Page 11 of Emperor of Havoc

“Papa, you haven’tfailedme?—”

“You know what I mean,Koshka. Women do not lead alone in the Yakuza world,” he continues, leaning back slightly, the subtle wince and tightening of his jaw betraying the pain in his back.

He never speaks of it beyond the clinical updates I force him to give me. But three months ago, doctors found the source of the pain he kept having in his back and neck: a tumor growing on his spine.

A tumor that’s threatening to kill, or at least cripple, the father I love.

A tumor trying to take down a man that no assassin or war ever has.

A tumor which is directly responsible for this whole goddamn conversation.

“You need a husband,Koshka.”

The “kitty-cat” nickname is less cute when it comes after those first four words this time. They sting, not because they’re unexpected, but because they’re inevitable. I’ve heard this argument before, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

“I don’t need a husband to lead,” I sign quickly, my hands calm despite the fire simmering in my chest.

“No, you don’t,” he says simply. “But the men who will answer to you need tobelievethat you do. The interconnected alliances that I’ve built across this city in the last twenty-five years do as well. This isn’t about your ability, Katarina. It’s about perception. If you want to lead effectively, you need to silence any doubts before they take root.”

“Right, because a woman can’t lead, obviously,” I sign. “Who knows what chaos I’d sew as a puppet to the whims of my weak,inferior hormones and emotions. I mean, God forbid I should get my period during a negotiation?—”

“Katarina.”

I trail off, dropping my hands and glaring at the desk between us. My anger isn’t directed at Papa. I know he’s on my side and dislikes the idea of me marrying for this reason as much as I do. But realityisreality.

“Do you have someone in mind?” I continue, raising my eyes to his, the walls of his office closing in with every word.

His expression remains unreadable. “Rodion Vorobev.”

I feel my stomach twist. “You can’t be serious.”

“He’s the heir to the Vorobev Bratva, Kat. Their operations in the Port of Tokyo are expanding rapidly. An alliance with them would fortify us against anything that might develop later with the Mori-kai.”

“Rodion is a notorious drunk,” I gesture quickly, my eyes desperate. “He’s been kicked out of virtually every bar and club in Tokyo, even with the power his family wields.”

My father sighs. “Yes, and that can be to your advantage.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re correct. He’s a drunk buffoon. That means he’s controllable—easily so, at that.”

“That doesn't change the fact that pretending a sloppy, vodka-swilling piece of shit like Rodion Vorobev is leading our organization is a better look that me, simply because I menstruate.”

Papa’s brow furrows. He was a rock, raising me on his own after my mother died when I was barely a baby. But still. I know there are aspects of our gender differences that throw him off at times.

…Which, obviously, I use when I have to.

“This isn’t about what you or Iwant, Katarina. It’s about what the Ishida-kaineeds.”

I stand abruptly, my chair scraping against the floor as I push it back. “Then find someone else to sacrifice on the altar of the Yakuza,” I sign coldly. “It won’t be me.”

He doesn’t stop me as I leave the office and storm to my bedroom before slamming the door shut behind me. For a moment I just stand there breathing heavily, my heart pounding in my chest, the weight of the conversation pressing down on me like a stone, heavy and suffocating as the walls of the estate.

I need an outlet. Something to distract me from the cage my life has become.

Before I know it, my phone is in my hand, and I’m opening the Venom app for the first time in a week, since I fled the Mori-kai initiation.

I should note that my father doesn’t know anything about the initiation and never will. Not just because I snuck into the Mori-kai’s base of operations in Tokyo, which I'll grant was beyond reckless.

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