"Mariko," Marcellus said softly. "Is Ricco your choice?"
"Yes." She stated it truthfully. He was her choice, so much so that she wasn't about to saddle him with her for a lifetime, but she wasn't going to sacrifice herself to be Kichiro's bride, either.
"Then that matter is closed," Marcellus decreed.
"Someone is holding Ryuu hostage at an undisclosed location," Ricco announced.
Again there was silence, as if no one could believe this matter could get any worse, but the more disclosed, the worse it seemed to be.
"I believe whoever took Ryuu is behind the attacks on me personally and my family. They have money. Mercenaries aren't cheap. To find Ryuu before he kills him--and he will--we have to find who is behind all of this."
"Do you believe any other family is in danger?" a rider from England asked.
Stefano shrugged. "No one else has reported any trouble, let alone anyone making a concentrated hit on their family members. We drew the short straw on this one."
"Tell us what you need from us," the rider from Russia said. "We'll help in any way we can. If you need more guards for your family, you have only to ask."
Everyone nodded, including Kichiro. Stefano regarded the riders around the large conference table. They'd come from all over the world out of respect for a rider's fallen husband.
"I appreciate what everyone is offering, and it might be necessary to call on you at some point before this is over, but for now, my cousins are handling it. We know we're under attack and we're taking the necessary precautions."
Marcellus stood up, signaling to the others. "We need to leave this family to their grief. You will all be informed of the outcome of our investigation."
The riders stood and each gave their condolences to the Ferraro family before filing out.
Kichiro hesitated in front of Mariko. "I didn't mean my proposal as it sounded. I was always interested in you, but my family objected when I told them I wanted to court you. I was elated when Marcellus said you were a Tanaka because, although your mother wasn't one of us, your family is legendary and would be a huge asset. It was you I wanted, the woman, not the rider."
The entire time Kichiro spoke, Ricco was coiled and ready to strike. He didn't understand that Kichiro was paying her a compliment. She put her hand very gently on Ricco's knee beneath the table, trying to send him the message to remain silent. She inclined her head to Kichiro, indicating she understood. She gave him a serene smile. "I understand, Kichiro."
He studiously avoided looking at Ricco. "You aren't wearing his ring and I know that is important in his family. If you aren't certain, please consider my offer. It is a sincere one."
Despite the hand on his thigh, Ricco surged to his feet. Since the attack on his family, he had been smoldering for a physical outlet. "You pretentious prick. Get the fuck away from my woman. You insult her and then you insult me. You're lucky I don't throw you out on your fucking ear."
Kichiro drew himself up for the first time, his calm mask slipping. Before he could say anything, Alfieri Ferraro stepped between them. "This is a sad day, gentlemen, and we're all upset. Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to leave now, Kichiro. Thank you for coming. Our family certainly appreciates it."
It was a clear dismissal from one of the members of the International Council. Ricco subsided into his chair, no longer even looking at Kichiro. The Japanese rider nodded his head at Alfieri and then whispered to Mariko, "I hope you will be happy." He turned on his heel and left.
Ricco tightened his arm around her, drawing her beneath his shoulder. "That man doesn't deserve you. I might not, but at least I appreciate you."
Eloisa shot him a glare. "You're a Ferraro," she reminded.
"I'm a Ferraro, a damned good rider, Eloisa," he agreed. "But she's taking a huge leap of faith when it comes to judging what kind of man I am." He brushed a kiss along Mariko's knuckles. "I appreciate it, farfallina mia. I swear, you won't regret taking me on."
Mariko had no idea what to do or say. It was all a farce, to save her from Kichiro. Now he had to lie in front of his family--his mother. Worse, he was very, very good at lying. She couldn't hear the lie, and she was very good at it as a rule. Either that, or he believed every word he was saying and his offer was sincere--right at that moment. Moments didn't last.
"I realize this is a terrible situation for you and your family, Ricco," Marcellus said. "But unfortunately, time is of the essence. We would like to interview you and then Mariko."
