The Devil Inside (2 page)

Neither Angelo or the big guy have pulled out any weapons. This isn’t the usual robbery. It looks like they’re used to getting their way with minimum force. And they seem to expect me to hand over the cash like it’s an everyday thing.

Am I missing something here?
 

My thoughts race as I desperately try to come up with a way out of this. The obvious solution is to give them what they want. Safety first and all that.
 

But the idea doesn’t sit well. I know how hard all the staff work here and it pisses me off that all those hours spent in the kitchen and on the restaurant floor today will be for nothing. I feel bad for the owner, Mr Nakajima.

What can I do, though? I can’t fight, I’ve got no phone and I’m alone with these two gangster looking assholes standing over me.
 

“Don’t do anything stupid now, woman.” Angelo leans across the counter. “Just hand over the damn money. Stupid people get hurt, and we don’t want that. Especially if it's
you
.”
 

His hand comes to rest on my shoulder. I stiffen. He slides his fingers down to rest on my breast. I slap his hand away. Angelo laughs.
 

“Fuck you,” I snarl, letting anger wipe away the last of my good sense. As I back into the corner, out of his reach, Angelo smiles.
 

"Is that how you like it?" He winks at me. It give me the creeps. "Listen, woman. You just be a good girl and open this till now. Then me and Vic will take what we need and leave you be. We don't want no trouble. I'm sure you don't either."

I take a deep breath and point at the ceiling, fighting to keep my voice from wavering. "You know you're on CCTV, right?" The smooth, black dome of the security camera is punctuated by an intermittent, blinking red light.
 

Angelo just laughs. “We'll have to get rid of that tape then. Thanks for the heads up.” He starts to move around the counter, towards me. I stiffen. Adrenaline courses through me; my heartbeat is like a pounding jackhammer. I clench my fists, tense and ready to fight. If he touches me, he's getting a kick in the nuts.

But the rational part of my brain is telling me to give them the money. Mr Nakajima pays me well, and I do okay with tips, but it’s not enough to put my safety on the line for a handful of money. I press the release button on the till and it pops open. Right now, I just want these two assholes to go away.

Angelo pauses, his gaze shifting away from me, towards the staff entrance. I turn and realize someone else has entered the room.
 

Kaito. He’s staring straight at Angelo and Vic. There’s no trace of fear in his expression. Instead, he looks angry. My eyes widen, and I silently implore him not to do anything dumb.

But he’s no mind reader. And I get the feeling this situation’s about to get a whole lot worse.

Kaito

As I close the ledger, I catch movement at the edge of my vision. The black and white CCTV monitor in the corner of this tiny office shows me an interesting scene.

The restaurant is about to close up. Most of the customers have cleared out, but there are two men at the register. The way they’re acting towards Adele makes me pause.

I’ve seen this kind of thing far too many times. I’ve survived by reading body language, and the way these two men are standing tells me they are capable of violence.

This woman, however, is standing her ground.
 

Seeing these men trying to intimidate her makes me want to go out there and kick the shit out of them. If we were in Tokyo, I wouldn’t have hesitated. But back home, I lived and breathed a different existence.

My people have been conditioned to recognize the sharks amongst them. In Japan, I act differently, talk differently, dress differently. It’s a society with certain unwritten rules, and the yakuza occupy a special place within the hierarchy. We’re despised, hated, scorned.
 

But each and every time, fear overrides the hate.

It's a very effective tool.

America is different. In this country, there are too many layers. It’s complicated, and I haven’t understood it all yet.

I can tell now the two men are trying to demand money. Adele doesn’t give it up straight away. She’s brave, but her self-preservation instincts aren’t the best.
 

She’ll get into serious trouble if she carries on this way.

I should hurt those men, but I won’t. Because this is not my country, and I’m not working for Kuroda in
that
capacity anymore.

In America, we don’t draw attention to ourselves.

I’ll give them the money, even though all my instincts scream against it. It’s a fucking insult to my pride. But I’ll wear it. This is not Roppongi or Kabukicho. The books won’t balance today, but I’ll just have to make the manager accept my apology for that.
 

