Because It Is My Blood (Birthright #2)(77)

I asked Simon if Mr. Kipling had known.

Simon Green shook his head no.

“Why didn’t Daddy ever tell us about you?”

“Think of it, Anya. I’m eight years older than Leo. I don’t think your father even knew about me until my mother died.”

Daddy should have told us.

“Your father was a good man,” Simon Green continued. “But he was just a man.”

I turned away from the city and looked back through the glass doors into the living room, where Leo was introducing Natty to his wife. Wife!

Simon Green took my hand. “I want you to trust me, Anya. I want to be your partner. I want to be the brother that Leo doesn’t have the ability to be. I want you to feel free to lay some of your burden on my shoulders.”

I shook my head.

“Why not? Can’t you see that I’ve risked everything to save Leo? You must know that I did that for you.”

“It’s just a lot for me to take in right now. Give me a little time,” I pleaded. “We’ll have to do something about Leo’s legal situation,” I told him. “It won’t work to hide him in this apartment. And we certainly can’t leave him as a fugitive forever.”

Simon Green agreed. “I’ll go to Bertha Sinclair as soon as the Easter holiday is over.”

“Maybe Mr. Kipling could help?” I suggested.

“Yes, I think that could be arranged.”

*   *   *

After Simon Green had left and everyone else had gone to bed, I went into the kitchen. I could not sleep. It was too late to call Win (he had been in Connecticut visiting a college with his mother), and even if it hadn’t been, I could not begin to explain about the events of the day.

I got a glass of water from the tap and sat down at the table. The kitchen seemed oddly bright. The room was different than it had been that morning. There were more colors somehow, and my mind felt overwhelmed with sensation. There were so many things for me to solve now that Leo had returned.

I clasped my hands and bowed my head. Thank you, God, for returning my brother to me. Thank you. “I believe and trust in Him,” I whispered.

At that moment, Leo came into the kitchen, wearing his pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt.

“Annie,” Leo said. “I thought you were up.” He sat down across from me at the table.

I told him that I hoped I hadn’t woken him.

“You always wake me,” Leo said. “Just like that night with Gable Arsley. I always listen for you.”

I smiled at him. “Leo, how did you and Noriko get back to America?”

“By plane,” Leo answered. “Simon Green came to get us.”

I still had so many questions but I didn’t want to overwhelm Leo with them. “Leo, can you explain something for me? Yuji Ono told me that your wife was from a fishing village and that she had been killed along with you. He never said that she was his niece.”

Leo shrugged. “Noriko is from a fishing village,” Leo said. “I went to stay with her family around October after Yuji Ono said it wasn’t safe for me with the monks anymore. Noriko is the daughter of Yuji Ono’s half brother.”

Yuji Ono had had Leo moved? He had certainly never mentioned anything about that. And if that were true, it didn’t necessarily make sense with Simon Green’s depiction of Yuji Ono, i.e., that Leo had been unsafe in Japan once I’d refused Yuji Ono’s proposal. And whose ashes had we been sent? And why had Yuji Ono lied about seeing Noriko’s dead body? I shook my head. I needed to talk to Yuji Ono but he was still unreachable, and he hadn’t tried to contact me.

I took my brother’s head in my hands and kissed him on both cheeks. “Leo, let me ask you something. Do you think Yuji Ono is a good man?”

“Yes,” Leo said. “But I haven’t seen him in a very long time. Around January, he went into seclusion. Noriko thinks he might have caught a sickness during his travels. No one in his family knows, and Yuji Ono is very private.”

I grabbed Leo’s hand. I was still surprised to see the silver band around his ring finger. “Leo, are you very much in love with Noriko?”

“Yes!” Leo said. “I love her more than anyone I ever met except for you and Natty.”

“Why?”

“Well, I think she is the prettiest girl in the world except for you and—”

I interrupted him. “Me and Natty, I know. And I agree. She is very pretty. What else, Leo?”

Leo’s face grew solemn. “The thing is, Annie, she doesn’t treat me like I am stupid. You probably won’t believe this but she thinks I’m really smart.” There were tears in the corners of Leo’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Annie. I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you last spring. I know everything you did for me. Yuji Ono said you even went to jail for me.”

I told him that I’d do it again. He was my brother and I’d do anything for him. “Leo, Yuri’s dead now and Mickey’s gone. But we’ll need to arrange something with the authorities so that you and Noriko can live here in peace.”

Leo nodded.

“You might even have to go to jail for a little bit yourself.”

“Okay,” Leo said with such equanimity that I could not help but wonder if he’d understood what I’d said. “As long as Noriko can stay here with you and Natty. You’ll have to take care of her.”