"What do you mean an 'open marriage'?" the current bachelor leaned forward and hissed at me. We were having our matchmaking meeting over dinner at a very fancy restaurant. The man was in his early forties and looked like a humorless and uptight professor. His eyes said that he was particularly nasty, the sort of person who would be spiteful and cruel just for the pleasure of seeing other people in pain.
Soryu was having dinner with us, though he'd been silent while the bachelor and I exchanged our boring bits of information. He put down his knife and fork as soon as the bachelor hissed at me and looked at me with a cocked eyebrow.
The bachelor didn't even notice. His eyes were on me as he waited for my answer.
"Oh, you know," I said, swirling my champagne around in its fancy glass. "I want to be free to have affairs with different people when I'm married. Everyone already does it secretly. I just want things to be out in the open. I don't like all the lying and sneaking around."
"That's disgusting," the bachelor spat. He sat back in his chair as if to distance himself from me. "Is this how much morals have degraded in Hong Kong? I was always under the impression that the Bell Crickets were a traditional Triad. I would never have guessed that Simon Lee would have raised a daughter who was so loose and whorish."
While my mouth dropped open at the man's arrogance and nerve, he continued to spout venom. "You're pretty enough, but you're more suited to be a mistress than a wife. I usually keep my girls in apartments in Kabukicho and give them an allowance of $3,000 a month plus gifts when they particularly please me. If you're interested, we can discuss other aspects of a contract."
I felt my heart sink further with every word that the man spoke. He was so fucking sure of himself, but the only thing I was sure of was that Soryu was going to kill him.
"Stand up, right now, and leave," Soryu said in a low voice that was as sharp as a knife. I couldn't see his face because he'd turned his face to look directly at the bachelor, but whatever the man saw there was enough to make him immediately stand up and nearly run out of the restaurant.
Soryu didn't stop watching the man until he'd stepped out the front door. As soon as he was gone, Soryu turned to me and said, "I'm sorry that you were insulted like that."
The shock that had filled me was dissolving into a giddiness that made me want to giggle and I couldn't help releasing a little laugh. "That man was an idiot. How stupid do you have to be to make an offer like that to a Triad Princess?"
"Some men are blinded by their own power," Soryu said. He gave a little grimace and I was positive that he was doing it to hide a smile. "They don't realize that to others they look as powerful as a mosquito."
I laughed again. It was so much more fun to be talking to Soryu than slogging through another conversation with a bachelor. "How worried do I need to be about pissing off these men?" I asked. "Like this guy, I could tell he was a definite no the moment that I saw him. Is it okay to just say, 'thanks anyway, no need to do the meeting' and leave? Or are these people someone that I can't offend?"
"That's a good question," Soryu said thoughtfully. "Some of these men, I couldn't care less what you said to them, but others are close partners of the Dragons or the Crickets. Some, even if they aren't close, are the sort of people that you don't want to cross. We'd probably need to go on a case by case basis to decide whether you could abort the meetings."
"Maybe I could just give you some sort of signal and if it's okay to leave, you could pretend to get a phone call," I suggested. "You could say, 'The police are on our tail, we've got to go Princess.' and then we could leave."
"'The police are on our tail'? I don't think that'll work. Why are the police tailing us?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
It was just what I'd been aiming for. I let it warm my blood as I smiled at him. "Maybe we robbed a bank on the way to the meeting or got into a gang fight with another yakuza," I suggested. "I don't think we have time to make explanations to the bachelor anyway, we just need to get out."
"I'll come up with something that doesn't involve any crazy lies," he said. "Although, when you bring up an open marriage the meeting usually ends shortly after. Maybe you should just lead with that every time."
"You're right, but then we have to listen to these assholes give their opinions about open marriage. Sometimes it just pisses me off too much," I said. "I feel bad for Mei. I don't imagine that the guys in Hong Kong that she'd be allowed to marry are any better than the ones in Japan. It's sad that she's probably going to end up tied to the wrong person."
"I'm surprised that you're even worried about her," Soryu said. "I know what she did made you angry."
"Yeah, I'm not…" I shook my head as I tried to gather the words to explain myself. "I'm not interested in being Mei's friend or anything, but I still don't like thinking about her ending up in a bad marriage. I have to go to these meetings anyway, it doesn't hurt to try to find her a good match."
"Protective as usual," Soryu said.