He
will
understand.

I make my way down the narrow passage and into the restaurant. The men are crowding Adele. Two guys intimidating a woman. So fucking tough of them. The shorter one does all the talking; the big guy behind him is obviously the muscle.
 

I know these types all too well. Cheap suits, thick gold necklaces, poorly drawn tattoos. They have small time gangster written all over them.
 

They must be desperate if they're going after a place like this.

It takes them a while to notice me.
 

Adele is behind the counter. Her eyes are wide, the lines of her body tense. She's frightened but ready to fight.

Even like this, she's beautiful. I spare a moment to drink in her caramel eyes. Her heart-shaped face is pale and lovely, with a delicate, pert nose and lips shaped like a cupid's bow.
 

I admire the way she's brave, despite her fear. Only fools are never afraid.

I tear my gaze away to focus on the idiots harassing her.
 

They see me now. The lead guy sizes me up and smirks. He's full of swagger and cheap, street-born arrogance. Acting like he owns the fucking place.

I should teach him his place.

But I won’t. As much as it grates, I'll play along. For Adele's sake.

Adele

“Adele, leave.” I jump at the words. Kaito sounds different, as cold as winter ice. He’s lost the glasses; his eyes are hard.

I open my mouth in protest. He silences me with a glare, moving in front of me. It’s noble of Kaito to think he can play the hero, but what can he do? He’s just an accountant. The two thugs staring me down look like they crack heads on a regular basis.

Kaito had better not try anything dumb.

“What are you doing?” I whisper, but he ignores me. He reaches into the till and takes out a stack of hundreds. With slow, deliberate steps, he walks around the counter and faces the thugs.

“Is this what you want?” He waves the money around, as if he’s taunting them. Is he trying to get us killed? “Take it, and leave.”

The stiff line of his jaw betrays his anger.

Kaito levels his dark gaze at me again. “Adele, go to the back.” His tone of voice leaves no room for argument. I agree this time, thinking I should call the cops. Angelo shakes his head, pulling a nasty looking knife from inside his jacket. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going? Stay here.” He snatches the wad of notes from Kaito’s hand, stuffing them in his jacket. “I want both of you to understand something. This is not a robbery. This is payment.”

“Payment?” Kaito’s voice is soft. “For what?”

Angelo shrugs. “You pay the money, we make sure no trouble comes to this place. I’m sure you understand the principle.”

Kaito closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. He doesn’t say anything for a while. It’s as if he’s weighing up something in his mind. I move to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.
 

“Kaito,” I murmur. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.”

He opens his eyes. He’s rigid under my touch. I sense the anger rolling off him. The way he’s looking at Angelo and Vic, I’m scared he might do something stupid. I’ve never seen him tense like this. This isn’t the annoyingly reserved guy who comes in to do the books. This Kaito is full of controlled rage.
 

“You should do your research before trying to extort protection money,” he murmurs, ignoring me. That seems to piss Angelo off even more.

“For fuck’s sake,” he snaps. “Don’t you get it? This is our turf. You owe us money. And we will be back here, every week, to collect what’s ours.” He turns to his partner. “This fucking chink doesn’t understand respect. I think he needs to learn respect.”

I cringe inwardly at the crude racial slur. If it bothers Kaito, he doesn’t let it show. I step forward, sensing the violence that’s simmering just beneath the surface. “You guys have the money,” I plead. Just take it and go. We don’t want any trouble.”

“Honey, if you want to keep that pretty face of yours intact, stop making excuses for him.” Angelo makes a slashing motion with his knife. As he moves, I notice the bulge of a gun tucked into his waistband. This is really, really, bad. I need to find a way to go out back, to call the cops. But I don’t want to leave Kaito, either.
 

Maybe Kaito hasn’t been in LA long enough to understand that the gangs here are vicious. He’s going to get himself killed.

