1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 54

The warehouse was bustling as he sauntered in, all refreshed and awake. He was proud to see all his men present despite the brewing grey skies outside. A weapons check was going on in one corner, filling up the space with metallic clicks and the sting of lubricant. Chairs were scrapped back, people jumped to their feet, and voices greeted him as he passed by. He nodded in return, trying badly to hide the smile on his face.

Val had informed every single one of his men the night before, and though they weren't a trained crew, he was glad for the support. He needed as many arms and legs as possible this time, if he wanted to finish it.

'This is brilliant,' he said as he flopped into his swivel chair.

He had missed his office for the one month that he was gone, including the creaky chair and the crack in the ceiling. It was still in the same neat, pristine condition he'd left it in, except that a stack of files were gone, taken care off by Val. His desk even spotted a sheen. Had someone polished it? Val and Mickey stood across him, one at attention with files in his arms, the other glum and silent, his eyes fixed on his coffee cup.

"I've got a plan."

"What is it?" Val asked, interest rising in his usually bored expression. Mickey hadn't bothered to greet him yet.

"It's called..." he began in a grand voice, "The Trojan Horse: Reversed."

It didn't have quite the effect he was going for. Val stayed politely silent with his previously encouraging smile dropping a few degrees, while Mickey collapsed into a chair, his untouched coffee still in his hands.

"The hell were you drinking last night?" Mickey grumbled. "So you're gonna send that bastard a horse ass in first?"

"No!" He rubbed a hand across his forehead. Resting his elbow on the table, he supported his chin with a hand. "Oh, forget about the name. I was kidding. But I do have a plan."

"Let's hear it." Val dropped his files on the desk and took the seat beside Mickey.

~

"Wait, you want to go in there without support, without protection, without anything?"

Val was almost off his seat, his voice rising with each word, and his face set into an expression of disbelief. Leon calmly nodded his head at his friend's display.

"Yes. I'm going in alone."

Val's cry of "Why?" was accompanied by a muttered "That's just suicide" from Mickey.

"Because we don't know exactly where Hana is. My fear is that Juan or his men will get to her before we do."

"But what if he kills you or ties you up somewhere?"

His men still thought that the plan wasn't feasible. It was risky, it was a suicide mission, but his own safety wasn't his priority at the moment.

"I need her safe before we burn the place down. She's my priority. And so are the lives of my men. I don't need anymore senseless deaths just because of this."

Val heaved a sigh and leant forward in his seat, still unconvinced.

"I get what you mean," he said as he linked his fingers together, "but I'm not here to see you to your death. What if something happens to you in there? No one will know!"

He chuckled.

"Which is why the rest of you will come down and storm the place after I find her."

Mickey smacked his mug on the desk with some conviction.

"I still think it's stupid. And if you die in there...well, just don't. But you are the one paying me, so I have to say yes. Right?"