Keith flinched at the sound of glass shattering as it collided against the wall. Ever since they discovered that a mole had infiltrated their tight circle, Shiro had been on a rampage. He swept the city, searching through every warehouse, every hideout, every cafe, and every club questioning owners and workers alike. It didn't take long to pinpoint exactly who had been foolish enough to betray his trust. The situation was quickly handled, the body was properly disposed of, and the only thing that was left to do was to tie up loose ends to make sure something like this never happened again. However, after witnessing Shiro's wrath first hand, Keith was sure no one would even dare to consider the thought.
Even after everything was set and done, Shiro was still seething. He paced his office and anything he came into contact with was confronted with his rage. Keith had never seen him like this before. Usually, he was the one to lose his temper and Shiro was the one to keep his cool and guided him to do the same. Now the roles were reversed and nothing Keith did was enough to calm the leader who he saw as a brother.
Another whiskey glass met an untimely fate with the wall and it was followed by a long string of hostile words Keith couldn't comprehend. He told himself that he would teach himself Japanese long ago, but now that he saw his brother in this state, he'd rather not understand what the older man was saying.
Keith slouched in his chair before he folded his arms over his chest and resisted the urge to yawn and stretch out his stiff limbs. It was late. Maybe half past midnight and they had a long, stressful day. He was usually a night owl, but the day had been taxing and it took its toll on him. But none of that seemed to have any sort of effect on Shiro. The man was wired, heated, and stressed beyond the point of no return. There was no way in hell that the man was going to calm himself down enough to take a breather and by the state of his usually organized office, he probably wasn't going to bed anytime soon, either.
Shiro continued to pace his office as he talked on the phone of one of his trusted men. He needed to make sure that whatever the mole had leaked would not affect future plans or put anybody under his watch in danger.
Shiro took the greatest pride in his role as a leader of a gang who was notorious for all the morally right reasons. His turf was his home. It held his family; those who weren't related by blood that helped raised him since he was a young boy who lived in the streets. From the bakery on 5th street, who fed him daily to the police station on Myrna Ave who let him go with warning after warning but never let him go without a lengthy lecture. In a way, they saved him.
And he was going to return the favor.
He grew up here. He made a life here. He learned to protect it with his bare hands, both metal, and flesh, here. He would do anything to make sure its residents were safe from harm from outsiders who wanted to run this city into the ground. He would guard his city until he was no longer physically capable to do so.
Today, a mole had managed to get past his defenses. He took it hard and it showed to the point where the entire city knew it. He needed to make sure that it would never happen again.
Shards of glass cracked under his feet with each step as he made his way to the window to continue his heated conversation. "I don't care that you just got them this morning. Throw them all out, Gaizan! What…" he paused to give the man a chance to speak, but when he didn't hear what he wanted to, the flame once again returned to a raging fire. "Will you fucking listen to me? I don't give a shit if he gives you half off on Sundays. We can no longer trust that supplier. Cut all ties with him, now."
Keith rubbed his temples when he heard the man on the other line continue to argue with his boss. It was going to be a long night. Behind him, he heard the door creak open and he rolled his eyes. Whoever it was, he felt sorry for them because they didn't deserve whatever heat Shiro was going to give them.
His body jerked tensely but immediately relax when he felt soft arms wrap around his shoulders from behind. Long, silver curls tumbled over his shoulders and he let his head fall back to look at his savior. "Oh thank God you're here," he said relieved after she kissed him the cheek as a sweet greeting.
Allura laughed lightly at his response. "Is it that bad?"
Keith nodded tiredly. "I've never seen him this riled up before. And I thought I was bad."
She ruffled his hair. "Oh, but you definitely are, Kogane," she said playfully in return.
She unwrapped her arms from him and stood before she walked around him so she could set a hefty tote bag on the mahogany desk. "Have either of you eaten?" she asked as she unpacked the containers full of hot food.
At the sound of her voice, Shiro finally turned away from the window. His body was still tense - balled fist, heavy breathing, and flared nostrils, but his eyes softened significantly at the sight of her. His eyes went from her to the food on the desk and he raised a thick, dark brow in question. The look didn't last long before it was replaced with anger and he was back to talking to Gaizen. He turned his back to Allura and Keith and continued to explain what their next move was.
"I ate about two hours ago, but he hasn't eaten anything since this morning when we found that bug on one of the landlines," Keith explained through a long yawn.
She nodded in understanding as she unpacked two matching mugs - one of their many wedding gifts, and a flower printed thermos. "Careful with those, you don't want it to end up like the rest." Keith gestured towards the whiskey-stained wall with glass shards at its base. They were going to get drunk ants if someone didn't clean that up soon.
