Brie’s Mile High Club (Submissive in Love, #7) (6 page)

He shook his head, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “I will tackle them one question at a time, but I suggest you start the car or we’ll be never leave this place.”

Brie turned the key and revved up the engine, heading out of the parking garage before declaring, “Okay, you can begin.”

“You’re aware my mother remains a forceful personality, and I’m unable to bear it like my father did. Well, things had gotten so bad between us that I spent most of my time away from the family home simply to avoid the constant bickering.”

Brie looked at him with compassion. “I’m so sorry, Tono.”

“Slow down, Brie,” he said in a quiet, unruffled voice.

She turned to look at the road and had to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of her that had switched lanes unexpectedly. With her heart racing, she let off the brake and hit the gas again.

“Please continue.”

“Keep your eyes on the road.”

“Yes, yes. I will,” she promised.

With her verbal assurance given, Tono continued. “When Sir Davis called to inform me of Wallace’s condition, I was at a loss. I knew our blood types matched, which is exceedingly rare, but I was unsure if I was in a position to help. When I broached the subject with my mother, something very odd but fortuitous happened. She refused to talk to me for a week. I naturally assumed she was angry and would forbid me from shirking my duty to her.” Tono smiled, shaking his head. “But I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

His words were like music to her ears. “Oh my goodness, what did she do?”

“Brie, look ahead,” he cautioned.

She glanced back in time to see a family of ducks crossing the road. She instinctively swerved to miss them and nearly hit the car beside her.

“That’s it!” she cried in frustration.

Brie took the next exit and parked on the shoulder, positioning the car so they were facing west towards the outline of blue-and-white peaks. “I can’t wait to hear this until we get to Master Anderson’s, and I’ll kill us if I continue driving.”

He chuckled softly, nodding his agreement. “Always impetuous, but only because of your true heart.”

Brie grasped his arm, begging, “Please, Tono, tell me what happened with your mother.”

He smiled, but the emotion did not transfer to his eyes. “When she finally spoke to me, I was told I had never been a good son.”

Brie sputtered in disbelief. “But…but…”

“It wasn’t said in anger, it was simply her truth. I was never what she wanted or needed. She and I are like oil and water.”

“But you’ve done
everything
she’s asked. You sacrificed your life for her!”

“It was a healthy revelation, Brie. I did not mind hearing it.”

“You have to know what she said is untrue, Tono. You are an incredible son, and a remarkable person.”

He caressed her cheek, releasing the tension from her face. “The beauty of that admission is that it set me free. There was no more point in trying to please her.”

“But she’s wrong,” Brie insisted.

“No, Brie. It is her reality, as well as mine. She’s never been the mother I needed. When she insisted I leave Japan, it was the first time I didn’t resent submitting to her will.”

Brie growled in justified anger. “But she should have thanked you for everything you’ve done, all the sacrifices you made as her son.”

“Letting me leave was enough. Who knew that the Boy would end up being my ticket to freedom?” Tono’s genuine smile lightened her heart. “Life is a beautiful mystery.”

Brie looked deeply into his eyes, noting the joy as well as the sorrow she found there. “How did Chikako take the news of you leaving?”

“That was not easy,” he said. Tono looked at the mountains in the distance as he shared. “We’d grown close working together. There is an intimate bond created with the jute.”

“I know,” Brie said with quiet conviction.

He looked at her sadly. “I think for the first time I understand the dynamic you share with the Boy. I care for Chikako, and I thoroughly enjoy her company, but…

“What?”

“I will never love her.”

“Your parting could not have been easy for either of you.”

The pain in his voice tugged at her heart. “No, it wasn’t. For the first time I know what it is to break a heart.”

“Still, you were kind.”

Tono frowned, shaking his head. “There is no kind way to break a person’s heart.”

She reached out, touching his shoulder in sympathy. “Does that mean you left on bad terms?”

“Chikako saw me off at the airport and assured me she was okay…but I know better.”

Brie gazed deep into his eyes. There was so much left unsaid, things that could never be spoken between them.

“As to your last question, I will be staying. I’m unsure where I will settle down after the surgery, but Japan is not in my future.”

“I’m glad, Tono.”

He stared at her, those gentle eyes expressing a torrent of emotion. Finally, he spoke. “So now we must go and see if the Boy will accept my offer.”

“Wait! Faelan doesn’t know you’re the donor?”

“Sir Davis and I agreed it was best, considering our past history. The simple fact is that Wallace has no more options. We’ve placed him against the wall, knowing he will resist.” Tono smiled at her tenderly. “Which is where you come in.”

“I don’t have that kind of power over him, Tono. Not anymore.”

“You have more than you think. Used in the right way, it may prove lifesaving.”

“But if I fail…”

“There’s no fear of that. You and I will convince the Boy that his life is more important than his willful self-pity.”

Brie started up the car again, but said one more thing before she started off. “I’m worried for you, Tono. This isn’t an easy operation and there are risks.” She turned to face him. “Even if it goes well, you won’t be able to perform your art for months after recovery. And worse, what if years down the road your remaining kidney fails?”

“I understand what lies ahead for me, and I accept the risks.”

Tears came to Brie’s eyes, but she held them at bay. “Your mother is blind, Tono. You are an exceptional human being.” She backed up and threw the car into drive, speeding towards the hospital—and what would become Tono’s destiny.

Faelan’s parents met them in the downstairs lobby.

“Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, this is Ren Nosaka,” Brie said, introducing him to the anxious couple.

Mr. Wallace shook Tono’s hand vigorously. “I can’t tell you how grateful we are. What you are doing for us is… Well, words can’t express the depth of our gratitude.”

