Dearly Beloved (Siren Publishing Allure) (17 page)

Tomio took her out to dinner first, but instead of heading back to the Nakamura house afterward, he had Akira drive in another direction. Ebony didn’t say anything at first until Akira drove up to the gates of a large estate, punched a code in, and waited for the gates to open.

“Where are we?” Ebony asked.

Tomio reached over and patted her had. “Our new home. I thought it was time you got to see it.”

With everything going on in their lives, Ebony had forgotten about it. “Are you serious? This is a frickin’ mansion.”

Akira parked at the curb when they finally reached the house. He got out first to hold the door open. Ebony slid out and Tomio followed. They walked up to the door.

“Aren’t you coming?” she asked Akira.

“Not this time,” Akira said. “This is your and Tomio’s moment.”

Tomio opened the door. “The next time we enter, I’m carrying you over the threshold.”

Ebony smiled. His arm and shoulder was on the mend, and she weighed as much as a small army, so she understood. Walking through the door was like stepping into another era. Everything was so clean and bright, and had that fresh paint, new carpet scent. She got out of her shoes and she and Tomio entered the foyer in their stocking feet. This would be the first room the guests would see. Tomio had furnished it beautifully.

The rest of the house was just as impressive. The rooms were large, especially the kitchen that she couldn’t wait to cook in. He took her to see the property out back where they could entertain during the summer. Tomio took her to see the nursery next. It was attached to the master suite, and separated by a door. There was a crib, a dresser, and even a rocking chair. “I love it,” Ebony said.

“We can use the room next to this one when the baby gets older,” Tomio said. “Then the new baby can be moved into the nursery.”

“What new baby?” Ebony asked.

“The one after the one in your belly and all the others. I want to keep the nursery filled with babies so the room won’t feel empty.”

Ebony surely hoped her husband was joking. “We’ll see.”

“Don’t you want a big family?”

“Maybe,” Ebony answered. But she didn’t want to live the rest of her life barefoot and pregnant. She stepped through the adjoining door into the master suite. “It’s huge!” She walked over to the window. There was a wonderful view of the mountains.

“Wait until you see the bathroom,” Tomio said. He led her away from the window.

Ebony peeked inside the en suit. There was a soaker tub and a shower built for two.

“I thought you might like an American bathroom,” Tomio said. “And I can’t wait to see if we both fit into that tub.”

Ebony felt the heat rise to her collar. It was the first time he’d mentioned intimacy in weeks.

Tomio wrapped his arms around her. “I want this to be our oasis. No matter what happens in the future, let’s never go to bed angry.”

“Okay,” she said. How did he know she was thinking about the future? She doubted there would be one for him if he continued to be in the yakuza. “Let’s go see the other rooms.”

Tomio removed his arms and took her hand. He led her around the rest of the house.

“She likes it,” Tomio said to Akira when they exited.

“I thought she might,” Akira said. “Maybe she might not try to escape this time.”

Ebony poked her tongue at him. Her ass would be on a plane back to the United States if things turned out badly for Tomio. She loved him, but she wasn’t stupid.

* * * *

Tomio sensed that something was wrong moments after they left the central business district on their way home from seeing their new home. “What’s wrong?” Tomio asked.

“We have company,” the driver said. “A car has been following us for some time now.”

Tomio gently touched his chest. He’d worn his gun in the event that something like this would happen.

Ebony didn’t seem upset by what Akira had said. She just kept looking straight ahead.

“I’ll try to lose them,” Akira said. The driver picked up speed, leading whomever it was away from the busy streets where a lot of innocent people could get hurt.

Tomio touched Ebony’s hand. “Honey, I need for you to remove your seatbelt and get down on the floor.” Luckily, they had a roomy back seat or she would have been uncomfortable. He heard the belt click and come undone. Ebony moved quickly for someone so heavily pregnant. He took off his jacket and covered her. “Don’t move until I tell you to.”

“Okay,” she said.

The first bullet pierced the back windshield right where Ebony had been seated. Tomio pulled out his gun and started firing back. “Keep driving,” he shouted to Akira. Whoever was in the other car rammed them from behind. Akira turned a corner, taking them in a rural area of town. The trick was to lure them into Nakamura territory so they could find backup.

The gun in his hand wasn’t good enough. Tomio put it back in its holder and reached his hand under Akira’s seat. His friend normally kept one there just for such purposes. Tomio checked for ammo. It was loaded. He got on his knees and moved over to the spot where Ebony had been seated, and stuck the barrel of the machine gun through the hole and began shooting. The rapid-firing weapon made short work out of the front windshield of the other car. He continued to spray them with bullets. The other car swerved on the road, and then moved into the other lane. It crashed into the woods. “Let’s go,” Tomio shouted. “We have to get
nee-san
home.”

Akira made a U-turn on the road and headed back.

Tomio looked across the field where the other car had stopped. He saw no sign or movement of life. He etched the front license plate number into his memory. “Ebony, baby, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said.

His jacket was covered in glass from the broken window. “Do you think you can stay down there a little longer?”

“Do I have much choice?” she asked sarcastically.

He loved her humor, even in the eye of danger. “Just a little while longer, honey. I have to make sure that no one else is following us.” Tomio glanced out of the back window. There were other cars on the road now, but coming from the opposite direction.

Akira was back on track again. He picked up his car phone. “This is Akira. Someone tried to shoot us on our way home. Yes, they are both fine. We’re about ten minutes away from the compound.” He hung up.

Akira was probably speaking to one of the guards at the gate, or maybe one of their members. Tomio felt a little more relieved when Akira turned onto their neighborhood. There were a lot of cars lined up alongside the road to guarantee them safe passage. If anything suspicious happened now, his people would take care of them. He put the gun away. The gates opened and Akira drove through and continued to the front door.