Allura seemed unphased at the sight and she continued to set up the rest of the containers around the desk in a neat and organized fashion. Shiro watched her out of the corner of his eye and his tone was losing some of the animosity it carried like a grudge all day. "Keith, will you be joining us for dinner?" she asked him casually over Shiro's voice.
He shook his head. "No, I don't think I can. It's too late for me to eat, 'Lu," he said with a stretch and another yawn escaped his lips.
She watched his tired form. "I already prepared one of the guest rooms upstairs for you. Go to bed, Keith. I can take over from here."
He frowned as he watched Shiro's tense shoulders. "You sure?" He didn't fear for Allura's safety because Shiro would never dream of harming her, but he didn't want to come back later to have to deal with two stressed out individuals on his hands. Shiro was stubborn when he wanted to be, but he was no match for the hellfire that was Allura.
She sent him a dazzling smile followed by a sly wink. "Of course." She grabbed his wrists and pulled him to his feet. "You've done more than enough, Keith." She gave him a hug goodnight and he returned it the best he could in his tired state before he left the room.
When Allura finished setting up her desk picnic, she took a step back to admire her handiwork. Now that dinner was ready, it was time to wrangle in the cowboy. She approached him wordlessly before she stuck her hand out and gestured for his phone. Shiro's jaw clenched as he eyed her through steel eyes.
Through the phone line, she heard Gaizan's muted voice call out her husband's name and before Shiro could respond, Allura took the phone away from him. His grip on the phone lasted only a fraction of a second before he gave up the device to her. He never denied her anything and he wasn't about to start now. No matter how stressed he was.
She smiled at him before she spoke into the phone. "Good evening, Gaizan." Shiro rolled his eyes at the man's immediate change in tone. Just like himself, Gainzan's voice lost its hostility the second he heard the woman speak. "I'm well and yourself?... That's wonderful to hear! How are those granddaughters of yours doing?"
She always knew exactly what it took to steer the conversation until the ball was in her court and she played it to her advantage. She walked away from Shiro but didn't get far before he gently pulled her by the waist to steer her clear of the broken glass that covered a large portion of the wooden floors. She frowned at the scene when she recognized her favorite champagne flute was now in hundreds of pieces but mouthed her gratitude as she listened to the man speak intensely about his grandkids on the other line.
Shiro pulled at her away from the shattered glasses until he backed her into his desk. He buried his face into the crook of her neck so he could inhale the scent of her shampoo.
God, he didn't realize how much he missed her until she was here.
Mindful of the food Allura had already set up, he then wrapped an arm around the small of her back and the other around the underside of one of her thighs before he lifted her so he could sit her on his desk. At the new angle, he took a moment to look her over. She had enough money to wear the finest silks to bed but she opted to wear an oversized, bleached stained NASA shirt she found at the thrift store for $3 and a pair of yoga pants she refused to do yoga in. Her hair was in a messy bun that sat atop her head but silver clumps of hair still managed to escape the hold and cascade down her back.
As she continued to chat with the man that he wanted to strangle just 3 minutes ago, he took the chance to take off her slippers so he could check for any glass shards that might have gotten lodged into the soles of the fuzzy, pink bunny slippers. When he cleared the slippers, he moved on to check her feet for tiny pieces of glass as well. He was still on the verge of unfiltered anger, but it didn't stop him from playfully running a finger up the arch of her foot. She immediately jerked her feet away before she frantically swatted his hand away from the ticklish area.
A ghost of a smile appeared on his face but it wasn't enough to take away the stress. He leaned back into his chair and stared at the ceiling. He sighed when he saw another whiskey stain on the ceiling. They were gonna get ceiling ants.
"Now now, Gaizan, you know that we need to take precautions for instances like this." Her words suddenly caught his attention. It was rare that she handled this aspect of the life she married into. Shiro would rather that she stayed away from it just so he could have that extra layer of security between her and the profession he could never escape.
Allura must have seen the look in his eyes because she reached out to caress his face with a soft, delicate hand. Her hand moved from his cheek, up into his hair. He felt himself relax into her touch as she gently raked her perfectly manicured nails through his black hair. "Yes, I know. It's unfortunate that this happened but you have to understand that we can no longer trust this supplier because he was reported talking to the wrong people." Her voice was soft and diplomatic but it held no room for argument. "You know we will make up for the lost wages, Gai. Besides, I may know someone who has a better deal. How about 40% off on – let me finish. I let you talk, now you are going to do the same. How about 40% off on Sundays and Thursdays?"