Before Tono could respond, Mrs. Wallace held out a jar of preserves. “I can’t…” She broke into tears and thrust the jar at him.

Tono took it and gently placed his arm around her shoulders. Brie saw the woman begin to relax, responding to the peace he exuded. “It is my pleasure to help a friend.”

Faelan’s mother looked at him, shocked. “You know my son?”

“I do. He’s a good man.”

“I’m sorry to say he’s never mentioned you to us.”

Tono’s smile was charming when he replied, “I’m not surprised. Although your son is a good man, he is also exceedingly arrogant.”

Faelan’s parents broke out in laughter and Brie joined in. It felt good to laugh under such difficult circumstances.

“How did Todd seem to you today?” Brie asked his mother after the laughter had died down.

“He wouldn’t speak to us, but he seemed calmer. More at peace than he’s been in a long time.”

Tono nodded. “Good. If you don’t mind, I would like Miss Bennett and I to speak to him alone. If all goes well, we will invite you to join us later.”

“By all means,” Mr. Wallace answered.

Tono went to the nurse’s desk first, and was handed a huge stack of papers to fill out. He spoke to the staff for quite a while before nodding to Brie to join him.

“It looks like Wallace has indicated he will decline my offer. Shall we go change his mind, Brie?”

“Let’s,” she answered, feeling more confident with Tono beside her.

The look on Faelan’s face when Tono walked through the door was priceless.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Brie smiled to herself as she shut the door behind them. Those were the exact words she’d used the day Faelan had surprised her at the Training Center. She took it as a positive sign.

“I’m your donor.”

“Like hell you are,” Faelan said, struggling to sit up on his own.

The difference in Faelan from yesterday to today was startling. Anger seemed to be a good motivator for Blue Eyes. Brie walked over to help him, but he glared at her with those ocean blues. “Get away. You should have told me.”

“I just found out myself,” she protested.

Tono sat down and stared at Faelan, waiting patiently for him to calm down.

“Come join me, Brie,” Tono suggested, pulling a chair next to his.

Brie left Faelan’s side and sat down, unable to hide the smile that threatened to escape.

“What are you smiling about?” Faelan snarled.

“I’m just glad to see you’re feeling better.”

“I’m not feeling better, I’m dying. Are you really that dense?”

Brie giggled.

Faelan punched the controls on the bed so that he slowly moved into a sitting position. “Laugh at me again,” he demanded.

A remark Mary would make came to Brie’s mind, but she kept it to herself, struggling to keep her smile from widening even more.

“You’re unbelievable, Brie,” Faelan growled.

“What’s unbelievable is that you’re planning to turn down the surgery,” Tono stated.

“Yes, I decided last night. I don’t want someone else’s kidney and I refuse to spend my life on dialysis. What I really want is to die.”

“And yet you have a willing donor and the chance to reverse your circumstances. Why would you turn that down?”

“I didn’t ask for your help, old man.”

Tono smiled. “You must be referring to the difference in maturity between us, since I’m only five years your senior.”

“Brie, get him out of here,” Faelan demanded.

Tono answered evenly, “But I wish to help.”

“I don’t want it!” Faelan insisted, pounding his fist on the bed. Tono’s demeanor did not change. “Explain why.”

Faelan looked him coldly in the eyes. “I want to die, damn it! I already told you that.”

“But you don’t have to.”

Faelan roared furiously, “I said I don’t want your help!” When he broke into a fit of coughing afterwards, he glared at Tono as if it were his fault.

“Why are you refusing a new kidney, which will ensure your health and prosperity?”

Faelan glanced at Brie, those big blue eyes beseeching her to agree with him. “It’s not worth the risk to him.”

When Tono argued the point, Faelan snarled, “Do I have to spell it out to you?
I’m
not worth the risk.”

“Tell me why.”

Faelan growled in frustration. “Go and live your life, Nosaka. Have kids, get old and croak at the age of a hundred. That’s what you are meant to do.”

“And you?”

“I was supposed to die years ago. I shouldn’t be here, and fate has finally seen fit to finish the job.”

“Mr. Wallace, you are as stubborn and strong as you were the day I met you. Nothing has changed except your attitude.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Brie broke in. “I disagree. That man who came to me at the Training Center and introduced himself as Faelan sits before me now. It’s the same man who earned the respect of our community despite his lack of experience. The very same man who won my friend’s heart.”

Faelan’s eyes flickered with pain at her mention of Mary.

Brie continued, “You have no idea the number of people you have influenced and genuinely care about you.”

“It is your duty to go through with this operation,” Tono insisted. “Fate saved you the day of the crash, and has saved you again with a suitable donor. To give up now does not honor the man you’ve become.”

Faelan clapped his hands sarcastically. “Oh, those are very pretty words, Mr. Nosaka.”

Brie stood and walked over to the bed, deciding now was the time to lay all her cards on the table. “You should know that Mary left the commune, Faelan. She’s been going to therapy and working hard to break the chains of her past.”

His eyes softened as he asked, “Mary’s okay, then?”

“Yes and no.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Brie’s lips trembled. “She misses you, Faelan.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, she’ll get over it.”

“No, she won’t. Mary confessed that she’s in love with you.”

He closed his eyes and laid his head back on the pillow.

“If something happened to you…” Brie’s voice broke and she needed a moment to regain her composure. “I don’t know if she could survive it. That’s why you can’t give up. You just can’t!”

He didn’t respond to her plea, so Brie sat back down next to Tono. They waited in silence, letting Faelan war with his soul.

The Wolf Surrenders