When I returned from Japan a week into 2013 - GP's pretty much booked into 2014.  Can't complain.  Work is work.  Even though Jo and I are trying to figure out how to manipulate the physics and time to put out 6-7 books this year, while we've been only able to put out 4 per year.  

Going on - the latest 'thing' GP finally made its entry in is the world of ebooks.  Although we will still have print books (we are old enough to admit we are old school and like to touch dead trees), ebooks will allow us to reach out to the readers who may not be able to access the print  books for whatever reasons.  Thanks to our tech savvy staff, Shoganai -- we are releasing the ebooks via Kobo.

http://guiltpleasure.com/gp/ebooks.html

Eventually, all of our works will migrate that way.  Sorry, no Kindle or Nook.  Their DRMs' restrictive to their reading devices and they take 75% share of each book sold. Kobo have its bugs that we are working out, but considerably more people own a PC/Laptop, smart phone or i-Device than specialized e-reader. So please be patient with us!

Cruel to be Kind's the first novel G|P released and technically the first collaboration between Jo and myself.  It was a fun and frivolous co-op.  And although we hadn’t plans to continue the story and make the second novel – we decided to.  We hope the schedule’s forgiving enough throughout 2013 for the second half of this novel to be completed.

For now – here’s a preview/prologue into CTBK’s second novel.

Note: If you have not read the novel yet, this chapter will spoil you for the ending to CTBK. And it probably don't make sense to you at all.

Come Undone:  Prologue

            Kanizawa was interrupted by his receptionist on his office phone. The grimace on his face became even more pronounced when she mentioned a name that meant nothing to him.  The two guests in his office waited patiently as he cursed at her.

            “He is very insistent --” the young woman said, her voice a bit panicked.

            “You forgot how to call for security? You must be more worthless than I thought.”

            The young woman tried to steady her nerves.  Her voice dropped lower as she said, “He said to tell you it’s about Sakiyama and...Kagura...and S.D.I.”

            Kanizawa’s features changed at once, his interest stirred by names he hadn’t heard for a long time.

            “Really,” he said.

            “Sir –- he...WAIT!”

            There was the sound of the receiver clattering onto the desk.  Kanizawa heard echoes of his receptionist shouting for someone to stop, her heels clacking noisily as she hurried after them.  Kanizawa hung up the phone and dialed another extension.  It was picked up after one ring.

            “If you haven’t been informed already, there’s a commotion on the first floor.  Take care of it.  Bring up whoever it is that Keiko is chasing after.  He’s probably heading toward the elevators.”

            “Yes, sir,” the voice answered him and hung up.

            Kanizawa replaced his receiver and looked at his guests with a forced smile.

            “There are some urgent issues I have to handle,” he said.  “Let’s continue our discussion tonight over dinner at the Ritz-Carlton.  My secretary will phone your office shortly with the details.”

            The men nodded, although they didn’t look happy as they did so.  One of them gathered the papers that had been spread on the glass table while the other thanked Kanizawa for his time.  Formalities lasted for another few minutes, until Yohei Yamaoto came through the double doors escorted by two similarly garbed men.

            “Please accompany Ougi-san and his associate out,” Kanizawa said, standing up from his desk.

            There was a brief moment of confusion, but then Security did as they were told.  After the men left, Kanizawa’s forced smile returned to his usual grimace.  He walked around his desk and pulled a chair out from the glass table.

            “You took a helluva chance coming here and interrupting my business,” Kanizawa said.  “You know what’ll happen if this turns out to be a poor excuse of a job interview, right? Barging into my building isn’t a proper way of gaining employment.”

            Yohei only smiled as he took a seat near Kanizawa.  He lifted his leather briefcase onto the table top.

            “Of course, Kanizawa-san,” Yohei said.  “I would never think of wasting your time.  I do apologize for the lack of an appointment.  I have a flight to Italy soon.”

            “I am not a very patient man,” Kanizawa said, keeping his voice steady.  “If what you say in the next five minutes doesn't interest me, you won’t be able to make your flight or any other plans you may have for the next few weeks.”

            A corner of Yohei’s mouth turned up and he nearly laughed. “Of course, sir,” he said, unsnapping the latches on the case.  “I think what I have will interest you.”

            Kanizawa arched an eyebrow. “There’re not that many things that do,”

            Yohei opened the lid, revealing two manila folders. “I understand S.D.I. cost you a lot of money,” he said.  “I looked into it after Sakiyama-san mentioned it in passing long ago.”

            Kanizawa said nothing; one finger tapped the table impatiently. 

