And then the lights shut off.
Chapter 13
Cold Silence
Jean-Pierre
The Dragon wants to talk to me? Why?
Grabbing the phone, I watched Eden walk off with Giorgio. The time with her had been worth the war. Thank God the Corsican had gotten stronger, and richer because of it, or my cousins would’ve left me to Celina’s craziness
Giorgio held the door open for Eden.
She laughed as she stepped in.
Don’t flirt with my baby.
I called out to them and said as much. I doubted Giorgio heard me.
She’s not a maid and Giorgio knows better.
I moved my attention away from Eden.
Back to business. What does the Dragon want?
I shifted from a man falling in love to the Butcher. There would only be one way to deal with the Dragon, and that was with chess-like responses and confidence.
They called him the Dragon. Kenji was the head of the Japanese Mafia—the Yakuza. Like the Russians, they enjoyed painting their bodies. But where the Russians wore tattoos as walking advertisements for their killing skills and power, traditional Japanese tattooing had been intertwined with the Yakuza since their beginning. Hundreds of years ago, Japanese authorities would tattoo their criminals. The ink made it difficult for the men to reenter society and find work. And there, the Yakuza’s tattoo culture evolved as a protest to the country’s branding.
The Dragon had a full body of tattoos. Ink covered everything on him, but his face. I knew that due to meeting with him in a Russian bathhouse last year. Sasha had brought us both together. I didn’t know how much the Dragon had helped Sasha with going after Kazimir, but I knew there was some assistance.
Are you nervous too, Dragon?
I spoke into the phone, “Hello, Kenji.”
Kenji’s deep voice came onto the line. “Hello, Jean-Pierre. My father enjoyed his phone conversations with you. However, my father never told me how difficult it was to reach you.”
The problem with the Yakuza, was that they never said what they meant. It was all in the subtle details. Kenji didn’t like that he had to wait. He expected to call and have me on the phone within seconds. To him, anything else would be disrespect.
Unfortunately for Kenji, I’d just been deep inside Eden and was ready to return. “Why are you calling?”
Sorry. I’m not your bitch, Dragon. Say what you have to say or shut the fuck up.
Kenji gave up. “The Lion is alive.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“He’s in Paris.”
“I’m aware of that too.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“We have, but it was only about kings and gods.”
“As most conversations are.”
“And he liked the way that I smelled.”
“As we all do.” Humor hit Kenji’s voice. “But has Kazimir suspected your play in his assassination attempt?”
“I played no part.”
“You asked me for my men. I gave them to you.”
“And you’ve been rewarded.”
“Their locations give me pause.”
I let out a long breath.
Just say it. You know I used your men for the major hits against Kazimir.
Kenji took his time with his point. “You wanted some of my men for Prague. You wanted a few for New York. I discover in hindsight, that these were not good places for my people to be in the past months.”
For some reason, Rafael rushed off. Someone had called him, and he’d walked away to talk to them. Now he was racing back into the building.
What’s going on with him?
“Jean-Pierre?”
I redirected my attention. “Kenji, your men returned to you alive and with full pockets. No one knows you helped me in a tight situation. And if I remember correctly, you sat in the bathhouse with Sasha for a few hours, before I arrived. I imagine you had a strong knowledge of what was going on.”
Battling Celina and helping Sasha fight Kazimir had begun to exhaust me of men. I’d asked the Yakuza for help, but no job big enough to alarm the Bratva. Kenji’s men had never killed anyone. They simply moved the necessary weapons here and there, as well as provided extra muscle.
Sometimes it wasn’t about the number of guns a man brought into the room. Sometimes it was all about the amount of people around him. Their look. Their stance and energy. The way death blazed in their eyes. With enough killers surrounding me, many times I didn’t need to pull out a gun.
Louis walked up to me.
I checked my watch, already annoyed that we’d been on the phone for this long. “Your involvement is protected, Kenji.”
“I believe it is.”
Translation: It better be, or you’ll have more than the Lion bothering you.
“Is that the only reason for your call?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Good night, Dragon.”
Irritation coated his voice. “Good night, Butcher.”
I shut off the phone, handed it to Louis, and headed toward the building.
Louis walked on my side. “What did he want?”
“He’s scared the Lion will start sniffing around his lair.”
“Better the Yakuza and Bratva fight, then us.”