Page 141 of Emperor of Wrath

I have questions. Several of them. But they can wait.

For now, I’m simply enjoying the moment. I’ve got a throne to ascend. An empire to rule.

A wife to love, and a partner to call my equal.

Life is fucking good.

“How’s New York?”

“The same. You miss it?” Kir chuckles over the phone.

I sigh. “Sometimes, a little. Others, not at all.”

I do love New York. But it’s Kyoto that feels like home—doubly so now, with Annika here too.

“So—talk to me about Yelizaveta Solovyova.”

This time it’s Kir’s turn to sigh heavily. “My cousin is a complicated woman, Kenzo.”

That’s putting it mildly.

Yelizaveta Solovyova, known as The White Queen due to her albinism…and that’s a nickname she gave herself, by the way…has ruled the Solovyova Bratva with an even temper and iron fist since she was twenty-three years old. She never married, never had any children, and in the extremely patriarchal world of the Bratva, she’s dominated everyone.

She’s not a pushover.

“Let me guess: she’s mad about Valon.”

He grunts. “She was bizarrely cagey about it, but yes, to say the least.”

“Even though he was a piece of shit,” I persist.

I know that Kir doesn’t know the full history between Annika and that fuck, just that she worked for him. Annika’s told me repeatedly she never wanted him to know about that dark part of her past.

“If we didn’t do business with pieces of shit, Kenzo,” he sighs, “then most criminal organizations wouldn’t exist.”

That’s fair. And I can’t exactly tell Kir about what really happened with Valon and Annika and let him use that to cool Yelizaveta down, because that would be a massive breach of my wife’s trust.

“My cousin did a lot of business with Leka,” Kir mutters. “I mean, he was probably a third of her export network.”

Shit.

“Look, she’s aware that it wasn’t you who personally killed him. But…”

“But it was Annika’s fight with Ulkan that led to his death. And her being my wife complicates things.”

“Exactly,” Kir grunts. “I’ve been on the phone with Yelizaveta all day. A lot of this is reading between the lines, because she’s playing it extremely close to the chest for some reason. But the fact that you went after Leka’s network over the last week has seriously soured things with her.”

I smile smugly. With Valon dead, I have made sure that my people—or people we hired—have gone after that asshole’s network. I had two dozen of his warehouses around Europe and the Mediterranean burned, four of his cargo ships ratted out to various international law enforcement agencies, and another two of them sunk while in port just because why the fuck not.

Yes, his brother, Besor, is in jail for life. But he expressed an interest in taking over for Valon, and someone with resources could very well break or bribe him out. If that happens, I’ve made fucking sure he has nothing to work with.

“I’m not apologizing for anything, Kir,” I growl. “If Besor manages to pay or tunnel his way out of jail, there’s not a chance he’s going to take over?—”

“About that,” Kir growls quietly, cutting me off. “Besor was killed in prison yesterday.”

My brows arch. “Really.”

“Yeah.”

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