Shiro snorted. Sundays and Thursdays? That sounded like a good bargain. But only 40%? Impossible. There was no way Gaizan would take a deal like that. He had been trying to convince that old cheapskate to get a new supplier for years. There was no way in hell, not now, not ever that the man would ever even consider agreeing to such a ridiculous ide–
"Perfect! I say we have a deal," she said as she threw a wink towards Shiro.
Son of a bitch.
Shiro groaned and laid his head in Allura's lap and she patted him on the back. Maybe as a way to console him or maybe she was just rubbing his face in the fact that she was better at negotiations than he was.
"Alright, Shiro will come by tomorrow to go over the details with you. And tell your wife that I am looking forward to coffee on Wednesday." She paused for a moment before her eyes lit up. "Of course, I can bring you those scones! Just let me know what kind you want by Tuesday and I'll make it happen. Alright, you have a good night, Gai."
She ended the call with the stubborn man she suddenly had wrapped around her pretty little finger and placed the phone into one of the drawers. "You're amazing, you know that?" Shiro mumbled into her lap. He wrapped an arm around her middle to bring her closer to the edge of the desk and closer to him.
She laughed and continued to run her fingers through his hair. "I'm fully aware, there's no need to tell me," she teased with a smirk. After a moment, she lightly pushed him away so she could open the containers of food and Shiro immediately recognized the smell from his favorite Thai restaurant just a few blocks away.
He checked the clock on his desk. "Pheung's is still open this late?" he asked as she laid out the food.
She shook her head. "No, but like the rest of the city, she heard what happened today and she just knew that my idiot of a husband was giving himself a hard time about it. She came by about two hours ago to drop it off." She opened two pairs of chopsticks and set them each in a different bowl. "I figured that I'd give you some time to cool off before I brought it in but since that never happened..." She left the rest of her sentence unsaid with narrowed eyes. She then poured him some tea from the thermos and handed him a mug before she poured herself a cup.
Shiro took the tea gratefully and he closed his eyes in satisfaction at the smell of the bittersweet liquid. Before he met Allura, he was not a tea drinker. But she had convinced him to give it a try and through trial and error of the all the different flavors the beverage had to offer, he finally found his favorite and hasn't let it go since. He wanted so badly for the tea combined with her presence to be enough to calm him down, and yes, to a certain extent, it was, but he still found his shoulders stiff and his breathing slightly stifled.
He took a tentative sip to make sure the temperature wouldn't scald him. "I'm sorry, Allura," he apologized after a deep breath. "I just–"
She shook her head. "Let's eat first, then we can talk about what happened today." It was a command that she had wrapped up to look like a suggestion.
"To be honest with you, I don't have much of an appetite," he confessed as he eyed the food she had.
She watched him silently for a moment before she sighed and broke the chopsticks. She brought her chicken pad thai up to rest on her thighs and she picked up a piece and brought it to his lips.
He raised a brow. "You can't be serious."
"Try me, Shirogane," she challenged.
He rolled his eyes before he opened his mouth to take the offered food. He hummed in content when the savory food made contact with his taste buds. It was better than he previously remembered.
Allura almost laughed at his reaction. "Pheung told me to tell you that she made your favorite dish with love, today." She picked up another piece of chicken and popped it into her mouth. "That woman is an amazing cook. She told me that she was going to teach me how to make gaeng daen so I, 'could make my husband happy." She laughed to herself when she finished the quote.
Shiro joined her in laughter. "You already make me the happiest man alive," he said before he childishly opened his mouth welcoming another piece from her. He could already feel his anger dwindling down. Since the moment he laid eyes on her, she always had that effect on him. When he was lost, even to himself, she always managed to find him and bring him back.
She wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Apparently you could be happier with red curry."
Shiro grinned. That old woman never could hold her tongue. Whatever was on her mind, she made it known. He took the chopsticks from her so he could feed himself. "By the way, how is she? Was she walking okay?"
Allura crossed her legs and brought the cup of hot tea to her lips. "She still had a limp, but she's looking a lot better than she was last week after her fall," she informed him.
Shiro nodded, processing the information. "Do you think she's taking her medication?"
"I'm unsure actually," she said. "I'll make sure to send Hunk over to spy her." The sunshine boy was her favorite and she always made sure to let everyone know so they could be rightfully jealous.
Shiro's jaw clenched. That's what the rival gang, Sincline, did to him; sent a spy. He should have caught it earlier. He shouldn't have trusted the man so easily and like a fool, just as they had predicted, he fed right into his enemy's lies. His hands started to shake at the thought of his stupid mistakes.
Once again, through the darkness and through the clouds of self-doubt, Allura hands reached out to ground him once again. Her fingers danced over his skin as she caressed his cheeks before they wandered to his scar to lightly trace it. Besides his kind eyes, it was her favorite part of him. "Deep breaths, Takashi," she said suddenly and he followed her command without question. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth.