"If you say so," I said with a frown. "We don't have to leave right away, do we? I want to order dessert. See what that kid has over there at that table? That big pile of chocolate on top of chocolate with tons of whipped cream? I want one of those."
"That does look good," he replied, and this time he let a little hint of a smile show. "Their specialty is a creme brulee. Why don't I order that and you order the chocolate thing and we'll split them?"
"That sounds like a perfect plan," I said with a sigh of happiness. "I'm ready to go into a sugar coma."
"Don't get too carried away," he warned. "After this we're going to stop by the penthouse."

To my surprise I felt a sense of relief when we stepped into the penthouse and I saw Olivia rushing over to me with a smile. Going to matchmaking meetings, preparing food for the guys and fighting my attraction to Soryu… None of those things were particularly hard to do, but the thoughts and feelings that came with them were adding up and filling my mind. For the first time, I looked at a friend and wanted to share what was going on with me. For the first time, I felt like it would be okay to talk it out. I didn't need to unburden crazy crap about my life that would reveal too many secrets, I only needed to talk about cooking eggs and the ups and downs of dealing with the bachelors. It would be okay to share that stuff with Olivia.
She grabbed me and pulled me into her personal salon, leaving Soryu, Eisuke and Mamoru behind. "I've missed you so much!" she said. "I need updates about what's going on with you and I need to tell you about the stuff that's happening here."
"Sounds good," I said, settling onto the couch and accepting the bottle of fruit juice that she passed me. "Tell me what's happening here. Nothing bad, I hope?"
"First, I miss you so much in self defense classes. Chisato is great, but you are so funny that you make the classes much more fun. I can't wait until you can come back," she said.
"I have no idea how long it will be. It seems like there are a lot of matchmaking meetings left and even when they're over I think Soryu wants me to keep posing as Mei so that they can try to catch whoever is trying to kidnap her," I explained. "How's Chisato doing in class? She's always so nice, I have trouble picturing her kicking ass."
"She's doing great. I think she's a little more badass than people give her credit for. She's working really hard to learn everything and she's doing her best to find Eisuke's sister too," she said.
"How's that going? Has she found anything out?" I asked.
"No, not yet," Olivia replied. "But she said there's a lot to go through. It's sort of like finding a needle in a haystack. There's no sign of Hitomi yet but there are still plenty of places to look."
"That's good. If there's anything I can do to support Chisato, just let me know," I said.
"I offered her my help but I don't really know what to do, so it just ends up being a burden on her. They keep pushing back the opening date for the jewelry store in the hotel that I'm supposed to manage. I'm about to die of boredom and Mei is annoying the hell out of me," she admitted.
"Mei is? What's she doing?" I asked, leaning in for some gossip. "She isn't coming onto you is she?"
She laughed and shook her head. "No, not that! And maybe I really shouldn't be complaining. She isn't that bad, but the spoiled rich girl thing is getting old. She's so demanding and needy. She wants attention all the time when she's here. Baba and Ota take her out every day, thank God, but when she is here she drives me crazy with her whining and bragging."
"That does sound bad," I said, shaking my head in sympathy. "And you can't shut her up with sex like I did."
"I know, right? Eisuke caught her trying to seduce one of the maids and told her to keep her hands off our staff, so she's got no one to play with. I'm sure that's one of the reasons she's so whiny," Olivia said. "I've been wondering about hiring her a gigolo, but I wouldn't have any idea how to do that."
"Oh, the problems of being rich. I can remember when you were worried about the price of a new pair of shoes and now you're trying to hire someone to have sex with your houseguest," I said with a laugh. "I know you usually ask Soryu to help you with everything. Do you think he'd know where to hire a male prostitute?"
"Who knows. I don't think I could even get the nerve up to ask him. But speaking of Soryu, how are things going in that department?" she asked.
"Absolutely nowhere. I tried, but he isn't interested. At all," I said with a pout.
"Well," she said, leaning in as if she were going to tell me a secret. "I tried to talk to Ota and Baba about it. They wouldn't say much, but they did say that he never has girlfriends. I'm wondering if...maybe he's gay."
"Gay?" I repeated, turning the idea over in my mind. "He never has girlfriends and he didn't respond to me at all. I guess it could be possible. God, what a loss for womankind if that body plays for the other team."
