1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 45

He raised a hand.

A scream left her as more rope was released. His arms flailed and his feet scrabbled for leverage on the parapet, but he couldn't support himself and so he lurched over the edge, his hands flying to the parapet to catch a grip on something solid.

She couldn't bear to watch. A strong wind was tossing up her hair and her scarf, and she could only imagine that it would have been far worse up there.

'I don't think he can hang on anymore. And it's getting tiring for my men,' he observed.

Am I going? Or am I not? She crumbled within. How she wished Leon could be with her. He'd know what to do. He'd hold her and brush his lips on her forehead and whisper in that gentle way that everything would be fine. But nothing was fine. And he wasn't here.

Her lips formed the words and just as she spoke them, she felt she would collapse from exhaustion.

'I'll come with you as long as you don't harm him.'

'Very good.'

The man made a signal. Osuke was hauled up from over the edge and the trio disappeared from the roof. A few minutes later, they reappeared across the street and Osuke was bundled unceremoniously into a waiting car.

He turned to in expectant silence, one hand held out.

'Shall we?'

Hana stared at that outstretched hand and sidestepped it. She didn't need his assistance.

~

Leon had been brought, handcuffed, to a hospital for some scans and when he was declared free of concussions, broken bones and trauma, he was hauled back into a police vehicle and taken to a station. When the routine questioning was over, he had been left in the lockup without a word.

A policeman had popped by to stare at him and Leon was about to retort something sharp when he realised there was something familiar about that balding head and wire-rimmed spectacles.

Samuel Anderson was the name on his tag.

A slight smile crossed Leon's face as his gaze met that of the officer's.

'Fancy meeting you again,' he muttered without humour.

'And I hoped I'd never see you again,' was the officer's dry response. 'Well? How are you?'

Still the same easy-going air, Leon thought, but not so friendly that any criminal would bare all. He didn't know much about being involved with the police. In the grand scheme of things, Leon was still a small boss, not big enough to attract the sort of attention that they paid to men like his father.

'Fine,' he said as he leant forward, his palms pressed on the cold metal of his bench.

'How old were you the last time we met? Fourteen?'

'Thirteen.'

Anderson grunted

'Yes, thirteen. I remember now.' Then he paused and tapped at the ring on his own finger. 'Married?'

He let out a chuckle, then gave the silver band around his finger a lingering glance. He hoped she was alright, wherever she was. He hoped she was safe, on a plane to Tokyo by now.

'Yes, I'm married.'

'I've seen your case file,' Anderson went on. 'Your case is likely to go to Court.'

'I know.'

'You'll be in prison for a long time, and it's not nice in there. A lot of people,' he said with a warning edge in his tone, 'a lot of people are in there to seek revenge. You'll be fresh meat to them.'