Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Hmmm,” Hiro said. “Perhaps, we don’t count the second time. You swallowed.”
The twins coughed, yet I knew they were holding back laughter.
“You are disgusting!” Kiko spat.
“How am I disgusting? I didn’t tell you to swallow,” Hiro barked back. “Wait. Maybe I did tell you to swallow.”
The room erupted in low, strangled laughter—half of it shocked, the other half uncontainable.
I looked back at them.
They went dead silent.
I returned my attention to Kiko.
She was trembling now. Hands on her belly. Eyes darting. A woman used to control, realizing the script had flipped. Realizing a large amount of the audience no longer believed her performance.
And worst of all, realizing the spotlight was no longer hers.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “If the babies are fine, then you shouldn’t be standing in front of me.”
Kiko’s eyes shot daggers at Hiro. She looked like she wanted to rip out his tongue, but she turned back to me and tried again, this time with more sweetness in her voice. “Please. . .Kenji. . .can we speak alone? Away from her. Away from your brother.”
“We cannot.”
“But I have grievances, Kenji.”
“That is not my problem. You have a situation. Talk to Eiji. I put him in place to handle your needs.”
“I was taken from Kyoto in the middle of the night with no explanation—”
“Do you need an explanation?”
She blinked.
Once.
Slowly.
“No.” She cleared her throat.
I sneered. “Are you sure. . .Ear?”
A small sound escaped her. Almost a cough, but not quite. Another attempt to reset the mood. “I-I’m sure.”
“Good.” I leaned my head to the side. “Anything else?”
“They say you bombed Tokyo and you are going to war with the Fox.”
“Who says?”
“Everyone.” She trembled. “I do not have my phone. Your men took it from me.”
“You don’t need your phone to enjoy this island.”
“I have family in Tokyo. I want to check on them.”
“I see.” I let the pause stretch. “And what family of yours would still be in Tokyo? Reo made sure that your aunts and cousins were brought here.”
Her voice faltered. “Family does not mean blood. I have others. Plus. . .friends. Please. . .I would like a phone.”
“You will not get one.”
Her mouth pressed into a tight frown. Then she turned to Nyomi, and her voice grew cold. “Who is she?”
I didn’t owe Kiko a goddamn thing.
Not an explanation.
Not a name.
Not a breath of clarity to soothe her pride.
She wasn’t my wife and damned sure not my queen. She had always been only a tool I used for strategy and like all tools, her value diminished the second she stopped serving her purpose.
But I didn’t answer to her. Not when I was the one who’d pulled her out of a brothel in Hiroshima. Not when I’d put a roof over her head, trained her tongue to speak lies sweet enough to seduce diplomats, and taught her how to weaponize silence like a second skin.
But Nyomi would want me to answer. It appeared that she still did not know her place in my life. Nyomi didn’t ask the question out loud, but I saw it in the tilt of her chin.
Tora. . .you still doubt my feelings for you?
“Who is she?” I gestured toward my Tiger. “This is Nyomi. She is my girlfriend.”
Then I looked back at Kiko. “But to you, she is the Dragon’s Heart.”
Chapter twenty-seven
The Price for Insulting the Heart
Kenji
The moment I declared Nyomi the Dragon’s Heart, my entire war room changed.
Even the air bowed to the title.
I looked over my shoulder.
My Claws blinked, their expressions tightening not in disbelief, but recognition. Like soldiers who’d just been told where the crown jewel of the empire resided. Their backs straightened.
The Fangs glanced between themselves.
Many Scales shifted slightly on their heels.
Their eyes weren’t on Kiko anymore.
They were on Nyomi, and they were recalibrating strategy, redrawing their loyalty lines, and adjusting their future language when it came to her.
That was what declaring her my Heart did.
It made her powerful.
Instantly.
But what mattered most was that everyone got the message. She wasn’t a fuck toy. A temporary lover. She wasn’t a phase. She was my everything.
She was my heart.
I returned my view to the front and didn’t look at Nyomi yet. I didn’t need to. I could feel her. Still as stone, but vibrating with an internal quake. I could only imagine what was happening behind her eyes.
But I saw everyone else.
Kiko’s crew stiffened like they’d been slapped. Tet’s mouth opened slightly. One of the cousins tilted her head, confused. The other crossed her arms like she was gearing up for battle. They didn’t speak, but their faces said it all.
They hadn’t expected Nyomi to win.
They hadn’t expected her to even exist.
They thought Kiko was the closest any woman would ever get to my throne.
Fucking fools.
Kiko herself didn’t mask her reaction well. Her entire face said that her soul had been trampled on. Her hands were no longer resting on her stomach. They dropped to her sides, trembling in betrayal or rage.