1.2 | The Prince of Thieves

Chapter 42

'You don't look pregnant,' was the first thing Kai said when they stepped into a private room in Sen no Umi. This was her first time dining here, and she was impressed with the tasteful yet minimalistic decor of the restaurant. She wondered how much input her brother had contributed into its concept, if he had done so at all, or whether he had hired someone else to do it for him.

Her brother's nose wrinkled in suspicion as his narrowed gaze fixated on her belly. Her stomach was still flat, which meant that she could still wear her form fitting clothes. She planned to bring out her skinny jeans and crop tops and whatnot before the time for her to do a wardrobe change came.

'Of course not!' Hana exclaimed. She settled herself down across her brother, her legs tucked beneath her. Leon had to duck everywhere, and he finally scrambled down beside her. 'It's only been seven weeks. Almost eight.'

He clicked his tongue, then turned back to the feast spread out before them. Hana spotted a few of her favourite dishes; a bowl of steaming salmon belly miso soup, a platter of grilled saba, and another of grilled unagi. There were some new dishes among them that her brother had wanted them to taste-test.

'Okaa-san couldn't stop going on about it,' her brother commented. He picked up his chopsticks, then murmured an 'Itadakimasu' once the hostess poured out the sake and bowed out of the room. 'All our relatives know already. And she thinks New York doesn't have Japanese supermarkets.'

'She wanted to come over,' Hana added, her eyes glinting as she drew a dish closer to herself. The slices of fresh, thick sashimi looked tempting, and her chopsticks inched stealthily towards a piece.

'No sashimi for you,' Leon warned, shifting the dish away from her.

She let out a gasp as her forlorn eyes locked onto the platter that was gradually relocated from her side of the table to the other end. Her husband, as efficient and protective as always, had Googled things she had to stay away from while pregnant. Raw food was one of them, which she hadn't thought much of, until she was presented with a platter of raw fish.

'Not even one?' she pleaded in a pathetic tone with her hands clasped together, and her face all scrunched up and in front of his. She wished she could have discovered her pregnancy after this meal instead. How could he take away her sashimi, one of her favourite foods in the whole world? And it looked so fresh too!

'No,' he stated firmly without even a glance at her.

'Meanie,' she groused, poking him in the thigh.

Kai let out a pointed sigh. They snapped as if to attention, and turned demurely to their dinner again.

Talk gradually shifted to the newest development on the streets, as it was wont to do. With all her family and closest friends involved in the same business, she would have felt that something was amiss if no mention of the gangs was made. It would occasionally have been nice to have someone in the same industry as her to chat with though; she missed those days of being surrounded by her college classmates. The topic was currently on Keiji, their mysterious cousin whom Hana really didn't think she wanted to meet. What kind of ass was he to want to tempt her brother's men to his side? And why had they never heard of him until now? It was suspicious, to say the least.

'I haven't heard anything from them ever since the letter,' Kai said. 'He's keeping a low profile. But I think he might have established himself in a club somewhere that's not on Kei-Shiragata land. My men report that the three families who left have moved too.'

'That's interesting,' Leon commented. 'If he wants to gain any traction at all after those families joined him, then he'll have to show his hand soon.'