Page 112 of Monstrous Urges

“Take my hand,” Kenzo murmurs quietly, extending his arm.

I take it, surprised by his strength as he easily lifts me out of the water and into the boat. My wet skin prickles with the sudden chill of the air. But then Kenzo offers me a towel from a black waterproof bag, like something a Navy SEAL would use.

“Thanks,” I mumble, taking it and wrapping it around myself. I’ve had my glasses tucked into the top of my one-piece during the swim. Awkwardly, I reach into the suit and pull them out, drying them with the towel before I slip them on and look up at him.

Oh…okay.

I don’t know why I’m surprised to find that Kenzo has also swum out to the boat in a swimsuit. He’s sitting across from me in the stern of the boat, the soft moonlight glinting off the hard, chiseled lines of his lean, muscled frame. Scars, from cut marks, run over his chest, his grooved abs, and one shoulder. One of his arms and what I think might be all his back is covered with breathtakingly intricate and beautiful Yakuza tattoos.

Parts of him look so much like his half-sister, Fumi, that it’s freaky. And yet other parts look entirely his own.

“Well, here we are,” he growls with a tense smile.

I suck on my teeth as we both size each other up. It feels like he’s looking at me with the same kind of curiosity with which I’m regarding him.

“You told me you had answers,” I say, my voice low so it doesn’t carry over the water. Drazen’s men patrol around the island. At night, their boats would definitely have their lights on.

“You have to ask the questions first.”

I swallow, digging deep for the courage to ask him what is burning a hole in my heart.

“Who am I?”

His lips curl.

“I think we both know you know who you are, Taylor.”

Taylor, not Annika.

It’s been a few weeks since anyone’s called me that, and it sounds alien to my ears.

“You know what I mean,” I fire back.

He gazes at me steadily. “What do you remember from before your accident. Before the amnesia.”

“Nothing,” I say quietly. “I’ve even seen pictures of my childhood and my parents. There’s still nothing coming back.”

“Nothing at all?” he presses, peering through the darkness at me. “No little insignificant details, nothing big picture?”

I shake my head. My heart sinks. Fuck, I really thought he’d have answers, not just more questions.

“What about friends.”

My jaw grits as I shake my head. “Sorry, but I thought you said?—”

“Does the term invisible friend mean anything to you?”

It’s like getting dunked into ice water. My body tenses up, my breath leaving my body in a whoosh as my vision fades away.

“Come play, Annika.”

“Play with me.”

“That’s my invisible friend…”

I jolt back to reality with Kenzo’s hands on my shoulders, shaking me. When I blink and my vision refocuses, the look in his eye is…concern.

“I’m going to take that as a yes,” he growls.