Page 60 of Emperor of Havoc

“Good luck,” I sign back, grinning, as she slips from the kitchen. Then I glance back at my phone, scowling at Takeshi’s messages.

Me

What do you really want?

Takeshi

I think I was fairly explicit just now.

Me

What ELSE.

Takeshi

Fine. What I want is for you to stop trying to box me the fuck out.

A shiver runs down my spine, part nerves, part anticipation. I remember my talk with Ryu this morning, establishing more…precautionswhen it comes to Takeshi and Ishida-kai inner circle business.

As in, he doesn’t get to be privy to things just because we’re married now.

I type back quickly, fingers steady despite the flutter in my chest.

Me

I have no idea what you’re talking about, husband.

His reply is almost instant.

Takeshi

You keep using that word. But we still haven’t consummated this thing.

Me

And we won’t.

The next message takes longer to come through, but when it does, it sends my heartrate skyrocketing.

Takeshi

Why don’t we stop playing this game where you pretend you don’t want me to fuck you. That you don’t crave me hunting you in the dark like prey and forcing you to take me with a hand around your silent throat, or perhaps a blade against your skin. You have dark preferences, princess. And I can tell you, ignoring them doesn’t make them go away. So here’s how this will go: no more games. You either tell me no right now, or else I push you into that dark place you seem to be simultaneously terrified of and desperate to get to.

I stare at the screen. The room feels smaller, the air heavier, as though his presence has seeped through the phone itself.

Before I can respond, Nina barges into the kitchen, her face pale.

“Kat!” she screams. I drop my phone to the table and spring to my feet in a panic. “It’s your dad.”

16

TAKESHI

The enginehums low and steady beneath me as I sit astride my motorcycle, fingers drumming on the handlebars. Outside the Mori compound, Tokyo stretches endlessly in all directions, a sea of lights and concrete.

For a long time, Kyoto, not Tokyo, was home. It’s where Dad first built the Mori-kai empire. Where Kenzo first went when he returned to Japan looking to connect with that side of his heritage, and where he bumped into Sota, an old friend of our dad’s who took Kenzo under his wing.

Our recent move to Tokyo is about power, about expanding an empire and laying down foundations here that will turn this into a dynasty. But ultimately, Kyoto will always be “home” to the Mori family. I know it’s where Kenzo and Annika want to start their family—one that they’re supposedly actively trying for these days.

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