Sakura shut her eyes again and calmed her nerves. Then Akira’s and Jane’s whispery voices reached her sensitive ears.
“Wow.” Jane was giggling. “I wish they could all live together. I mean, a threesome sounds awesome. Even though they’re gay.”
Akira said softly, “Of course. It’s a thing in the Yaoi world. Threesomes are the best. Three best friends living together as lovers. Can you imagine how wonderful that would be? I mean, every day would be like heaven.”
“And the two seme?” Jane asked.
“Yes, Jane, very good. The two hunks are semes. They’re the tops, the chasers.”
Jane said softly, “Two hunky semes chasing after the uke, who is so cute.”
Akira said, “Yes. He is cute, isn’t he? The artist is very good. I like that he’s an airhead and his expression is just so adorable. I mean, he’s only nineteen, but man…”
“I could read this all day,” Jane said, giggling.
Akira chuckled. “Be careful. You might become a fully pledged fujoshi and an otaku.”
“I think it’s too late now,” the girl admitted. “You’ve opened doors for me, Akira.” Jane whispered, “So, in a Yaoi world, what do you think your brother is? A seme or a uke?”
Akira chuckled with amusement. “He’s definitely a shy seme.”
“Is there such a thing?”
“Hmm. He’ll top but would probably be too shy to admit he likes the uke, considering his personality.”
Jane nodded in agreement. “Nicolas?”
Akira frowned. “That man is definitely an aggressive seme.”
“Tristan?”
“A flirty seme.”
“Logan?”
“Another flirty seme.”
“Sebastian?”
“An arrogant and aggressive seme. He’s the type to always get what he wants.”
“Hayden?”
“A mysterious seme that every uke falls for.”
“Darcy?”
“Another mysterious seme. He’s the lone wolf type, I think. The aloof type that makes the uke’s heart beat faster every time he sees him.”
“And Conrad?”
“Definitely a uke.”
At this, Jane chuckled. “So, the only suitable uke in the Princeton family is Conrad, eh? Poor thing.”
“Hmm.” Akira nodded. Then she moved closer to Jane and, eyeing Sakura’s sleeping form, whispered, “If Sakura was to turn into a boy…?”
Jane giggled. “She’d be a very cute uke. A very adorable uke. God, I can imagine her with short hair. She’d be so kawaii.”
“And the Princeton brothers chasing after her?” Akira suggested.
“That sounds like a dream,” Jane said. “But I can’t imagine a boy Sakura settling down with just one of the brothers. She…he…would have to settle down with two of them, right? The ones that gave her—I mean him—the hickeys.”
Akira couldn’t agree more, and nodded furiously.
Meanwhile, Sakura just lay there, listening to the two girls talking enthusiastically but softly so as not to disturb her. Of course, she couldn’t help but smile as she pretended sleep.
So, she was now a boy who happened to be a cute uke in Akira and Jane’s Yaoi world, eh? And this boy Sakura was being chased by the seme Princeton brothers. The very idea sounded ridiculously hilarious, but attractive at the same time. She started wondering what her life would have been like if she had happened to be born a boy and Daddy James adopted her.
Would she be a brother to the Princeton siblings? Would she have fit in better with them when she was young—enjoying her time with the brothers and doing boy stuff together as siblings? Would her life have been better? And would Alaina and Tara be less vicious to her because she wasn’t a girl? Even better, would they have left her alone to enjoy her time with the Princeton brothers?
She didn’t know. The fact was Sakura was born a girl, and there was no changing that. This was her life now. Her fate. Her destiny, so to speak, and whichever brother she chose to date, to move into a serious relationship with, he’d join her destiny.
Sebastian? Or Darcy? Which one?
Sakura fell asleep with the two brothers’ names in her mind, and though she didn’t know it, she had a smile on her face as she drifted off.
***
Tara marched through the door of the restaurant with her temper fuming hot. Behind her, Ray said, “Hey, calm down, will you?”
Tara turned and snapped, “Don’t tell me to calm down. Have you any idea what I’ve been through today? Having to watch that bitch being praised by not only Mr. Tachibana, but the Princeton brothers, too.”
Ray looked heavenward. “The Princeton brothers again,” he muttered under his breath.
“Shut it,” she said darkly. “It’s none of your business.”
Ray did shut it as they headed toward the back of the restaurant. There, they met up with Mrs. Clark, or rather, Tara’s biological mother, Mrs. Byrd, who had supposedly died in the fire that burned down Queen Mary Orphanage on St. Joseph Island some eighteen years ago.
Tara came to sit down beside her mother, a dark expression on her face.
Mrs. Clark eyed her daughter and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“It’s nothing.” She changed the subject and turned the tables on her mother. “And what about you? What are you doing here? I thought we were not to be seen together.”
Mrs. Clark narrowed her eyes as she said, “Shit just hit the fan, that’s what happened.”
“What? What happened?”
Ray said, “We’re being investigated by some private detective. This guy is good. He has sniffed out a lot of stuff about us already.”
“And,” Mrs. Clark said, “now the NYPD is investigating us.”
Tara raised a brow. “You mean they’re investigating you and Ray?”
Mrs. Clark muttered, “Yes. And that’s why we’re here. And that’s why we have”—she lowered her voice—“we have to get rid of her. Apparently, she’s a witness to what happened at Queen Mary Orphanage. If she’s put on the stand and points a finger at me in court, I’m in deep shit.”
