Whatever quiet pleasure Takayuki might have gotten at the sight of his guest’s little joy is dashed almost instantly at the name TITAN.
Though Takayuki’s not as intensely involved with the yakuza as he was in the past, not since he’d passed the bar, his loved ones remain in the Matsugane Family. He still comes by here and there to spend time with the boss, as well as what little friends he’s made there.
He isn’t unfamiliar with TITAN at all. The Matsugane Family might not be involved with them, but other branch families of the Tojo Clan aren’t quite so discerning in choosing their allies, and in Kamurocho word travels fast.
“…I hear they’ve started buying properties in Tokyo.” Takayuki finishes the last of his food, then sets his bowl down with the chopsticks resting neatly atop the edge. “And not without backing of a dangerous sort.”
Straightening, he leans back with his brows furrowed slightly in thought. “Why?”
He’s been kind but in the back of her head, she prepares for that to change. Her father has few friends and they’re like-minded, bad people, who laugh at tears and don’t blink at death. She’s married but she has never stopped being Gaea Lysimachia because Titan conducts his business but his arrogance and pride demands his name be on as many things as possible. She hopes that kindness doesn’t go away, simply because of who her father is.
❝ My name is Gaea, ❞ she says, clasping her hands so tightly in her lap she feels her knuckles pop. ❝ And Titan, he’s my father. I came here to look into the purchases he’s been making . . . As well as to put a stop to them and him altogether. ❞
It’s the first time she’s spoken it out loud. Her husband wouldn’t hear of it, would no doubt going running to her father. The cops in New York either have too much to lose or are in his pocket. But Japan seems to be one of the places where his control and influence is only building, the weakest thread. One that might make it that much easier to unravel everything.
