Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rin examined her appearance in the mirror at work with a critical eye. Casual, yet professional. She looked competent even if she didn’t feel confident, and that was important since she was about to meet her uncle for lunch. She couldn’t let him sense fear or weakness, after all, despite his age, he was still a predator.
As soon as she’d come in to work she had called her uncle’s assistant, since she still didn’t have a direct number to her uncle, and set up this meeting. The assistant had been completely uncooperative in giving her clues as to what her uncle wanted to see her about, so she was already going into this at a disadvantage. She needed to keep the meeting professional and treat him as if he was nothing more than a client. She would be cordial, hear what he had to say, respond as appropriate, smile when necessary, and then it would be done. Simple.
Rin groaned and slumped against the sink. It didn’t matter how many times she went over it, this did not feel simple. Especially after the reports from Margaret Tully about her uncle’s condescending attitude, and then Ginny filling her in about his anger when her uncle had failed to find Rin at her office. The overall consensus was that Makoto Nakamura was not a pleasant male.
Ginny poked her head in the door and Rin straightened as the older woman whispered, “He’s here.”
Checking her appearance one last time, Rin took a deep breath and then another. She was about to be reunited with a member of her family, yet she felt like she was walking to her execution. Hoping that her body didn’t betray her with shaking hands or a voice that cracked, Rin left the bathroom to greet her uncle.
Rin took in his appearance with a sweep of her eyes, the expensive suit, the designer watch, and the fine shoes; the long coat draped over his arm. He was not a tall male, yet he held himself like a king among peasants. That was the first thing Rin noticed. His head was bald, merely a peach fuzz of silver on his scalp. His skin was the color of worn leather, and deeply lined with age. His eyes were narrow, shrewd, his look calculating. To give the male his due, Rin bowed. “Oji.”
“Mei,” Her uncle returned with a slight inclination of his head. “There are things we must discuss. But first, we will eat.” His voice was gruff, almost raspy, and resembled that of a chain-smoker, though she couldn’t smell tobacco on his person.
Her uncle turned and walked away. That was it. No hug, no small talk, not even the smallest indication that he was happy to see her. Only a command, and the full expectation that she would follow. Rin grit her teeth and reminded herself that in an hour, she would be back at work and hopefully, whatever information her uncle felt necessary to impart would be dealt with and he would be on his way, never to darken her doorstep again.
As soon as they were enclosed in her uncle’s vehicle, he barked out an order to his driver or assistant or whatever the other male was and they were on their way. Unfortunately, not toward the diner like Rin had assumed. They were heading out of town. “Where are we going?”
Her uncle eyed her with those narrowed eyes and spoke in Japanese, “You have been avoiding me, Niece.”
It took Rin a moment to answer, and not because she didn’t know the language. After all, she’d learned it as a child and had grown up speaking it regularly at home with her parents. Rather, it was because she wasn’t sure how she wanted to respond. Honesty or make up a believable excuse? Finally, she decided it was best to stick with the truth. “I am angry with you, Uncle.”
He didn’t look surprised, or angry, he simply grunted before turning his attention to the front windshield. Rin had to grit her teeth again and couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be ground to powder by the time this meeting was at an end. He wasn’t going to even ask why she was angry. Unbelievable.
Rin wasn’t going to let him off that easy. “Why did you not come to the funerals? She was your sister.”
“So this is nothing more than wounded feelings?” Her uncle let out a scoffing sound. “Sentiment,” he snarled, his lip curling with derision. “Female nonsense.”
Rin fisted her hands in her lap to keep from slapping that arrogant face. She’d only been in his presence for a matter of minutes and already thought him the most frustratingly condescending male she’d ever had the displeasure of meeting. Rin repeated her original question, this time in Japanese. “Where are we going, Uncle?”
“A restaurant that is at least adequate in quality and service, unlike what that town you have chosen to live in has to offer.”
What a snob, Rin thought with disgust. The diner in Malsum Pass had great food – comfort food – with a homey atmosphere. That was probably exactly why her uncle didn’t like it. No one there would bow down and kiss his ass.
The drive seemed to take forever, plenty of time for her uncle to say what he needed to say, but he remained quiet, not budging on his original plan to eat first. He also had no desire to fill the uncomfortable silence with either music or small talk. No, heaven forbid he actually attempt to get to know his niece, and any attempt Rin made at conversation was met with a grunt or silence. Exasperating male. Didn’t he realize that he was only cementing Rin’s bad opinion of him? More than likely, he simply didn’t care.
