Dangerous Liaison 🔞 (Femme Fatale#1)

1

"Checkmate."

The younger man spoke calmly, with his handsome mixed heritage' face devoid of any expression–as usual–while the older man shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe you've won again. I want a rematch."  He looked at the shogi–Japanese chess game–pieces, and shook his head once more. He was a handsome older Japanese gentleman who wore a dark blue yukata and looked younger than his real age, and anyone could see the family resemblance between the two of them.

"Give it up, old man, you've lost for the fifth time already." The young woman who just came to check on her brother and grandfather smirked knowingly. "By the way, Luca and uncle are outside, and they are ready to tear each other's face off. What do you wanna do to him?"

By him she meant their uncle, the younger brother of their father–who had passed away in an accident alongside their mother, ten years ago. Ever since then, their grandfather took them in, and raised Gabriel–the oldest–to be the next heir of the family, instead of their uncle. And that caused him to be very vocal about his dissatisfaction. His reason was because the children were of mixed blood. A gaijin's blood who tainted the pure bloodline of their family that could be traced back to the reign of the Great Oda Nobunaga.

Unfortunately, it was not only their uncle who voiced his disagreement about the appointment of Gabriel as the formal heir. A few of the more conservative elders of their family also insisted on the pureness of the bloodline of the successor, otherwise their rival families would find a way to make this a problem in the future.

But Nobuhiro Kudou–the head of the main family–had already found the solution to shut them all up forever. And based on what he knew about his oldest grandson, he would accept his decision without any complaint–nor any change in his stoic face. He even almost never did any selfish things outside of his sexcapades–which he did to relieve the tension and stress rather than for the amorous factor of it. In short, everything he did was for the sake of his family, and his clan.

Grandpa Kudou swore that he would put some kind of emotion into his grandson's face before he died. He wanted to see him–and his siblings–happy.

The boy–just like his name–was as beautiful as an angel himself, but since he never smiled, his face was cold and scary. Just as his actions. Everything was calculated perfectly, without any margin of error. In a way, he was like a robot. A very beautiful and useful robot, but nonetheless devoid of any emotion. And that's what made their clan prosper to the point that they became the most powerful clan in the whole of Japan. But of course those idiots didn't want to admit it, they just wanted to reap the benefit without admitting that the one who made them like this was Gabriel–the half-gaijin they all so despised.

Gabriel had a natural affinity with business and managing people. He could make people become one hundred percent loyal to him, and he always had plans brewing in the pretty head of his. He also could utilize people to their maximum potential. If he wanted, he could take over the world without even lifting his finger, and yet he chose to stay in his grandfather's clan.

What a filial boy.

He was so proud of his grandchildren, no matter what other elders or people would say. Then he turned to Bianca, the youngest of all three–a rebel when she was younger, shown by her many piercings and tattoos, but after she found her passion in cooking, she became less… rebellious–and started to speak.

"You go tell your brother to keep his fist to himself. We have another guest coming." Luca–the second son–was the polar opposite of his older brother. He was brash, intense, and very honest in speaking out his mind–especially regarding their uncle and the elders who had bad mouthed Gabriel. It was like he had no filter between his brain and his mouth, but he was very loyal and very helpful to his brother. In fact, he was one of the few people that Gabriel trusted with his life. Luca and Bianca would always have Gabriel's back.

Grandpa Kudou then stood up and brushed his yukata off the imaginary lints. "Before we go to meet my guest… and your uncle, I want to ask for your opinion, Kazuhiro." He always called Gabriel by his Japanese name. The same to the other two–Kazuya and Kazuha. "What do you think about… getting a fiance?"

Gabriel quirked his brow and looked straight at his grandfather with his brilliant golden eyes–surprised by the sudden question, but not really, since it was the best move for them now, if he wanted to take the reins of the clan formally.

Ever since the first time his grandfather told him that he would be the only successor of their clan instead of his uncle, he knew that he had to make an alliance with one of the five powerful families to be able to secure his place as the heir. And well, he was already past thirty–thirty three to be exact–and it was time for him to get married anyway. Didn't matter who the other person was, as long as she knew her duty, obeyed him and did not get in his way. He would not cheat of course, it was in his Italian blood to never cheat in any relationship, not that he ever had one.

He knew that he was very good looking, different from the other child of mixed blood. His longish dark hair already touched his collar and almost covered one of his eyes–giving him a vibe of a rogue prince.

Handsome. Ethereal. Untouchable.

His aura was overwhelming and menacing to his enemies, and yet it acted like some kind of a magnet toward the opposite gender. He was never short of women's companions. He always told them that he didn't have any intention of getting involved with them upfront–only sex–and they all agreed at first. After they found out about his true lineage and his superior bed technique, most of them would beg to have some sort of a relationship with him–or at least do repeat performances, but he always rejected them. No relationships. It would only complicate things, and he disliked complicated things.

The latest of his conquests was a Russian model, Irina Petrovska. She was acting meek and obedient in bed–he knew because he could see the same calculated glint in her eyes that told him that she knew exactly what he liked. He knew and yet he was thinking of keeping her around for a while–lest the trouble of having to find another one who suited his taste–until his grandfather sprang the fiance word to him. That was when he knew that he had to end it with little Ms. Petrovska, as soon as possible. He would not tarnish his family's name by parading another woman around while he would soon have a fiance from a respectable family.

Duty always came first.

"I will do whatever Grandfather told me to do. No question, ojisan." Gabriel bowed his head with respect to his grandfather, and got ready to face his uncle with this new ammunition. He knew that his grandfather's guest would somehow have a connection to his future bride. Her family maybe, or some sort of a matchmaker.

After this, no one would be able to touch him and his siblings, and they all would be safe. His eyes glinted in a calculating look, and that was the only emotion that Grandpa Kudou ever saw from his beloved grandson. That sight made him chuckle.

He was not that blind to see that his oldest grandson's taste ran more toward gaijins–glamorous blondes but meek and obedient ones at that. He guessed that the Japanese women could not satisfy his… cravings, with their traditional upbringing and all. Yes, he knew about his grandson's… craving. But since Gabriel was so discreet about it, he didn't say anything. It's no use to poke the sleeping tiger, even though the tiger was his own flesh and blood.

Boy, he imagined that his grandson would be in for the surprise.

He had a high hope that the girl could make his grandson happy, or at least felt something, a human emotion. Before he succumbed to the abyss.

Because the longer he stared into the Abyss, the Abyss would stare back at him, and he didn't want that to happen to his beloved grandson. The only good things left from his firstborn son.

The one who died because he looked into the abyss for far too long.