Samantha wiped the sweat off her forehead after hanging her and Keiji's washed clothes on the clothesline. Despite having an assassin husband whose behavior drove her mad, she was starting to grow accustomed to staying with her mother-in-law. Unlike the son she raised, Hana was a sweet lady.

Samantha absolutely loved seeing the way she interacted with Keiji, always wanting to hold him and feed him. Samantha enjoyed that her baby boy was able to see and taste the other half of his culture. But the way it happened wasn't appeasing to her.

While helping Hana out in her ramen shop, and doing other household chores, Samantha found out more about Kaito's family. The other little boy she found in their family photo album was Kaito's younger brother. There also happened to be a man posing next to Hana, it appeared to be the boy's father.

But where were the other two? Did something happen to Kaito's father and brother?

"Mama!" Keiji's soft call brought Samantha out of her deep thoughts. He stepped down the stairs and skipped towards her happily. He waved a toy gun in his hand, and Samantha's heart almost stopped.

The image of Kaito and her encountering gangsters the other day flashed in her mind, so she snatched the toy out of Keiji's hand. "Where did you get this?" She tugged on his shoulder to stop him from running.

The toy looked so real that it startled her. "Keiji, who gave this to you?" She narrowed her eyes at the boy. Toy or not, she didn't want her son to be playing with anything that resembled a weapon. She refused to let the boy end up like his father.

Keiji smiled at Samantha before pointing back inside the home. Samantha didn't say anything, only looked through the doorway. Kaito was at the dining table, taking photos of something. He was focused completely on his task, then he started texting away on his cell phone.

Keiji reached for the toy gun, whining for his mother to give it back. Samantha held it high so he couldn't reach it, denying him the ability to take it back. "You're not going to play with this, not while I'm here." Her words were stern, but the result of her taking away his toy only made Keiji bawl.

Samantha ignored his cries and stomped back into the house angrily. Her eyes were dead set on Kaito, and she chucked the toy gun onto the table. "You think you're funny, huh?"

"What?" Kaito brought his eyes off his screen to look at her.

"You can murder however many people you like," Samantha stepped closer to him and pointed at the toy gun. "But you will not encourage my son to become a criminal like you. Not while I'm still living."

Kaito blinked at her in surprise. He was at a loss for words. "As much as I enjoy seeing you get worked up, could you explain what you are talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Takashi."

"If you're going to act unreasonable, then I'm going to remove myself from this conversation before you piss me off." Kaito rolled his eyes at her.

"The toy, return it to whatever gang shop you bought it from."

"Are you serious?" Kaito chuckled at her. He couldn't believe she used gang shop in a sentence. "What toy are you talking about?"

"The gun." Samantha hissed and grabbed it off the table for him to see.

"I never bought this." Kaito grabbed the toy gun and tilted it slightly. He was very impressed by the detail. It really did look like the real thing.

"You liar." Samantha seethed. "Take it back. Don't drag Keiji into your occupation. It'll be over my dead body that he ends up like you. I won't allow it."

"I can't take back something I never bought." Kaito pushed the toy back into her hands. "Keiji won't end up in my line of work, I guarantee it," Kaito stated confidently. His plans after finding his brother involved going back to prison, divorcing Samantha, and supporting his son behind bars under a reduced sentence. But of course, he wasn't going to share that information with her.

Samantha on the other hand calmed down by him saying those words to her. Strangely enough, they put her at ease. She wasn't sure why. "If you didn't buy the toy, who did?"

Kaito shrugged his shoulders at her. Before he could respond, Hana walked into the dining room with Keiji in her arms, crying his eyes out. She noticed the toy gun in Samanthas. She scolded the two as she walked up to them, and snatched the toy out of Samantha's hands, before giving it back to Keiji.

Keiji calmed down quickly, and Kaito groaned when Hana began to nag him. It was pretty clear to Samantha that she was the one who bought it. However, instead of apologizing, she decided to question Kaito's motives.

Everything he was doing contradicted what was written on his file. As a journalist, there was a feeling that pricked at her heart to investigate more about him.

Why were there Yakuza members, people he was supposed to work with hunting after him?

~

Kaito waited until it was late at night, the time when everyone was asleep. Thankfully, his mother put Keiji to bed early, and not too long after she left to her bedroom to sleep. He had been wanting to smoke for a while, and this was the perfect time to do it.

Other than going outside to light a cigarette, he had to call Haruka. Kaito had noticed in the documents addressed to Katashi weren't bills that came from any legit companies he could think of. He needed the help to trace back to the unknown person who sent them.

"How are the journalist and the kid?" Haruka, on the other line of the phone, spoke smugly. "You treating them well?"

"You have no business asking me that. I need your help to track or trace back a letter. Hana has been receiving bills, but I realized that the names of the companies written on the return address aren't real."

"Has she been sending money to them?"

"I don't think so. There's so many of them that say final notice." Kaito took a whiff out of his cigarette before exhaling. "I've already sent you the images."

"I'm pulling them up now." Kaito heard some typing noise. Haruka was on his computer, probably checking his email at the station. "Are any of these companies connected to the Watanabe's? Katashi did borrow money from him after all."

