In A Lifetime ( KBTBB : Eisuke Ichinomiya )

Chapter 17

Holding her hostage wasn't going to make Eisuke come here. Nikaido would get nothing.

"I just called him. I'm sure he'll be here any minute now! I can't wait!!"

He would just have to learn to wait, then ... Because Eisuke wouldn't be coming here anytime soon. Maybe Nikaido would let her go once he realized that she was of no use to him but if he had anything inside that head of his, he wouldn't. After all, she knew everything and could easily cause him a lot of trouble.

Her only hope was to find a way out herself if she didn't want to end up dying here.

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Another 30 minutes or so pass, but there was still no sign of Eisuke. He definitely wasn't coming. Grace was sure of that now.

"Hmm, he's taking longer than I expected ..." says Nikaido, though Grace wasn't paying attention to him anymore; she was too busy trying to think of an escape plan.

She couldn't see any sharp objects around and it wasn't as if carried a pocket knife with her so trying to get the ropes off would be stupid. Plus, Nikaido would probably notice if she struggled around too much, not to mention the fact that the ropes were very close to cutting through her skin. Maybe she could just--

BANG!

All of a sudden, the door flies open and out comes Eisuke, making an extravagant entrance as always.

"You've got a lot of balls, calling me here." he says, and irritated look on his face.

"Eisuke!?" Grace's eyes widen. What on earth was he doing here!? He was never meant to come! Noticing her presence for the first time, he glances at her before turning his gaze on Nikaido.

"Ha! You finally came. Sorry for calling you out here." Nikaido replies in mock apology. "So have you decided, then? Is it going to be your business or your woman? Of course, any man with a conscience would choose his w--"

"There's nothing to decided here." Eisuke interrupts, looking at Grace once again. There's not a hint of warmth in his eyes, only the piercing coldness-- just like when they'd first met. "That women means nothing to me."

So he hadn't come for her, after all. Despite the sinking feeling that came on after hearing that, part of Grace couldn't help but feel relieved. At least this way, he wouldn't loose anything.

Thank goodness he isn't that stupid. Now, get outta here before Nikaido calls him men on you!

"W-What!?" stammers Nikaido. "Isn't she your girlfriend!?"

"To put it more precisely, I used her as my girlfriend. And I got what I needed from her. She was nothing more than a disposable pawn to me."

That hurt a lot more than Grace had ever imagined words could but she tried not to let it show. But she wasn't the main concern here, Eisuke was. What the hell was he doing!? Coming here itself was a mistake but now he was riling Nikaido up?

Just leave before it's too late, you idiot!

"W-What!? Damn it!! I thought she was going to seal this deal for me, especially when she mentioned the woman with the burn scars or whatever! But now my plan is ruined..."

Eisuke snorts with laughter when he sees how panicked Nikaido is. "If you want a deal with Bucci so much, then shall I arrange a business partnership for you?"

"What?"

"Dealing with the Italian mob is dangerous, even for me. I was just thinking about how a little ... insurance, wouldn't be a bad idea."