1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 12

'What do you mean you don't have my order?' he nearly yelled into his phone.

His mind was a whirl of confusion as the customer service officer on the other end of the line calmly repeated that no order for a mattress, a bed frame, a cupboard, a side table, a bedside lamp and a ceiling light had been received.

What the hell did that mean? They didn't have his order? So his order wouldn't come after all?

'No, no, no,' he muttered as he paced his study, wearing down the carpet under his annoyed treading. 'Could you just check again?'

A pause.

'I have the receipt with me,' he stated firmly. 'I've made payment.'

More reassurances, more soothing noises, more promises of getting back to him. They'd better get back to him, he thought, as his eyes narrowed at the four digits on the receipt. Why the hell was furniture so expensive anyway? Who had selected these?

He'd wring their little necks if he found them.

'Right, thanks,' he muttered in a clipped tone. 'I'll expect a reply.'

Hana was idling by the door, watching silently as Leon placed his phone firmly onto his desk.

'What happened?' she asked him quietly, her eyes cautious.

'They can't find my order,' he mumbled.

Could it be one of those website glitches? Bounced payments? But if he could print out a receipt, didn't it mean that the payment went through?

'Did you get scammed?' she tried.

'No way!' he exclaimed, suddenly drawn out of his reverie. Get scammed!

'Well, we could – go to Ikea,' she suggested.

'But I've already paid for this!' He tossed the receipt he had printed onto his desk. 'Anyway, the person said he would check.'

'But it doesn't matter if it doesn't come,' she tried again. 'I'll just put my pillow between us – '

'I paid more than four thousand dollars for the whole set,' he stated forcefully. 'The thing is the money. I've paid for it and I expect the whole set to arrive.'

Her jaw had fallen open at the mention of the price. He wanted to grab his hair too. If there was one lesson he had learnt from this, it was to purchase his furniture himself.

'Did they say how long it will take?' she asked.

He gave his phone a distracted glance.

'He said he'll try to get back to me by today.' Then he let out a heavy sigh as he shook his head. 'Ready to go?'

~

She hadn't gone to meet her friends after all, but had ended up in some obscure location. What exactly was that place and who used it? Her Uncle? Mickey's scouts had told him it was nothing more than a defunct construction site. Kei-Shiragata men who worked under Yazumi Ichiro had been spotted there. So why had she gone there? Could she be a spy for her Uncle after all?

But it was evident that her family still held a grudge against her Uncle. Yazumi Kai had chased his Uncle out of his own office and cleared it of his Uncle's men. Mickey had drinking buddies from the oddest of places, and they had told him that. It was likely that Yazumi Ichiro was using that out of town place as his new headquarters.

She was coming with him to the office today. Like this, he could keep an eye on her, let her run free and see what she would do. Besides, it was a chance to boost their image as 'icons of peace'.