"House wins," I said, reaching out to gather up the cards on the blackjack table and take the chips from Yamauchi, the man that I was watching for Soryu. He gave a rueful laugh, in good spirits despite the loss since he'd been winning much more than he'd been losing. I'd made sure of it in order to keep him at my table.
The table was wired so that everything said was being recorded, but Soryu had still asked me to watch Yamauchi's expressions and body language. He was with two other men and they were mostly talking about some sort of business or finances while they gave the hand signals to play the game. Luckily, I wasn't supposed to follow the conversation because I had no idea what they were talking about.
What I did know was that Yamauchi was lying, a lot. Especially to the man in the green tie named Tau. I'd been raised by my father to read people's faces, to find and exploit their tells. Yamauchi was dropping tells like rain and they said that he was planning on fucking Tau over.
I caught sight of Soryu out of the corner of my eye while I dealt a new hand of cards to the men. He was at the craps table with Mitsunari Baba and Ota Kisaki, as usual his eyes never stopped scanning the room. He was good. He never met my eyes or gave any indication that anything abnormal was going on at my table.
I was doing pretty good myself. I'd seen Soryu several times over the last few days - at the penthouse and in a meeting to prepare for tonight's spying - and every time I had succeeded at fighting off fantasies and controlling my body. Of course, he was still gorgeous and sexy and if he crooked his finger at me I'd follow him straight to hell, but I was able to be bright and businesslike around him without secretly imagining going down on him.
It helped that Pumped 4.2 had just come out with a new music video and Yasu Ueda was shirtless in a couple of scenes. So, I was able to replace Soryu as my go-to masturbation material, though to be honest even Yasu couldn't compete with him. There was just something about him, his quiet strength and his dark eyes, that sort of had me captivated, but I was controlling my response and that was what really mattered.

After my shift I went to the security cage at the entrance to the penthouse elevator and the guard checked me out and then let me go up. Soryu, Eisuke and Mamoru were waiting to debrief me. They were all very interested in what I had to say. Apparently, Eisuke and Mamoru had been listening to the transmission from the wiretap while Yamauchi was playing at my table.
"He was definitely lying to Tau the entire time," I explained. "It's like he's setting a trap for him, and… Well, I just get the sense that the end is going to be violent or deadly. Yamauchi seems super shady. He may look like a nice grandpa, but I get the feeling that he's out for blood."
"What about the other guy? Kato?" Mamoru asked, stubbing out his cigarette.
"It was like he was just sort of there and Yamauchi would take him down with Tau if he was along for the ride, but he isn't a big concern to Yamauchi," I said. Soryu was sitting on a couch next to Eisuke tapping away at a laptop that sat in front of him on the coffee table. He suddenly sat up, took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie. He didn't even look up, he went right back to typing, but my stomach flipped.
I pictured myself pushing his arms aside, straddling his lap, pulling his tie off and unbuttoning his shirt. He had to have an awesome chest. It was so broad even in his suit. Was he into nipple play? I wanted to taste him so fucking bad…
I dug my fingernails into my palms, pressing hard to drive the images out of my mind. I had to stop. I was in the middle of work. We were talking about some serious shit and I was even worried that Yamauchi might be planning to kill Tau. It was not the time to be fantasizing about Soryu.
Looking up, the first thing I saw was Eisuke's eyes on me. He was smirking. He'd fucking read my mind and knew what I'd been thinking about - at least enough to know that I wanted Soryu. I'd been fantasizing during my first report after my very first assignment. I'd even let my mask drop. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was supposed to be fighting my attraction to Soryu, not diving right in to a full on insane obsession.
Groaning internally, I asked the question that I'd already told myself not to ask. I knew that I was just a foot soldier in Eisuke's yakuza. I shouldn't have any more information than I already had. I didn't need more info and having it might even increase the danger that I was in. But I couldn't stop myself. I had to move the conversation forward. Mamoru was staring off into space while smoking another cigarette and Eisuke looked like he might say something embarrassing to Soryu at any moment.
"So, is Yamauchi going to kill Tau or something?" I asked. Eisuke's smirk turned into a frown. Mamoru bent forward to flick his ashes, his eyes trying to read me.
Soryu's fingers stopped clacking on the keys and he looked at me over his laptop. "Don't worry about that," he warned.
"Yeah, I know," I said, suddenly wishing that I could leave. I'd asked a stupid question to save my ass and now I regretted it.
"Tell us more about Tau," Mamoru said, setting the conversation back on track.
