Hi guys! Remember me? lolx…SO sorry for the very loooong wait…I apologize for not updating sooner and making you wait for so long. Sad to say, there came a time in my life when I thought of quitting this work, but I guess time just gave me a really long break to think it out. Now that I'm back, it only shows how much I missed writing. So many things happened to me during that span of time…hmm, come to think of it, I can make it a story if I write it down. But of course, I'm not gonna do that since it's my private life…hehehe! Sorry guys…just enjoy chapter 10!

Chapter Ten:

Mimi studied Matt's every move. When he noticed her looking at his hands, he tossed her his cell phone and continued driving. She held on to the slim phone with both hands, as if it were a symbol of his trust. Would he keep his word? Would he take her somewhere safe? Or is this a long road to Seekers? She wasn't sure how far she could trust him and the uncertainty plagued her with an odd mixture of guilt and regret.

The first thing Matt did when they got to Odaiba was arrange for a parking stall for his car. He paid for a month in advance to ensure its safety and mooned over his goodbyes to his precious car as if he were abandoning a child. What was it with guys and their cars?

"What are we doing at a hotel?" Mimi asked with fear. "I don't think this is a good idea. What if someone finds out and…?"

"It's temporary, Mimi. We have to stay somewhere tonight and make a plan."

"That way we're unpredictable…"

"And a moving target. Right now we can't use a credit card. We don't have much money. We – "

"Okay, I get it. We need a plan." A hitch of hesitation had her flipping open and closing the cover to Matt's cell phone.

"I know someone here who can hook us up. She's a good friend of mine and I trust her."

"What if she's not here?"

Matt flashed her a heart-stopping smile. "Kari is Tai's younger sister and he jokes that his sister loves her job so much she never missed a day's work. Kari is totally different from her brother, not to mention sleek, sexy, and sophisticated."

"I heard that," an amused voice said.

Matt turned and beamed his charm at the petite young woman who materialized behind the desk. Leaning across the desk, she pecked a kiss on Matt's cheek. "But since it's coming from you, I'll take it as a compliment."

"I meant it as a compliment. How are you, Kari?"

Her smile lit all the way to her eyes. "I love my job so much I never missed a day's work."

Matt leaned in to Kari as if she was the center of the world and both of them shared a good laugh. Mimi tried to brush away the unwarranted barb of jealousy. How well did Matt know this Kari? Is she just a friend or more than that?

His lips brushed too close to Kari's ear. "We need a room and some silence."

Kari's eyes shot up. "You mean I get to know something that Tai doesn't?"

"Something that Tai can't find out."

"Ooh," she crooned, as if having something on her brother was a mouthwatering treat. She checked the computer for records and reservations. "We're pretty full, but I can sneak you in one of the smaller suites. It has one king size bed and a separate sitting area with a sofa bed."

"That's perfect, Kari."

His smile practically made Mimi gag. Pulling it on a little too thick, aren't you?

"Don't worry, I got you covered. I entered you as Mr. and Mrs. Adams." Kari's smile glowed with delight.

"I owe you big time."

She escorted them to the elevator and after a few more sweet exchanges, Kari gave Matt her phone number, told him to call if he needed anything and said goodbye. The trip to their room was pretty quiet. Mimi preferred to walk alone so Matt walked ahead and lead the way.

Matt stood in the doorway. The expression on his face was black – as if talking to Kari used up all his charm for the day.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" She gestured to the room. "There's enough room for both of us."

A muscle in his jaw twitched. He couldn't come in. Mimi realized what she was asking him to do…choose between his loyalty to Seekers or her.

"Go home, Yamato. You don't belong here."

He flinched. Of course, that was the wrong thing to say. He thought she meant here in this fancy hotel room. What she meant was she seemed to attract death. No matter how good he made himself look on the outside, the little boy in him still wore simple clothes and lived in a middle class home. None of that mattered to her, but he never believed her – especially after she refused to go away with him to many years ago.

"You know I can't," he said. "I promised to bring you back and keep you safe. If you won't go to Seekers, someone has to watch out for you." And Yamato Ishida always kept his word.

She didn't want to see him hurt. She didn't want to need his help or protection. But she did. Having a hunter on her trail was hard enough to deal with. Two equally determined ones would be too much, which left her no choice at all. She had to be sure of something, of someone, or she wouldn't get through this with her sanity intact.

She stared at Matt, at his unflinching determination and unseen hesitation. Does he think he's obliged to be loyal to her because he still had feelings for her? A stab of sorrow bit into her chest.

The trial started in seven days. Seven days to hide and stay alive. "Come on in, Matt, and close the door."

He let go of the door frame. His hands hung at his sides for a long moment, and then he stepped inside the room.

She wanted to cry.

Matt would have to call in at work, but he wanted a firm plan of action first - a way to let Tai know that he was still performing his duty to Seekers Inc. The important thing was to keep Mimi alive to testify. He didn't lie to Mimi when he said he found what he needed at Seekers. What's important to him was important to them too. They shared the common goal of recapturing fugitives and putting them back behind bars where they belonged. Bending rules and cutting corners came with the job. To buy himself some time, he ordered soup and sandwiches from room service.