"His father was just brutally murdered," Eloisa objected.
For the first time, Mariko heard the unrestrained fury in the woman's voice and realized Ricco and his brothers came by their tempers honestly. Eloisa was on the very edge of her control.
"It's all right, Eloisa. We must find out who is behind this. The sooner the council realizes I'm telling the truth, the sooner they'll look at the members conspiring against us." Ricco stood and looked at the council members. "We can use the smaller office right off this room. Mariko was not even three. What she remembers is mostly from nightmares. Her life has been hell, and if you want to talk to her, you'll do it with me in the room."
"Ricco . . ." Marcellus began.
"That's nonnegotiable."
To her shock, Marcellus nodded. "That doesn't seem unreasonable, although you have to know we all would be gentle with her."
"You'll be gentle with her with me present," Ricco declared, not giving an inch.
She couldn't believe he would talk to a council member like that and, more, they'd give in to his demands. She had confidence in herself as a rider, knew she was respected as one, but she wouldn't have had the nerve to speak to a council member so directly, let alone giving them what amounted to an ultimatum.
Ricco nodded toward his brother Stefano. "I'd appreciate you watching out for her while I do this."
"I will be going into the interview with you. As head of the family, that is my right." Stefano was decisive, coming to his feet, his expression grim. "Taviano, Vittorio and Emme will keep her company."
Eloisa glared at him. "I'm still quite capable of defending my family."
Stefano bowed toward his mother. "Of course. Forgive me."
Mariko didn't understand the dynamics of the Ferraro family. Clearly the siblings were close. They all seemed to almost revere Stefano, but their mother, Eloisa, they treated as an outsider--and it wasn't because she was a woman. She watched Ricco and Stefano head toward the small office with the members of the council.
For some reason, her heart beat far too fast as she watched him go. She realized she didn't want him to have to relive the horrors of that day or the subsequent two years that followed in the homes of the families whose children he'd killed. He would have to tell them about how he didn't sleep for years, that instead he guarded the homes of his siblings. He would have to tell them about that terrible night when her family had been massacred by four disturbed boys. She knew the interviewers would question him closely over and over and it would be an ordeal. She realized she wanted to be there with him when he had to go through it all again.
The low murmur of conversation swirled around her and she had no idea of time passing as she tried to puzzle out the enormity of what the three families in Japan had conspired to do. She had grown up there. Japan was beautiful and she loved the country and the culture. The people she'd grown up around were very traditional and held to the old ways, unlike others she'd encountered. Was that part of the problem? Should the riders consider modernizing their training methods? Their society was very small and the ways entrenched. She believed what happened in her country could happen in any of them.
She could understand why their families felt the need to hide the truth from the world. She couldn't understand why they had taken her legacy from her or from her brother, Ryuu. She also couldn't understand how shadow riders could turn so severely on their own kind.
"Mariko." Taviano finally got her attention. "Emilio told us how effective you were in t
he maze. We appreciate you helping Ricco out when we all know he's still not one hundred percent."
She couldn't imagine how effective Ricco would be when he was at full physical strength. He still had repercussions from the original accident in his race car. She sent Taviano a small smile. "I'm a rider." That said it all. Naturally, she helped Ricco.
"Are you any closer to figuring out who has your brother?"
She shook her head. "Before I went to your brother, I followed Ryuu's trail here to Chicago. He was seen in the airport and he checked into one of the hotels. He never checked out. I went into the room and there was no sign of struggle."
"Where did you go from there?" Emmanuelle asked, moving three seats closer.
She shook her head. "His new job. I went to the company, a software company, small but upcoming, and they had never heard of him. They hadn't sent him the invitation or the ticket to Chicago. I tried tracing the ticket but that was a dead end."
"You believed those you spoke with at the company?" Vittorio asked.
She nodded slowly. "I couldn't detect any lies when I spoke with them."
Eloisa leaned across the table, pinning Mariko with cold Ferraro eyes. "How, exactly, did you come to be with my son?"