Why hadn't I just thought of that myself? I needed to get ahold of myself in more ways than one. "He seemed pretty oblivious," I replied. "He was relaxed and enjoying himself. He trusts Yamauchi. He thought he was with a friend."
"And Kato?" Mamoru asked.
"I'd say he was more interested in the cards than anything else. Yamauchi and Tau kept talking about money and stocks and stuff. It seemed like Kato wanted to relax instead of talking about business," I explained. "But, he was interested in getting in on whatever deal the other two were working out. He'd just rather have talked about it at a different time."
"You're good at reading people," Eisuke said. "You'll be useful."
"Thanks," I replied, hoping that meant I was forgiven for overreaching my limits. "My father was a gambler. I was raised on poker chips and playing cards."
Eisuke responded with his usual smirk. "I think we're finished with you for now. Show her out Soryu."
At the elevator Soryu used his fingerprint to open the doors. "You did a good job tonight. I'll contact you when we need you again. I've already deposited $1000 into your account."
"Thanks. Have a good night," I said, stepping into the elevator. He replied with an expressionless nod as the doors closed between us.

I already had a text message typed out to Nori telling him that I wanted to hook up before the elevator even reached the first floor. As soon as I stepped out into the lobby and my phone got its signal back, I hit send. I'd changed out of my uniform before I went up to the penthouse, so there was nothing stopping me from heading straight to his apartment.
He must have jumped in the shower when he got my text because he opened the door with wet hair and a towel around his waist. I greeted him with a smile and asked, "Where do you keep your clothes for work?"
"In the closet," he said and followed after me as I went over and opened the closet door.
"You only have white dress shirts?" I asked. Soryu prefered dark shirts - today he'd been wearing a navy blue one. When Nori said yes, I handed one of his shirts to him. "Put this on and button it up."
He took the shirt and I riffled through his ties. They were hanging on a little rack on the closet door. The only light blue one that he had was patterned with diamonds, but it would have to do. As soon as he'd finished buttoning his shirt, I handed him the tie.
"What about pants?" he asked when I stepped away from the closet.
"You won't need pants," I answered. "Put the towel away, sit on the couch and loosen your tie a little."
While he dropped the towel off in the bathroom and settled onto the couch, I examined the small room and tried to figure out exactly what I wanted. When I was ready, I walked over and stood in front of him.
He didn't deserve to be used while I thought of another man. He'd done everything that I'd asked of him, learned every technique and hooked up whenever I requested it, even on his lunch breaks. He was kind and he was cute and he deserved to be fucked for himself, not as a substitute. And I needed to fight my urge to fantasize about Soryu. It had interfered with my work tonight and I couldn't let that happen again.
I lowered myself onto him, straddling his legs and running my hands up his chest and neck until they were buried in his damp hair. "You smell good," I said, admiring the plump curve of his lower lip before I dipped down to lick over it and then suck it into my mouth. My body started heating up and my nipples tightened as I pushed my tongue into his mouth to play with his. He tasted like toothpaste and his tongue was more forceful than usual. He was gaining confidence in himself and that really turned me on.
His hands slipped up under my dress and caressed over my thighs and ass while we kissed until we were both hot and breathless. I sat up and went to work taking off the tie and unbuttoning his shirt. It wasn't nearly as hot as my fantasy about Soryu, but I refused to allow those imagines back into my mind. I focused on Nori's chest, it was hot and smooth and he was definitely into nipple play. He caught my head in his hands and pushed himself into my mouth while I licked and nibbled his sensitive nubs. He liked a little more pain and pressure than most people were able to tolerate and that always made me super hot and wet. It was so much easier for me to lose myself in the act when the person that I was fucking was willing to take things outside the boundaries of vanilla sex.
His hands pushed me away from his chest and pulled off my dress. I opened up my bra and dropped it behind me onto the floor, shivering in anticipation as his fingers reached for me. He touched me just the way I like, strumming his knuckles back and forth across my hard nipples until I was arching into his touch and moaning rhythmically. I'd trained him well. He knew exactly when to take my nipples between his fingers and pinch hard to send me into a tittie orgasm.
I fisted my hands into his shirt and cried out as the waves of pleasure rippled over my stomach. He pulled me forward, bringing my tits to his mouth and lapping over my nipples, drawing out the tail end of my orgasm, making me whimper and moan.
His hand slipped between my thighs and his fingers stroked over my underwear. "You're so fucking wet," he said. "I want to get inside of you." His fingertips pushed the thin fabric between the swollen lips of my cunt and rubbed circles around my clit.
