Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 66993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
This killer had chosen performance. But he’d picked the wrong stage. With Reo on his trail, the real show would begin.
I nodded. “Keep me updated on everything.”
Hiro gave a dissatisfied grunt and returned to the wall, sucking on his lollipop.
I looked back out the window one last time, at the city stretching into shadows and neon, and thought again of Nyomi—of how her presence had cracked something open in me.
Somewhere beneath my streets, a monster was wrapping gifts in gold ribbon, waiting for a reaction.
He’d get one.
Just not the one he expected.
Because now Reo was watching.
And Reo didn’t just catch killers. He dismantled them. Thought by thought. Thread by thread. Until there was nothing left but answers—and blood.
Reo’s voice cut into my thoughts. “And the second point.”
I eyed him. “Yes, what’s the other thing we should talk about?”
“Before your meeting with the Lion, we should try to brainstorm why he is doing a surprise visit in the first place.”
I sighed.
The name alone pushed pressure into my chest.
The fucking Lion.
Russia’s new Bratva King.
While Japan belonged to my father and me, the Lion—Kazimir Solonik sat on a much larger, bloodier throne, overseeing many parts of the world. Kazimir had inherited this position after his uncle Igor stepped down.
And he ruled differently. Where Igor trafficked influence through quiet brutality and assessed silence, his nephew came with explosions.
Cities leveled.
Ports seized.
Enemies erased.
The Lion didn’t just want power.
He wanted everyone to remember how he took it.
And now, with all the Italian ports under Bratva control, he held the keys to the most lucrative drug trade in the world. Every ounce of powder moving into Europe and Asia came through his gates. The English, the French, the Albanians, even the Germans—all had to kneel if they wanted in.
He named the price.
He controlled the flow.
And if you didn’t buy from him?
You didn’t buy at all.
Unless, of course, you got creative.
Which we had. . .
Backdoor shipments from Marseille with the Corsican. Quiet dealings with Vietnamese syndicates who didn’t yet fear the Bratva’s reach. We’d scaled back our Bratva imports—only by twenty percent, enough to stay under the radar.
My gaze remained fixed on the window. “Do you think the Lion knows what we’re doing?”
“I don’t like coincidences,” Reo cleared his throat. “We reduced orders from his ports. It’s down 20% to not make it too obvious. We also just secretly rerouted through France. And now, out of nowhere, the Lion shows up in Tokyo without warning.”
I tilted my head. “You think he came for that small percentage?”
Reo shrugged. “With men like him, it is not the quantity. It is the insult.”
Hiro cracked the lollipop between his teeth. “So… we kill him.”
Silence spread for a beat too long.
I turned to him. “Hiro.”
He lifted his gaze. “We’ve done it before. Important men with empires. Lions bleed, don’t they?”
Reo let out a dry chuckle. “The Lion also has the nuclear codes.”
My jaw tightened.
That was the real problem.
The Lion didn’t just command men, ports, and drugs.
He commanded fear.
And the codes to Russia’s nukes weren’t symbolic for the Lion. He would use them. Everyone at the table knew it. The Americans knew it. The Chinese. Even the Vatican sent a whisper through the grapevine: Pray the Lion doesn’t get bored.
He was cocky, yes—young and too confident in his inherited power—but he was also a psycho.
A demented psycho.
The kind that smiled while entire cities and people turned to dust behind him.
“The Lion won’t make a move here,” I said aloud, trying to convince myself as much as them. “Not in Japan. Not without cause.”
Reo crossed his arms. “He doesn’t need cause. He just needs to feel disrespected.”
“I haven’t truly disrespected him.”
“Yet,” Hiro licked his lips.
I turned back to the window.
If the Lion came to start a war, I would be willing to burn him before he roared. However, there were levels to war, and as much as I hated to admit it, we weren’t ready to battle him.
Not yet.
“If the opportunity ever arises,” I looked back at them. “we kill him.”
Reo lifted a brow. “You’re sure?”
“One day, yes. If the moment ever comes clean—no collateral, no fallout, no nuclear smoke—then yes. We take him out.”
Hiro’s grin curved like a blade. “Now that’s a meeting I’ll look forward to.”
“But not today,” I said.
“Why not?” Hiro asked.
“Because I’m not starting a war with the fucking Lion over 20% of drug shipments.”
“At least not yet,” Hiro added.
I ignored that.
The air in the room shifted.
“You’ll both be in the room,” I said. “Watch the Lion, but stay silent, even if he is disrespectful. Let him believe he’s being entertained.”
“And if he’s here for blood?” Hiro asked.
“Then we show our teeth. But we don’t bite first.”
Reo nodded slowly, eyes narrowing in thought. “He’s young, yes. But not stupid. If he brought bombs to Tokyo, he would’ve dropped them by now. He’s here for diplomacy. . .at least on the surface.”