The Ties That Bond | Chapter Four (unedited)
By the time she and Kenyon arrived at her father’s home, Iniko’s stomach was in knots at the thought of the drama she may have caused. After obsessing over it the entire ride, she’d convinced herself that she was just being paranoid and overreacted. The man she’d thought had been watching her was probably enjoying dinner the same as anyone else.
Her father, however, wasn’t trying to hear it, and he certainly wasn’t allowing her to downplay it.
Sitting back in his chair, he folded his hands.
“Tell me again what happened, Nik,”
“Daddy,” she sighed exasperatedly. “I told you it was probably nothing.”
“Niko,” Kenyon’s voice was gentle as he addressed her. Perched at the edge of her father’s desk with his hand resting on his wrist, he shot her a look. “There was a reason you called not one but both of us.”
“I was probably just freaking out because of everything that’s happened in the past few months. It’s just a mild case of PTSD. That’s all.”
Her attempted joke didn’t land well.
“I’m not laughing,” Marquise replied, raising an eyebrow.
Sighing heavily, Iniko shook her head. “Fine, fine. Shai and I were talking, and out of nowhere, I got the weird feeling that someone was watching me. We both looked around and didn’t notice anything unusual, but I couldn’t shake it, so I looked around again. Then I did see what I thought was someone looking at me, but for all I know, his eyes could have been on someone else, and I made myself the main character for no reason.”
“What did he look like?” Marquise inquired.
“Like I told Kenyon, I’m not sure. The restaurant was already dim, and he was standing in one of the darkest spots, so I couldn’t see his features well. Except his eyes. Those were the only things that stood out.”
Marquise sat up. “Why so?”
“This may sound crazy, but I don’t know. They were just familiar. There was no hate, malice, or ill intent that I could see. Just familiarity. Which sounds nuts because despite not seeing his face, I’m one hundred percent positive I’ve never seen that man before.”
“Do you remember what he was wearing?”
“Vaguely.”
Marquise stroked his chin, taking his time responding. When he did speak, it was to Kenyon. “I know you planned to handle it, but since we already have a relationship, I’ll contact Melvin to see if he has any surveillance set up in the restaurant. If so, hopefully, he caught whoever this was on camera, and we can eventually identify him.”
“But what if I’m wrong?” Iniko queried, “I don’t want to put you under more stress all because I was being—”
“Nik,” Marquise interrupted. “You know I’ve wanted nothing more than to keep you as far away from my lifestyle as possible. It’s why I hid the truth from you for so long. I never wanted to expose you to a side of me that you wouldn’t feel proud of. But, if this past year has taught me anything, it’s that keeping you in the loop is what keeps you safe. A lot of things are changing right now, baby girl, and nothing needs to be treated as a coincidence.”
“A lot of things are changing, like what?”
“The specifics aren’t imp—”
“No,” she fiercely interrupted. “Don’t do that. You can’t tell me that being transparent keeps me safe and then pick and choose what you want to be transparent about. It’s not fair.”
“She has a point,” Kenyon agreed. “I feel the same way. You know I’m riding with you forever, Big Dog, but you have to start giving up answers. You’ve never been the type to demand blind loyalty or obedience.”
“This is different.”
“How?” Iniko pressed, observing just how stressed her father was. His shoulders were tense, and deep age lines were carved on his forehead. She couldn’t recall a time she’d ever seen him so tense. That worried her more than anything.
Marquise was silent for a while, seemingly struggling to comply with their demands. Eventually, he exhaled slowly and shook his head before speaking again.
“There’s always been tension between Jin and me. Now that I have full control over the ports, nothing comes in or out without my say-so. Kenyon’s situation further disintegrated things, especially when he came back. Which I gave the okay for. Jin is spiraling. And his attempts to get back at me for the perceived slights are becoming more reckless and dangerous. It will come to a head; it’s just a matter of when.”
“But why?” Iniko demanded. “You can’t expect either of us to believe the hatred you two have for each other runs so deeply because of this. I know there’s more to the story. I feel it.”
“And when did you get that feeling?” Marquise kept his face free of any emotion.
Refusing to back down, Iniko remained poised as she held eye contact with her father. “The day he mentioned my mother.”
