Page 54 of Emperor of Wrath

It takes me eighty-two seconds to get the Bugatti unlocked and the engine purring.

Damn, I’m rusty.

Ten seconds later, the music is blaring, we’re all losing our shit, and I’m gunning the sports car through the streets of Lower Manhattan.

I turn and groan as Freya lights a joint next to me.

“Are you fucking serious right now?”

She grins at me. “What? I have a medical card, and anyway, it’s legal now.”

“Not while you’re in a car, it’s not. Ever heard of just breaking one law at a time?”

“Nope. Hana?” Freya passes the joint into the backseat, and Hana takes a puff.

That’s when we hear the sirens, and see the flashing lights hit the back of our car.

…The stolen car, with someone smoking weed in it. Plus, I’m not drunk or anything, but the legal limit in New York is like half a drink, so I’m definitely over.

“Shit,” Freya hisses next to me, sobering up a bit pretty instantly.

“Fuck!” Hana blurts.

I glance at Freya, she glances at me. And I’m reminded why it is we’ve been best friends for the last eleven years through all sorts of shit.

“How far are we willing to take this?” I say tersely to the whole car.

Hana stares at me in the rear-view window. “What the fuck does that even mean?”

“Well, it’s probably best if we don’t get pulled over in a stolen car. How far?—”

“Ride or die,” Freya mutters next to me, her throat working. “As far as it takes.”

Hana looks grim as she reaches into her bag and pulls out a freaking gun.

“Yeah, so, Kenzo likes me to carry this, but I don’t exactly have a permit for it. So…”

“So that just made our decision much easier,” I announce, my hand tightening on the wheel as I reach for the shifter. I glance back at Hana through the mirror again. “Your brother is not going to be happy with me, though.”

I slam the pedal down. All three of us suck in our breath as the car speeds forward into the night.

11

KENZO

Where the FUCK is she.

I glare angrily at my watch as I pace the sidewalk outside the church in Brooklyn—the venue for this evening’s fucking wedding.

At least, it’s supposed to be. Except this shitshow is due to start in half an hour and no one’s seen or heard from my blushing bride-to-be in almost twenty-four hours.

Or my sister, for that matter.

I can easily see Annika going AWOL on purpose, just to give me and this entire situation the finger like the petulant child she is. But it’s not like my sister to go radio silent like this.

Black thoughts circle and swirl through my head.

It’s been two weeks since the shooting on the roof of Sota’s building. He and Kir have agreed that there’s no telling who might have sent the guy. They’re both powerful men with lots of enemies. Given the fact that the shooter was a clear pro, with his fingerprints burned off and no dental records…yeah. Could have been anyone.

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