Broken Storm Part One Read Online Free

scars.
    Keiko, hand trembling slightly, shifted her hair
back.
    There was a large scar that ran the length from her
ear down to the base of her skull.
    ‘Wow, okay, that does look pretty nasty,’ James
shrugged towards her with his beer.
    ‘See, told you,’ Jenny smiled at him.
    Wow.... This was awkward. Keiko thought as she rubbed
at her arm. At least Jenny hadn’t forced her to reveal the other scars though.
    One ran up her side and she would have had to pull
up her top to get access to it. The other travelled down her back.
    ‘Who’s shrine was it?’
    Keiko looked up. The man, the rich one, the
handsome one, the one who’s name she still didn’t know, was talking to her.
    He hadn’t looked interested before. Now his eyes
flickered with something.
    ‘Ah, it was a family shrine,’ Keiko felt her cheeks
begin to flush.
    ‘No, who was the shrine dedicated to? What spirit
did it worship?’ he clarified. His voice was strong and curt.
    It made Keiko blush even harder. She was being an
idiot again, wasn’t she?
    ‘Ah... Aiko, just some random wind spirit,’ Keiko
shrugged her shoulders, rubbing at her arm even harder.
    Then she glanced up to see the look in the man’s
eyes.
    It stilled her.
    ‘Where is your family’s property? Do they still own
it? Is the remnant of the shrine still there?’ For a man who had hardly said a
word to her before, he now bombarded her with questions.
    ‘I,’ she began.
    She never got to finish her sentence.
    One of the models that had been floating elegantly
around the party sashayed over. She was wearing a fire-truck red dress, and as
soon as she reached the man, she locked her arm around his.
    It took his attention for a second. A single
second. Then he snapped his gaze back at Keiko.
    There was an intense edge to it, one that made her
blush further.
    ‘Victor said you would be here,’ the model purred.
‘Is the great Chase Harlow ready to negotiate?’
    Chase Harlow. That had to be his name.
    Keiko frowned. Her lips crinkling over her teeth as
her chin dimpled.
    She knew that name. Wasn’t Harlow that enormous
conglomerate? They owned the building last night’s party had been in. And this
guy had been there. If his name really was Chase Harlow, then... Christ, did that
mean he was the Mr Harlow? Son of the recently-deceased head of the
company?
    Keiko turned pink. She matched the color of her
blouse perfectly.
    ‘Does your family still own the shrine site?’ Chase
repeated his question, that same look in his eyes.
    The model tugged on his arm harder, not caring that
she pulled his elbow right into her bust. ‘Chekov will only be here for
tonight, Mr Harlow.’
    ‘I’ll be right over, I just need to sort this out,’
he said in a clear voice, but his attention did not seem to be fixed on the
model; he was only half turned her way as his eyes locked on Keiko.
    For a girl usually as embarrassed and timid as she
was, Keiko was finding this attention a little too much to bear. Just why was
this man so interested in her?
    ‘Chekov does not like to be kept waiting,’ the
model purred, though there was a harder edge to her words now, her smile
plucking up to reveal her teeth.
    ‘Fine,’ Chase said through a frustrated sigh.
    Then he turned back to Keiko.
    The look in his eyes was... something else. Pulling
open his jacket and grabbing something from his pocket, he handed Keiko a
business card in a quick, flick of the move. ‘I’m a collector, and I have a
personal interest in,’ he took an awkward, quick swallow that didn’t match his
usual demeanor, ‘that goddess. Please give me a call.’
    And with that he let the model tug on his shoulder
until she pulled him away into the crowd.
    James gave an awkward snigger. ‘What was that?’
    Jenny walked, or at least stumbled, over to Keiko
and planted a hand on her shoulder, giving her a little shake. ‘That was Keiko
getting the attention of the richest man in the city,’ Jenny said excitedly,
her breath laced with