Kia Ora....

Going into lockdown is always stressful and maybe more so when your country hasn't experienced too many of them as it can be easy to forget the dangers of the pandemic that lurk outside of your country's borders. It has meant my lovely days of writing with no one in the house have disappeared, and instead I have two surly kids who are frustrated about the affects of lockdown on their education. It has meant wips I had expected to get finished by Friday (NZDT) are taking a day or two longer.

Updates

• A Knight for Two (The Moutrams 3): I have an epilogue left to write!!
• Deception (Nagoya Crimes): A new project that I'm working on...slowly.
• Tailored Heart (House of Bolton 1): Had been put on the back burner while I finished writing A Knight for Two, but I will return to it next week.

New Release

Tiger at the Gate

Shinto Priest x Yakuza : Best Friends to Lovers

Blurb:

Twenty years ago, Akki disappeared from his life as a Shinto Priest and into the shadowy world of the yakuza believing the Gods he’d dedicated his life to, had forsaken him. Akki never thought he’d return to that place, nor see the face of the man he’d fallen in love with, his best friend Jin’ichi, ever again.

But fate had other plans.

While running from the enemies in his new life, Akki sought refuge in an isolated shrine and discovered the one man who wanted nothing more than to prove the Gods had never left Akki’s side—his best friend, Jin’ichi.

Twenty years of running and love finally caught him.

Available in the Falling into Love promotion running from the 20th Aug - 3rd Sept

All Authors involved publish wide with all/half their back catalogues available on B&N, Kobo, Google Play, Apple, Amazon and some through subscription services such as Scribd, E-libraries, Kobo+

Falling into Love

Caught (Smoke and Shadows 1)

Chapter Fifteen

Takeshi breathed deep, coughing with regret as the thick black smoke blanketing the remains of the popular club in downtown Osaka slithered into his lungs. His head felt as though he’d gotten caught in the kanetsuki-do right as the Buddhist monks rang the bell, the chaotic noise surrounding him fading in out with each throbbing beat. Panic had overtaken the joyous music the patrons at the club had danced too with many trapped beneath the ceiling panels that fallen to the ground along with the beams that had supported them… and Takeshi struggled to remember what had happened.

Gunmen had stormed the club, firing wildly. Bullets ricocheted off the ceiling and walls, but very few had hit the panicked revellers nor had they shouted out any demands. Takeshi remembered Hongu slamming him to the ground and protecting him from the bullets flown overhead… gunfire that had merely served as a distraction he’d realised seconds too late as the building was rocked by a series of explosions. Bottles flew off the shelves behind the bar, send shards of glass shooting across the room and embedding themselves in people, walls, and the soft cushions of the booths nearby. Alcohol spread out like an oil spill and proved to be just as flammable as the second explosion struck, this one less powerful and more incendiary in nature as fire ripped across the walls of the club and greedily eating up the fuel provided by the liquid cocktail.

He’d breathed a sigh of relief then, easy enough to escape the club even if it was on fire, slip away in the chaos with his new bodyguards and hopefully avoid whatever trouble might have been waiting him in the service alley. Takeshi had started to push himself to his feet, Hongu had still hovered, but had allowed Takeshi to make a move out of the club. None of them got very far as they crept along the floor beneath the smoke and tried to avoid the broken glass scattered over the floor, another explosion ripping through the club and what remained of the roof, the three floors above the club, plunged toward the floor.

Takeshi blinked, smoke stinging his eyes as he peered into the darkness illuminated by the pulsing neon lights hanging from the nearby buildings, the red and blue strobes of emergency vehicles, and what remained of the DJ stand on the far side of the club. Rescuers might be coming for them, but Takeshi couldn’t wait for men who’d want to question him about the night’s events. He needed to get out. Needed to free himself from the heavy weight pinning him down, Hongu’s lifeless body and the support beam that had fallen on top of them.

He placed his hands flat on the floor and attempted to lever himself up, tried to wriggle his legs and kick free of Hongu’s body sprawled over him. Centimetre by centimetre, Takeshi slowly edged himself out from beneath the man who’d proven his loyalty by giving his own life while also depriving Takeshi of an ally he sorely needed in these dangerous times. And slow was an understatement, his lungs protesting the movement along with his head as smoke tightened its deadly grip on Takeshi with every breath he took.

Pausing to rest for a second, he turned to stare at the front of the building where the entrance to the club had once been, now nothing more than a gaping hole of ragged bricks and needle-sharp shards of glass. Torchlight had now entered the fray of dizzying light, sweeping across the rumble in with a broad beam as their rescuers picked their way across the sodden rumble looking for survivors. Takeshi held still whenever the beams drew too close, feigning lifelessness hoping that fire crews and rescue teams dealt with the living and vocal first.