Moaning, I pushed into his hand and rocked my hips, enjoying the feel of his fingers playing with me until he took them away and pushed me off of his lap so that he could take my underwear off. His hand went back between my legs as soon as my thong hit the floor. Two fingers slipped between my folds and up inside of me, exploring and stroking. I enjoyed the feel of it for a few moments and then reached over to grab the light blue necktie.

"Here," I said, handing him the tie. "I want you to bind my hands together and then tie them to the knob on your front door."
After he bound my wrists, I knelt facing the door and he secured my hands to the knob. I gave the tie a few good yanks to make sure the doorknob would hold and then got on my knees with my ass in the air, my torso held up by my bound hands. Nori settled himself between my legs and ran his hands over my thighs.
"Your pussy looks delicious from this angle," he said. "What do you want? Can I spank you?"
"Yeah, you can spank me, but mostly I want you to fuck me really rough. And talk a lot. I want to hear your voice," I said.
"Looks like someone's been a bad girl and needs to be punished," he said as he began spanking me. Let's face it, his voice was too sweet for him to really pull off dirty talk - especially stuff about punishing me - but I wanted the constant reminder that it was Nori behind me.
I moaned as his hand slapped my ass, the rhythmic sting morphing from pain into pleasure and excitement and filling me with a burning need to be fucked. "Do it now," I cried, my voice laced with desperation.
"Do you want this cock, you dirty little slut?" he asked, his gentle voice making the words sound almost like a parody. He rubbed the head of his dick through my slippery folds and over my clit, making me shiver with anticipation. His hand skimmed up my back and he bent over me, bringing his mouth near my ear, saying in a husky whisper, "Bad girls have to beg for it."
When he lowered his voice like that, it lost all hint of sweetness. The hushed words were menacing and my body automatically responded by tightening and amping up the ache in my cunt. "Oh fuck, yes," I breathed, I'd never heard his voice sound like that before and I really liked it. "Please fuck my pussy. Please."
His hand slipped from my back, his fingers trailing around my side and up to my tit. He clasped my nipple and pinched it hard, making me cry out and arch into his touch. "You've been a bad girl and bad girls get used like the little sluts that they are."
His voice was returning to normal, but it didn't matter. He was pushing his dick into me with force, his hands on my hips pulling hard as he plunged deep inside of me. Moans fell from my lips as he thrust into me again and again, each stroke nice and hard. He'd always been so careful and considerate, a bit hesitant to make a move as I taught him to properly fuck a woman. Now he wasn't holding back and it felt incredibly good. Waves of heat were flooding through me and I was tightening my pussy around him, savoring each rough stroke.
He'd been talking almost nonstop, words about bad girls and sluts and hot pussies falling over me in a voice that was too kind. Now, he lapsed into silence and the rhythm of his thrusts intensified as he worked himself towards an orgasm.
The quiet was my undoing. Images of Soryu were suddenly all that I could see. His body behind me, his hands locked on my hips, his cock plunging into me, lifting me towards my climax. He'd been there all along, an assassin hiding in my mind, just waiting for the opportunity to attack and overtake me.
Nori's hand fisted in my hair and pulled hard, the pain arching through my body and sending my cunt into spasms. But in my mind it was Soryu's fingers tangled in my locks, his dark eyes watching me as I cried out with my release.
Behind me, Nori pulled out of me and he must have slipped the condom off because moments later I felt his cum falling on my ass. But all of that was far away, I was detached, in a quiet bubble with only my own gasps echoing in my ears, mesmerized by the light blue tie that bound my wrists.

"What's this hole in the floor?" I asked Olivia. We were sitting on the terrace outside the penthouse drinking tea and enjoying the late September sun.
Olivia laughed and said, "That's where the hot tub goes. Before I moved in here, the guys were always bringing girls up to the penthouse and having sex in it. I told Eisuke there's no way I'll get in it with him unless he got a new one. They brought the new one but there was something wrong with it. Now we're waiting for a replacement. It's custom made, so it'll take awhile. Eisuke is so pissed."
She laughed some more and I joined in. "You look really happy," I said. "Even though you and Eisuke have such a weird relationship."
"He's not a typical guy," she said with a smile. "It's kind of like dating a roller coaster - one of those really scary ones with giant free falls - but I'm figuring it out."
"As long as you're happy," I said skeptically. Olivia had described the ups and downs of some of Eisuke's moods and whims and I really had no idea how she tolerated being in a relationship with him. She seemed to enjoy the adrenaline rush of never knowing just what he was going to do. That sort of thing just reminded me of my parents' abusive relationship - full of storms of love and hate, never quiet and secure.
"What about you?" she asked. "Aren't you seeing anyone? I remember that guy in catering seemed interested in you."