The anger he had for himself was no match for the love he had for her. But the overwhelming sense of guilt was a strong contender and threatened to consume him whole. "Takashi." Why did she sound so far away?
"Look at me."
He couldn't.
She brought her hands under his chin and forced him to meet her gaze. She brushed the white strands of hair out of his eyes. "What happened today wasn't your fault," she told him carefully.
He suddenly pulled away from her. "I'm the leader, of course, it's my fault," he argued, careful not to raise his voice. No matter how angry he was, he would never even dream about taking that frustration out on her.
"But you caught it before he was able to do anything."
He stood up quickly, the action caused the desk chair to fly back and slam against bookshelf behind him. Before he could stop himself, he was pacing the floor again. The glass under his feet crunched with each step. She was too forgiving. She should hate him. Everyone should hate him.
"Allura, that's not the point!" he almost shouted. "The point is that it happened! It happened when it shouldn't have! I let him into the gang. I trusted him! I told him plans that I hadn't even told Keith and that...that fucking snake was working for the other side this whole time! No wonder they took over one of the warehouses.
"Allura…," He paused in his pacing to face her and it's a look she never saw in him before. His eyes were raging and his fists were balled at his sides. "Allura, I let that man drive you home." His voice was dangerously low. Allura knew that if he could, he would kill that man all over again. "H-he, Allura he could have…"
"But he didn't," she interjected. "I'm here. Everyone is here. The only one who paid for his actions was him, Takashi." She moved to leap off the desk so she could approach him but Shiro was quick to keep her from getting down barefooted by blocking her in.
Her hands cupped his cheeks to him his eyes on her. "Listen to me. You are a great leader, Takashi. You would gladly lay down your life for anyone in this city and they all know it. Mistakes happen, and they are going to happen again. But that's what it takes to be a great leader. You fall, you learn, and you get back up."
He searched her eyes and at that moment, he knew she was telling him nothing but the truth. If it was even possible, he found himself falling more in love with her. He bent down slightly and pressed his lips against hers. She was his favorite flavor and his most dangerous addiction. She always knew exactly what to say to bring him back.
He wrapped his arms around her small frame and kissed the top of her head. "I love you so fucking much," he said. "You know that?"
She giggled and she returned his embrace. "Of course I do, but I love to hear you say it," she said as she kissed the underside of his jaw. "Over and over again."
"I'll tell you as many times as I can for the rest of my life if that's what it takes to satisfy you."
Shiro's eyes widened when she suddenly squeezed his backside through his pants. "I know what else will satisfy me," she purred deviously.
Shiro chuckled before he reached to the side of him to bring out the phone she had hidden away in the drawer. "Just let me make few calls and then I'll satisfy everything you need."
She frowned and reached out to take the phone away. "It's almost 1 in the morning!" she scolded. "Let people do what you should be doing; sleeping."
"But, Allura," he countered. He thought he sounded manly but he's more than positive that it came out as a whine.
"Takashi." Her tone told him that the conversation was over. When she caught the look on his face, she let her fingers walk up his chest and her voice took on a sultry whisper. "Relax. Things can be worked out in the morning. For now," she paused as she kissed the corner of his lips and traced his jawline in the way she knew drove him mad. "Come to bed."
She knew is ultimate weakness and she was never afraid to fight dirty. "Fine, but don't blame me if everyone sleeps in tomorrow."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," she replied with a wink before she let him go and started to pack up their late dinner. He downed the rest of his tea as well as the rest of hers before he helped pack up rest of the food and organized it back into the bag she brought it in with.
"I think that's everything," he said and swung the bag over his forearm. He bent down slightly to pick Allura up and drape her over his shoulder and the surprised squeak she made brought a smile to his face.
"I can walk you know?" she said from her upside down position over his shoulder.
"Yeah, I know, you don't need to tell me, Princess," he responded with a boyish grin and he resettled his grip on the back of her thighs. He walked towards and out the door before he paused. "Get the light, will ya?" And he heard random slapping against the wall until he heard her hand make contact with the light switch.
As soon as he entered the foyer, other members of his crew stood up to greet him and he settled them down with a look. "You guys head to bed. You can crash here if you want. Tomorrow, we're having a meeting at 7:30, sharp." A cough from Allura made him roll his eyes. "Fine, 8:30." He handed Rylo the bag and instructed him to put it in the fridge before he ascended the stairs.
Behind him, Allura wished Shiro's crew goodnight before she grabbed a handful of his backside to show them who the real boss was. "You're totally going to pay for that, Princess," she heard him grumble.
"Can't wait."