Marquise’s stoic façade slipped. “Niko…”
“Daddy…” again, she refused to back down.
“Now isn’t the time for this conversation.”
“Then when is? You never speak about her. It’s as though you don’t think I deserve to know anything.”
“That’s not it, Nik.”
“Then what is it?”
Kenyon remained silent throughout the entire exchange, something Iniko appreciated. The confrontation with her father was something that’d been building for years. She’d always let Marquise brush off her inquiries about her mom to the point where she just let it go, but no more. Iniko wanted answers, and she wasn’t letting up until she received them.
“I’m not sure if you truly want the answers to your questions, baby girl. This isn’t a fairytale.”
“Nothing about my life has been a fairytale. And the parts that were weren’t real. You don’t get to decide how I receive whatever it is you have to say. But I’m done allowing you to hide things because it’s easier for you. I deserve to grieve my mother the way I choose to, and you keeping the truth a secret prevents me from doing that.”
Marquise was torn. That much was apparent without him saying a word. In a last-ditch attempt to gain support, he shot a desperate look at Kenyon, who had just shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I’ve fucked up enough. It’s her world; I’m trying to get back in it.”
“Whipped ass,” Marquise managed to laugh, despite being so frazzled. Shaking his head, he turned to his daughter. “I’m not sure what you want me to say, Nik.”
“Start at the beginning, and whatever happens happens.”
Inhaling deeply, Marquise looked like he’d rather be anywhere other than where he was. Nevertheless, he opened his mouth and began speaking.
“Your mother was new to the States when she and I first crossed paths. The one thing that stood out to me about her, besides her beauty, was that although her English wasn’t the greatest, it didn’t stop her from cursing me out for what she perceived as me being rude to her.”
“What did you do?” Iniko inquired, already wholly engrossed in the story. It was the most she could remember her father talking about her mother. Ever.
“I attempted to help her carry something I thought looked heavy. She took it as me assuming she was a weak woman who needed my help and didn’t hesitate to tell me so. I probably fell in love with her right then and there.”
“Sounds familiar,” Kenyon chuckled.
“Hush,” Iniko waved him off. “I didn’t curse you out when we first met.”
“You made up for it in the long run.”
“Anyway,” she rolled her eyes, focusing on her father. “Continue, please.”
“I didn’t plan to keep running into her here and there, but life happened that way. Every time, it was the same thing. She was defensive, independent, and headstrong. I could tell she was just as interested in me as I was in her, but your mother was nothing if not determined to make things hard for us. It never occurred to me to wonder why. I just assumed she was fighting the idea of ending up with a broken heart and wanted to prove that I had no intentions of doing such a thing. After some time, she finally started letting her guard down, and we became inseparable. There was never a moment I wanted to willingly spend without her. I was in the beginning stages of building my organization back then, but somehow, I still had all the time to dedicate to her and the life we were building. Nothing mattered more than that. If she asked me to, I’d have dropped it all in a heartbeat.”
“You really loved her,” Iniko murmured.
“I did. With everything in me. So much so that I ignored every red flag, such as how she never talked about her family and expertly avoided questions about her past. We were happy; that happiness led to us having you, and that was all I cared about. Until the day her past came full circle.” Marquise’s voice held none of the love and admiration it did at the story’s beginning. As he continued talking, it shifted, becoming bitter and angry.
“What happened?” This time, it was Kenyon who asked.
“There were times when I’d question how your mother put up with me so well—how she could manage to support me, knowing the lifestyle I lived. She never batted an eye. My ego believed that it was because she loved me so much and never left room for me to consider there might be an underlying reason for it all.”
“Was it?” Iniko’s eyes widened.
“One I never would have guessed. Unbeknownst to me, your grandfather was one of the biggest Korean mob bosses. People say that once upon a time, I was bad, but I could live a thousand years and never come close to touching his legacy. And things work differently within his type of organization. Women aren’t valued. They’re property to be bargained when necessary, and there came a time when your mother was a key to strengthening that org. He wanted to trade her through marriage for control over private airspace that would’ve allowed him to move...things in and out of the country easier without detection.”
“Let me guess, to Jin,” Kenyon deduced.
Marquise nodded. “Because Lei knew what her future would come to at some point, she had an escape plan. She disappeared the same night her father told her she had to be married.”
