Now all I needed to do was bide my time until I was alone in the house again, and it was driving me up a wall. The knot in the yarn was forgotten when Kon went running past the door of my makeshift studio like the house was on fire.
I took off after him, and he paused long enough to tell me everything was fine.
“Here, anyway,” he added with a wry twist of his mouth. “Dima’s got some issues he needs help with, though.”
“So, same as usual?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, too caught up in his cousin’s trouble, which may have been entangled with our own troubles with the Yakuza, not that he’d share that with me. He was gone, ordering some of his guards to go with him.
I thanked the gods of chaos for giving me the moment I needed, and went back to the office, making a beeline for the safe. Dima’s beach house may have been fortified on the outside, but it was definitely a family home on the inside. The only cameras covered the front and back entrances, so no pesky alerts were going to ring on either his or Kon’s phone that I was messing with the safe.
Once I had my phone, the first thing I did was check to see if my father had sent a new message. My heart sank when there was nothing, but I braced myself, scrolling through all my contacts and asking each of them in turn for Riku’s contact information before I could chicken out.
Anyone who answered would forever be under my suspicion, but that was the least of my worries. I stared at the screen, pacing back and forth between the window and the desk. The day was waning, the sun no longer streaming in, and I was too preoccupied to turn on the overhead light.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was shockingly only twenty minutes, someone who worked in the company that Kon and Papa had been running in Tokyo messaged me back with a number, nothing else.
Taking a leap of faith, I quickly compiled a message.
If this is Riku Yoshida, I’m willing to make a deal, but I need proof that my father is alive. You know who this is, and you know who I’m with.
Breathing out, I sent it, turned the phone to maximum volume, then began to pace. I barely made two circuits of my short path when my phone pinged so loudly, I jumped. It wasn’t from the strange number that was supposedly the Yakuza boss, but from Papa’s.
Tears blurred my vision as I read it through, the Russian words like a balm to my soul.
My dearest child. I am fine, and only concerned for you. You should have listened to me! If you’re truly with Konstantin, he’s more of a danger to you than you can imagine. I’ll be with you before your second birthday if you trust in Riku and do what he says. First of all, tell me you’re okay and where you are.
I tried to call, but he didn’t answer, which had me concerned, but the mention of my second birthday clinched it for me that it was really Papa. Since my actual date of birth was in the dead of winter, he had begun letting me have a second one in the summer time, usually sometime in July, so we could do something fun outdoors.
I told him my location, praying he could get to me, then I could convince him and Kon to talk this through. I didn’t get another reply, and my second call once again rang through to voicemail. There were a dozen reasons he couldn’t pick up, and I didn’t want to endanger him if he was in a sensitive situation. God, I hated all the intrigue. Why couldn’t anything ever be simple?
Still, he was okay. As soon as the relief hit me, I was overwhelmed with heartbreak. What the hell was going on? I shook off the confusion. At least he was alive, and surely, he had a good reason for going against Kon to work with the Yakuza. I didn’t have too much time to think because another message came through, this time from Riku himself.
I hope you have been assured of your father’s safety. His only concern is for yours. Neither of us ever wanted to involve you, but now we feel we must, for your own safety. Grigor will explain more if you allow me to get you to him.
What was I supposed to do now?
How?I answered.
My hands shook. Every fiber of my being was screaming that Kon was no danger to me. If he wanted me dead, I’d be dead. He had complete control over me, and if he so much as wanted me harmed, I wouldn’t have free range of a gorgeous beach house with catered meals and other perks.
Unless all of that was to keep me pliable. Kon never fully trusted me or Papa’s innocence. Except it turned out Papa wasn’t exactly innocent if he was with Riku, was he? I shook off my doubts. There had to be a reason. But the only reason meant that Kon was the villain in all this.
Another message pinged.
Wait for the signal and then run like hell from the property. Someone will be waiting to pick you up.
That meant they were closer than Kon thought. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? What was I supposed to do?
There was nothing after that, and I deleted all the messages. I kept my phone with me while I went to force down some dinner to maintain an air of normalcy in case the few remaining guards were watching my movements. Then I went back to the office to wait for the sign, whatever it was supposed to be, still not sure what I’d do if I recognized it.
When had Papa ever lied to me or led me astray? Never, that I knew of. He was a good man, despite his line of work. He certainly committed countless crimes in his lifetime, but still had a code of honor that was unshakable. If he was working against his longtime best friend, there was a reason.
But at the same time, Kon had never done anything so wrong—at least that I knew of—for Papa to feel the need to turn against him.
“Why are you looking for reasons to defend him?” I muttered as I resumed my nervous pacing.
If it was because I liked his kisses, then that made me a fool. I messaged Papa one more time.