Page 78 of Bitter Prince
“Because you are a giant,” I retorted dryly.
“So are you,” he snapped. “In case you forgot, we’re the same height. I bet the locals think you’re a freak with how you tower over them.”
I didn’t bother answering him. Clearly, I got my height from our father. My ancestry was evident on my face, but there were little things like the hue of my skin, the shade of my eyes, and my height that betrayed my mixed heritage. The traditional members of the Yakuza hated it, and hence ensured my cousin took over rather than respecting my grandfather’s wishes.
They would regret that eventually. Itsuki was all talk but no execution. He wanted to take over the world, yet in the process, he’d managed to lose more territories than he acquired.
The only reason he still had the drug business was due to my connections, and he knew if he fucked me over, they would disappear. I also knew he continued to traffic women, and I was working on shutting that line of business down. I just had to dismantle enough of his empire to make him weak and hated by his men, then that would be history.
Once in the back of the Yakuza compound, I made my way into the house and straight into my cousin’s bedroom. The same one that my grandfather once occupied, except it looked nothing like it anymore. Itsuki had had it modernized. It looked like any other bedroom in the western world with slightly less taste.
“Get into the fucking safe and let’s bolt,” Dante hissed. “This bedroom is giving me the creeps. That fucker probably has some serious orgies going on here. I’ll have to take a bleach shower.”
Over the years, I’d explored every nook and cranny of my grandfather’s place. I knew every corner like the back of my hand. That included any place where my fucked-up cousin may have stashed his secrets.
I made my way to the painting of our family dating back three generations. Lanterns floated over Ojisan’s Zen garden, the midnight-blue sky above it. It made me think of Reina and her bucket list.
“After we’re done here, I want to make a stop,” I told Dante.
“Where?”
“The market,” I answered, removing the painting off the wall. The locals here had them for sale, and I wanted to check that item off my cinnamon girl’s bucket list.
He let out a sardonic breath. “You want to go shopping?”
“Yep.”
I didn’t turn around, but I could feel his gaze burning a hole in the back of my skull. He tended to do that when he suspected I was holding back.
Ignoring my brother and his suspicion, I focused on breaking into the safe. It took me three tries to figure out my cousin’s combination—0401, the month and day of his birthday. April Fool’s Day. How fucking appropriate! The fucker was a fool through and through.
I reached for the small metal box with the custom-made lock, the second layer of security. My grandfather had it installed to double the protection of the important paperwork stored inside.
It took me a few minutes to pry it open, and—
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“What?”
“It’s empty.”
“That seems odd,” Dante remarked, pushing his hands into his pockets. We were both dressed in suits so we’d blend in with the rest of these motherfuckers that lingered around. It was convenient that my cousin tended to leave brainless idiots behind to watch his home. Though the ones he took along with him weren’t much better.
“It means that he either has another location where he stores documents, or he has nothing of value to store here.”
“Or he went digital.” We shared a glance, both of us aware how clueless Itsuki really was. He could barely power up a computer. “Yeah, that was a dumb thought,” my brother admitted.
The sound of voices filled the compound and we both tensed. Quickly closing the interior safe, then the outer one, I hung the painting back over it and vowed one day I’d fucking take it. My idiot cousin probably wouldn’t even know if I swapped it for a fake.
Hmm, that was actually a good idea. I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of it. I’d commission a painter to make me a fake.
“Why are you taking a picture of it?” Dante questioned.
I didn’t bother responding, already halfway out the door. We’d just left the compound when Itsuki’s car turned the corner, missing us.
32
REINA