"I've already checked, they aren't. Asuka works with major companies. He's just a leech who does his dirty work in hiding." Kaito snorted.

"It's going to be hard to find out why he borrowed money without a proper lead. It's going to be even harder finding out where these letters came from."

"I've been thinking of camping out to see when the mail arrives. I doubt that a government worker would deliver these fake bills. It has to be someone under the radar who's sending them here."

"That's a pretty good idea. But you won't be able to bring all the gear to defend yourself if anything happens. It's too close to residency."

"Don't worry, old man." Kaito cast his cigarette aside and stomped on it. "I can handle myself. I'm in much better shape these days."

"I just don't want you to get your hands stained in blood."

"I won't kill anyone, I'll try my best. But no promises about no blood spilling. I work better when there is blood involved."

"Crazy..." Haruka mumbled, to only which Kaito responded in a laugh. "I still don't understand why Katashi would borrow money from Asuka and then suddenly disappear. I think you should ask around the school where he studied to get some intel."

"I don't think I'll have the time to trace these letters and do that." Kaito groaned.

"I guess I'll send Nina to get the intel for you." Haruka sighed.

"You do that." Kaito sighed and rested his lower back against the gate in front of the house. This case was starting to get trickier than he expected it to be. He began to suspect that Katashi probably ran off on his own, but it was so unlike his brother to do something like that.

Katashi was a quiet and timid kid, he often did things in a more logical way than Kaito. He was very great at studying and was always very well mannered, so it wouldn't make sense for him to stoop lower than scum and borrow money from organized crime loan sharks.

Kaito had paid off all his family debt and bought a new home behind him for them to reside. He worked his butt off and even paid for Katashi's school fees. So much blood was spilled just so Kaito could help his family survive.

But if Asuka hasn't been able to find him, that meant Katashi wasn't kidnapped.

Thinking about it made Kaito more frustrated. He rubbed his face, feeling as if his hair was graying. All to find his brother, he got stuck in a black abyss, and it was starting to creep up to Kaito. Within the 3 years of searching, he did not expect to get married, have a kid, and still be one step behind in solving a case.

All to work with a cop and get a reduced sentence. Kaito only wanted to avoid the death penalty.

"You should get some rest, Kaito. It seems like you have a lot on your mind."

"I'm fine." Kaito cut the call abruptly and headed back inside the house. What he didn't realize was that Samantha was wide awake, and she heard his entire phone conversation. And now, she had so many questions.

Kaito kicked his shoes off at the door but jumped back when he saw her standing at the door giving him an evil eye. "Shite! I almost put you into a choke hold! Don't stand around like that and scare me."

"Who are you?" Samantha eyed him suspiciously.

"Excuse me?"

"Who were you talking to on the phone?"

"That's none of your business,sweetheart." Kaito poked her at the bridge of her nose. "I didn't think you were the jealous type, I'm intrigued. I can't say I'm surprised, after all, you managed to fall for me, even though my job isn't quite your standard."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Samantha scoffed.

"Yeah." Kaito winked at her.

"Would you get serious, just for a moment?" Samantha grunted. "Stop with your snide comments. I heard you just now, Mr. Takashi. 'I won't kill anyone.' isn't that what you just said?" She took a dangerous step forward and raised her chin high as confidently as she could. "Now why would a big shot assassin like you, Kaito Takashi, say something as absurd as that, when killing your targets are the very thing putting deposits into your bank account?"

"Samantha." Kaito pressed his lips thin and narrowed his eyes at her. "You're treading on thin ice."

"Great! That means you admit you're hiding something." Samantha giggled evilly.

"You don't even know what you're talking about."

Samantha snorted. "Thought you would say that." She placed her hand in her pockets and pulled out an old recorder. Then she pressed a button and it made a swishing sound before repeating Kaito's exact words to Haruka, about the case.

Kaito kept his eyes on Samantha the entire time, his blood pressure inching higher and boiling by the second.

"Your file describes you as the world's deadliest man. Ninja's, masters of the dark arts would fear you. But you can't even kill your own wife and child. At first, I had a slim hope that you kept us alive because you loved us, but I realize now that you don't." Samantha brushed his shoulder off slowly, letting her touch affect him. "You never leave your targets alive."

"Where did you find the recorder?" Kaito swore under his breath. She had him. Never in his career had he felt so humiliated.

"Your mother had one lying in her drawer. I think it may have belonged to you when you were younger. You were quite a cute singer as a child."

Kaito couldn't respond. The woman in front of him was driving him insane, and she knew it. For the sake of the confidentiality of the case, he kept his mouth closed.

"What's wrong? The big bad wolf doesn't have anything to say? How does it feel to be caught red-handed?"

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Kaito choked on a laugh.

"I may be a dumb wife, Kaito. I gave myself to a man who had ulterior motives and even bore a son for him." Samantha clicked her tongue and dragged him close by the collar of his T-shirt. They were only inches apart, so close that their lips could touch. "But you're gravely mistaken if you think that I am a stupid journalist. I didn't drop out of nursing and work my butt off majoring in journalism only to have a criminal like you make me out into a fool. Don't forget, I was the one who chased after you the night we met 3 years ago." She heaved. "I'm crazy, just like you."