Page 85 of Emperor of Havoc

I watch as Furrcules finishes the outrageously priced steak I just gave him and then looks up at me hopefully.

“You understand that your ancestors were perfectly content with village goats and carrion, right?”

Furrcules makes a meowling sound and pads over to rub his nose against my leg.

“Couldn’t have a thing for fast food burgers, huh?” I sigh. “Not hotdogs? Had to be hundred-dollar an ounce steak?”

My new tiger friend butts my leg again with his head and then paws at my shoe.

“Bougie little bitch,” I smirk, reaching down to scratch under his chin. Furrcules drops his hind quarters and then sinks to the floor, apparently placated by head scritches for the time being.

I exhale again as my brows knit.

Replacing Katarina’s pills was…a choice. Maybe not agoodone. But?—

I glare into my glass.

Okay. Fine. It was a bad choice.

I know that. Somewhere deep down in the black pit where my morals used to be, there’s a faint, nagging whisper that what I did was wrong. But that’s the thing about me—I’m fully capable of recognizing my wrongs without an ounce of regret. And when it comes to the pills, if I’m being honest, Idon’tregret it. Not for a second.

It’s not what she thinks. Yes, I fucked with her birth control pills in the hopes she might end up pregnant. But not for the reason she believes.

Katarina sees betrayal lurking in every shadow, a conspiracy behind every move I make. And while I’d love to claim it’s because she’s paranoid, she’s…not entirely wrong.

The problem is that I havetwomotives, and they’re at war with each other. One of those motives just threw water in my face. The other?

The other is lying in a hospital bed.

I set the glass down and push to my feet, the leather of my chair creaking in protest. Time to pay a visit toYuki no Akuma.

AKA, my father-in-law.

The hospital is quiet,the halls dimly lit as day edges toward evening. Kolya’s private suite is on the top floor. The guards outside his door eye me warily as I approach. But thankfully, the dust-up with Katarina this morning hasn’t resulted in her telling everyone to give me the cold shoulder again.

…Notyet, at least.

The guards still exchange uncertain glances, though. I exhale sharply.

“In case it’s slipped your fucking minds,” I say. “Kolya-sama and I are nowfamily.”

I resist the urge to add in a line about doing my bit to make him a grandfather.

Restraint, self. We’ve established that tampering with your wife’s birth control without her knowledge or consent is…bad. Yes?

My eyes narrow on them. “Move,” I growl.

They glance at each other again, but then step aside, allowing me entry. The door clicks shut behind me.

Kolya looks tired, propped up in his hospital bed. But his eyes are as sharp as ever as they narrow on me.

“Takeshi,” he says, his voice rough but steady. “To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

“We’ve gone so long without some quality son-in-law/father-in-law bonding. I thought we could rectify that.”

Kolya gives me a slightly annoyed look.

“Are you actually used to your charm and bullshit working on people?”

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