He winced because everything she said was the truth. Until now. Until she’d come into his life and turned it upside down. Until he knew the woman coming to kill him had to belong to him. He was born for her. To love her. To cherish her. To spend his life shielding her from men like the one who had taken her brother.

“Stefano told me my idiot way of living would come back to bite me.” He hissed the last few words through clenched teeth. His head hurt like a son of a bitch. “You asked about Nicoletta.” Changing the subject was the only safe path.

“You and Vittorio were willing to die to save her. That was twice that you fought for her. Who is she?”

“She’s a woman capable of producing riders. That’s rare, as you well know.”

She shrugged. “None of the riders I grew up with would have done that for me.”

“That isn’t true. They might not have shown any interest, but I can guarantee, they’ll be very upset that I have you here with me.” He waited for her to protest, but when she remained silent, he continued, this time musing aloud. “If it was another rider who took your brother, they would have come after me themselves. Why involve you? Or take the risk of kidnapping your brother? I saw you out there tonight. You’re as good as a rider gets. Of course, coming from the Tanaka lineage, you would be.”

Her head snapped up, her eyes moving over his face, probing for the truth. For the distinctive sound of a lie. “A Tanaka? Why would you think such a thing? That lineage is revered in my country. Everyone knows the tragedy.”

“Do they? Tell me.”

“Daiki Tanaka married a woman from another country and had one child, a girl, Akiko. She was on her way to being as great a rider as her father when she died in a car accident with her father and grandmother. Four other riders were killed as well. The accident nearly wiped out all the shadow riders in Tokyo. Everyone knows the story.”

Every word she said made that horrible hole inside him bigger. It was filled with the helpless rage of a fourteen-year-old boy.

“You don’t have it quite right, Mariko,” he said softly. He forced himself into a sitting position and indicated she sit close. He was surprised when she obeyed him. His head protested the movement, but he ignored the crashing pain. This was far too important. She could very well leave him when she heard what he had to say, but he was through hiding the truth.

“I was there, Mariko, so I know the truth of what happened. All of it. I was training under Daiki Tanaka, Isamu Yamamoto, Dai Saito and Mikio Ito, the four top riders who also made up the council in Tokyo. At that time, Nao Yamamoto, son of Isamu, headed up a small-time gang. Nao was the leader and a bully. He despised the riders coming in from other countries, but more, he despised any female rider and considered them inferior to him and the other males.” He fell silent, allowing the memory of that terrible night to sweep over him.

Mariko didn’t say a word but remained quiet, not asking a single question or hurrying him. Her gaze didn’t once leave his face.

“Akiko defeated Nao in a tournament. He was weakened because I had beaten the holy hell out of him earlier that day. He and three of his closest friends – Eiji and Hachiro Saito, sons of Dai Saito, and Kenta Ito – had jumped me earlier because I’d gone with two others to the council and warned them of Nao’s behavior. Then my times beat theirs in the trials. I kicked their asses. Nao’s father was furious with him, first that I had beat the crap out of him, but mostly because Akiko, a lowly female, bested him in the tournament in front of everyone. The judges had no choice but to call the win for her.”

Mariko didn’t take her eyes from his face. She almost didn’t blink she was holding herself so still.

Ricco pressed his fingers to his eyes and shook his head. “I was fourteen. That’s not much of an excuse. It isn’t an excuse. I knew Nao would hit back at Akiko. I heard him boasting about using the shadows to hurt his enemies. It was forbidden, of course, but two of the riders had gone with me to the council to tell them of our suspicions earlier and they dismissed what we told them.”

Her thigh slid along his as she drew her legs up and put her chin on top of her knees, her face turned toward him, eyes never leaving his face.

“I had a hojojutsu class that evening… ” He trailed off again. Little did he know it would be his ropes that eventually saved him. His artistry. He sighed. This wasn’t about him. Mariko needed to know she had a past. She was part of a legendary family, a family respected and held in the highest regard by all riders around the world.

“I got lost,” he said, telling her his greatest shame. “In the tunnels. When I returned to my room, I realized all four of them were gone and I just knew they were going to attack Akiko. I went after them and I got turned around.”

The throbbing in his head took a backseat to the knot twisting in his gut. “When I arrived at the Tanaka home, the boys had already done their worst. Chiharu, Akiko’s grandmother, was dead, her body on the floor just outside of her room. Nao lay in wait for her and murdered her as she rushed to the aid of her grandchildren.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The scent of blood hit him hard. It smelled like a slaughterhouse. He knew before he even emerged from the shadow tube that he was far too late. He nearly fell over the body of Akiko’s grandmother. Chiharu. She’d been a strict, unsmiling woman, but she’d also been the first legendary female shadow rider. Chiharu was the reason the other girls were given the chance to prove themselves.

She lay crumbled on the floor, looking small. Blood covered her like a bright red blanket. A sword had nearly severed her body in half. Worse, after the initial slice, she had clearly still been alive when another slice had been made up the front of her, spilling her insides onto the floor deliberately.

At fourteen, he’d never seen anything like it in his life. He was still sensitive, an artist, not a killer. Bile had risen, choking him. He heard laughter, and just around the screen, several feet from Chiharu, her two female servants were being hacked to pieces by Eiji and Hachiro. The insanity of the killings made Ricco pause for just a moment, not believing what his eyes were seeing. He’d trained with these boys. They weren’t friends, and he knew they were bullies, but he’d never considered they might be murderers.

For the first time, he realized just what he was born for – what was expected of him – and it was brutal and ugly.

He heard Akiko scream and then Nao telling her he’d killed her grandmother and would kill her, and then her brother and sister. He’d wipe out the entire Tanaka family. But first, she would be dishonored. Nao had raped her while Kenta danced around them covered in her father’s blood.

The memories were all there in Ricco’s head, pouring through the cracks in the walls he’d erected to keep himself from letting them get too close. He’d been carrying the burden of that night alone for so long, protecting his family from the threat hanging over their heads until he was physically, emotionally and mentally used up.