Tara sighed. “We already know you’re in deep shit as it is, Mom, considering your illegal businesses.”
Mrs. Clark snapped at her daughter. “Stop that. Stop making things worse.” She turned to Ray then. “And have you met her? Did you get anything out of her?”
Ray leaned back against his seat, a smile playing about his lips. “Yes, I’ve met her.”
His mind reflected to yesterday, late afternoon, when he had seen Sakura with that little boy, Michael, on the beach taking photos. He remembered how beautiful she was, and he had been immediately smitten. In fact, he’d want to do her, if he had the chance, but damn, the girl was far too precautious and uptight for his liking. He preferred his women loose and easy to get, because he wasn’t the type to waste time on the slow courting that might end up going nowhere.
He had wanted to get information about her by chatting her up and asking friendly questions. But that had, of course, gotten him nowhere, except for the whereabouts of their holiday house, since he’d followed her. In the end, that was useless information because Tara already knew about the holiday house, having been there numerous times before she had gotten herself kicked out of the family circle.
Ray noticed that Tara was glaring at him now, which amused him. She asked, “So? What do you think of her?”
He chuckled, because he knew she hated Sakura. “She’s beautiful.”
She sneered at him. “So, you’re in love with her now, are you?”
Ray narrowed his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. She’s beautiful; there’s no denying that. But I have a job to do. She’s a target. She’ll ruin us, and she has to go.”
Tara turned to her mother and said, “I just realized you’re good at hiring the right man for this type of job.”
Mrs. Clark said, “I’m always good. I know my business.”
Ray turned to Tara and asked, “So? This St. Thomas Island. That’s where it’s going to happen, isn’t it?”
Tara nodded. “I’ve been there many times with the brothers when I was younger.”
Ray noticed the dark anger exuding from her pale-blue eyes and thought something was really pissing her off.
“It’s a very beautiful island, and there are places that are perfect for the job.”
Ray nodded. “Then should we discuss this more privately in my hotel room after dinner?”
Both Mrs. Clark and Tara nodded.
Two hours later, their dinner was finished and Mrs. Clark and Ray left to head back to their hotel rooms to do some business. Meanwhile, Tara chose to stay at the bar for a few drinks, because she needed them.
She was on her third glass of vodka when Alaina appeared and took a seat beside her.
“You look like shit,” Alaina said.
Tara turned her bloodshot eyes to the girl and sneered. “So? And what the hell are you doing here? I thought we’re done for good.”
Alaina narrowed her eyes at Tara as she said, “We are done for good, Tara. Thanks to Dad, now I know who you really are.”
Tara chuckled, her eyes watering. “Yeah? Really? Your perfect daddy just decided to help you open your innocent eyes to the real world, did he?”
Alaina shook her head in disbelief. “I just don’t understand you, Tara. I thought we were real friends. I used to rely on you for almost everything. I thought that maybe one day you’d even be my sister-in-law, knowing how much you liked Sebastian.”
“Shut it!” Tara snapped. “I didn’t just like him.” She shook her head. “I loved him. So much so that it hurt right here.” She touched her chest. “And Darcy, too. I loved that man, but he and Sebastian, they chose that bitch over me. God! Why? What does she have that I don’t?”
Alaina looked down at her hands, which were trembling in her lap. “I know for certain that Darcy has loved Sakura since they were young. They spent so much time together that I got jealous. I mean, he’s my twin, after all, and he was the closest to me of my other brothers. Then she just appeared and took him away from me, and that pissed me off, I guess.” She sighed, and then chuckled sadly, realizing how stupid and naïve she’d been. “And that’s why I went along with you, tormenting her, because it made me feel better, hurting the person who stole my Darcy away from me.”
She felt tears in her eyes as she glanced away to stare into the distance of the room. “Then I got lost and didn’t know what I was doing. But I kept doing it because you were doing it. I liked being with you because we were friends. You were the only one I could rely on, depend on.”
Tara shook her head. “Shut it, Alaina. I don’t want to hear about the past. It’s sick and it’s dark.”
Alaina moved in closer and touched her ex-friend’s shoulder. “Tara, you can change. I mean, you just have to let it go. Sakura is no longer in your life. No longer in our lives.”
Tara slapped Alaina’s hand away. “Piss off, will you?” She moved her face toward Alaina and said, “Look. I do what I want, okay? And you, of all people, should know when I want something, I want it bad and I’d do anything to get it.”
Alaina said, “I know, and that’s why I want you to stop wanting thatsomething that badly. Please, it’s not right.”
It was then that Tara got suspicious. “What the fuck are you on about?”
Alaina panicked.
“You mean me wanting both Sebastian and Darcy, don’t you?”
Alaina nodded furiously. “Just let them go. It’s not good, this unrequited love. They chose Sakura already, so…”
Tara smiled darkly. “They chose Sakura already. Yeah right. Like that’s going to happen. If she happened to be gone, then there’d be no Sakura to choose, would there?”
Alaina narrowed her eyes. “What are you up to, Tara? What have you got planned?”
Tara raised one eyebrow at her ex-friend. “That’s none of your business.” With that, she slid off her seat and marched out the door.
Alone, Alaina felt shaken. A moment later, she pulled out her cell phone and went through the contact list. When she got to Darcy’s name, she touched the dial button. A few rings followed, and Darcy’s voice came through.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Her voice shaking, Alaina said, “Darcy, I think something bad is going to happen.”