Despite my lighthearted words, I could feel my stomach sink at the thought that Soryu might be gay. I could feel the tiny flame of a chance that he might someday look at me with interest struggling to stay lit like a candle in the wind. I needed to stop protecting it and trying to hold onto it. He wasn't going to change his mind and suddenly decide that he wanted me. I was wasting my time banging my head against a wall.
"He could even be asexual," Olivia said, her eyes big.
"What?" I asked. "Did you learn a new word?"
"Yeah," she admitted and we both started laughing.
We turned to look at the door of the salon as a commotion sounded out in the living room.
"Let's go see what's happening," Olivia said.

It was Mei, returning from a trip to the aquarium with Baba, Ota and Inui in tow. They were all laughing and talking about the animals that they'd seen. Inui rushed over to me as soon as he saw me.
"Hi, Princess Mei," he said. "How are you? How are things at the townhouse?"
"There haven't been any more problems," I replied. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing a good job guarding your friend. She's really nice," he answered. "And it's fun taking her places every day. Tomorrow we're going to go to another amusement park."
"I'm glad you're having a good time. Thanks so much for taking care of my friend," I said. "The matchmaking meetings are just as boring as ever. I wish I was going to an amusement park with you guys instead."
"You're not having any luck with your meetings?" Eisuke asked.
I looked over at him, surprised that he was taking an interest. "No. Not so far. Mei-," I caught myself quickly and changed what I was going to say. "-Maybe I'm being too picky, but I only want to marry a man who is going to be a good fit. So far, I've really only met men that are unattractive boring chauvinists."
"I have a good match for you," Eisuke said, looking at me with a smirk. "When can you fit in another meeting?"
I looked over at Soryu for an answer, feeling suspicious of Eisuke's offer. "Tomorrow morning is open," Soryu said.
"Great, I'm going to call a friend. I bet I can do a much better job of finding a match for Mei than Soryu can," Eisuke said, taking out his phone and heading upstairs.
I looked over at Soryu. He shrugged and said, "Let him try. If he can find the right match we can stop going to these meetings."

The offices where we went to meet Eisuke's bachelor were on a completely different level than the offices we'd been going to for other matchmaking meetings. The rooms were large and open, decorated and furnished with an air of expensive professionalism. The staff were normal, pretty young women behind a reception desk and businessmen in suits rather than grim faced Yakuza in narrow hallways.
A secretary showed us into the bachelor's office. My heart gave a thump and my skin zinged with electricity the moment that I saw him. He was hot. He looked like he should be modelling suits in a magazine. He was tall with thick brown hair, light brown eyes and a sexy smile. He looked to be in his early thirties, not too young and not too old. If I were going to go by appearances alone, it looked as if Eisuke had picked a winner.
We sat down on couches at a seating area in his large office. Soryu sat next to me and I could feel a strange vibe coming off of him, but I figured that it was because we weren't in the typical criminal environment. The secretary came back with tea and fruit trays, setting them gently on the table before bowing and leaving the room quietly.
I was more than intrigued by the bachelor. There was a gleam of attraction in his eyes that was making my pulse jump and my body heat up. If we were in any other situation, I'd be openly flirting by now, ready to take him up on the promises that his eyes were making.
"So tell me, Mei," he said with an easy smile. "What is it that you want in a marriage?"
He'd went straight to the point. Usually it would have seemed like a bonus to skip all of the boring questions, but he was so handsome that I would have been happy to spend an hour staring at him while we talked about our favorite colors and foods. "Well," I answered, tipping my chin and smiling flirtatiously. "To be honest, I'm a little too modern for most men to handle. I'm looking for an open marriage."
His eyebrows popped up for a moment but his smile just got warmer. "An open marriage. I like your style. Most women wouldn't admit to it, even if it's what they wanted. Please tell me more."
Next to me, Soryu gave a little cough but I ignored him. I hadn't been prepared for the bachelor's question. This was the point where the other candidates had always started spouting nonsense and ended the meeting. I smiled and looked the man in the eye to give myself a moment to pull myself together. What was it that Mei would want?
"I like to have sex with both men and women and I enjoy multiple partners," I said. "Once I'm married I don't want to be limited to my husband when it comes to my sex life. Men and women have affairs all the time, I just want it to be something that is open and accepted rather than hidden by lies."
