Chapter 165
Bologna, Italy
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Suiko was pulled back protectively by Ryo just as a tall women stepped out from the privacy curtains of the private box they wanted to invade.
Evie stood there, blocking their access to the box.
“Is there something I can help you with?” Evie asked.
Ryo glared at the woman standing there, towering over her in her high heels, which made the Frenchwoman even taller than she already was. “You will bow before addressing Princess Suiko,” she warned.
Evie smiled. “I am French, not Japanese. The only bowing I will ever do when the Princess is involved is bowing her over my knee and spanking the little brat as I did when she was a child. Isn’t that right, Suiko?” she politely asked, batting her long lashes.
Suiko glared at her. “Is Kita engaged to that plain little girl?”
“Seon Rain is neither plain nor is she a little girl,” Evie said, well aware Suiko was going to make a scene if she weren’t careful. “ChouChou is very special and she is in his heart. If you truly cared for him, you would leave him alone and be happy for him.”
Suiko continued to glare at the statuesque woman. “They will not make it down the aisle,” she warned.
Evie simply shrugged. “You would be surprised what has already transpired when it pertains to my son and new daughter. Even the little, seemingly trivial and insignificant things—them sleeping in each other’s arms, the smiles she effortlessly receives from him, the way he hangs on every word that leaves her lips—is so much more than anything you have ever gotten from my son in the accumulative of your life.”
Suiko’s hands balled into fists and her nostrils flared.
“This is not a battle you want to wage with my family, Little Princess,” Evie warned. “Take your pet and go back to the hotel, and tomorrow return to Japan where you belong.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Suiko warned.
“Or you will do what?” Evie mused with a smirk. “Make a scene?” she asked, batting her lashes. “Run to the media about Myo Mi-Sun’s engagement to her onetime bodyguard turned personal trainer?”
That was a rather loaded statement.
“You can if you like,” Evie said. “William is already prepared for whatever you think you can do. But I warn you now, Myo Mi-Sun is Korea’s sweetheart, and nearly every royal and political figure that walked the red carpet tonight did so in order to meet her. It will not end well for you or the Imperial Family’s reputation if a spoiled little princess brought negative attention to them on the world’s stage.”
Ryo shifted her weight then stopped when Evie pulled a gun and pointed it at her.
“If you even think of moving against me or my family, I will not think twice about putting a bullet between your eyes,” Evie warned.
Emperor Meiji and his guards rounded the bend in the hallway. “Sister,” he greeted with a smile.
“Brother,” Evie greeted with a nod. “I was just having words with your daughter and her pet.”
He nodded. “Daughter, dismiss your guard and join me so we can enjoy the rest of the show without the distractions.”
Suiko bowed then dismissively waved her guard away.
Ryo’s eyes widened. “Your Highness?” she asked, confused.
“Between the guns pointed at you from the shadows you don’t even know about,” Suiko said, “and my father’s original guard in the vicinity, there is no need for you. Go back to the hotel and wait for further instructions.”
Ryo looked from Suiko to Evie then to the shadows behind her; more than one gun was trained on her.
“Of course, Your Highness,” Ryo said with a bow then turned on her heels and hurried away.
Suiko headed into the private box, ready to take a seat next to Kita and the plain little girl, but she stopped in mid-step when she found the two seats empty.
“Please, sit, Daughter,” Emperor Meiji said with a smile, motioning towards the empty seats.
Suiko softly growled under her breath then sat and pouted, her father sitting next to her then patted her knee reassuringly.
In the private box below them, Kita carefully unhooked the rigging then pulled in the rope that they had climbed down that Will had released before Suiko entered their theater box.
Rain was still trying to catch her breath; never had she done anything like that before! She had wrapped her arms around Kita’s neck and locked her ankles together around his waist. With impressive strength, Kita climbed down the rappelling rope with Rain on his back to the empty box below them.
It was purposely left empty for security reasons, and as a means of escape if needed.
“Are you okay?” Kita asked, stashing the rope in the corner.
Rain looked at him with a face-consuming smile before throwing her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “That was amazing!” she whispered, excited. “Just like James Bond!”
He nodded his agreement. “It was low tech, but effective. Are you ready to head out? I have a car waiting.”
She smirked. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“I planned accordingly, even if you detest planned dates,” Kita reminded her.
“This one I will make an exception for,” Rain promised.
“Then I better make it worth it,” he said, causing her to blush.
Rain opened her mouth, but Kita covered it with his hand, his attention going to the closed curtains behind them.
Kita motioned for her to stay back against the side wall, out of the line of sight.
She quickly nodded then quietly went to the darkened corner and waited, holding her breath so not to make a sound.
Kita rolled his shoulders, causing his jacket and vest to loosen, giving unrestricted access to the guns holstered at his sides. He strained to hear over the Coloratura from the stage below.
There was nothing that suggested they were compromised, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, suggesting otherwise.
When the curtains moved, Kita did a front side kick into the privacy curtain, moving faster than Rain had ever seen him move before. A gasp and grunt followed the kick, but he didn’t stop and plowed through the curtain, ripping it free from the rod and used it as a barrier between him and the threat.
Rain watched with wide eyes.
For the first time since meeting him, Kita was actually a bodyguard.
Her bodyguard.
Kita grunted when the assailant landed a blow to his side, and it caused Rain to snap out of it.
Rain grabbed one of the wooden folding chairs designated for guard use in the theater box then hurried over to them. “Duck!” she hissed and swung the chair as hard as she could.
Kita leaned to the side just in time to avoid taking a chair to the head, and it smashed into the thrashing being in the curtain, breaking on contact.
The person Rain assaulted stilled.
Kita pulled the curtain back and fought to keep from growling in irritation.
“Did I kill her?” Rain sheepishly asked.
“I wish you would have,” Kita said. “Bring me the rope.”
She quickly nodded and did as ordered.
“At least we do not have to worry about being trailed now,” Kita said, securing Ryo with the rope then left her on the floor.
Rain looked from Kita to Ryo. “That is the one that hurt Will, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
“Take her weapons, phone, and anything else that Will can use against her if needed,” Rain said.
Kita looked at her. “You truly terrify me at times, Seon Rain.”
She smirked. “Villain in training, remember?”
“I fear your training has surpassed that the instructor was prepared to give you,” he said, doing as she requested. He would have Lucien pick them up from the security office they had to check out with before leaving.
They had to go now in order to beat the end of the third act so they could start day one of ten for the extended date Kita planned for them.
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