            “The President of the company, Takeuchi Shouchiro, borrowed a considerable amount of money from you and subsequently took the debt with him when he committed suicide.” Yohei pulled out one of the folders. “There were no known leads to his family, they had already been sent overseas with their names changed.  He evidently used your money to hide them.”

            Kanizawa looked annoyed.  His eyebrows drew together. “Sakiyama had me investigated?”

            “Sakiyama had all his potential business partners investigated,” Yohei said.  “But he had knowledge of this even before the collapse of his former employment.  He was Orion’s Chief of Security, after all.  He had access to a lot of information.”

            Kanizawa pushed himself away from the table and made his way toward a small wet bar at the far end of the office. 

            “I am afraid Sakiyama-san kept something rather dangerous that didn’t belong to him and paid for it with his life,”

            “Oh?” Kanizawa selected a half-bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and pulled a glass from beneath the counter. “The person that murdered him?”

            “Yes,” Yohei said.

            “The cops can’t prove who did it, but you can?” Kanizawa asked, shaking his head as he filled half of his glass.

            “I'm not under the same restrictions as the police," Yohei said.  “And I have access to their files.”

            Kanizawa scoffed and drank, emptying the glass in one swallow.

            “To summarize what you may already know,” Yohei said,  “the woman who was with Sakiyama claimed to have been with Kagura...while he was with you and two other distinguished guests.  I was also there.”

            Kanizawa shrugged, pouring himself another drink.  This time, he filled the glass to the brim.

            “She was both right and wrong,” Yohei continued. “It was Kagura who was with them both that night...and with certainty, the one that murdered Sakiyama-san.”

            Yohei tapped the manila folder with an index finger. “It was a theory that the police couldn't prove, mainly because Takeuchi had erased almost every record that’s known pertaining to his family -- even the illegitimate members.” 

            Kanizawa came back toward the table, carrying the whiskey bottle with him in one hand and the glass in another.  He looked amused.

            “There was a birth certificate that we did find for a Kousaka Kagura,” Yohei said.  “I located the doctor in Kyoto who delivered him and signed the certificate....” He opened one of the folders and flipped to a black and white photocopy of a birth certificate.  There were two identical copies with a slight difference.

            “Twins...,” Kanizawa said after he looked at the papers. 

            “While one was with you, establishing an alibi,” Yohei said,  “the other one –-“ He gestured in the air, replacing the rest of his sentence. 

            Kanizawa only nodded as he took another swallow of his drink.

            “Kousaka twins.  I believe it was the older one who felled Orion.  Since Sakiyama-san escaped the collapse and made enough money from it to buy what was left over, the twins came back to finish the job.”

            Kanizawa continued to study the copies of the birth certificates.  Kagura had been the older twin -– born minutes before the second one, Kaguya.  The section where the father's name should have been had been left blank.  The twins had taken their mother’s surname.

            Kanizawa looked at his empty glass, trying to decide if he should pour himself another.  After a short moment of consideration, he pulled the bottle to him. “And?” he asked, refilling his glass.  “What does all this have to do with me?”

            “Why would the twins make a concerted effort to ruin Orion completely? Even coming back to Sakiyama-san after two years to finish off his twenty-five percent holding in the company?”

            Kanizawa didn’t reply.  He took a pull from his full glass and waited for Yohei to answer the rhetorical question.

            “The twins were upset their father’s company had been ruined by Orion,” Yohei said.

            “Sakiyama knew this,” Kanizawa said after a while. 

            “Kagura had confessed to him when he was caught years ago uploading the virus into Orion’s mainframe.”

            Yohei turned to some pages in the back, faxes with numbers in several columns all gathered in a binder clip. “It’s easier to find records when you know what names to look for,” he said. “This is just a sample of one year’s financial record of the money paid to Takeuchi’s mistress -- quite a bit of money to support just a woman he was seeing on the side.  However, it’s just the right amount to help her raise two children -- two sons that Takeuchi sent to expensive private schools.  They were an investment, perhaps, possible heirs.  Takeuchi and his legal wife only had a daughter.”

            Kanizawa looked at the columns of numbers.  Gradually, his face broke into a smile.  He laughed, and the sound echoed in the room with its vaulted ceiling. 

            “The sonuvabitch Sakiyama deserves it,” Kanizawa finally said.  “Asshole who kept my things.  You knew also, didn’t you? All this time.  Even as you watched me fuck one of them that night –- you knew I was fucking what already belonged to me.”

            Yohei shrugged.  He pulled out the second manila folder.  It was thinner.

            “Sakiyama-san was paying my salary,” he said.  “Nothing personal.”

            “And this is your way to make your money now that Sakiyama’s no longer around to sign your paychecks?”

            “I suppose you could say that,” Yohei said.  “After this, I want to wash my hands of this entire thing and retire somewhere where no one knows me and I don’t know them.”

