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“Takeshi and I aren’t innocent.”
Her body stills before her shoulders begin to shake in silent laughter. “No, innocent you are not.”
“But we are human.” I keep my face forward but sense when she spins to stare at me.
“What does that mean?”
I tap my thumbs against the steering wheel.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
How do I give her another perspective without shoving the phone into her hand and guilting her into calling Takeshi?
“Shinji?”
“Danger and death breathe down our throats every day.”
“This isn’t news.”
“And this isn’t working.” I pull off the highway and onto the offramp of a rest area.
“Shinji?” Lakeshia’s rising concern isn’t my goal.
Once I pull into a shaded space away from other cars, I shut off the engine and get out of the car to open her door. “Let’s walk.”
We stroll in silence for a few minutes.
“How certain are you that your former associates didn’t fall prey to Tomasso?”
Instead of looking at me, she averts her gaze, displaying a rare instance of shyness. “Although we never fostered close relationships, I have my ways of keeping tabs on the womenwho worked for me. Plus, every so often I send reminders of my existence and the information I have to my power brokers.”
Her admission is something I can use.
“Do you think Riu and Ichiro are our version of keeping tabs on you?”
“Aren’t they?”
I stop her with an arm on her elbow.
She stills but doesn’t turn to face me.
“No number of Rius and Ichiros will reassure me or Takeshi in the way only hearing your voice or seeing your face will.”
She shrugs my hand off and marches with more anger in her step. “I get it. You don’t want your walking womb in danger.”
Her response sends an electric surge through me, temporarily paralyzing me in shock. Once the words echoing on repeat in my head make sense, I rush after her and swing her struggling frame into my arms.
“Lakeshia, I get that you’ve had a shitty life, and Takeshi and I haven’t pushed as much as we would like, but I need you to understand something.”
Once she stops twisting to escape from my embrace, I pinch her chin and lift her face until our eyes meet. “You are not just a walking incubator to us.”
She scoffs and rolls her eyes, her skepticism slicing me more keenly than a katana.
“Don’t believe me?”
“Shinji, we fuck for you to get me pregnant.”
