Page 118 of Emperor of Lust

To the video of Freya, sitting under the Kyoto moon, oblivious to the danger looking right at her.

…DangerI’llbe responsible for pushing her closer to if I make another move toward this motherfucker.

Slowly, inhaling through my nose, I sink back into my chair.

“What are we going to discuss, then,” I mutter.

Kolya’s face is expressionless but something dangerous glints in his eyes as his jaw works. He steeples his hands in front of him, his cold gray eyes never leaving mine. “Where is she.”

My brow furrows. “Who?”

“I can assure you, Mr. Nikolayev,” Kolya says, his voice throbbing with malice, “I’m in no mood for games.”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

His nostrils flare. The veins in his neck throb.

“Where. Is. She,” he says icily in a measured, dangerous tone.

“I. Don’t. Fucking. Know. What. You’re?—”

The man across from me surges out of his seat so fast I can barely comprehend it and backhands me across the mouth.

I go knocking sideways, tipping over his glass and sending wine splattering across the white linen tablecloth, together with blood from my split lip. I snarl in rage and blink back stars. Kolya nods his chin past me and hands instantly grab me. I roar, bucking and twisting, but the men—four of them, I think—overpower me, slamming my cheek down on the table and grabbing my right hand. One of them yanks my arm out, splaying my fingers across the tablecloth.

“I’m not going to ask you again, Mr. Nikolayev,” Kolya growls quietly. The burst of violence and emotion is gone, and his face is back to being utterly calm, eyes lethally focused on me. He reaches into his suit jacket and slips out a small, vicious-looking knife.

Fuck me.That’s?—

“I don’t like the Bratva,” he says, his voice chillingly candid. “Frankly, I’m not particularly fond of the Yakuza either. Both tried to strangle me in the cradle.”

I grit my teeth. “And yet, youarethe Yakuza now.”

He shrugs. “Become what you hate, and you remove its power over you.”

He lifts the blade, letting the light catch it.

“I’m sure you’ve been in Japan long enough to know what atantoknife is, yes, Mr. Nikolayev?”

He slowly presses the edge of it against my pinky finger, right at the knuckle.

My jaw tenses.

“Your little friend, Takeshi Mori, recently took the pinky of an associate of mine.” His eyes glint coldly. “Notvery good for business, as you might guess.”

He trails the edge of the blade over my knuckle again.

“I’m not going to ask again. Where is she.”

“Who,” I snarl.

The blade cuts into my skin, blood instantly spurting out over the white linen beneath it. I grit my teeth, not making a sound as the blade sinks down against bone.

“I admire your stubbornness and resolve, Damian,” Kolya sighs. “But I can assure you, fromyearsof personal experience, all men break. Every. Single. One. No matter how tough they think they are, or how big they think their balls,allmen break under torture. So Iwillfind out what you’ve done with her eventually. The question is…”

He drags the blade through the cut he’s already made.

“How many appendages would you care to lose before I learn what you’re going to tell me anyway.”

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