The Art of Learning to Love

10

He never thought leaving her would be so difficult. But he had to work and he couldn't worry about her, so he'd convinced her to wait for him at his place.

His real place that nobody, not even Kenshin knew about. It had been where he'd taken her the night before, had made love to her in the mattress that he maybe slept in twice a month on.

She promised to behave and not leave, at least not without telling him, Hiroshi taking her number before he'd left. He'd given her a long deep kiss goodbye, going back 3 times for repeats before she was laughing and pushing him away so he could finally leave.

That had been 3 hours earlier and as he listened with fake interest to whatever the boss was saying, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander to her again. The way her soft skin felt, how she tasted, how she'd lost all shyness with him and was comfortable in her skin around him.

He lazily looked up when the meeting was adjourned, his boss motioning for him to stay behind with a serious face.

"You seem miles away" his boss said in Japanese, Hiroshi sighing and nodding, dropping down on the nearest chair once he'd been given the ok to sit. He'd never forgotten his place and always threaded lightly when it came to being in the presence of anyone higher ranked than him.

No matter how much he despised them.

"I'm having a family situation" he lied smoothly, the man's brows shooting up in concern.

He'd known Hiroshi since he was a boy, one of the few who had been in agreement with him going to the states to study. Hiroshi did not harbor any fantasy that the old man cared about him, he knew he was there because he was smart and useful.

"Your father?" The old man asked, his question devoid of any curiosity as this was not a rare occurrence. Hiroshi's father would pop up every year, causing a drunken spectacle before he'd pass out and Hiroshi would carry him to his car and take him to a hotel, paying for two nights.

So he knew he couldn't pin it on his father.

"My brother."

The old man's right brow rose, his mustache twitching as his lips formed into a concerned pout.

"What do you need?"

"Nothing. Just two days."

"Go, family is important."

****
He didn't go straight home. He instead went to the address his guys had found after some digging.

Shaking his head, he got out of the car, drawing a deep breath before he pulled his cellphone out his pocket and made a quick call.

It was a burner phone, which he disassembled before tossing the battery and the phone into the middle of the street under a passing truck. Satisfied that the wheels crunching over it had done its job, he got back into the car and waited.

From the spot he could see as Tom left the building, a grip on his sisters arm as she stumbled in a daze behind him. She didn't look as well as she had the last time he'd seen her; her hair was a matted mess, dark circles under her eyes and she looked deathly pale. But what struck him the worse were the scars on her arms, that looked like track marks.

Shaking his head to himself, he sent a text to his guys to follow Tom. He knew the phone call would do the trick and flush him out of the massive complex he'd been at, without having to hunt him down floor by floor.

Now it was just going to be a matter of snatching his sister from under his nose and getting her out of Japan as soon as possible.

He sighed when his personal phone buzzed, a WhatsApp message from his girl proclaiming she'd gotten an email that her yukata was ready for pickup.

He groaned as he realized he'd subconsciously called her his girl. She'd used about 10 emojis to convey how happy and excited she was and he couldn't help but smile before he replied.

I'll be home soon, just finishing up some last minute things.

Are you hungry?

Depends what's on the menu 😈

Wow! 😂😂😂😂

He chuckled once more before tossing his phone aside and focusing on the situation at hand, checking his work phone to make sure he hadn't missed a message.

15 minutes later he got the confirmation he was
Waiting for via a single thumbs up emoji. Tom was done for was all he knew, because it meant he'd moved his sister off site and regardless of how many people he had guarding the place, he'd let the boss know. Get rid of him on the byway and deliver Megan safely to Annabel so they could head back home to America.

His head hurt as he thought of her going back home. He knew he couldn't keep her, knew he couldn't be with her, but he wanted it more than he'd ever wanted anything else in his life.

"I'm fucking getting old" he said to himself as he pulled his car into the garage, frowning when there were no lights on at his place. He knew he told her not to leave, checking his phone to see if she'd texted him.

But she hadn't.

He sprinted towards his front door, horrified when he saw the door was open. It made him stop and gather himself, knowing that if he went in guns blazing and nothing was amiss he'd scare Annabel.

Relaxing his stance despite the adrenaline coursing through him, he tapped the door before pushing it open.

"Annabel?" He called into the dark apartment, something telling him to duck as he felt more than saw the bat that swung out. The lights turned on suddenly and he caught sight of her tied to a chair, struggling to get free, a strip of duct tape on her mouth.

She looked terrified, her honey colored eyes full of tears as she pleadingly looked at him.
It made him shedding his nice guy persona all the much easier as he went into autopilot and started fighting back.