Page 117 of Emperor of Wrath

His grip tightens on me. When I glance back at him, I shiver as I see the raw fury on his face as his jaw ripples.

“Fuck that,” he snarls.

“Kenzo, I really don’t want to talk about?—”

“I need to?—”

“I am done digging up my past!” I spit, my voice breaking.

His face softens as he leans down, cupping my face again as his eyes lock with mine.

“You misunderstand, princess,” he murmurs quietly. “I don’t want to dig up your past.”

Something malicious flickers in his eyes.

“I want to fucking bury it.”

In the blink of an eye, he’s crushing his mouth to mine. I whimper softly, tears still falling down my cheeks and over his fingers as his lips bruise mine in a cleansing, avenging kiss unlike anything I’ve ever known.

I’m shaking a little, my heart racing, as he pulls away. His eyes lock with mine.

“I’ll be back.”

I blink, my pulse jangling as he turns and starts to march toward the garage.

“Wait!” I cry. “Wait, where are you?—”

“To put your past in a hole in the fucking ground.”

23

KENZO

I’ve known blinding anger before in my life. When my mother died, the fury I felt toward the world, karma, God, and whoever was unlucky enough to cross my path almost killed me.

But it didn’t touch what I’m feeling right now.

It’s not some macho chest-thumping ego thing, either. This isn’t anger that Leka “got what’s mine” or anything juvenile like that.

Annika and I are both adults in our thirties. We’ve both obviously had lives before we met each other. Again, that’s not what this is, and it’s not my fucking ego.

It’s that against my better judgement, and despite every attempt to sabotage it, somewhere along the way, I caught feelings.

No. More than feelings.

Somewhere along the way, this “fake” thing with Annika has become very, very real. I’m not sure if I have a word for it yet, or maybe I know the word just fine but the fact that I’ve never used that word before scares the fuck out of me.

She matters to me.

A fucking lot.

She’s an addition to the thing beating inside my chest that I wasn’t looking for, because I never knew that part of my heart was missing.

As much as she pisses me off sometimes, damned if that woman isn’t the first thing I think of when I wake up, and the last thing I think of before I fall asleep.

That’s why I’m beyond fucking angry. It has nothing to do with her past experiences before me.

It’s about him.

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