Free Owned by the Yakuza: A Japanese Mafia Bad Boy Romance by Ariel London Page B

that you were in charge of my every move.”
    Tadao gritted his teeth. “We had a deal.”
    “I would finish paying you once the vacation was over.”
    “You can’t go, it’s not safe.”
    “Safe?” I was taken aback. “Are you threatening me?”
    “No! No,” Tadao said, taking a step forward. His hands were clenched at his sides. “No, that’s not what I meant. Something else is going on right now, Oriana. I can’t let you out of my sight.”
    My face went red. “You know this whole owning thing is supposed to stop once the sex is over.”
    “It’s not about the sex!” Tadao shouted. “And I could give a fuck about the money.” He threw his wallet down on the floor. “I could have paid that debt myself if I cared that much.”
    I glanced at the wallet and then up to him. “Then what do you care about?”
    With three strides, Tadao came to me and kissed me. He held my shoulders, kissing my lips with more tenderness than I had ever felt from him. “I care about you,” He said as he broke away. “I’ve been trying not to. I shouldn’t mix business and pleasure, but I can’t help myself. I’m crazy about you.”
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    Tadao 忠夫
     
    “You know this whole owning thing is supposed to stop once the sex is over.”
    “It’s not about the sex!” I shouted. “And I could give a fuck about the money.” I threw my wallet down on the floor. “I could have paid that debt myself if I cared that much.”
    “Then what do you care about?”
    Her. I hadn’t realized until earlier when I was scared for her life. I loved her. A weight was lifted from my shoulders as I admitted it to myself.
    “I care about you,” I said as I pulled away from the kiss. “I’ve been trying not to. I shouldn’t mix business and pleasure, but I can’t help myself. I’m crazy about you.”
    Oriana’s arms fell limp to her sides, her cheeks flushing and her dark green eyes staring at me. She was quiet after my confession. Too quiet.
    My heart twanged with fear.
    Finally, a soft smile spread across her face. “Really?”
    “Yes,” I said.
    Oriana rested her face against my chest. “I’m so glad. I was beginning to think that it was just about sex with you. Or because of the money.”
    Honestly, it started that way. Of course, I wanted to make sure we got that debt taken care of. And the first few times I fucked her, it was only because of her perfect combination of beauty and kinkiness. Now, it was different. In that moment that I feared for her life, the overpowering need to protect her took over me and now I realized that I was dangerously close to falling in love.
    I had never been in love before. I hadn’t even wanted it until I saw how happy my brother and his wife were together. Seeing the photos from the wedding made me jealous and angry. I deserved this happiness too. Maybe I had found it.
    I wasn’t the best with words, so I held her instead.
    We sat in the silence, doing nothing but listening to each other breathing.
    I tried to relax, but my mind was still going a mile a minute. The Shimazu-kai were targeting her because of her proximity to me. Just like they did with Cassandra – and she had almost been killed a few times. If it had not been for Kenichi, she might have been. Now my Oriana was going to suffer the same fate if we didn’t get this situation under control.
    “Oriana,” I said, rubbing her arm with my fingers. “I was thinking that maybe you should go to Scotland for a little while.”
    Oriana bolted up. “What? Why?” A mixed expression of hurt and confusion flashed across her face.
    “Just for a little while,” I promised. “I don’t think that Tokyo is safe for you right now.” I grabbed my blazer from the floor and pulled her photograph out of the breast pocket. “The Shimazu-kai, our biggest rivals, are targeting you. I found this on a guy who attacked me earlier tonight.”
    Oriana snatched the photo, her eyes growing wide and round.