Page 142 of Emperor of Wrath

“Typical prison violence, or…?”

“He was beaten to death in the yard. But that’s not the interesting part.”

“Go on.”

“When the guards found him, his chest had been tattooed with a message about his brother’s debt not being paid yet, and a promise to go after the extended Leka family outside prison if those debts were not settled quickly.”

My brows knit. “Apparently whoever paid for that ink didn’t get the memo that Valon is dead.”

Kir is silent.

“Kir—”

“This is a delicate question, and please don’t be insulted,” Kir growls. “But exactly how in your pocket are the local Kyoto police?”

My teeth grind. “Very…I thought.”

“They’re the ones who found Leka’s body?”

Fuck.

I’m already up and running out the door, sprinting through the house to the driveway.

“They are,” I mutter as I leap behind the wheel of my black Porsche 911 and slam on the engine. “Where’s this going, Kir?”

“Yelizaveta isn’t so convinced that Leka is dead.”

I gun the engine, screaming down the driveway. My men yank open the gate and nod as I roar through onto the open road.

“Why is that,” I hiss.

“Because she had a video call with him this morning.”

Holy fuck.

The Kyoto Prefecture Takaragaike Police Station falls silent as I storm through the front doors. Most of the officers bow formally to me as I surge past them with curt nods.

They know who I am.

I’m the guy who pays their second salary. The guy who pays for vacations, cars, and schooling for their kids that a police officer could never otherwise afford.

Do I feel bad about the naked bribery in the criminal justice system?

Fuck no.

One, this is just how it’s done. Two, if it wasn’t me, it’d be someone else. And three, as Kir said, if we didn’t do business with shitheads, criminal organizations wouldn’t exist.

…And I would not play nicely in a corporate office.

Deputy Chief Tetsuya looks up quickly from his desk as I poke my head into his office.

“Kenzo-san,” he growls, standing quickly and bowing. “I didn’t know you were stopping by?—”

“Come.”

He doesn’t falter at all or question me.

I like Tetsuya.

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