tokyo.

But I was in line to take over the dojo soon, especially with my father’s health declining.

Our fighter had a decent chance of winning that night.

Until a new fighter emerged. He completely took Father’s top student by surprise.

He ended up paralyzed from the waist down after that fight.

We’d ended up so far in debt to the yakuza that the only thing that would cover it besides money was to give them something they wanted.

And that something was a wife for the heir of the Yamazaki family.

Someone who could handle the unpleasant side of the lifestyle.

Someone born into the same situation. Someone like me or one of my sisters.

“We couldn’t come up with the amount of money needed to settle the debt, so instead, the yakuza offered us an easy way out. We could keep our family home, but at the cost of someone from my family becoming his wife.”

“And that wife is you? So, you’re married?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not yet, but I will be soon. These next couple of months are the last months of freedom I have. That’s why I was at that bar tonight. Once I’m his wife, I won’t be allowed to leave his estate without being by his side.”

I let what I said settle in the silence that followed.

The thought of being stuck in his home, regardless of how large and extravagant it was, was terrifying.

Like a bird trapped in a cage for the viewing enjoyment of men.

I wanted to cry and scream at the very thought of it all, but instead, I only allowed my body to tremble.

AJ lifted his hand and beckoned me over to him. “Come here, baby.”

I didn’t know why he was so compelling to listen to, but there I was a minute later, tucked against his chest as I straddled his lap. I could feel the hardness of his muscles under my fingers. It was no wonder he’d had the strength to take out two men at once. He had been built for it.

“You could be killed, you know, if you were caught with me like this. He wouldn’t stop until you were dead for touching his future wife,” I said as I rubbed my hands back and forth on his chest.

“He could try, but he wouldn’t be the first, and he wouldn’t be the last to try to stop me from doing what I wanted.”

“And what is it you want to do, AJ?” I asked, even though I could feel the answer already.

“For starters, you, baby. Right now. I want to take your clothes off piece by piece and show every inch of your body the love you deserve.”

His words washed over me, and my body heated up at the very thought of what he was insinuating.

Don’t do it, Raven. This won’t be worth his wrath. But … what if he never knows about it? What if you do allow yourself one night before you give the rest of your life up for everyone else you love? Would that really be that selfish?

I knew this was going to be the most dangerous thing I’d done up to this point, but I was about to give my entire life over to a man who would show me little to no care and to be in a relationship where love was out of the equation entirely.

What was one final night of pleasure going to hurt before my life as I knew it ended?

I let him stroke his hands down my arms. The warmth he left in his wake drew me into him more, and I reached up and ran my fingers along the side of his jaw.

“If I say yes, can you promise it will be a time I’ll be able to remember for a while?”

He smirked and brought his hand up to my wrist, gently dragging my palm to his lips and kissing it.

“Baby girl, you’ll remember it for the rest of your life.”

He shouldn’t make promises he won’t be able to keep.