Fire and Ice (Ice 5)

She still didn’t look happy. “No sex with Jilly,” she warned.

“No conversation, no getting within five thousand miles of her. You can trust me.”

And Su-chan had had no choice but to do so.

But that was before Russian mercenaries had been sent to kill them and anyone who mattered to them. Summer might have preferred if someone else had come to Japan to save her sister’s life, but in the end it was her life that mattered, and Summer wouldn’t be picky about who helped her. Besides, Reno was making sure Jilly was so annoyed with him that she’d never want to see him again. They’d worry about the rest of it once the Russians realized they were chasing a ghost mission.

In the meantime, they needed to disappear. His grandfather’s summerhouse in the Saitama Prefecture would be perfect. It would be closed for the season, but there’d still be staff on call, just in case his austere grandfather decided he wanted a steaming mineral bath. Saitama was known for its hot springs and their restorative effects—known to cure cancer, increase a man’s virility and promote long life—and his grandfather’s trips had become more frequent. Maybe he was going for a shot of virility, but he doubted it. His grandfather looked old and frail. The man who’d seemed indestructible was suddenly looking mortal.

And the last thing Reno needed right now was a surge of virility. Jilly Lovitz was providing enough of a challenge when he was determined to keep his hands off her. He didn’t need more stimulation.

It didn’t help the way she looked at him, when she thought he wouldn’t notice. He could get her on her back without half trying. As far back as he could remember he could have any woman he wanted, and Jilly was just one more.

He didn’t want this one, and not just because Su-chan had asked him not to. Jilly Lovitz came with too many problems, too much baggage. He needed to dump her, fast. He was counting on Ojiisan to get Taka out of hiding long enough to take over. Taka could keep her safe from Russian mercenaries and stray assassins. And him.

They followed the rail line north. He wasn’t sure whether she slept or just pretended to get out of talking to him. He didn’t give a shit. He just wanted to get rid of her.

He stopped at one of the train stations and ran in to get a couple of their justly famous bento boxes. Jilly didn’t open her eyes when he returned, so he set the packages on the backseat and took off again.

Three hours later they were climbing the narrow, twisting road that led to his grandfather’s summerhouse. She’d woken up long enough to devour the contents of the bento box, all without a word of complaint. He’d thought the raw eel might stop her, and he was half tempted to encourage her with the wasabi, but she seemed to know her way around Japanese food.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked.

“When we get there,” he growled.

She was clearly unintimidated. “Get where? Or are we still driving in circles?”

He ignored her.

She poked him with her chopsticks. He was so astonished he almost veered off the narrow road.

“Don’t do that!” he snapped.

“Don’t annoy me,” she replied in a sweet voice. “Where are we heading?”

“An onsen belonging to my grandfather. A traditional bathhouse,” he explained when her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“I think I’ve had enough of Japanese baths,” she said in a dry voice.

Not that he had any reason to explain further. “It’s closed for the winter, and it’s up in the mountains. No one will be able to find us. We’ll wait there until Ojiisan gets in touch with Taka.” He glanced at her. She’d survived the wasabi—there was just a spot of it at the corner of her full mouth, and he had the sudden insane desire to lick it off. “You want to see your sister, right? That’s why you came to Japan in the first place, isn’t it?”

“I had a number of reasons,” she said. “Seeing Summer was the main one, but I was planning on touring the country, doing a little research, taking care of some old business. At this point the research can wait—I just want to get home.”

He couldn’t blame her. She wasn’t used to running for her life.

Though, she’d had to do it once before, when she’d been kidnapped by a lunatic cult. But that had been a blip in her safe little American world. Still, she was handling it well enough.

She was like her sister in many ways—fearless, strong, adventurous. Most of the women he slept with would have been babbling hysterically by now. But Jilly had merely endured, even as she passed the dead bodies and escaped hired killers.

Though there was no reason to compare her with the women he slept with. Because he wasn’t going there. Not ever.

Night fell early, as they drove north, and the headlights speared weakly through the night as they climbed higher. The tiny commuter car wasn’t made for steep inclines, and his booted foot was pressed all the way to the floor.

She hadn’t said a word for the past few hours—he could be grateful for that much. He didn’t need some gaijin yammering at him, making idiot demands.

Not that he had any reason to think Summer’s sister was demanding. She was bearable so far, and with any luck he’d get rid of her before she turned shrewish.

He glanced over at her. She was looking out the window, and her reflection was mirrored in the glass. Pretty. It would be foolish to deny it—Jilly Lovitz was pretty. She had big brown eyes—round, baby eyes with thick lashes. Her mouth was a little too big, but he liked it, even if he couldn’t stop thinking of things she could do with that mouth. Her hair was short, curling as it dried, a blond color that he knew was entirely natural. He just wished he could forget that part.