1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 66

A/N: How's everyone? I've been super busy. I hope you enjoy this!

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"You can't smoke in here." A familiar voice cut into his thoughts and Leon shifted around to come face to face with his father. His bulking frame stood inside the doorway with both arms folded across his chest. The grey from his temples had extended further from the last he'd saw him and the exhaustion in his eyes were apparent, but his lips were crooked as if they were about to break into a smile.

"Otets." Leon straightened and inclined his head.

Feeling a little awkward and surprised at the sudden visit, he made some space for him at the window. The elder Federov made his way over to the open window then promptly plucked the lit cigarette from his son's fingers.

"This is a hospital", he said, then leant an arm on the windowsill before closing his lips around the cigarette to take a deep puff. Tendrils of white smoke wound their way above their heads to join the cold air.

"Right", Leon muttered, before averting his eyes to the snow laden park adjoining the hospital grounds. It had been a chilly morning and he had on a scarf and coat to prevent himself from freezing. The only consolation was that he was to be discharged in the afternoon.

Only a week had passed since he was released from prison and gone home, yet he had greatly missed the familiar warmth of his house and the sole company of a certain girl. He couldn't wait to get home, take a luxurious warm bath, and roll around in his bed wearing nothing but boxers.

All other work could wait, of course.

"What are you thinking about?" Stanislav Federov asked in between breaks from the Marlboro.

"Nothing." The word flew out of his mouth almost immediately, on instinct. His brow creased as he eyed his father with a sideways glance. "You didn't ask about my injury."

The older man returned the glance with a raised brow and removed the cigarette from his lips.

"You're still alive, yes?", he asked gruffly.

His lips quirked and he held back a grin.

"Barely."

"Hmm." His father feigned disinterest and returned to his puffing. "Definitely alive."

Then, he added, his grey blue eyes fixed on the same landscape that his son was viewing, "Coddling's not my style. I'll leave it to your wife."

"Of course!" Leon scoffed, as if anything else would be out of the question. He fiddled with his scarf and tugged it up to his chin. "Wouldn't want our ears to rot, would we?"

"Oh, no," his father agreed as he stubbed out the cigarette on the window sill. "Most definitely not. So, tell me...what are your plans? After all these, you must have something?"

"I do have something. I just want to know, about that contract we signed, is there any way to dissolve it?"

"Dissolve it?", his father echoed, one brow raised in an incredulous arc.

Leon stuffed his hands into his coat pocket and heaved a sigh. Why did everything regarding the contract seem so hopeless? It would be nice if they could just ignore that document entirely, but the upper echelons of the Federov mafia and the Kei-Shiragata would never forgive them for dismissing it. It had cost most of the Yakuza in New York their livelihood after all. It would render the gang wars meaningless as well.

"We never thought that these things would happen. They are expected, yes, but we didn't make any concessions for when both sides are involved. We promised to help each other, not kill each other. And besides, Ichiro Yazumi has probably been working with the Gonzales' even before the contract was signed."