Page 28 of Emperor of Wrath

“That’s good,” I say quietly.

She frowns as she nods past me to Damian lying in bed. “I’m sorry about your brother.”

“Oh, he’s not really…” I shake my head. “I don’t know why I said that. He basically is my brother. Thank you.”

Hana smiles wryly. “Found family is still family. I have a brother-who-isn’t-really-my-brother, too.”

I glance down at my feet then back up at her. “I’m sorry about Aoki.”

She shrugs. “I only met him once or twice. Honestly, by all accounts, he was kind of an asshole. But thanks.” She looks past me again at Damian, her lower lip catching between her teeth. “Is he going to be okay?”

I nod. “Yeah. He has another surgery tomorrow. After that, they think they can take him off life support and slowly bring him out of the coma.”

Hana flashes me a genuine smile. “That’s good.” We look at each other with a little less awkwardness and stiffness. “Look, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry you have to marry my brother.”

I snort. “Oh, so you’ve met him too.”

Hana gives me a look. “To be clear, I love my brother.”

Shit.

But Hana flashes me another small smile. “I meant that I’m sorry you have to marry someone you don’t want to.” She glances at the super cute, very expensive looking silver watch on her wrist. “Look, I don’t know if this is weird, and you can totally say no, but I was about to go find a dress to wear to the party…” She arches a brow at me. “Wanna come with?”

Wait, what?

Freya was right the other day: I don’t have many friends, because honestly, I suck at them. Freya and Damian are about it, and I’ve sort of given up on trying to expand my social circle.

But this feels incredibly friendly, and I’m—embarrassingly—jumping up and down on the inside. Because Kenzo’s sister seems super fucking cool.

“Uh, yeah,” I shrug as casually as humanly possible. “I guess I could do that.”

“Cool!” Hana smiles broadly at me as we both turn and head down the hall toward the front lobby.

I furrow my brow. “So, what party is this?”

Hana pulls up short, causing me to stumble to a stop as she turns to raise a brow at me. “Please tell me you’re joking. The engagement party, of course.”

I bark a loud, sharp laugh, then stop. “Wait…you’re serious.”

“Um, yes?”

I snort, shaking my head. “Yeah, not happening.”

Hana winces. “Yeah, sort of non-negotiable, trust me. It’s not Kenzo’s thing, it’s Sota’s. And believe me, when that man says something is happening, especially if it’s a party, it’s not a case of if. It’s more where, when, and how crazy big is the budget.” She grins at me. “Sorry, but you gotta trust me on this one.”

I groan as I flop against the wall. “Shit.”

“Yeah, well…” she shrugs. “It won’t be that bad. I mean, maybe you don’t want to marry Kenzo?—”

“I don’t. No offense.”

She shrugs. “None taken. And maybe he doesn’t want to marry you?—”

“He one thousand percent doesn’t.”

Hana smirks. “Well, the feelings of the bride and groom aside, the shitload of people that Sota is inviting are going to spend the entire evening telling you how amazing you look, how lucky you are, and showering you with booze and gifts.”

I arch a brow. “Really.”

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