The corner of Yamada’s mouth lifts into a half smile. “That’s kind of the point—to let loose and have some fun.”

His words ring through my head and I think back on the phone conversation I had with my mother just before I boarded the plane. I did promise her that I would have at least one drink and not be a complete stiff while I was out here. What’s the worst that can happen?

I push up to the bar and the cute dark-haired bartender looks my way with a smile on his face. “What can I get you?”

“Can I get a screwdriver?” I ask and the guy nods and gets to work making my order.

Yamada’s smile widens. “That’s the spirit.” He turns toward the bartender. “Make that two. We’re getting fucked up tonight!”

Three drinks later, Yamada and I are dancing to some crazy techno sounding song that I’ve never heard, but with all the alcohol coursing through my veins, I’m not bothered that I might look like an idiot.

Yamada sings along—complete with doing the rap to the song that completely comes out of nowhere. He flings his hands and points his fingers while spitting out the fast-paced words just like the guys do on the videos.

“You’re pretty good at that,” I lean in to tell him. “You should be a rapper or something.”

He smiles. “That’s exactly what Yamada’s going to be, waiting for his one shot to be discovered.”

“Why don’t you make your own video and put it on YouTube or something? You have the money.”

He nods. “Yamada might just do that while he’s here in the states. Good thinkin,’ Dime Piece. Beautiful and smart. No wonder you have King tripping all over himself.”

I roll my eyes before I nod my head in the direction of the couch where we left Alexander sitting with the two women. “Clearly, he’s not. He couldn’t care less about me.”

He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t let that show over there fool you. Trust me. The Barbie Twins are a cover—for his own benefit—to make you think that he’s not thinking about you,when, in fact, he is. He just isn’t ready to admit it to you or himself yet that he cares.”

“You can’t possibly know that.”

“But I do,” he assures me. “He warned me that you were off-limits.”

I shake my head. “That’s only because of my father. Alexander’s afraid that I’m here to try to mess up the deal the two of you have going for parts of my Buchanan Industries.”

“That’s not it. Trust me. Alexander knows that nothing you could do would pull my loyalty away from him.”

That hurts, knowing there’s nothing I can do to make Yamada change his mind about my father’s company. I guess it’s time to face the facts. Alexander has won this war. It’s not fair and it’s wrong in so many ways, but there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to stop Yamada’s company from making a deal with Alexander.

I sigh and drop my head. “I’m such an idiot. I’m a project to him—nothing more—and I’m stupid for letting him in my pants. I’m usually a lot smarter and don’t allow myself to lose control. He said he was going to torture me until I quit. I guess fucking me and then showing me that I mean nothing to him is his tactic to get me to do that.”

Yamada tips my chin back up with his bent index finger. “Don’t discount yourself like that. The last girl King warned Yamada to stay away from was Jess, and he was madly in love with her. The guy turned into a jealous maniac whenever another man even thought about breathing in her direction. I haven’t seen him act that way—all possessive and shit—toward another woman since then—not until this weekend with you, that is.”

I furrow my brow. “What are you saying?”

Yamada sighs, and his eyes soften a bit. “He’s different with you. King can be an asshole—everyone knows that—but you have to be able to see past all that to see the real him.”

I glance over at Alexander, who is watching Yamada and me intently. His words about seeing the real Alexander waft through my head as I remember how happy Alexander looked when I first spotted him tonight. Is it possible for me to even get to know that guy? Would he ever be like that with me?

The short answer to that is no. It’s never going to happen. Alexander sees me as the enemy and nothing is ever going to change that. For some reason knowing that fact causes my stomach to twist.

I take a deep breath. Being in this room while I break down can’t happen. I won’t allow Alexander King to see me cry. That implies weakness and I need to maintain a strong front when it comes to him.

“I’ll be back,” I tell Yamada before I take off in search of a restroom.

My eyes burn and I have no idea why in the hell I’m allowing the situation with Alexander to get to me at this very moment. Must be the damn liquor that’s flowing through my veins. It’s causing my emotions to surface at the most inopportune time.

When I finally find the bathroom, I rush through the door and place my hands on the counter. I close my eyes as I count down from ten to calm myself. Mother taught me as a little girl to do this when I felt my emotions getting out of check. It has always helped me to regain control and refocus on the situation with a level head.

“Three . . . Two . . . One . . .” I count aloud but the sound of the bathroom door opening causes my eyes to snap open. “Someone is in here.”