Without hesitation, Mariko answered. "I was contacted by those holding my brother and told if I killed Ricco Ferraro, they would free my brother."
Eloisa erupted into a long litany of curses in a mixture of Italian and English. "What the fuck is wrong with Stefano that he allowed you anywhere near Ricco? Clearly he knew this and didn't tell me. Well, you can just go straight to hell. Don't think for one minute that your little seduction act--and clearly you've seduced him--will get you my son. You may have caught his attention for the moment, because he's intrigued with the idea that you came here to kill him, but trust me, it won't last."
She was shrieking at Mariko, on her feet, her face twisted with a mixture of anger and grief. Her family looked stunned. Mariko would have had great compassion for her, but she could only hear the truth ringing in her ears. A man living under a death threat his entire life would be fascinated by a woman coming into his life to kill him. To have his mother confirm her worst fears--that his interest wouldn't last--was a heavy blow.
She rose and stepped away from the table. That's when the reactions of the Ferraros caught her attention. The compassion lacking for their mother was now on their faces. Emmanuelle immediately went to her mother's side despite the obvious pain she was in with her arm and shoulder in a stiff contraption. Her sons surrounded her, as if they could protect her--and keep anyone from seeing her distress--as the door to the office was flung open and Stefano strode out, Ricco right behind him.
Stefano's face looked like thunder as he emerged--as did Ricco's--but the moment they took in their mother, both expressions changed. Both men went straight to her. "Vittorio and Taviano are going to take you home. They can stay with you . . ."
Eloisa shook her head, pressing a trembling hand to her mouth as if she might be able to take the harsh words that had spilled out back. "Forgive me, Ricco."
"Go home with Taviano and Vittorio," Ricco reiterated. "Everything is fine."
"Henry will stay with me," she said, making an effort to lift her chin. "Vittorio needs rest and so does Emmanuelle."
She looked at Mariko and then back to Ricco.
"Don't." Ricco said one word, but it was a command.
To Mariko's shock, Eloisa nodded and turned toward the door. Despite what she had said, Vittorio and Taviano flanked her as they went out. Ricco immediately went to Mariko and wrapped his arm around her. "Are you all right? Eloisa can be vicious. She's very upset right now and striking out. You were a convenient target."
She couldn't help the small step she took away from him. It was slight. Subtle even. Not subtle enough.
"Mariko." Her name. The way he said it. That voice. The sound slid over her skin to find its way right inside of her where he wound himself around her heart. She was certain she was never going to be free of her obsession with him. Still, Eloisa's words had caused her sense of self-preservation to kick in. It was late coming, but it was there.
She forced a smile. "I'm fine."
His thumb brushed her chin, sending sparks of electricity showering through her bloodstream. "Any man who believes it when a woman uses the word 'fine' is an idiot."
"In this case, I am."
He flashed her a smile that didn't even come close to his eyes. "Come here, farfallina mia." She shifted, feigning moving into him. He wasn't letting her get away with it. "Closer to me."
"Come in, Mariko," Marcellus said from the office doorway, saving her.
Ricco remained solidly in front of her. Waiting. She sighed and moved into him. He brought her in close, one hand to the nape of her neck as he bent his head and brushed a kiss across her mouth. "Thank you."
When he did things like that, looking at her as if she rocked his world, it was impossible to believe anything but that she was his world. She let him lock her to his side, her hand on his hip, while they walked together to the office. It felt intimate walking beneath his shoulder. He was a solid presence. Protective. She understood in that moment what it would feel like to belong to him.
She found herself nervous, but she refused to allow any emotion to show on her face. If Ricco could face an interrogation, then she could as well.
Marcellus smiled at her as he courteously held the back of a chair for her to sit. She glanced up at Ricco's chiseled features. He was back to his expressionless mask, but that disappeared whenever he glanced down at her. His features softened, his dark eyes gentled, giving her a feeling of being cherished. She had no idea what to do with Marcellus's courtesy let alone Ricco's protective care. She'd never experienced either.
