I nodded and replied, ‘Well Toni, that’s all well and good but I don’t understand why she’s treating me like I’m pond scum. I haven’t done... anything to her and she’s been nothing but a total bitch to me from the first moment I got here.’ Toni smiled and replied, ‘Well I know that you haven’t done anything to her, but, there’s something you need to know!’ ‘What?’ I asked. Toni leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath and began ‘Kiera came from a broken home. Her mother worked two,. . each worth ... oh Lordy! A fortune!I hefted the bag ... good lord!I wondered what the two swords and stand were worth.I hired Hideo to find me an armed escort back to the boat. Two messengers and there were 40 armed men arrayed out front waiting."How much?" One time deal?" One time deal." One ryō." For everybody?" One ryō for everybody," Hideo said. He handed me a small flag. "My Zaibatsu chop," he said. "Nobody will bother you." Then why the men?" In case somebody decides to commit seppuku,". In the mirror, I could see she’d let the skirt drop back on top of her arm, and it swayed with her jerking motions. I saw her face, cheeks with a little more colour than usual, eyes fixed to the mirror, mouth open to breathe heavily. Her other hand was over her heart, over her chest, but now it trailed down her shirt, slid beneath her waistband.I’d lost sight of it, but my mind painted a picture of the scene, and I stiffened a little more, wanted a little more. My hips started to move,. .. and you can't imagine what a happy man that makes me."Jan returned his grateful smile, then glanced affectionately at her daughter who was wearing a smug and warm expression of her own. She sat on the arm of her brother's chair and petted the massive wolf who lay protectively beside her, her beautiful blue eyes brimming with love and understanding, the devotion she was feeling toward all around her so obvious to her mother. Jan said: "It's not important, Darling, how a woman accomplishes a.