Page 87 of Emperor of Wrath

He chuckles and then winces, bringing his hand to the bandage covering his healing wound on his side.

“So. Kyoto,” he grunts.

I roll my eyes. “Kir’s orders.”

“He’s not wrong, you know,” Damian growls. “I mean he filled me in on all the shit I’ve missed. New York is too fucking hot right now. When you don’t know where your enemy is coming from, or even who the fuck they are, you don’t stand your ground and risk getting shot in the back. You retreat and regroup.”

“That’s not my style.”

He rolls his eyes. “Go to Kyoto, Anni. Seriously. I may not like Kenzo, but I respect him. He’s a prick, but he’s a man of his word. And this truce means as much to him and Sota as it does to us. He won’t let someone take you out and potentially destroy that fragile peace.”

I scowl and look down at my hands.

“But also,” he grunts. “The second they spring me from here, I’m flying to Kyoto so I can keep an eye on the fucker who’s decided to play house with you.”

I grin at him. “For real?”

“Not even a question,” he mutters.

I smile as I reach over and squeeze his hand. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go. But do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Resist your urge to fuck things up and just focus on healing?”

Damian grins. “I think I can do that.”

“Good. If you don’t, I’ll shoot you again myself.”

Later, I stop by Taylor and Drazen’s to talk to my sister about what’s going on.

“You shouldn’t have been there and been put in danger like that?—”

“Anni.” Taylor smiles quietly as she takes my hand. “I know you say your life is messy and complicated. But, I mean…” She turns and nods across her and Drazen’s ridiculous palace of an apartment, where her husband is standing on one of the balconies high above Central Park on a business call.

“I married into messy and complicated. And danger.” She turns back to me. “You don’t have to worry about me, ever. With him?” She smiles as she looks at Drazen again with this look of sheer…

Love.

Joy.

Contentment.

A synchronicity with another human that I’ve never felt.

“I’m always safe with him. And,” she eyes me, “I want you to be safe, too. If that means going to Kyoto until things cool down here?” She shrugs. “Then I think you should go enjoy a little well-earned vacation in Japan.”

“It’s just…” My face scrunches up. “I just feel like we only just found each other.”

She smiles as she pulls me close and hugs me tight.

“Me too,” she whispers. “But if it’s all right with you, I’d like to continue having what we only just got back to. And that requires you remaining alive.”

I hug her fiercely. Drazen comes back inside and I hug him, too, and make him promise to keep my twin safer than safe.

Then it’s home to pack.

And then, it’s off into the unknown yet again.

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