What Men Want - Chapter 30

He was still pondering his fucking emotional insecurities later, as he stood in front of his open closet, rubbing a towel over his wet hair. So absorbed was he in his inadequacies that the soft closing of the door behind him made him start.

He turned and frowned at seeing Amaya in his room. Amaya dressed in a see-through robe, barely cinched around the waist, leaving no doubt that she wore absolutely nothing underneath.

“Good morning, Ryo,” she murmured, her eyes running up and down his body.

He dropped the towel he’d been using to dry his hair around his neck and made sure the towel around his waist was firmly knotted. He didn’t like the look in her eyes. He didn’t like the entire look of her. Not of her in his room. Not of her practically naked in his room.

If she planned to ruin things between him and Kaori after they’d barely patched them up, she had another think coming.

“What are you doing here, Amaya?”

She bit her lip, dropped her eyes onto the knot on the towel around his waist, and then looked back up at him through her lashes.

“Why shouldn’t I be here?”

“Well, because this is my room.”

“I know,” she smiled. “In all this time I’ve been here, you never came to me; you weren’t even in the house for the past few days, so I decided to make things easier for you and came on my own.”

He frowned. “Excuse me?”

“You don’t have to pretend, Ryo,” she whispered, walking leisurely toward him. “Kaori isn’t in. She left earlier.”

She was right on one account. Since Kaori wasn’t home, he really didn’t have to pretend. He didn’t have to pretend to be a pervert, salivating after every woman but Kaori.

“I saw her come out of your room this morning,” Amaya continued, utterly oblivious. “You spent the night together, but she appeared as virginal as yesterday. Which means you didn’t touch her. You never touched her, and you have no intention of doing it, no matter what she thinks.”

“What are you talking about?”

She shrugged. “Well, she basically threatened me about staying away from you. She’s quite possessive of something that will never be hers.” She ran her fingers down his torso. “You need a real woman, Ryo.”

The touch of her fingers on his skin made him shudder, but not with pleasure, as she probably thought, judging by the satisfied smile curling her lips. The shudder was one of revulsion. He didn’t really like to be touched without permission. The only exception to the rule was Kaori. And he didn’t like to be looked upon as a prize to win, a trophy to be wielded over Kaori.

He clasped her wrist as she started pulling at the towel around his waist.

“I’ll tell you what I need, Hitotsugi-san,” he told her calmly. If she knew him, she’d know to fear his soft tone. “I need you to leave this room and never return. You’re our client. Nothing more. I don’t know what I might’ve said or done to make you think I want more from you, but you’re mistaken.”

Amaya pulled her hand out of his grasp with a grimace of pain. “You didn’t have to do or say anything, Ryo. Everybody knows of your reputation.”

“My reputation?” he mused, then ran a disdainful look down her form. “Oh, you’re talking about that reputation.” He chuckled, but it lacked any warmth. “I’m a chameleon, lady. I have the reputation I want to have. People think of me what I want them to think. No one knows me.” Not even Kaori, not really. “If you thought this,” he waved his hand, encompassing her barely concealed body, “would excite me, you got it wrong. It’s obvious you put in too much effort. It makes you look desperate.”

She gasped and quickly drew the sides of her wrapper around her, tying the sash tightly with trembling hands. He didn’t delude himself; she was trembling with humiliation. There was rage in her eyes.

“How dare you?!” she hissed. “How dare you talk to me like that? You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

He shrugged, comfortable in his familiar territory. “Of course I do. You’re just another Yakuza widow with delusions of grandeur because of what your husband was. A real woman? Kaori is twice the woman you are. She doesn’t have to flaunt it; everything she is and does speaks for itself. And as for her possessiveness, she has a much bigger claim to me than you’ll ever have.”

“How dare you?” she repeated. “I’ve never been treated like this in my life. No one has turned me down before.”

Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but he wasn’t fooled. It was all an act.

“You should go out more,” he said nonchalantly, unwittingly echoing Kaori’s words to her.

She shrieked and went to slap him, but he grabbed her wrist again, squeezing menacingly. “You don’t get to slap me. Not for telling the truth. If you can’t handle the truth, you’re in the wrong place. And if you’re looking for a quick fuck, you’re also in the wrong place. You’re here merely for your protection.”

“I won’t allow either you or that bitch that works for you to treat me like that!”

His fingers bit into her skin as he leaned over her menacingly. “I never get back on my word about offering my hospitality, but if you insult Kaori one more time, I’ll personally throw you into the street. Do you understand?”

She pulled her hand away, massaging her wrist. “You’re a beast, Saeba.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Anything else?”

She stared at him mutely, her eyes still shining with impotent tears.

“In that case.” He nodded toward the door. “You know the way out. And put something decent on; this is a respectable household.”

She emitted another enraged shriek, turned on her heel, and ran out of the room.

Ryo sighed and walked to the door she left wide open. He listened to her running footsteps and the slam of the guest room door. With another sigh, he closed his own door and went to dress.

He didn’t delude himself; this particular topic was closed, not after seeing the rage in her eyes. He’d have to tell Saeko. They needed to get the woman out of the house as soon as possible. And he’ll have to tell Kaori. Which was a problem on its own.

Yet the thought of her acting all possessive about him made him smile.

The smile quickly vanished as he contemplated the predicament they were in with Amaya now. No wonder he’s been itchy ever since taking this assignment. He’d known something was off or about to be. And his instincts were never wrong.

“Damn it.”