While they waited for the food, Mimi walked around the room. Out of habit he grabbed two empty glasses from the mini bar and placed them on the windowsill and closed the curtains, shutting out the view of the harbor. Not that anyone would climb the smooth outside wall to set off his cheap alarm.

After room service left, he made sure that everything was safe so he wouldn't have to worry about intrusion from adjoining rooms. He turned to the inside of the room and realized that the world now contained only him and Mimi. The fact she was sitting on the king-size bed with its pile of silver and blue pillows wasn't helping. He could tell himself all day long that Mimi was just a friend, but his body wanted her in a way that had nothing to do with friendship.

As if sensing the treacherous turn of his thoughts, Mimi got up and pushed the room service cart to the sitting area. "So…where do we start?"

"With Sheer." Matt took a seat at the opposite end of the coffee table.

"How is that going to help us with a plan to hide for the next week?"

"We need to know who's running after you."

"That's easy," Mimi munched her French fries. "Michael."

"He's not working alone, though. He might be behind bars, but someone's doing his dirty work on the outside."

"How do we find that out?"

"Tell me about him."

She stared at him long and hard. Her trust didn't extend more than an arm's length. She feared betrayal.

"I need to understand what Michael's capable of," Matt said. "What he's comfortable with."

She ate another fry. "You want to know everything?"

"Something like that." Matt concentrated on his sandwich. How could the chef have managed to turn something as simple as two slices of bread, roast beef, provolone, and mustard into something so complicated?

She swirled her fry in a bowl of ranch dressing. "I don't know him that well."

Her reluctance to look directly at him and her jerky movements denied her words. "You were never good at lying."

"I'm not lying."

"Tell me what you know. It's the details that can make or break a case."

"It's not that simple."

"Relationships never are."

"No, they aren't."

Was that regret in her voice? Was she thinking back to when she walked away from him? He didn't expect her to remain single for the one true love that got away. Not when she made it clear he wasn't the one for her. But he thought about her often. "I'm not here to judge, Mimi, only to understand."

She pressed her lips tightly together and the flickering tension in her eyes shot through him like a thousand knives. He didn't like the feeling so damned twisted around her. Come here, Mimi, let me hold you. Everything's going to be all right. I promise. But of course he couldn't – so he forced another bite of sandwich.

Finally she blew out a breath and shook her head. "Michael wants…I don't know. It's more than money. It's more than success. It's…" Frowning, she picked at this lead of lettuce sticking out from the crust of her sandwich.

"It's what?"

"I don't know, okay. Stop bullying me."

Bullying? Where did she get that? He was asking simple questions. "How did you meet him?"

Their stares met across the table. She needed someone to yank her out of the whirlwind her life had become and he was only dragging her deeper.

"I didn't meet Michael until after his father died. He was at the funeral. His father wasn't even buried yet when Michael informed my father that he was taking over his dad's position."

"Why didn't your father just tell him it's not possible?"

"Money. Michael wanted a more hands-on approach. He wanted changes that would bring on short-term gain but would hurt the company in the long run. My father saw the potential damage and argued against the changes. But in the end there wasn't much he could do. My father needed Michael's money. Michael knew my father's loyalty to his employees was his weakness and he used that to manipulate him." She made a face and pushed away her sandwich. "Then everything fell apart."

"How?"

She shook her head, tears were falling and her mouth opened as if breathing had suddenly become an arduous task. "Once Michael took over his father's office, he decided he also wanted me."

That piece of garbage made advances toward her? Matt's blood pressure rose. "How?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "You know."

Matt was going to kill that scumbag the first chance he got. "Is it sexual?"

Mimi sighed. "He was charming at first. He made me smile, you know. But I just ended a relationship and I didn't want to start a new one."

"He couldn't take no for an answer." Matt pushed aside the thought of Mimi in someone else's arms, someone else's bed, and someone else's heart. She wasn't his…never been his.

She dropped her gaze. "When I kept turning him down, he tried to intimidate me into marriage. He said he could hurt my father and turn him into dirt in front of his employees and drag his name and reputation through mud. So…I agreed to an engagement."

Matt swallowed a set of curses. Of course, Mimi hated conflicts. How could she have offered herself to that piece of garbage?

"I couldn't risk everything my father worked for," she said defensively. "I figured that if I held him long enough, my father would be able to buy Michael's share of the company. Then everything would go back to normal."

"Except it didn't."

Still refusing to look straight at him she said, "He was trying to pressure my father for a marriage merger so he could have everything."

"And when your father refused, Michael killed him."

A/N: Sorry guys, but I have to stop it here. I'm trying to make it as thrilling as possible since it comes out that way. It's not much, but I hope you enjoyed reading

Don't forget to review! Thanks!

P.S. I'd like to thank all those people who read and keeps reading my other stories. THANK YOU