Tomio brushed the glass from his jacket and removed it from over Ebony. She looked up at him and smiled. He helped her up. “Are you okay?”

She looked at the back windshield. “I was until I saw that.” She clutched her stomach and groaned.

Tomio got of the car and ran around to her side. “What’s wrong? Is the baby all right?”

“Yes,” Ebony said. “It’s nothing.”

He didn’t believe her. He lifted her, forgetting about his shoulder, and carried her into the house. He placed her gently down on the sofa. He put his hand on her stomach. It shook fiercely and he got a big kick. “My child is angry.”

“No shit,” Ebony said.

Akira and some of the men followed them into the house. “Is she okay?”

“Yes,” Tomio said. “From what I can tell.” The baby kicked again.

“Was that a kick?” Akira asked.

Tomio nodded. “A powerful one. Little
nee-san
is upset.”

“Could be the future
oyabun
is happy that his father is so good with a gun,” Ebony said weakly.

“If he hadn’t been, we’d probably all be dead now,” Akira said.

Gina and the others came downstairs. “Can you take Ebony up to our room?” he asked his sisters-in-law. “She’s been through a lot and needs to rest.”

Takara and Haruka helped, and Gina brought up the rear. He waited until they were safely out of ear range before he let down his guard.

“Are you guys okay?” Kazuhiko asked.

Tomio nodded. “Someone tried to ambush us when we left the new house. Those dirty rotten bastards tried to take us out with my wife and unborn child in the car. The first bullet took out the chunk of glass where Ebony was seated. Luckily, I had made her get on the floor before it happened.”

“Did you happen to see the driver?” Eiji asked as he made his way into the living room.

“Yeah, it was one of Ayase’s boys…Tomoyuki.” He sat down on the sofa. “We won’t have to worry about him. I made sure of that.”

“So Ren Ayase
is
behind this,” Kazuhiko said.

“Yes,” Tomio said. “That much I am sure of. I can’t believe the man has gone to such drastic measures just because I broke up with his sister.”

“It’s more than that,” Kazuhiko said. “He wants power. Taking us out would sit him high on the food chain.”

“Is Ebony okay?” Eiji asked.

Tomio nodded. “Yes. She’s fine. She’s stronger than I gave her credit for. She never got hysterical or panicked through the shooting.”

“Good for her,” Eiji said. “She is the type of woman you need at your side.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ground her to the house for the time being,” Tomio said. “I can’t have something like that happen again.”

Hajime’s bodyguards had entered the room.

“Who did this?” Dai Kaburagi asked.

“Ren Ayase,” Tomio answered.

Dai frowned. “Do you want us to go burn him out?”

“Yes.”

Dai pulled out his cell phone and called someone. “Pick me up at the door. We’re going hunting.” Dai headed for the door. Two other young members followed him. Since Hajime’s death, his bodyguards had been busy training some of the new guys to take their place should something happen to them.

The talking continued but Tomio’s mind was elsewhere. Too many things were happening at one time. Right now, he was worried about Ebony and his family. Without his parents, Kazuhiko would have to step up his game and take on some of the duties as head of household, and spend less time at the club. Eiji had been doing it so far, but he had his own home and family to look after. Their middle brother had had it easy for a long time. Eventually he would be able to return to this position as manager of the Golden Goddess, but until then, he had to handle family business.

“Are we going to assimilate any of Ayase’s people into the fold?” Eiji asked.

“No,” Tomio answered. “Ayase has probably soured their minds against us. And we don’t need any traitors in the ranks.” Truth be told, he was trying to legitimize the Nakamura Group and he didn’t need any more mouths to feed. He knew this wouldn’t happen instantly, and could even take years, but right now business would go on as usual. Tomio ended the meeting and sent the others away. He just wanted to be alone with his wife.

Ebony sat up and stretched her arms. She yawned. “Is the meeting over?”

“Yes,” Tomio said when he entered the room. He sat down on the bed and placed his hand on her stomach. “We need to talk about what happened today.”

“What do you want to talk about? It happened, didn’t it?” Ebony asked.

“Yes,” Tomio said. “You aren’t planning on fleeing back to the U.S. because of it, are you?”

Ebony chuckled. “I won’t lie, the thought had crossed my mind as the bullets whizzed past my head.”

“I’m serious,” Tomio said. “If anything would happen to you or our baby, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”

Ebony rested her hand on top of his. “I’m not going anywhere, Tomio. I have accepted what you are and what you do. I know that you have enemies, and right now, one is them is trying to kill you.” Tomio tried to lift his hand, but Ebony held it firmly in place. “That scares the hell out of me, but I’m here for the duration.” She paused. “But should something happen to you, I’m getting out of Dodge,” she said. “A black woman in a land of Japanese is an easy target, if you get my drift.”

“Nothing is going to happen to me,” Tomio said. “So you think the shooter was after me?”

“Who else?” Ebony asked.

“You and Akira were in the car with me. And you were at that party, too.”

“Yeah, but besides Takara and Haruka, I don’t have any other enemies here. My money is on you.”

“Not Akira?”

Ebony shook her head. “He’s a sarcastic pain in the ass, but he’s just your driver.”

That part was only true. Akira did have a shrewd tongue, but he was far from being innocent. As full member of the Nakamura Group, Akira had done his share of shit, and he knew how to handle weapons. In fact, he was the one who rigged the machine gun he had used earlier. “I guess you’re right.” He removed his hand. “I’m just glad you are safe.”

“You’re going to retaliate, aren’t you?” Ebony said.

“Please don’t ask those types of questions,” Tomio pleaded. “The less you know the better.” He rose from the bed and began undressing. Ebony followed his every movement with his eyes. He didn’t even try to hide the gun in his holster this time. He just took it off and locked it away.