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Chapter 2

Kurtis

Lounging on the beach, I watch as Astari caresses the sand with her toes looking out into the ocean. She’s wearing a black bikini that we picked up on the way here. I had stopped by the Hotel and had my direct Platoon follow me here. I’ll keep these men with me even when going to Korea. We are all familiar with each other and they have always been loyal to me. Currently, they are guarding the beach preventing others from entering. My lady wants to enjoy the beach. I’ll gift her with a private beach even if it’s just for a moment.

“Are you not going to get in the water?” Astari asks, peering at me over her shoulder.

“You go ahead,” I tell her. She visibly pouts and comes over to me before sitting down. Her hair blowing gently in the wind.

“It’s no fun if you won’t come too.”

“I’m sorry, let’s just relax here a minute. I will go in later.”

“Is the Alliance truly unstable?” She turns to me looking down since I am laid out and resting my head in my hand. I reach out with my other hand and tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her blushes are adorable.

“There are a lot of holes in the Alliance. We have managed this long but have never been challenged seriously. This is the first time.”

“True, but I heard it was rough when the Alliance first started.”

“Valid, but the Alliance has been in the works for at least 50 years. The first challenge was when Lady Kim was murdered protecting Kim Sr. Since Kim Sr was so vicious in his retaliation, things went a lot smoother.”

“I heard he nearly wiped out the entire Kyoto clan.”

“He did, all except for the Aunt, Uncle, and Matsume’s father. Everyone else died. He only spared the Aunt and Uncle because they warned Lady Kim which saved Kim Sr’s life. He spared Matsume’s father because he was but a boy and close with Chief Kwan.”

“Do you think Matsume’s father has anything to do with this?”

“I doubt it, but it’s still a possibility. If Kim Sr was still running things, he probably would eradicate the entire Kyoto family at this point.”

“What will you do?”

“Hmm…” I sit up and move closer to her. “What should I do?” I ask her seriously looking directly into her eyes.

Blushing again, she answers me, “You should kill them all.” She whispers.

“Then that’s what I will do.” I then lean closer kissing her gently. She sighs into my mouth before returning the kiss in full force. We remain tangled in each other's embrace before I finally separate us. Her hair is filled with sand so I pull her up and carry her to the water before tossing her in. She screams and swims back to me splashing me with forceful kicks.

“I’m just trying to clean the sand out of your hair. You don’t want it to fall out do you?’

“My hair won’t fall out.” She laughs, “That’s a tall tale.”

“Ok, let’s go then. We’ll leave it in and see how false it truly is.” I turn to leave and she jumps on my back.

“Ok, we can stay, are you going to get it all out?”

“Hmm… It’d be easier in a bathroom. We got the majority of it out just now. Let’s head in, I am hungry.”

“Don’t you have to go back to the Hotel and meet your father? It’s getting late.”

“I could, or I could just go back another time. They will be fine without me for a while. Or are you ready to return?”

“What do you have in mind?”

I begin heading towards the car. Astari slides off my back and falls in step beside me.

“Nothing really, I have spent too much time doing things for others. I just want this time to myself. Besides, I’d like to get to know you as you are and not the ‘you' you show the world.”

“Are they different?”

“You tell me, I wouldn’t have pegged you as ruthless. You want me to eradicate an entire clan.” I help her in the car and then get in heading to one of the Alliance Hotels near here.

“If we let them live, the cycle may never end.”

“Still, we need to find out where Matsume ran off towards. We also need to find out who is all loyal to Matsume. Seems he’s already created a clan of his own.”

“You think so? I am not fully familiar with the Yakuza clans. There’s a lot of drama down there though.”

“Hmm… It’s been a bit chaotic since the Kyoto incident with my mother. Now, this…”

“Its because of your mom's situation that I don’t think that Matsume’s dad is fully innocent. Imagine if your betrothed was stolen by the head of the syndicate who creates the rules but doesn’t follow them. Then said betrothed disappears and the leader abdicates. Wouldn’t you be angry and want revenge?”

“I imagine.” I concede.

“Then think about how Lady Kyoto must feel being second best. She’s probably not happy about the arrangement either. It’s not as if Kyoto even pays her any attention outside of warming his bed. I hear he even has other women he indulges in. Not only was she married off to a low-class Lord and an enemy to the syndicate but also, the man shames her every night and day he takes another to bed in front of her.”

“Never considered that,” I admit. I have been in China managing the minor Triad groups causing problems here, I haven’t bothered with my homeland.

Pulling into the Hotel, we get out and head in after I hand the keys to An Ling. An Ling is a captain I appointed to the platoon of 50 men that I have always worked directly with. I enlisted him in being my guard, while Jongsu is still Astari’s guard. Because Astari is with me, Jongsu is already in the hotel somewhere.

“You have a suite, or you could stay in mine. My room has three rooms you can choose from.” I offer her.

“Umm…” I see the conflict on her face and cannot help but chuckle.

“I promise I won’t pressure you for anything. I mentioned this before, but I don’t want things to happen the way they did with my mother. I waited this long, I can wait until we marry.”

“Still…” her teeth worry her lips causing them to turn red. I force myself to look away. I can wait. I tell myself.

“Then, here’s your room key.” I hand her a key. “You should get cleaned up.”

“OK.”

“Meet me in the restaurant, I would like to eat together.”

“Ok.”

Turning, I see Jongsu a distance away observing us. I beckon him over.

“She will be staying in her room. You should have a key. Please keep her safe this time. Alert me if something happens.”

“Yes.” He then leads Astari to her room.

Instead of heading to my room, I go down to the service elevators and meet up with An Ling.

“Chief.”

“I’m not chief yet. Have you found anything?”

“The Shin are still in China and mostly appear to be in the southern parts. They are absorbing a lot of smaller syndicates here on the eastern coastlines. It’s just too far for Sooyung to control on his own. He doesn’t have as many Loyal to him as Chief Yaotián.”

“It’s probably because he doesn’t have anyone as ruthless as Prince Jaidan or his 3rd in Command Da-Xing.”

“That has a lot to do with it. I am not sure if Prince Myom-Li can do it.”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t count him out just yet. Keep in touch with the main force and let me know how things go with the transition.”

“Who’s going to guard him now that you cannot.”

“Not something you need to worry about. I’ll handle it later. For now, he’s safe enough with Chief Yaotián.”

“Yes My Lord.” He bows to me as I head back out. This will take some getting used to.

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