Linnear 02 - The Miko Read Online Free PDF Page B

heels like some goddamned functionary. Raphael Tomkin waits for no one!”
    “I assure you, Mr. Tomkin, no disrespect is intended,” Miss Yoshida pressed on, struggling to contend with this irrational outburst. “My task is to serve you, to help you relax, to put your mind into the proper frame of”
    “I don’t need you or anyone else to tell me what my frame of mind is!” Tomkin thundered, taking a step toward her. “Now you get Sato in here or”
    Nicholas stepped forward, coming between them. He could see that despite herself Miss Yoshida’s face had gone ashen beneath the artful cosmetics. Her hands were shaking.
    “What d’you think you’re doing, Nick?”
    Nicholas ignored Tomkin, using his own powerful frame to move his employer back. At the same time he composed his face, smiling easily, projecting his own relaxation in order to short-circuit the woman’s obvious alarm.
    “Please excuse the gaijin,” he said in Japanese, not wanting to use Tomkin’s name. “He’s had a long, uncomfortable trip.” He lowered his voice and went on, keeping the pressure on Tomkin as he did so. “The truth is, Miss Yoshida, his piles are bothering him and he’s like a dog who’s sat on a warrior anthill. He snaps at anyone and everyone.” He grinned. “And he hasn’t the sense to be cordial to so dutiful a blossom but in his pain seeks out to blindly crush the beauty before him.”
    Miss Yoshida gave Tomkin a wary look before she bowed, thanking Nicholas. “Sato-san will be with you shortly,” she said. “His wish is only for your comfort and ease before the rigors of negotiations begin.”
    “1 understand completely, Yoshida-san,” Nicholas said kindly. “It is most thoughtful of Sato-san to be concerned with our total well-being. Please be so kind as to extend our compliments to him.” He bumped his muscular shoulder against Tomkin’s struggling form. “And as for the gaijin, leave him to me.”
    Miss Yoshida bowed again, relief flooding her face; this time she made no attempt to mask her feelings. “Thank you, Linnear-san. I cannot think what Sato-san would say to me if he knew I had not performed as he had anticipated.” Half running, she squeezed by them both and hurried back down the corridor.
    Tomkin felt a lessening of the awesome pressure brought to bear on him and broke away. His face flushed. He raised a sau-sagelike finger. “You owe me an explanation, Nick, and it goddamned well better be a good one or”
    “Shut up.”
    It was not said particularly loudly, but some hidden tone seemed to strike Tomkin’s nervous system. His mouth snapped shut.
    “You’ve done enough damage to us already,” Nicholas said, struggling as Miss Yoshida had to keep his emotions under control.
    “Damage? What are you”
    “You lost us incalculable face with that woman. We’ll both count ourselves lucky if she hasn’t gone straight to Sato with the affront.” The last was a lie. Miss Yoshida was so frightened of offending the guests she’d do no such thing. But Tomkin would never know that, and some fear was good for him right now.
    Nicholas pushed by him. He found himself in a rather small, dimly lighted room with a cedar slat-boarded floor. Along one wall was a row of spacious metal lockers. He went over to one and opened it. Inside he found not only a terry-cloth robe but comb and brush, an entire array of toiletry items. Off to the right an open archway led into a mirrored bathroom with sinks, urinals, and a row of toilet stalls.
    Nicholas could hear the muffled sounds of water dripping, as if within the walls. To the left of the row of lockers was a plain wooden door. The baths, he surmised, must be beyond. The air was moist and warm, decidedly inviting. He began to disrobe.
    Tomkin came in behind him. He stood rigidly in the middle of the room, glaring at him, willing Nicholas to face him. Nicholas went methodically on with what he was doing, his long, lean muscles rippling, consciously letting