The bearded man called Vic is a brute. He’s got a scar over his left eyebrow and the words LOVE and HATE tattooed on the fingers of each hand. He hasn’t spoken the whole time, and for some reason, he scares me a hell of a lot more than Angelo. I get the feeling Angelo’s the mouth and this guy is the muscle. Vic advances on Kaito, with slow, purposeful steps. Kaito hasn’t moved.
 

“Sometimes, respect has to be taught.” Angelo steps out of the way, making room for his partner. “This prick doesn’t seem to understand how things work in this country.”

Savage anticipation crosses Vic’s features. The guy’s got about a hundred pounds on Kaito.
 

My eyes dart towards the back door. I wonder if I can get there in time to lock it behind me and call the cops. I don’t want Angelo to go in there after me.
 

But that would mean leaving Kaito out here to get the crap beaten out of him. Because it’s obvious that’s what’s going to happen.

Vic rushes at Kaito, fist raised.

Kaito doesn’t move. He doesn’t flinch, duck or anything.

Vic’s fist connects with his face. I hear a sickening crunch.

Kaito staggers back, but doesn’t make a sound. He rights himself, touching the side of his face. He blinks, then glares at Vic. “You have what you want.
 
Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Are you stupid or something?” Vic rushes at Kaito again, this time slamming his fist into Kaito’s stomach. Kaito doubles over in pain, gasping.
 

“Stop it!” I yell, moving to put myself between Vic and Kaito. I’m not thinking anymore. I just don’t want Kaito to get hurt. Behind me, Kaito is slightly hunched, a flicker of pain crossing his face. He hides it quickly.
 

“Get out of the way, bitch.”

Thick hands grasp my shoulders, and I find myself being shoved out of the way. Vic’s breath is tainted with stale beer and soy sauce. I feel like I’m going to puke.
 

I try to resist, but he’s way too strong.

Kaito straightens to his full height. “Don’t you fucking touch her,” he snarls, his voice full of venom. He’s staring right at Vic with eyes that are cold and hard.

Vic rushes at Kaito, fist raised.

Somehow, Kaito steps out of the way, throwing the big guy off balance. Vic slams into the counter and turns, but by that time Kaito’s moved across and caught Angelo by surprise with a vicious low kick to the shin. Angelo doubles over and Kaito grabs his wrist. Angelo cries out in pain, dropping the knife. Kaito slams his fist into his gut, at the same time lifting the gun from his waistband. Angelo drops to the floor, crashing into a chair.
 

Angelo lets out a groan as Kaito cocks the gun and points it at Vic, who’s about to swing a chair at him. Arm outstretched, Kaito keeps the point of the gun steady as he plants two well aimed kicks into Angelo’s gut.

Vic lowers the chair.

The wad of hundreds spills out of Angelo’s jacket and onto the shiny, tiled floor. His partner is frozen in shock, eyes wide as moons in his hard face.

I must have the same expression on my face.
 

My throat is dry, my heart hammering, shallow breaths rasping in my throat.
 

Holy. Shit.

What the hell just happened?

Kaito walks towards Vic, puts the gun to the side of the head and pulls him close. His face is devoid of any emotion. “You’re right. Sometimes respect has to be taught.”
 

He turns to look at me, his dark eyes empty.
 

“Go out the back now, Adele.” His tone leaves no room for argument.
 

I glance to my side and see Angelo writhing in pain on the floor. He’s doubled up, clutching at his stomach.
 

Clearly, Kaito has this situation under control. I nod and slowly make my way to the staff area.

“Don’t leave yet. And don’t bother calling the cops.” His voice echoes behind me in the empty restaurant.
 

Something about the way he says it freezes me in my tracks.
 

What was I supposed to tell them? That the two mafioso thugs who tried to collect protection money from a small neighborhood sushi train have been beaten up by the accounting guy?

I’m not sure Kaito would appreciate that. And he sort of seems like the kind of guy you don’t want to cross. I’m not exactly running to grab my phone. I’ve had a lifetime of not calling the cops. My father taught me all about that.

I don’t want any trouble. I’d much rather forget about tonight, when it’s over. I hope to hell that Kaito agrees with me.

Adele

Untying my apron strings, I disappear into the door marked “staff only”.