Page 122 of Emperor of Lust

I whip my head around, a shiver chasing down my spine as a familiar voice comes from the shadows, smooth and cold.

Miyamoto steps into view, standing on a flat, unburned piece of what was the top floor of the building across from me. He’s watching us cruelly, his eyes glinting with dark satisfaction.

“Youmotherfucker,” I hiss, voice trembling with rage. “You traitorous, backstabbingmotherfucker!”

Miyamoto just smiles, tilting his head as he contemplates me.

“What the hell do you want?” I yell.

He chuckles, taking a slow step to the edge and peering down into the darkness. He looks back up, his gaze drifting between me and the girl. “Tokyo,” he growls. “I want Tokyo. I want to be the last man standing when the dust settles.”

I clench my jaw, bitterness rising in me like poison. “I thought you wereretiring,” I hiss. “Pledging your empire to the Mori-kai, in return for my father helping you when you were younger.”

He raises an eyebrow, smirking. “I did say that, didn’t I?” he murmurs. He sighs. “That’s the thing about people when they’ve already decided they have an enemy. They don’t see anything else. They put blinders on. And they welcome help wherever it may come from.”

Miyamoto smiles as he spreads his arms. “Your family was so hungry for Tokyo. Meanwhile Kolya was desperate to defend his empire and his city. All you both needed was enough fuel, and a match to light the whole thing on fire.”

“You’re insane,” I whisper, my voice tight with fury.

He chuckles, dark and mocking. “No. Simply thorough. Strategic. I know how to play the long game—how to play the right pieces at the right time.” He shrugs. “Hiring men to attack you in my home and blaming the Ishida-kai. Encouraging you to buy this building, lying firmly within Kolya’s territory—a move he could only,wouldonly, see as an act of aggression that required a response. Of course, then Kolya called for that ridiculous cease-fire and I had to get more aggressive in my approach. But now…well… Here we are.”

My God. He’s orchestrated everything.

He smiles at me. “Please. Go ahead. Tell me Damian will come save you, or that I won’t get away with this.”

“He will,” I spit, glaring death at him. “And you won’t.”

Miyamoto’s smile widens, his eyes gleaming. “Ah, but that’s the beauty of it, Hana. Someone actuallywillcome—for one of you. And when they do, they’ll save the one they want, letting the other die.”

He gestures to the plank the girl and I are sitting on.

“Whoever comes will have to make a choice. They can save you…but if they do, she’ll fall.” He points to the girl, who’s staring at him, pale and tense. “Or they can saveher, andyouwill fall.”

My stomach twists, the dread settling heavy and cold. I look at the girl, see the fear in her wide eyes, and I know he’s right. Remove the weight from one side of the scale, and the other side drops.

“And I’ll get what I’ve always wanted,” he says mildly. “Tokyo. Power. Control. Whatever happens here tonight, one side will have killed someone the other side holds very dear, pitting the Mori-kai and the Ishida-kai against each other until they’re both ashes. And when they’re gone, I’ll be the one left standing.”

My throat tightens, rage boiling inside me. “You’re a monster,” I spit.

He just laughs, unbothered. “I’m a survivor. In the end, survivors do what they must.”

I want to scream, to fight, to make him hurt for all the pain he’s caused. But all I can do is sit here, trapped, as he smiles that cold, mocking smile.

He takes one last look at me, his eyes glinting. “And now…” He smiles. “We wait.”

He turns away, his footsteps echoing in the silence as he disappears back into the shadows, leaving me alone with the girl, heavy silence and the weight of darkness settling over us.

I close my eyes, trying to block out the sound of the board creaking under me, trying to hold onto something, anything, that can keep the fear away. I think of Damian, his face, his strength, his fire. He’s out there. I have to believe he’ll come for me.

But as the silence settles in, and darkness closes around us, I’m not sure belief is enough.

38

DAMIAN

I callFreya the second I leave the restaurant.

“So was he there when you?—”

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