“Oh, shit,” Iniko covered her mouth.
“She was hiding here. But I don’t think even she knew how far her father’s reach was. And one day, he came knocking on our door. Your mother was so terrified that I wanted to kill him right then and there. He told me I had something that belonged to him, and he’d send someone to collect it one day. I threatened to put whoever tried in a body bag. That was the day Lei finally came clean about everything. She assumed I’d be upset over the truth when the reality was that I was more bothered that she didn’t trust me enough to think I could protect her.” A bitter laugh escaped as he shook his head. “That joke was on me because, as it turns out, I couldn’t protect her. A few months later, she left the house one day and never returned. I damn near burned the entire city looking for her and nothing.”
“Wait,” Iniko frowned. “She just abandoned you? Abandoned me?”
“Those are questions I don’t have an answer for, baby girl. It’s why I never wanted to go down this road with you. I comforted myself by believing she ran away to keep herself and us safe. But a few months later, Jin came onto the scene, and I’ve wondered ever since if he had something to do with it. The only reason he’s still alive is because I’m praying that one day I might get some clarity on what happened, and he’s the only lead I have. I don’t know if she ran away, if she’s alive, if they—” he broke off, clearing his throat. “I just don’t know, Nik. And it’s a horrible fucking feeling to look your child in the face and tell them that.”
“This is …a lot,” Kenyon said, noticing his wife couldn’t speak.
“I know. Jin’s beef with me is because I had the woman he was supposed to, and my beef with him is that I know in my gut he had something to do with her disappearance, even if it was as simple as pressuring her to leave. But him coming after Niko killed all tolerance. I can’t allow my love for your mother or my need to know what happened to her to influence how I handle things moving forward. You two wanted to know what was going on. Now you do.” Marquise stood, heading for the door.
“Daddy,” Iniko called, standing to go after him.
“Nik,” Kenyon shot up, grabbing her around the waist. “Give him a minute to process. He just had to relive that entire situation all over again.”
Tears trickled down her cheeks as she turned to face him. “He was right,” she murmured as Kenyon brushed her wet cheek with his thumb. “The explanation didn’t help. I don’t even know how to begin to digest this. I was better off assuming she ran off and started another family or something. But instead, I have to wrestle with the idea that her own family may or may not have made her disappear, and the man with a hand in it sat in my face and told me I look just like her.”
“Trust me, he’s going to pay for that one,” Kenyon promised. “As for everything else, take it one day at a time, love.”
“No wonder he never wanted to talk about her. Why would he? I wouldn’t want to relive any of this either. Part of me feels bad for even bringing it up and forcing him to talk about it.”
“Nothing good comes from keeping secrets, Nik,” Kenyon gripped her chin between his thumb and index finger. “No one knows that better than the two of us. And this a secret your dad has been holding on to for a long while. It was more than time for it to come out. Not just for you to find peace pertaining to your mom, but also for us to understand why certain things unfold how they do.”
“I hate this,” she melted into his body, burying her face into his chest. “I just want I to be over.”
“We can leave if you want,” he offered, resting his chin on her head. “Just me and you—disappear until it all blows over.”
Iniko snorted, her following few words muted as she spoke. “Yeah, right. You would never leave my father’s side knowing he was in the middle of a war and could potentially be in danger.”
“Eh, only because I know you’d never let me live it down if I let something happen to him, even if my absence meant I was protecting you.”
Tilting her head back, Iniko grinned. “I love that you know me so well. And that you can make me smile even when my world is upside down.”
Kenyon gently pressed his lips to her forehead. “That’s my job, love. And as hard as it is, I don’t want you worrying about all this. A’ight? Your dad and I will figure it out. Just be careful, keep your head on a swivel, and stay out of any unnecessary drama.”
Iniko feigned innocence. “Drama? Me? I would never. I’m not even the type to—”
“Standing here lying in my face when you started a whole club brawl is insane,” Kenyon teased, plucking her nose. “But I’m serious, Niko. Keep your head down and stay out of trouble, okay?”
“I’ll try. But we both know that no matter how much I may want to stay under the radar, trouble has a way of finding me.”
“I know. That’s the part that scares me.”
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