* * *
In half an hour, he entered his uncle’s office, found him standing behind his desk, leaning on it, palms down. From his wiped-clean-of-expression face, and that he didn’t meet him at the door and didn’t salute him now, Raiden knew the man was furious.
Good. It would make this easier. It was always harder giving people their marching orders when they were nice.
Takeo Hashimoto started without preamble. “We’ve found out about your illicit relationship with that foreign woman.”
Just as he’d figured. He was even wondering why this confrontation hadn’t happened earlier.
Raiden regarded his uncle calmly as he took a seat across his desk. It was regretful Hashimoto would not become family. He’d been starting to feel he was truly his flesh and blood. But this was probably the last time he’d see the man. Or if he saw him again, it would be as antagonists, at least on Hashimoto’s side. Breaking his honor-bound pact would be an irreparable insult. There was no coming back from that.
“We? You mean you’ve told Megumi?”
“She’s the one who told me.”
That surprised Raiden. Not that Megumi knew, for of course she’d have been the first to be made aware of his indiscretions. But he hadn’t thought she of all people would care, let alone run to her father with the information.
“It was that mongrel Hiro Matsuyama who set this up. And now he claims this woman carries your child.”
This straight-out flabbergasted Raiden. Had everyone realized Scarlett was pregnant before they did?
But he asked his uncle the question relevant to him. “What does Hiro have to do with any of this?”
Hashimoto looked at him as if he’d dropped a hundred points of his IQ. “He brought her to that ball, where he pretended to honor your and Megumi’s engagement. But he only did so he’d put that professional seductress in your way.”
Dread zapped through Raiden. Was it possible Hashimoto had found out about Scarlett’s past identity? No. He couldn’t have. But why would he say that about her if he didn’t?
Sitting forward, he picked his words with care. “She’s a humanitarian worker, and she’s Hiro’s best friend. How did you come up with the theory that Hiro threw her in my path so she’d seduce me? Why would Hiro want that anyway?”
“Because he covets Megumi,” Hashimoto barked. “He not only wants to stop your marriage, but he needs to do it with a scandal big enough that the ensuing disgrace would make it impossible for us to aspire to another worthy match. Then I’d be forced to accept someone like him as a husband for her.”
This was yet another surprise. Raiden hadn’t detected that Hiro was attracted to Megumi. But then, in the only time he’d seen them together, he’d been busy thinking that Hiro was besotted with Scarlett.
But now that he replayed that ball in his mind, he could see the whole thing in a new light. Hiro’s aggression toward him had been over Megumi. And Megumi’s agitation had been over Hiro.
Those two were in love!
That must be why Megumi had told her father about him and Scarlett. So he’d break off the engagement and she’d be free to be with Hiro.
God, how blind had he been?
But at least no real damage had been done. He’d call Hiro after he broke things off with his uncle, telling him to rush to make a huge bid while the man was most open to compensatory offers. Even from someone he considered socially abhorrent.
For his uncle’s sake, Raiden hoped he’d accept Hiro right away. His snobbery, though socially dictated, was starting to grate. If he exercised it on Hiro now that he realized there was mutual love involved, he’d show him his dis
pleasure. He was sure his uncle wouldn’t like to see his displeased side.
“So you just found out?” he asked.
“Megumi first told me three weeks after the ball.”
Raiden’s eyebrows shot up. That far back? The only way Megumi could have found out when he’d still been discreet was through Hiro. Being close to Scarlett, he must have noticed her sudden change of schedule, and all the other telltale signs of a woman being regularly, ferociously loved. Hiro could have also had a report of their garden house meeting and put one and one together. Maybe he’d even followed them to cement his deductions. As for how he’d realized Scarlett was pregnant, she did have all the signs for someone who was looking.
He sighed. “What kept you silent all this time?”
Hashimoto’s dignified face darkened with disapproval. “At first you were discreet, and I thought you’d indulge in this woman for a while before settling down to a life of respectability with my pure daughter. Then you started getting careless, letting our partners and rivals see you flaunting that loose woman everywhere, taking her home with you for all to see. It’s two weeks away from your wedding and I’m sure I just pulled you out of that woman’s arms.”
Raiden sighed again. “Yes, you just did.”