"I can respect that perspective. Do you anticipate bringing your lovers to your home or would you want an apartment for conducting your affairs? Would you share your lovers with your husband, or would you want to keep them completely separate?" he asked, his smile going from warm to downright sexy.
I shifted on the couch. I wanted to go sit in the bachelor's lap and tell him that I'd share anything he wanted with him. I felt Soryu tense up next to me. It suddenly occurred to me that he might find the bachelor just as appealing as I did. The thought made me want to laugh, and I tucked a threesome fantasy away for later.
"I think it would be best to have an apartment for affairs," I said, ad-libbing my way through my answer. "It's probably best to keep most things separate from married life. It would be easier that way, but I wouldn't want to have a rule that said I couldn't do stuff at home because I like to play with the servants. And I wouldn't mind sharing with my husband at all."
"You're painting a very interesting picture. I've never thought of a marriage like this before. I like the idea of not sneaking around and having affairs. I like the honesty of keeping things above board," he said. "How do you see this sort of marriage working when it comes to having children?"
I took a sip of tea to give myself time to make up an answer. "Obviously some simple precautions should be all that it takes to ensure that I don't get pregnant by a lover. I also think that a well-managed home and some discretion will be enough to keep things secret from children. Especially younger ones. I'm sure that older children will probably figure out something's going on, but there's no way that will be as damaging as the sort of fighting and hatred that comes with typical marital affairs."
"Well then," he began but was interrupted by the secretary's voice coming over an intercom saying that he had an international phone call waiting.
He grimaced when the voice cut him off and I could tell that his expression was real. He didn't want our conversation to end, but had no choice but to take the call.
"I'm very sorry to cut this short," he said, standing up and taking my hand to help me up. "I've got to admit that I just agreed to this meeting to pay back a favor for Ichinomiya. I hadn't planned on looking for a wife for another year or two, but you really have caught my attention, Mei. You're beautiful and you aren't afraid to get what you want. Would you have dinner with me later this week so that we can continue our conversation and get to know one another better?"
"Of course," I said with a smile. "I'd love that."
"I'll contact you to arrange something then," he said to Soryu and gave me one last smile before his secretary lead us out of his office.

"That was amazing!" I said when Soryu and I were back in his car. "That guy was perfect. I wonder if I'll get a bonus for finding a husband that Mei will agree to? But maybe Eisuke will want to take the credit since he picked the guy. But why would Eisuke need a bonus? He can take the credit - he's going to anyway - and I'll take the bonus."
I watched as Soryu checked that the extra bodyguards were following behind us in their car before he started towards the exit of the underground parking garage.
"That man was far from perfect," he growled.
"Are you kidding me? It seemed like he was completely okay with an open marriage. More than okay, he was into it, and he was gorgeous. I don't know how Mei could say no. This guy is a serious win," I said.
"He isn't even the head of a criminal organization. His business is mostly legit. He just has a few connections with Yakuza. He can't possibly understand what it would mean to marry Mei," Soryu argued.
"I don't know," I said thoughtfully. "He seemed really smart. He's probably the kind of guy who took the time to look into things before he even agreed to the meeting. And there's no way Eisuke would have even suggested a meeting unless he thought this bachelor was completely qualified. Eisuke isn't the type to waste time."
"He's probably just trying to piss me off," Soryu muttered.
"Piss you off? You were acting weird for the entire meeting," I said, staring at his profile for a clue to his inner thoughts. "Was that guy your enemy or something?"
"Why would some guy from the business sector by my enemy?" Soryu asked irritably.
"I don't know. Why would you be so pissed off because Eisuke and I found the perfect husband for Mei. You said you didn't want to marry her. I don't see a problem," I argued and then a thought struck me. "Wait, we do need to figure out how to tell him that I'm just an imposter. Should Mei and I both go to dinner and explain it together? I guess I should explain and then leave. Or, you can tell him when he calls to make the date? Or maybe Eisuke should call him because they're friends. What do you think?"
"I think we should get something to eat," he said, suddenly swooping into a parking spot that had just been vacated by another car. "I'm hungry."
I watched him get out of the car and come around to open my door. He was definitely in a weird mood. When I was standing on the sidewalk, he took my elbow and looked up and down the block to find a restaurant. "We'll go to that tonkatsu place," he said and started walking.
"We're not going to wait for the other bodyguards?" I asked.
"They'll be looking for a parking spot. I'll send them a text letting them know where we are," he said. I frowned up at him but decided there was no use arguing with him.