"I don't hook up with Tres Spades employees," I said and then gave her a mischievous smile. "But I am interested in Soryu. Tell me what you know about him."
"Oh my god! Soryu? That's so perfect. If you guys started dating then we could double date and do a bunch of stuff together," she said, obviously daydreaming about the four of us skipping around in the sun together. "And he's so nice. He'd make a great boyfriend."
I'd definitely noticed that Soryu was strangely nice to Olivia when he was cold and reserved to basically everyone else except Eisuke and the three other guys who hung out in the penthouse. It gave me some hope that I could get past his guard just like Olivia had, although I had no idea how to do that.
"Well, I'm really not looking for a boyfriend right now. More like a friend with benefits," I said.
"Oh, really?" Olivia leaned close to whisper to me, even though we were the only ones on the terrace. "Baba and Ota told me that Soryu's a closet pervert… If you're into that kind of thing."
"He seems so serious," I said thoughtfully. "I never would have guessed."
I felt my heart start to pound in my chest. If Soryu was really a pervert, it should be easy to to get into his bed. I'd been trying to find a chink in his stern demeanor, a moment where I could flirt or get a step closer to him. I hadn't found a single opening in the few weeks that I'd known him. He was always completely businessnesslike and I was always doing my best to control myself when I was near him. Even if he had given me an opening, I was so tense around him that I probably would have fucked it up. If he was a perv, then I should be able to just talk to him without worrying about hints or body language or flirting at all. I could be up front and we could get straight to the action. I could fuck him a few times and cure myself of what was turning into a crazy obsession. If he was interested.

Several nights later I spotted Soryu as he walked into the nightclub. It was the first time I'd seen him since Olivia had told me that he was a pervert. The information had been making me go a little crazy. If he was a pervert, what were his kinks? I'd been spending way too much time the last few days fighting off triple x rated images of the two of us together as my brain supplied me with possibilities.
I turned my attention to a couple of guests as they walked up to my table and started placing their bids. I was thankful for the distraction, but I couldn't stop myself from keeping tabs on Soryu as he greeted a few people and then went to speak to the floor manager. I lost track of him after that, but fifteen minutes later the floor manager stepped up to my table with one of the blackjack assistants.
"We're switching you out, Sakiko," he said. "They want you in the director's office."
Excitement and nervousness shivered through me. I was probably going to be given a new assignment and I'd be talking to Soryu. Maybe I'd even have the chance to offer him a hook up. By the time I got to the office, my heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty and my stomach felt a little queasy.
Soryu got straight down to business, as usual. "Obviously everything that you are ever told as part of your job in the network is covered by the nondisclosure agreement," he began. I'd been informed that Eisuke did not like his underground organization being called a yakuza. He preferred the term "network".
When I nodded in understanding, Soryu continued. "I'm part of an underground organization based in Hong Kong," he explained. "We call them Triads there. The one I'm involved in is called the Ice Dragons and I run the branch here in Japan."
"You run your own underground organization and you work for Eisuke?" I asked, not bothering to hide my surprise.
"I don't work for Eisuke. I work with Eisuke. Our interests often overlap," he said.
I'd probably offended him. "Yeah, okay. No wonder it seems like you're always working."
"Let's focus on your assignment," he said with a frown. "The Ice Dragons have a long standing connection with a triad called the Bell Crickets. The Crickets have expanded into Japan and their boss wants his daughter to marry someone powerful in Japan in order to solidify their power here."
He crooked his eyebrow at me to make sure that I understood and I said, "Okay" even though it sounded crazy to me.
"Mei Ling will be arriving on Wednesday. I want you to act as a 24/7 companion to her. She's here to go to matchmaking meetings. I'll be with her as well as some additional security, but I'm sure she'd appreciate a female presence. The woman who was going to do it just found out she's pregnant, so she's being pulled from all assignments. I figured you could do the job," he said.
I hesitated for a moment. This was going to take me out of the casino. I felt safe at work, nothing bad had ever happened in the casino. But it didn't seem like this new assignment could be dangerous. I was just going to hang out with a woman while she went to marriage meetings. Why would that be dangerous?
"Yeah, I can do that," I said.
"There is some level of danger involved," he said. Of course he'd say that as soon as I'd decided it was safe. "Mei Ling is a Triad Princess and that makes her a target. However, we don't expect any trouble and the two of you will always have security."
I nodded and watched his face. I was beginning to understand why people sometimes complained about my poker face. Soryu didn't give anything away. He was impossible to read and it was getting to be really frustrating.
