THE MAFIA'S PRICE
He simply kissed the top of my head and murmured, “Whatever it is, it’s already yours.”
We drifted through Ameyoko market in Ueno, narrow aisles packed with vendors shouting about fresh seafood, discount cosmetics, knockoff designer bags, sizzling yakitori sticks. Dante bought me a tiny keychain shaped like a maneki-neko cat; I bought him a black leather bracelet braided with red thread protection, I told him. He let me tie it around his wrist without protest, then pulled me into a shadowed alley and kissed me until we were both breathless.