In the restaurant I fidgeted with my menu and peeked over it at Soryu. He was staring grimly down at his own menu. What was he so upset about? Was it possible that he really did like Mei? Had he changed his mind and decided that he couldn't give her up once we'd found what seemed to be an awesome match for her? Or was it more likely that he really was gay and he'd been attracted to the super sexy bachelor? Was he jealous because the bachelor had been flirting with me and hadn't paid any attention to him?
I peeked over my menu again. He'd put down his own menu, but his dark expression hadn't changed. I pictured him back in the expensive office casting come hither looks at the bachelor. I couldn't help but laugh aloud at the image. I quickly tried to stifle my giggles and hid myself behind my menu.
"What are you laughing about?" Soryu demanded.
"Uh, nothing," I said. "I think I'm going to have a small fettuccine alfredo."
"Let's wait and order when the other guys get here," he replied.
"Sticker! Sticker!"
I looked down to see a tiny boy standing next to me offering up a sticker. "Oh my!" I said with a big smile. "Look at this. A kitty sticker! I love it!"
I peeled the sticker off the piece of paper that it was on and stuck it to the front of my cheongsam. "Thank you very much!"
The little boy laughed and I watched as he ran back to the table that his mother was sitting at. A couple of minutes later I saw him on the other side of the restaurant giving a sticker to an older man.
I decided to start talking. Maybe if I changed the subject and got Soryu to talk about something besides the meeting, he would lighten up. "What are we doing after-" Before I could finish my question, two loud bangs rang out in the restaurant. While I froze in shock, Soryu flew around the table, grabbed me and shoved me under the table. He followed me and pushed me back until I was against the wall. The restaurant was filled with the screams of the other customers. I looked at Soryu. He gave me a firm glance before turning to look around the restaurant, quickly assessing the situation.
Another loud bang filled the room and I realized that it was a gunshot. "Everyone shut the fuck up and freeze," a voice yelled.
Soryu turned back to me and whispered. "Stay right here. Don't move and don't make a sound. I've got to get to a better vantage point."
I watched as he pulled out a gun and ran in a crouched position across the restaurant. Another two shots rang out as he crossed the floor. I couldn't help squealing in fear as one bullet tore into the floor and another embedded itself in a chair. Whoever was in the restaurant was shooting at Soryu, but he made it safely to the other side of the restaurant and disappeared into the hallway that led to the restrooms.
The restaurant was mostly silent except for the sounds of quiet crying. "We know you're in here, Princess," a loud voice echoed through the room. "Give yourself up."
My breath caught painfully in my throat and I squeezed my eyes shut. Someone was shooting up the restaurant because of me. They were scaring everyone because of me. And they'd even shot at Soryu, he could have been killed.
A child's loud screams burst out and I looked over to see the little boy who'd been passing out the stickers crying. He was several tables away from where his mother had been sitting. He'd probably been frozen with shock since the first shots were fired. Now, the shock must have worn off and he was screaming for his mother.
"Ritsu," I heard a voice, quiet and filled with fear, call. "Ritsu, come here."
"Shut that kid up," another voice growled. And I was horrified when a man stepped into my field of vision and raised his gun towards the little boy.
"No!" I screamed, flinging myself into the aisle. "No, don't shoot that boy! I'm here, take me!"

There were three men in black suits and sunglasses. They came and jerked me to my feet. I tried to look over my shoulder, to find Soryu, to see him one last time before the men dragged me out of the restaurant, but I couldn't find him.
They shoved me into the back of a van and climbed in after me. The van took off immediately. "Give me your phone," one of them demanded and I pulled my phone out of my purse and handed it to him. He passed the phone to a man sitting in the front passenger seat. The man took it, rolled down the window and threw my phone out onto the road without a word.
Another of the men grabbed my purse and upended it, going through my things, probably looking for weapons or some other device that could be used by the Ice Dragons to track me. When he was satisfied that there was nothing dangerous in my belongings, he shoved them back into the purse and tossed it back at me.
While the men began talking amongst themselves, I hugged my arms around myself and slowly slipped my fingers up into the sleeve of my cheongsam to press the button on the small tracking device that I had pinned there. I wondered what Soryu was doing. I knew that he would be coming after me, mounting a search, doing his best to save me. I just had to hope that whatever he did would be successful.