            He flipped open the second folder.  In it were several color glossy pictures.  The top one showed the twins sitting at a small sidewalk café table with two small porcelain cups of coffee.  They were talking -– the twin with the glasses was smiling, listening while the other looked serious as he spoke.  There were foreigners all around, occupying other tables.  Behind them, there was a fountain.  He wasn’t  certain where the place was, but Kanizawa knew they weren’t in Japan. 

            “A hundred million each,” Yohei said.  “Plus expenses.”

            “Two hundred million for my own property to be returned?” Kanizawa asked.  He slid the manila folder to himself and leafed through the photos. 

            “Recovery,” Yohei said.  “You’ve sampled one of them already.  The twins are worth a small fortune, wouldn’t you say?  Two hundred million easily.”

            One of the photos showed the twin with the glasses sitting by himself somewhere indoors.  A fancy hotel lounge, from the looks of it.  He was seated on a plush cream-colored sofa dressed in a black fitted suit, a briefcase at his feet.  He was reading a newspaper, his focus intense.

            “Italian paper,” Kanizawa said, making out the text from the paper.

            “Yes, the twins are in Italy,” Yohei said.  “Last known location is where Kaguya told the police he would be.”

            “This one is?” Kanizawa asked, tapping the photo.

            “Kagura,” Yohei said.  “The older one.”

            Kanizawa’s smile widened. “You've already booked your flight back to Italy to fetch these two?”

            “Yes and no.  I will need private flight services to bring at least one back.”

            “One?”

            Yohei returned Kanizawa’s smile. “I’ve spent over a month in Italy tracking them and studying their comings and goings.  Kaguya’s a student.  His schedule’s set.  Kagura’s different.  He’s careful.  He changes his routine every few days, and he's connected to several very wealthy and powerful men.”

            Kanizawa laughed. “At least they won’t need to be trained.”

            “If I take Kaguya and bring him here to you,” Yohei said, “Kagura will follow on his own.”

            “Knowing he can't save his brother or himself once he is in my hands?”

            Yohei leaned back in his chair.  He laced his fingers together, resting them on his lap. “To be honest, I can only give you an expert opinion on what I observed myself,” he said.  “There’s a possibility that he may flee if he knows you know about Takeuchi’s leftovers.  There’s a high probability that he will not abandon his brother.  He will likely come to you, ask you to take him to replace his brother.  All you have to do to lure him in is make him a false promise.”

            “That easy, huh.”

            “It could be,” Yohei said.  “I will only have one chance to snatch Kaguya.  If I miss this chance or am discovered, the twins will flee, likely into the arms of the powerful men I mentioned. After that, it is not likely they will be found again.  I have a solid plan, but I need logistical support.  That is why I am here.”

            Kanizawa’s finger tapped on his empty glass, his fingernail clicking against it.  He was quiet for a while.

            “I will need to have a private jet ready to take myself and Kaguya to Heathrow from Fiumicino airport in Rome, and another private transport from Heathrow back here. Kaguya will be in your hands before this week ends, if my plan is followed to the letter.” Yohei looked happy as he made the promise.

            “If you lose them both, I’d advise you to stay in Italy.  You will be dead as soon you step off the plane.”

            Yohei’s cheerful exterior didn’t change. “Of course.”

            “You will get your pay when both of them are in my custody,” Kanizawa said.  “So if the other one runs off...you have to find him in order to collect.”

            Yohei nodded, thinking about this. “Fair enough,” he said.  “Do I get a private jet on stand-by for me? I recommend having it ready to go in three days.”

            “If you are spending my money and using my resources, you are going to be doing so in the company of my men.”

            Yohei laughed. “Of course, Kanizawa-san, as long as you tell them to stay out of my way and to do as I say.  I'm rather pleased with the extra help.  Now if your men get stupid and tip off the twins and allow them to slip away, I hope you know whose head to lop off.”

            “Don’t worry,” Kanizawa said.  “I will only send you the best.”

            Yohei stood and began to collect his papers, shoving them back into his portfolio.  He left the photos on the desk. “Something for you to look at until the real thing is in your hands,” he said.  He pulled out a folded piece of paper that had been tucked into one of the pockets of the portfolio. “My hotel and contact information,” he said as he left that on top of the photos.  “I have to be at Narita in two hours.  Have your men come find me within the next twenty-four.”

Kanizawa said nothing and poured himself another drink as Yohei excused himself and left.  He looked at the color photos, the glossy prints reflecting spots of light on their surface.  He shifted the pictures with an index finger, looking at the ones on the bottom.  He smiled.

“Twins,” he said to himself and laughed.  “Sonuvabitch.”