Samurai Game (Ghostwalkers, #10)(58)

Sam could imagine her with their child, a protective mother for certain, he could see it in the way she held Daniel.

“You’ve met?” Ryland asked.

His tone put Sam on edge. He sat up straighter and swung his legs over the edge of the bed in preparation—for what, he wasn’t certain. Ryland had sounded more than suspicious—he’d sounded accusing as well. More so, his team had gone onto alert. This was Daniel—the most protected member of their family—and a stranger had gotten to him right in their midst.

“Daniel has been telling us all about his new friend. We thought he had made up an imaginary friend to play with.” Ryland’s gaze shifted to Ian’s face. Ian—Azami’s guard. If she’d met Daniel, where had that meeting taken place, and how?

Ian squirmed uncomfortably. It didn’t matter that they’d all been laughing with Azami moments earlier; every man was looking at her as if she was the enemy. Sam slid to his feet, steadying himself against the bed for a brief moment before he found his footing again.

This time there was no mistaking Ryland’s accusation, and Sam understood. Lily had been upset over the idea that Daniel would have to have an imaginary playmate. More than that, Daniel was to be protected at all times from outsiders and yet the child had greeted Azami as an old friend, which implied multiple meetings. He was always naturally suspicious of strangers.

“He’s a wonderful boy, and so very bright,” Azami said, as Daniel snuggled against her. She rocked him gently. “He came into my room on the first night. I heard a small noise in the fan and a screw dropped out onto the floor. I looked up and he was looking down at me, laughing. He was quite curious that you had company and didn’t introduce him. I explained that not all strangers were good people and some could be dangerous to him and that you were protecting him. He signs quite well.”

Azami never raised her voice, or appeared in any way as if she recognized the heightened tension in the room. She seemed relaxed, her attention focused on the toddler, but Sam wasn’t deceived in the least. She was a force to be reckoned with and for some reason, his teammates didn’t feel her energy as he did. That continued to worry him.

There was a long silence. No one expected that explanation, but they shouldn’t have been surprised. Daniel was definitely an escape artist. He liked small spaces and already he was using tools like a pro.

Ryland glared at his son. “You went to our guest’s bedroom, Daniel? Do you think that’s appropriate behavior?” He signed as he spoke.

Daniel shook his head and pressed closer to Azami. He signed back to his father.

“I don’t care if she didn’t mind,” Ryland sounded gruff. “She is our guest. Her bedroom is a sacred place, a sanctuary for her. We don’t intrude. Do you understand?”

Daniel nodded his head.

“More than that, it isn’t safe for you to go meet a stranger without our knowledge. You have to have time-out for that.” Now Ryland sounded sterner than ever and Daniel’s face began to crumble, tears swimming in his eyes.

The men exchanged uneasy glances. None of them liked it when Daniel cried and he definitely knew it, playing them easily when he sat in his little chair sobbing.

Azami’s subtle move put her under the shelter of Sam’s arm. Daniel looked up at him, his lip quivering. Sam leaned down and brushed a kiss over the boy’s mop of hair.

“What does one do on time-out?” Azami asked. Her voice was softer than ever, but Sam felt the hair on the back of his neck raise. Clearly she didn’t like the idea of the boy being punished.

“Daniel sits in a chair for two minutes,” Sam explained hastily.

Daniel knew by the way she held him so protectively that he had an ally in Azami. He gave a little sob and pressed his face into her shoulder.

“You tie him to a chair?” Azami glared up at Sam.

Ian burst out laughing. “If you tried tying that boy to a chair, momma bear would come at you with teeth and claws.”

“And a very big gun,” Ryland added. “I don’t know what they do in Japan, but we don’t tie our children to chairs. He sits in it because we tell him to. It’s safe and doesn’t hurt. He doesn’t like the isolation and understands there are consequences for naughty behavior. In this case, he also violated a safety rule.”

“What happens if he gets out of the chair?” Azami asked. “Before the two minutes are up?”

“He is placed back in the chair and we go at it all day if necessary,” Ryland said. “Raising Daniel requires patience as well as love.” He looked around the room. “I think it requires all of us. We work together. Clearly we dropped the ball. I’m sorry he disturbed you on your first night with us. Thank you for being so gracious about it.”

“I rarely sleep at night. I needed to make certain my brothers were safe and had all they required. I felt better seeing they were assigned guards as well.”

Ian regarded her with a clear frown. “Are you saying you left your room last night?”

“Well, of course. The baby had to be put back to bed. I wasn’t going to shove him back up into the vent and hope he made his way back to his room safely,” Azami said.

“That’s impossible,” Ian denied. “I didn’t leave the door. I didn’t, Rye. I didn’t fall asleep tonight, or last night.”