Lunch didn’t improve things. They’d driven twenty minutes to reach the restaurant that her uncle approved of; the atmosphere of the place was rather dark for Rin’s taste, and they had been seated in an even darker alcove to ensure privacy. Rin hadn’t been given a menu once she had been seated, her uncle ordered for her, not deigning to ask her opinion. It highlighted quite eloquently, if she had had any prior doubt, that neither her opinion nor her preference mattered to him in the least.
Any appetite Rin may have had going into this meeting was quickly lost. The food could have been the best cuisine on the planet or it could have been week old trash for all Rin paid attention. She was too uncomfortable, too annoyed, and too agitated, waiting for her uncle to get on with whatever was important enough to have his majesty leaving his kingdom to mingle with the common folk in order to seek her out.
Her uncle placed his fork and knife down on his empty plate and wiped his mouth. The overly attentive waiter quickly jumped into action to clear their places. Rin nearly sagged with relief. Finally, they could get to the point. Her uncle’s words, when he spoke, were a surprise. Not only were they in English, but they were the first words that he had spoken that conveyed any sort of familial affection. “I am glad you are well, Mei.”
Rin felt her eyes widen in shock, but quickly contained the emotion and inclined her head. “Thank you, Oji.”
“I am not so well.” Her uncle’s lips twisted as if he was disgusted with whatever mortal weakness he had been inflicted with. “I am dying.”
Rin’s first instinct was sympathy and she knew her face reflected that when her uncle scowled. He would not welcome her sympathy, would see it only as pity. His voice was hard as he continued. “I have spent my life building an empire, nurturing it like a baby, watching it grow when I should have made a baby to leave it with.” He paused seeming deep in thought, one of his fingers tapping lightly against the table. “I would have made fine sons.” He pinned Rin with a hard look, “I have no heirs. Upon my death, my business will be left in the fickle hands of a female.” Her uncle spat, his voice dripping with disdain.
Rin stiffened at the insult, but her uncle either didn’t notice or didn’t care – most likely the latter, as he continued, “I should have taken you in hand long ago, Mei. I should have seen you properly molded and groomed for the task that I must now set upon you. That is my fault and I take full responsibility, but now we are very nearly out of time.”
Her uncle let out another one of his grunts and then he was reaching into the breast pocket of his suit coat. “I admit to having been quite concerned when I heard you had been taken, yet fate has returned you to me so that you may fulfill your destiny.” With that said, he slid his hand across the table and revealed her missing locket. “Yours, I believe.”
As soon as Rin locked eyes on her locket, joy burst in her chest. Picking it up with shaking fingers, she cupped the familiar weight in her hand before opening the clasp. The photo inside of her grandparents, her mother, and her uncle just the same as she remembered. She had thought she had lost it forever when the fur traders had taken her.
“How did you get this?” Rin asked on a gasp of surprise.
“It was sent to me last autumn, by a business associate of mine.”
Last autumn. When she had been abducted by the fur traders. The words settled in Rin’s brain like a nightmare. The implication, one she never would have dreamed, and one she refused to accept. Clearing her throat, she asked carefully, “Benedict Brooks was an associate of yours?”
She prayed, she wished, she hoped so hard that he would deny it – tell her that the locket was found by someone else, maybe on the street where she had been taken – but she knew, even before he gave that sharp nod, that she would be disappointed. “He has been to my office many times where the original of that photograph is kept.” Her uncle’s lips twisted, “Your relation to me should have provided you with immunity, but Brooks was always the opportunist. I understood that about him.”
Rin closed her eyes, her fist squeezing the locket while her nails dug into the palm of her hand. “You work with the fur traders.” It wasn’t a question and Rin was amazed at how calm her voice sounded.
If she thought she was going to get a denial, she was sorely mistaken. Her uncle’s expression barely changed as he stated, “I am a businessman. I deal in acquisitions, and at times I am approached to find a specific specimen. If the money is right, I procure what’s needed – no matter the form… as will you.”
Over my dead body, asshole. Rin wanted to scream at him, to swear that if he left his empire to her that she would burn it to the ground, but her uncle was a shrewd man, sly as only a fox could be. She needed cool logic, not bruised emotion. With that thought keeping her tongue in check, Rin lowered her eyes. “I thank you for lunch and returning my locket, Oji. You’ve given me much to consider, but I’m afraid right now I must return to work.”
She couldn’t be sure if it was the demure look, the downcast eyes that pleased her uncle, or perhaps what he saw as an easy acceptance of his explanation. More likely, it was her deference to a male, which he would consider proper behavior. But for the first time, her uncle smiled, a smug stretch of lips that raised Rin’s hackles. He raised a hand in signal to his assistant and in moments, they were back in the uncomfortable silence of her uncle’s car.