She sank into the chair and took the glass of water from Alfieri Ferraro. "Thank you," she murmured. "I really can't tell you much. I've had nightmares all of my life, but I didn't think it was real."
"Have you already discussed your nightmares with Ricco?" Shaun Holmes, from England, asked. His voice was exceedingly gentle, as if she were a fragile flower.
She nodded. "Yes. Not in great detail, but he told me what happened."
"Your dream," Shaun persisted. "Does it change?"
"Only to add or subtract more detail. Someone wakes me up and takes me to the closet. They put my brother, Ryuu, in with me and tell me to keep him quiet. I hear screaming and threats. There's blood. It's running under the crack in the door."
She was suddenly there, in that tiny, cramped closet, shaking. Terrified. The smell of blood was heavy in the air, making her gag. "Ryuu whimpered and I clapped my hand over his mouth. He sank his tiny little teeth into me." Involuntarily she rubbed the pad of her finger over the little scars there.
Ricco slid his hand down her arm to take her hand, his finger tracing over the scars. Somehow she found it soothing.
"A big boy drags Ryuu out of the closet and throws him. He cries. I'm afraid. There's so much blood everywhere, but the big boy is stomping on Ryuu and he's screaming. I have to do something but I'm so scared. I rush the big boy and kick him as hard as I can the way my father taught me. It makes him very mad."
"Stop." Ricco's voice was very soft. "Stop right now and come back to me."
She blinked rapidly and found herself looking into Ricco's dark eyes. She took a deep breath, gulping at air in an effort to try to recover. She'd been in that closet so many times. It was real and vivid and a place she couldn't seem to ever escape. Ricco's thumb gently brushed at the tears on her face she hadn't known were there.
"We're done with this. She has memories. You can doubt it all you want, but she doesn't need to relive them for you."
"Forgive us, Mariko." Marcellus's voice was gentle. "We're not putting you through hell for our own amusement." He didn't look at Ricco when he said it, but he was making a point.
It didn't seem to matter to Ricco. He'd made his. Marcellus sighed. "Are you willing to take a DNA
test?"
Ricco stirred again, and for the first time there was anger spilling into the room. "She doesn't need to do that."
"There is a great deal of money involved. An entire estate, Ricco. As with all families of riders, if there are no survivors, then the estate goes to the league. There will be a demand for proof from every lawyer, including hers."
"I have no problem with that," Mariko stated.
Marcellus nodded approvingly. Ricco pressed her hand to his thigh, his fingers stroking over her skin, making her heart beat fast.
"How were you contacted concerning your brother?"
"A note was on the floor of my room when I returned from a mission. It said they had Ryuu and would kill him if I didn't kill Ricco Ferraro. They gave me three weeks to get the job done."
The council members exchanged long looks. "Why didn't you do it?" Alfieri Ferraro asked.
"A rider doesn't kill another rider, and I certainly wouldn't do so without thoroughly investigating him. I found Ricco to be a good man. I couldn't trade his life for my brother's. In any case, it made little sense to do so. All they had to do was kill Ryuu after it was done and then me."
"Our investigators will help look for your brother. Every family will send their people," Shaun added. "Do you believe the Saitos or the Itos are involved? And what about Nao Yamamoto?"
"I know that Nao's parents sent him out of the country immediately after. They said it was to give him the best medical care available. He runs one of their companies and he inherited everything when his father died."
"We looked closely at him," Ricco said. "He seems the likeliest candidate, but he's lived here years and has never made a move against us. Still, it's too coincidental that Mariko, the child I saved, would be sent to assassinate me. The note was found in her room. It wasn't mailed to her. Someone went into her home. Whoever is coming after us knows to have their mercenaries shoot into the shadows. We aren't neglecting investigating Nao Yamamoto, but Stefano and I are making a trip to Japan to interview Osamu Saito."
That was the first she'd heard of it and she snapped her head up to look him in the eyes. He pressed her hand tighter against his thigh. She read his silent signal and didn't comment, but she was going to have a lot to say to him when they were alone. A. Lot.