The Yakuza’s Mute Bride novel Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Chapter 40

(Go to Tadashi’s POV)

He knows.

That was the first thought that came to me after the line went dead.

Watanabe had answered too smoothly. Too calm.

That man didn’t believe in coincidence- and neither did I.

EX 55 vouchers

The silence in the room felt heavier after the call. The rain outside had thinned to a drizzle, faint against the glass, but it only made the quiet sharper.

I stood still for a long time, staring at the phone as if it might ring again. It didn’t.

“Watanabe knows,” I said finally, my voice quiet but absolute. “And he’s chosen to protect Yamaguchi Reiko.”

–

The eight men gathered before me my core team, the ones I trusted enough to bring across borders – exchanged glances. The faintest ripple of unease passed between them.

One of them, a tall man with a scar across his brow, frowned. “That’s not like him,” he said. “To interfere in clan business-”

“It’s exactly like him,” I interrupted. “He’s always wanted to test me. Now he’s found his reason.”

–

A low growl rolled through the room the sound of men who knew what those words meant.

The air thickened with restrained violence. The Watanabe clan had always been ambitious, always circling the edges of power like wolves waiting for a weakness.

They had never dared strike openly. Until now.

“It seems like they’re challenging you,” Yukito said quietly from the far end of the table.

I turned my gaze toward him. He wasn’t wrong. He never was.

I nodded once. “Prepare a defense plan. Inform all overseas branches and keep eyes on every Watanabe shipment entering Europe. If there’s movement, I want to know before it happens.”

“Hai, Tadashi-sama,” the men said in unison, bowing slightly before dispersing into motion.

But Yukito didn’t move.

He stayed where he was, his expression unreadable, his hands clasped loosely behind his back.

Watching me.

Thinking something he wouldn’t yet say.

I knew that look – I’d seen it before, years ago, right before he told me something I didn’t want to hear.

“What is it?” I asked, turning toward him fully.

He hesitated, then said, “You shouldn’t underestimate Watanabe. If he’s harboring Reiko, it’s because he’s found a use for

her.”

“I know.”

10:47 Tue, Jan 6 •

Chapter 40

“Looks like she told him about Naomi.” He continued.

I looked at him sharply. “She won’t dare.”

92

“She already did,” Yukito said. His tone was quiet, but the words landed like a strike. “Why do you think he sounded so calm when you mentioned her?”

I exhaled through my nose, slow and controlled.

–

The thought had already crossed my mind, but hearing Yukito say it out loud made it solid made it dangerous.

“She won’t touch Naomi,” I said. “Not while I’m alive.”

Yukito’s eyes flickered, not with doubt, but something else. Pity, maybe. Or fear.

“I don’t doubt you,” he said with a sigh. “I just wonder if you’ll still see clearly when it’s her on the line.”

Before I could respond, there was movement at the end of the corridor.

A voice soft, hesitant

I turned.

–

—

reached us. “Tadashi?”

Naomi stood in the doorway, one hand braced lightly on the frame. Her hair was loose, falling over the white of her hospital gown, her steps slow but steady.

For a second, everyone froze.

Then Ai appeared behind her, slightly out of breath. “She insisted on walking by herself,” she said, sounding equal parts exasperated and proud.

My chest eased – not with relief, but with something quieter.

Naomi…

Even pale, even fragile, she had that same stubborn grace that defied every boundary I tried to draw around her.

I forced the tension from my shoulders and gestured for the others to go. “Continue the briefing in the next room,” I said.

They nodded quickly and left. Yukito lingered a moment longer than the rest, his gaze flicking from me to her – then back again before he finally turned and followed them out.

When they were gone, I exhaled and walked toward her.

“What are you doing out of bed?” I asked, softer than I meant to.

—

Her lips curved faintly the ghost of a smile. She pointed to her legs, then to Ai.

“She’s been doing her therapy,” Ai explained. “And apparently, she wanted to prove she could make it to the end of the hall.”

