Page 118 of Emperor of Havoc

“YOU are the ones keeping us from her!” I roar, making her take a step back as I lurch against my binds. “By keeping me here! She’s out there, and we arewasting fucking time!!”

“Fuck you!” Nina screams. She jams her hand into her pocket and yanks out two little white envelopes with gold trim. “Stop fucking lying, you manipulative psycho!”

She rips open one of the envelopes and yanks out a white card before shoving it in my face. I frown, my eyes struggling to read the too-close handwritten words in heavy black ink.

You’re mine.

My frown deepens as my eyes drag from the card to Nina’s furious face.

“What the fuck is this?”

“I found them in her room!” she snaps, her voice shaking. “Iknowthis is your doing!”

She jams the other card in my face. This one readsStill mine.

“Nina—”

I grunt as her hand slaps my face hard. “Where thefuckis my friend!!?” she screeches. “Where thefuckis?—”

“Nina.”

Kolya’s voice is low, but it silences her instantly. There’s a rawness in his eyes as he reaches down and plucks the cards from where Nina’s hurled them onto my lap.

He reads the cards, again and again, his eyes widening as they drag over the ink.

“I know this handwriting,” he says quietly.

His throat works as he pulls his phone out of his suit pocket. He thumbs through it, frowning, before he looks up at me.

“Is this your friend?” he murmurs, turning the phone around to face me.

My heart stops.

It’s Akira.

Akira as I remember him—young, cocky, and smug, standing beside a motorcycle with a lopsided grin on his face.

My throat tightens as I nod. “Yes,” I hiss.

Kolya exhales, his shoulders sagging slightly. He turns to his men. “Cut him loose.”

The guards exchange unsure glances.

“Now,” he snarls.

They move quickly, releasing me from the chair, but I don’t move, my eyes locked on Kolya.

“Your friend isn’t dead, Takeshi.”

Something claws inside me, choking my breath.

“That man,” Kolya says quietly, “is my brother. Jin Ishida.”

The room spins as the weight of his words crashes over me. “What the fuck did you just say?” I whisper.

Kolya’s eyes are tense as they meet mine.

“Can you walk?” he growls. “I need you to come with me right now.”

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