Chapter 41

Mia

We were definitely late for dinner as we stepped into one of the fanciest Japanese restaurants in Vegas called Nihon Restaurant and Bar. Of course, after our quick sex session, James had himself ready in fifteen minutes, while I had to redo my hair and makeup and rearrange my dress completely.

As we came through the door, a waiter greeted us. “Irasshaimase.”

James nodded and simply said, “Tory.”

The Japanese waiter understood immediately and politely ushered us up a grand staircase to the next level. It was very quiet here, with only the soothing, light music of Japanese instruments. The decor and lighting here were also designed in a very traditional Japanese style. The atmosphere was beautiful and relaxing.

The waiter slid open a door and bowed as we walked in.

“James,” I heard a man said. “Finally made it, eh?”

“Mm-hmm,” James replied.

As I stepped to the side, I finally realized who spoke. Darkly handsome, Tory came and gave James a manly hug and handshake. Then he turned his attention to me.

“I’m glad you came, Mia,” he said. “Otherwise, it was going to be so boring with just us men.”

I nodded and licked my lips. When I finally did look around, I noted William staring darkly at James. There was also another man there whom I didn’t know.

The guy stood and came over to James. He, too, gave James a good manly hug, slapping him on the shoulder. “How have you been, James?”

“Good,” James replied.

“You brought your girl along, eh?” He beamed at James and gave me a wink.

I blushed.

William said, “Mia, why don’t you come sit next to me, darling?”

I felt James tense beside me and turned to look at him.

As if sensing his dark mood toward William’s suggestion, Tory chuckled lightly. “Come on, Mia. You can sit beside me and Mark.”

I assumed Mark was the man I didn’t know.

Then, of course, I didn’t even have a choice when Tory grabbed me by the wrist and led me to a seat on the floor. I had to fold my legs under me to sit properly.

James sat opposite me, next to William. Oddly enough, I wanted to laugh. It was apparent the two didn’t like each other, yet they were still friends. And it was quite a remarkable image the duo presented too. James with such dark hair and those Prussian-blue eyes of his against William’s pale-blond hair that one would call almost silvery white, with very light-blue eyes. Both men were disarmingly handsome, in different ways, of course. I was sure they’d attracted different types of females, those who preferred dark-haired men over those who preferred blonds.

Tory captured my attention by pouring some sake into my small cup.

“Have you had sake before, Mia?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Never.”

He smiled. “Then you’re in for a treat.”

Both James and William watched me as I brought the little cup to my lips. I took a sip and swallowed. I made a face as I said, “Oh, it’s strong.”

Tory laughed while James smiled and William chuckled.

Mark said, “Tory is the sake king among us five.”

“Five?” I couldn’t help asking, looking around. I was sure there were only four of them.

“Matt,” Mark said. I noted the dark look in Tory’s expression.

Ah, I thought, another pair who didn’t like each other very much but remained friends nonetheless.

I took another sip of my offered drink and found the taste wasn’t as strong as before. Perhaps I knew what to expect and found I didn’t dislike it as much as before.

“Do you know what the cup and this flask is called in Japanese, Mia?” Tory asked.

“Shit! There he goes again, lecturing about his Japanese heritage,” William said sourly.

Mark laughed. “He’s just proud of his nationality.”

“Part of his nationality,” James said.

“So you’re not fully Japanese?” I asked.

Tory shook his head. “I’m half. My mother is Japanese, and my father is American. I was raised in Japan until I was fifteen. Then I came here and attended high school with these hotheads.”

Mark sniggered. “Ah, the good old days. I remember that first time you beat the crap out of Matt. He never liked you since.”

Tory shrugged. “He pissed me off. He deserved it.”

Our food arrived then. It was a set menu with an array of delicious choices that made my mouth water just looking at them. After the waiters finished placing every Japanese food under the sun on our table, they left again. I knew a few of them, such as sushi and sashimi as well as yakitori and tempura.

We ate while the conversation continued about the sake and sake set. I found out the flask was called Tokkuri and the cup called Ochoko. Once that topic was out of the way, the men mostly went on about business, as I’d guessed before arriving. I didn’t mind, of course, since I had the delicious food to occupy me. Now and again, however, I did catch James eyeing me as I ate. When I licked my lips, his eyes darkened and there was a smile playing about his lips as well.

“Heard you bought yourself a pet for five million,” James said to William sometime later.

William shrugged. “She’s a pretty little thing. Couldn’t help myself.”

“I would have thought you’d stay away from that sort of shit,” James said darkly.

I was suddenly on alert. Pet? Surely they were talking about either a cat or a dog. But for five million? Maybe it was a car. A very luxurious sports car. But why did I have the feeling it was none of those things?

“I think what I do with my life isn’t any of your business, James.” William snorted. “You bought your own pet for two million.” He stared at me, and that was when I realized what the word pet meant.

I suddenly felt sick.

“Leave Mia out of this,” James snapped.

William ignored him and said to me, “I could have easily fixed all your problems, Mia darling. You, your brother, those fuckheads, the Albanian and Mexican, and that fucking two million. I would have sorted everything out with five million.”

I glared at him, and my heart raced like crazy. I didn’t know I was so pissed with William, with the way he was talking to James, or to me for that matter. I was certainly very pissed with the fact that he talked sarcastically about my and my brother’s problems.

I said to him, “I’ve already fixed those problems, thank you very much. And I’m happy with how it turned out. I think I made the right move.”

He laughed. “Ouch! The little kitten has fangs,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

I had a feeling he was pleased with my comeback. Then, of course, he went and said something that ruined the evening even more. “I bet it’s fun in bed with you, darling. I like spirited kittens, especially ones with claws and fangs. Care to join me tonight?”

My face reddened with embarrassment. “No, thank you. I’m not into blond, arrogant men with too much money to throw around.”

Tory and Mark roared out in laughter, while James just eyed me with interest.

“Well done, Mia, well done,” Mark said. “You’re the first girl to ever say no to our egotistical William.”

About three hours later, we parted ways with the men. They promised each other they’d have another catch-up session before the year ended. And this time Matt was joining them even if they had to drag him kicking and screaming.

James and I were just getting out of the elevator on the ground floor of this particular hotel that apparently belonged to Tory and his family when something nagged at me. It was a similar feeling I’d had when I first arrived in Los Angeles.

I glanced around, and my stomach fluttered—not in a good way. My whole body shivered with worry as I stared at a few men across the lobby. They looked Hispanic, and I wondered if they were following us.

James pulled me into his arms and said, “Ignore them.”

I glanced up at him and nodded. So he knew we were being followed all along.

I kept close to him as we headed to the car. When we started driving out, I turned in my seat in search of those men. They were nowhere to be found. I sighed in relief and slumped back in my spot.

“They give me the creeps,” I said, rubbing my tummy.

James chuckled. “My little kitten is afraid of the big bad wolves.”

I snorted. “They’re not the big bad wolves, James. They’re just little foxes. But they still give me the creeps.”

He placed his hand over mine, over my tummy, and started rubbing my skin. “They won’t dare do anything stupid.”

I nodded. James Maxwell was a ruthless billionaire, and oddly enough, I felt safe knowing that. Safe because he could do so many things normal people couldn’t do. Safe because with one word from him, those guys would be in deep shit.

I calmed down and relaxed in my seat.

James said, “So who’s the wolf?”

I stared at him. He got the point, and a sly smile appeared across his face. Shit! I didn’t know if that was a good sign or not, but my whole body tingled with both anxiety and anticipation.