Naomi lifted her phone, typed quickly, then let the app speak: “Edid.”

Her voice – even artificial-made something in me unclench.

I smiled despite myself. “You shouldn’t push too hard.”

She replied “You always do.”

I laughed quietly – just once

–

caught off guard. “You’re learning bad habits from me.”

10:47 Tue, Jan 6 j

Chapter 40

“Good ones,” the phone replied.

That made Ai grin, though she hid it behind her hand. “I’ll take her back to her room,” Ai said.

I nodded. “I’ll come in a minute.”

When they turned, Naomi glanced back once – her eyes catching mine like light through glass.

And in that instant, I remembered why I couldn’t lose her.

Not to Watanabe.

Not to Reiko.

Not to anyone.

When the hall emptied again, Yukito appeared in the doorway.

He didn’t say anything for a long time.

Finally, he asked quietly, “I could see you care for her more than you should, don’t you?”

I looked at him. “Is that a problem?”

“It is,” he said simply. “But, not for me. For you.”

91

55 vouchers

He leaned against the frame, his voice low. “She’s not from our world, Tadashi. You can protect her body, but not her peace. You know what happens to people like her when clans collide.”

My jaw tightened. “That’s why I’ll end it before it reaches her.”

“You can’t control every variable,” Yukito said.

“I can try.” I insist.

He sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. “You’re not listening. Watanabe and Reiko will use her. They’ll find a way. You can’t keep her close and keep her safe. Those two things don’t coexist.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

The truth of his words was a weight I didn’t want to acknowledge.

“She’s better off away from all this,” he continued. “Let her finish her degree. Let her stay in London. You can protect her

from a distance-”

“No,” I said, cutting him off.

My tone left no room for discussion.

He frowned. “You’d bring her to Japan? Into the middle of everything?”

“She’ll be under Masayoshi protection,” I said. “No one touches her there.”

Yukito’s eyes sharpened. “You mean no one but you.”

The words hit harder than I expected.

I turned my gaze away, but it was too late he’d seen it. The flicker of something I didn’t want anyone to name.

10:47 Tue, Jan 6

Chapter 40

“She’s not a weapon. Tadashi,” he said quietly. “Don’t turn her into one.”

“I don’t intend to.”

“Then stop making choices for her.”

That silenced me.

He watched me for another second, then said, softer now, “I know you think I don’t understand. But I do. She’s… different. The kind of light you don’t realize you need until you’re standing in the dark.”

He smiled faintly — but it wasn’t envy.

It was something closer to sadness.

“I care for her too,” he added. “But not like that. Not the way you do. She’s like a sister to me, Tadashi. The best one any of us could’ve hoped for.”

That… stopped me.

–

For a moment, the jealousy that had flickered in my chest earlier began to dissolve replaced by something else. Gratitude, maybe.

Still, I said nothing.

Yukito straightened, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Whatever you decide,” he said, “make sure it’s not because of guilt. She doesn’t need your penance. She needs your honesty.”

And with that, he left.

Later that night, I found myself standing by the window again.

The lights of London shimmered below – distant, cold, almost unreal.

In the reflection, I saw my own face — tired, unfamiliar.

For a man who’d built an empire in control, I felt dangerously close to losing it.

Naomi’s laughter – faint, filtered through the closed door down the hall-carried like a whisper through the silence.

It was enough to remind me why I’d chosen her side, why I’d claimed her protection, even if it meant breaking the rules that had defined me.

Because somewhere along the way, she’d stopped being just someone to protect.

She’d become the only thing keeping me from turning into what the world already thought I was.

A monster.

I turned away from the window, the decision already made.

Tomorrow, I would ask her again – not as a command, not even as an offer.

But, as a choice.

London or Japan.

10:47 Tue, Jan 6

Chapter 40

Safety or belonging.

Distance or danger.

And whatever she chose, I would build a world around it.

Even if it meant tearing down my own