Page 75 of Emperor of Lust

For all the barriers we’ve broken through, this one remains—a last ghost of her past. She still can’t bring herself to sleep in a bed with me. We did try earlier tonight, and she made a heroic effort to look like she was fine. But it was painfully clear she wasn’t.

We’ll get there. Maybe we won’t. Either way, the fact that I’m saying shit like “we” speaks volumes.

Speaks to a reality I’m still not sure how to process, and never expected.

She’s so beautiful. So strong and yet so delicate…

A wave of protectiveness rolls over me as I watch her chest rise and fall, and I don’t even realize I’m still on the phone until Kir’s tone on the other end sharpens.

“Are you hearing me?”

I exhale and turn away from Hana, the moment shattered.

“Yeah,” I growl quietly. “I hear you.”

“I don’t care if Prescott is a douchebag, Damian. Both the Mori family and ours had plans to work with Edo Analytics. Your little stunt is putting more eyes on us than we need right now.”

“You can still work with them,” I drawl unhurriedly, leaning into my irritation. “I bet they’d bethrilledfor the business.”

“Damian.” Kir’s voice tightens. “You put one of their senior analysts in a fucking coma.”

I scoff, enjoying the memory—the feeling of Prescott’s facial bones breaking, of releasing all the anger I’d felt simmering just below the surface.

“This isnotwhy I sent you to Japan,” Kir hisses, voice icy.

Something inside me snaps. I stalk to the bathroom, half shutting the door so as not to wake Hana, my restraint wavering. “Then whydidyou send me here, Uncle?” I challenge, my voice dark. “You know what I am. You know what Ido.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line.

Yeah… Kirdoesknow who and what I am. He’s probably the only reason I learned to remotely cage those urges—learned to assimilate into normal society and channel my violent tendencies in productive ways.

Well, productive if you happen to be a member of a Bratva family.

“Damian…” Kir says, softer now. “What happened back there?”

I grind my teeth, my eyes flickering toward the half-open door where Hana sleeps. I don’t want to tell him, but for once, I don’t think I can hide what I’m feeling. Kir’s quiet a few seconds, then he sighs.

“Can I take a guess?”

“Go ahead,” I snap.

“It’s Hana, isn’t it.”

I don’t answer. I don’t need to. The silence stretching between us is answer enough, and I know Kir hears it too.

“I never taught you how to deal with that, did I,” he murmurs quietly. “Balancing your rage and your impulses against having feelings for someone.”

“Why,” I growl. “Because you never excepted me to find someone to give a shit about?”

He exhales. “The men in our family rarely do,” he says quietly. “Trust me.”

Kir’s a striking, good-looking man. He’s tall, he’s built like a guy half his age, not to mention he’s phenomenally wealthy and one ofthemost powerful Bratva leaders in the world.

You’d expect a man like him to have women falling for him all the time. And, yes, they frequently do, but he’s not exactly trying to catch them. I don’t think Kir’s dated once the entire time I’ve known him. Annika and Freya used to joke that he was secretly into men. But that’s not it.

No, I think he’s right: the men of our familydon’ttypically find…

I glance across the darkness to Hana again, my heart beating a little faster.

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