the lives of others, drove them to suicide.”
Tetsu sensed a new level of pain in Gabe’s last words. There was something unsaid, something personal. He knew Valnyk was a widow, had been one for almost two decades.
“Your mother?”
“Not that. She was assassinated when I was six -- merger negotiations.”
“Who, then?”
“My first lover, Yasura Ujisato.”
Tetsu shook his head. Ujisato had committed suicide shortly after ValCo had bought out Yasura Industries below value. That was… twelve years ago? “You would have been --”
“Precocious?” Bitter humor laced the question. “Right you are, Tetsu-san. My father realized early what I am -- the kind of lover I would take when the time came. At first, he tried to shame me out it. Then came the fist fights.”
Tetsu could feel Gabe tense in his arms, growing stiff and distant at the memory. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it.”
“Because you won’t believe me anyway?”
Tetsu squeezed him, pressed his lips against Gabe’s before he answered. “I believe you. It’s just… you’re hurting so much right now. I can hear it, feel it in every word.”
“You need to know I’m not a monster--”
“I know it.”
“Then I need to know it.” Gabe brought a hand up, wiped at his cheek. “When he couldn’t bribe, humiliate or beat it out of me, he used it. He wanted to bring ValCo into Japan’s market, knew he had to acquire or merge with one of the big companies here. He looked for weak spots. He made sure I met Uji -- at the theater, in tea ceremonies, where there were loose women to make us both uncomfortable and curious at the same time.”
“I had it bad for him, broke down in tears confessing to Uji one weekend at my father’s house. That led to -- well, I think Magnus still has the video.”
“Blackmail?”
“Yes, to sell Yasura and to sell it cheap. I don’t know if it was the shame of sleeping with me or betraying the family business that drove Uji to kill himself. But Magnus had a hand in it, either way.”
Tetsu had to ask, not that he didn’t believe the story but because the other half of the equation, taking control of ValCo, didn’t make sense. “So that’s why you want him dead. But why do you want his business? I mean, your mother is dead because of it, your lover, too. Who knows how many people?”
“That’s exactly why. It’s one of the fifty largest companies in the world, the largest in North America. I can change things from the top down.”
“But who says you’ll get it?”
“It’s Zaibatsu . He doesn’t have his own majority holding in ValCo. He only holds my mother’s shares in trust for me.” Gabe sat up, his voice shifting from the pain of old memories to a new excitement. “It’ll be chaos when the security systems at Mizu and the other prisoner facilities fail. Iyashii’s stock will be worthless. Magnus will be high on the victory -- open, careless. I’ve seen how he gets at times like that.”
“And if we can’t get to him?”
“Then we get to ValCo. Send it spiraling, at least for a while. You’ve already been in the system, haven’t you? You kept it off the list -- but all those other companies, you can’t tell me you don’t have the same programming embedded on ValCo’s servers.”
“Yeah, it’s on ValCo’s servers -- or at least it was placed there once upon a time.” He stopped, weighed for an instant the possibility that the Yasura story was made up. No. The pain in Gabe’s voice had been too real. “And ValCo was never off the list.”
Gabe lay back down and placed his palms and head against Tetsu’s chest. “Thank you.”
“For…”
“Believing me, telling me ValCo was on your hit list.”
“Sure.” He felt awkward, didn’t know what to say. Not that being at a loss for words when he was around Gabe was something new. The dancer had that effect on him. “Uhm… what are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“With my dick in your hand?”
Gabe
Tetsu sensed a new level of pain in Gabe’s last words. There was something unsaid, something personal. He knew Valnyk was a widow, had been one for almost two decades.
“Your mother?”
“Not that. She was assassinated when I was six -- merger negotiations.”
“Who, then?”
“My first lover, Yasura Ujisato.”
Tetsu shook his head. Ujisato had committed suicide shortly after ValCo had bought out Yasura Industries below value. That was… twelve years ago? “You would have been --”
“Precocious?” Bitter humor laced the question. “Right you are, Tetsu-san. My father realized early what I am -- the kind of lover I would take when the time came. At first, he tried to shame me out it. Then came the fist fights.”
Tetsu could feel Gabe tense in his arms, growing stiff and distant at the memory. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it.”
“Because you won’t believe me anyway?”
Tetsu squeezed him, pressed his lips against Gabe’s before he answered. “I believe you. It’s just… you’re hurting so much right now. I can hear it, feel it in every word.”
“You need to know I’m not a monster--”
“I know it.”
“Then I need to know it.” Gabe brought a hand up, wiped at his cheek. “When he couldn’t bribe, humiliate or beat it out of me, he used it. He wanted to bring ValCo into Japan’s market, knew he had to acquire or merge with one of the big companies here. He looked for weak spots. He made sure I met Uji -- at the theater, in tea ceremonies, where there were loose women to make us both uncomfortable and curious at the same time.”
“I had it bad for him, broke down in tears confessing to Uji one weekend at my father’s house. That led to -- well, I think Magnus still has the video.”
“Blackmail?”
“Yes, to sell Yasura and to sell it cheap. I don’t know if it was the shame of sleeping with me or betraying the family business that drove Uji to kill himself. But Magnus had a hand in it, either way.”
Tetsu had to ask, not that he didn’t believe the story but because the other half of the equation, taking control of ValCo, didn’t make sense. “So that’s why you want him dead. But why do you want his business? I mean, your mother is dead because of it, your lover, too. Who knows how many people?”
“That’s exactly why. It’s one of the fifty largest companies in the world, the largest in North America. I can change things from the top down.”
“But who says you’ll get it?”
“It’s Zaibatsu . He doesn’t have his own majority holding in ValCo. He only holds my mother’s shares in trust for me.” Gabe sat up, his voice shifting from the pain of old memories to a new excitement. “It’ll be chaos when the security systems at Mizu and the other prisoner facilities fail. Iyashii’s stock will be worthless. Magnus will be high on the victory -- open, careless. I’ve seen how he gets at times like that.”
“And if we can’t get to him?”
“Then we get to ValCo. Send it spiraling, at least for a while. You’ve already been in the system, haven’t you? You kept it off the list -- but all those other companies, you can’t tell me you don’t have the same programming embedded on ValCo’s servers.”
“Yeah, it’s on ValCo’s servers -- or at least it was placed there once upon a time.” He stopped, weighed for an instant the possibility that the Yasura story was made up. No. The pain in Gabe’s voice had been too real. “And ValCo was never off the list.”
Gabe lay back down and placed his palms and head against Tetsu’s chest. “Thank you.”
“For…”
“Believing me, telling me ValCo was on your hit list.”
“Sure.” He felt awkward, didn’t know what to say. Not that being at a loss for words when he was around Gabe was something new. The dancer had that effect on him. “Uhm… what are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“With my dick in your hand?”
Gabe
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