He didn’t want to die.

Had no plans on succumbing to smoke.

Didn’t care for the troublesome questions either.

And the police would have plenty of those.

The torchlight sweeping over the club shifted away from Takeshi and the rear, undamaged parts of the nightclub as the rescuers focused on the victims near the dancefloor. He breathed a sigh of relief, stifled the hacking couch that accompanied it and prayed the noise to still echoing through the club masked it. Takeshi resumed his attempts to free himself and peered into the murky darkness at the rear of the club where the private rooms, the manager’s office, and the employee entrance were located wanting to make sure his escape route was clear as he finally kicked free of Hongu’s body.

It surprised him too as he crept along the wall of the bar and headed for the exit, that despite the gunfire and subsequent explosions, the back half of the popular club appeared relatively untouched. Fire had scorched the walls, marring the deep plum interior with streaks of charcoal black, water from the sprinkler system and the fireman’s hoses puddled on the floor, while the doors leading off the main floor wouldn’t be closing securely anytime soon. But compared to the front of the club which resembled a warzone, this part of the once profitable club was unscathed.

Takeshi slipped out the door and headed down the darkened hallway, one hand brushing against the wall as he counted the doors along it. There were five rooms on the left side of the hallway, three on the right with the fourth door being his way outside. He picked his way carefully down the hallway toward it, breathing easier as the smoke laden air thinned. Reaching the door, he shoved it open and stumbled outside into the dark service alley. Leaned back against the wall and gulped in fresh air, fighting against the urge to slide down it and collapse on the ground as the adrenaline that had kept his body moving waned.

But he couldn’t stop yet, the danger to him hadn’t disappeared because the attempt on his life had failed.

He needed to keep moving.

Breathing out slowly, Takeshi took a moment to assess his options, once more feeling alone and at a great disadvantage compared to his enemy. He could head down the alley and slip into the crowd that had gathered to watch the disaster as it unfolded, blend in amongst the suited businessmen and disappear out of sight. Or he could head in the other direction, use the shadows blanketing the service alley and make it to the next street over before calling for someone to pick him up. Both options provided Takeshi with a chance to hide from his enemy to let them assume he’d perished in the explosion long enough for him to gather those loyal to him. But they had their flaws too. His enemy was close to Takeshi. Far closer than he’d ever thought and there could be no easy deception played.

“Keshi? Is that you? Where are the others?” a familiar voice slithered through the darkness, one that made his heart pound with desire and clench with fear. “You’re not injured, are you?” Yoshitake asked as he approached stepping into the single shaft of moonlight slicing through the shadows.

“No, not injured,” he rasped, hesitant to step away from the wall. “The others… I think are dead or too injured to leave under their own steam. Can’t say I stopped to check, just wanted to get out before the police found me.”

“Thank fuck, you’re alright. I was so fucking terrified when I heard of the explosion, raced here directly with heart in mouth afraid that I wouldn’t get to you in time.”

Takeshi blinked at the emotion running through Yoshitake’s voice. Raw, desperate, and panicked, it sounded far too genuine for it to be faked and yet, none of that melded with the idea that it had been Yoshitake who’d orchestrated the attack on the club.

Maybe he’d been wrong.

Maybe Yoshitake didn’t want him dead.

Maybe this wasn’t his doing at all…

Why would a man who wanted him dead, be so concerned with his well-being…sound so excited, relieved that he’d survived?

Regardless of what Yoshitake’s end game was, Takeshi had one of his own to play.

“Any thoughts on who might be behind it?” he asked.

“My guess would be the Araki-gumi… they’re kind of like blowing businesses up. They’ve done it before,” Yoshitake replied with a shrug of his shoulders while closing the distance between them. “I know you don’t want to believe the young Kitayama is capable of such a thing, but his uncle has swept into Osaka in the past and blown-up other buildings belong to the Shirokawa-gumi.”

“I guess-” inhaling sharply, then coughing violently “-you could be right.”

“Yeah, I could be, but maybe getting you away from here is more of a priority than discerning where you should be placing your trust.”

Takeshi could only nod and let Yoshitake lead him down the alley toward a waiting car as the hacking cough wracking his body also stole his voice.

He had to play the game if he wanted to win, and to win, Takeshi couldn’t let Yoshitake know that he suspected him of betraying the organisation.

***************************

Not Invisible to Me

Best Friends to Lovers - Mature Characters - Architect x Builder - Bi Character Character with MS

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