"You'll be staying in the penthouse for the duration of Mei's visit, which should last a few weeks. Pack a bag and bring it with you Wednesday morning when you meet Olivia to go to your classes. After your classes, we'll go and meet Mei at the airport," he said and looked down at his phone as it received a message. "That's all for now. Go back to work."
Whatever message he'd received must have been important because he left the office with me and then walked briskly down the hallway. There wasn't going to be a chance for the two of us to talk about sex unless I was willing to yell, "Hey, wanna fuck?" after his retreating back. But it looked like I'd probably be seeing him every day while I acted as an escort for Mei, so surely I'd be able to find an opportunity to talk to him sooner rather than later.

On Wednesday, I was hot and sweaty as I rode in the limo back to the hotel with Olivia. Our classes were grueling. I'd been expecting a self-defense class with a bunch of housewives kicking padded dummies. Instead, Olivia and I were the only two people in the class and we were being taught to disable or kill someone with our bare hands. And Olivia couldn't get enough of it, she was like a demon when we were in class. Apparently, she was practicing what she learned by launching surprise attacks on Eisuke in the penthouse. She complained every day in class because she had yet to take him down and demanded that the instructors teach us faster.
I was also hot and bothered. The classes always got my blood pumping and I normally hooked up with Nori on his lunch break to work off a little extra energy. However, Nori was on vacation and visiting his parents. I hadn't been fucked in days. I was so fucking horny that I was having trouble keeping my eyes off of Olivia.
She was lying on the seat that stretched across the back of the limo with her phone in the air, staring up at the screen. I swear that the only time she ever wore a bra was when we were in class. Now the air conditioner was on full blast and Olivia's nipples looked like they were rock hard, poking through the thin material of her dress and pointing up at the ceiling. I groaned and buried my face in my hands as I tried to get my ass under control. Eisuke would probably put me in front of a firing squad if he caught me ogling her.
"God, I suck at this!" Olivia cried and sat her phone down on her stomach.
"What are you trying to do?" I asked.
She gave me a considering look and then said, "Eisuke has a long lost sister and I thought I could try to help find her using the internet or something. I shouldn't have even bothered. If private detectives and people like that can't find her, how could I find her? I don't even know what I'm doing."
"Did she run away or something?"
"No, she and Eisuke were adopted by two different families when they were kids," she explained. "The family that adopted her didn't keep her. They sent her away somewhere or something and they won't tell Eisuke where she is."
"Wow, that's shady as fuck," I said. She was nodding unhappily, but I was feeling horrified. Olivia was way too innocent. My mind was going to child sex trafficking and murder, but she was obviously just thinking about the little girl being lost. Something like that could have happened to Eisuke's sister? Maybe wealth didn't protect people as much as I thought it did.
"We need to talk to Chisato," I said, pulling my mind away from the negative and trying to focus on how I could help Olivia and Eisuke. "She's one of those internet sleuths."
"She is? What does that mean?" Olivia asked.
"Her hobby is solving crimes using the internet. You know, cold cases and stuff," I explained. "Last year she was part of a group that found out who that serial killer in Ikebukuro was. Like, she was a big part of solving the crime. They even wanted to put her on the news, but she wouldn't do it. The police couldn't even figure out who the killer was, but Chisato and her friends did."
"Wow, that's amazing!" Olivia had sat up. She looked really excited. "I need to talk to her right away."
I watched as her face clouded and she said, "But she isn't in the underground. I can't talk to her about this."
"Maybe they'd let her in if you asked. You basically have them wrapped around your little finger," I said.
"Yeah, sometimes it seems like that and sometimes it doesn't," she said with a sigh. "And I wouldn't be able to tell them why. If I said I wanted help finding Eisuke's sister, they would just tell me not to worry about it. I can hear them now, 'Leave that to the men.' I'll have to say something else. Like a need another friend to talk to or something. And is it even right to ask Chisato to join for this? It will one more of my friends in danger."
"I think in the end you'd just have to let Chisato decide," I said. "Soryu doesn't hold back when he asks if you want to join. He makes it very clear that there is danger involved."
"You're right. I really want to help Eisuke. So, at the very least I should ask Soryu and see what he says."
I smiled and nodded and felt a weight begin to ease off of me. If I was no longer Olivia's one and only friend, I could back away a little bit. If I could distance myself from her then her friendship would no longer feel so claustrophobic. And it made more sense for Chisato to be her best friend. Chisato was kind and motherly and supportive. She would have really good advice to give to Olivia, not the shit that I made up. I'd go back to being the sort of person that Olivia could joke around with, not the person that she leaned on.