Page 38 of Emperor of Wrath

“Of course,” she parrots back in a bored tone. “Mr. Aki, let me tell you what is disrespectful. When your daughter approaches my fiancé at our engagement party, and offers to be his whore?—”

“Excuse me?!” Matsui blurts indignantly. “How dare?—”

“Do not interrupt me again,” Annika snaps coldly.

My brow arches.

Well, this is interesting. And unexpected.

“When your daughter approaches my husband-to-be and offers him sexual favors in exchange for getting you to agree to his business propositions, I find that extremely disrespectful. To me, naturally, but also to my fiancé. Certainly to Sota-san… Wouldn’t you agree?”

Matsui scowls, and you can almost hear the wheels turning in his mind as he tries to come up with a response. Before he replies, Annika suddenly smiles at him with a strange expression on her face.

“Mr. Aki, do you like Paris?”

He frowns, glancing at me before looking back to Annika. “Pardon?”

“Paris, Mr. Aki. The city. Do you enjoy visiting?”

He clears his throat, glancing around nervously. “I’m, uh, afraid I’ve never been.”

“Oh, come now!” She smiles broadly as she fixes her gaze on him. “That’s not true at all!” she laughs.

Matsui coughs awkwardly. “Ms. Brancovich, I can assure you, I’ve never?—”

“You’re not a fan of the city? Of Rue Véron, in particular?”

The color drains from Matsui’s face so quickly it’s as if someone’s pulled the drain in a tub. His eyes widen, his mouth dropping open as horror washes over his face.

And Annika just smiles.

“Well… Maybe I’m mistaken,” she says, shrugging casually. Her eyes lock with Matsui’s as she steps forward. “Either way, I think you should agree to my fiancé’s new business terms right now. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Matsui says nothing, his jaw still on the floor. He turns to me, utterly pale, and finally manages to pull himself together and swallow.

“Yes…yes, I think…” He swallows again as he glances at me. “I think that’s a wise decision for everybody.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Annika says brightly.

Matsui turns to me, awkwardly clearing his throat and not meeting my eyes before bowing stiffly.

“I agree to all new terms laid out by you, Kenzo-san. I will stop running my girls immediately.”

“Thank you, Matsui,” I growl. “I look forward to our continued fruitful business dealings together.”

“Of course, Kenzo-san,” he mumbles, bowing low again before glancing fearfully at Annika and then scurrying off into the crowd.

I turn to level a look at Annika. “What the fuck was that?”

“Thank you, Annika!” she sing-songs. “You’re so good at what you do, Annika. I don’t think I could have done that without you, Annika!”

I glare at her. “You finished?”

She grins, pats my chest, and turns to walk away. “Stick with me, Kenzo,” she tosses over her shoulder. “You might learn something.”

8

ANNIKA

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