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)
When she strolled away, she brushed her fingers along my arm as she passed, trying to remind me of every night I used to need her.
But again. . .there wasn’t the usual effect.
The tiger already had a grip on me.
Meanwhile, Kazimir’s eyes followed her as she departed. “Is that not your type?”
“Not this evening.”
He put his view back on me. “Then, make sure she’s in my suite after this meeting.”
It was an order and not a respectful request.
Many men had died for less.
I lowered to my seat.
Reo and Hiro sat down next to me.
My Claws and Fangs went to the back of the room and stood guard.
“This woman being in my room,” Kazimir leaned his head to the side. “Will that be a problem?”
I placed my hands on the table. “I’m not sure you should sample a woman of her nature.”
“Why not?”
“She’s phenomenal in seduction, I use her to flip top politicians and judges.”
“You use a woman to bully politicians?” He dipped the otoro into wasabi. “Why not violence?”
“Pleasure can be much more lethal.”
The Lion laughed. “You’ve always been poetic, Dragon.”
His men snickered.
When the Lion finished laughing, he stared at the wasabi-coated otoro. “Have the woman in my room this evening.”
“She will be there.”
“Good. And. . .add two other women too.”
“You want three women in your room this evening?”
“Yes. It’s Thursday.” The Lion ate the otoro.
His men snickered again.
I stared into the Lion’s eyes and he stared into mine.
Neither of us blinked.
When he swallowed, his expression went neutral. “We should begin.”
“We should.”
He twisted the chopsticks in mid-air and looked at them. “Kenji, I am convinced that you do not pray enough.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And what tells you that I don’t pray enough, Kazimir?”
He put his view back on me. “Because I am sitting in front of you, my friend.”
Yes. This meeting will be a lot of bullshit.
Chapter seven
The Lion
Kenji
I don’t pray enough. . .
That wasn’t a line meant to provoke a laugh. It was a veiled threat. A warning cloaked in theatrical bullshit.
I stared at Kazimir.
I don’t pray enough because what? Now a demon sits in front of me?
The Lion didn’t shift as he watched me.
His men didn’t move either, although I was sure that they were ready to attack.
The air thickened between us.
A waitress approached my side, head bowed, and holding a tray full of sushi.
I waved her off. I no longer had an appetite.
Here we were.
Two monsters.
Two empires.
One room barely containing us.
It was time to get on with it.
I gave the Lion a smile. “How can I help you during your. . .surprise visit to my country.”
“Your country. . .” Kazimir slid the chopsticks between his fingers, plucked a piece of sushi from the curve of the woman's hip and brought it to his mouth.
Chewing, he looked up at the ceiling.
The gold dragon stretched wide, its wingspan infinite, its mouth open in eternal roar, fangs sharp and merciless.
Kazimir swallowed. “Dragons.”
I raised one eyebrow.
He lowered his view from the ceiling and put it on me. “Dragons are big. They fly. Fire pours out of their huge jaws.”
Where the fuck is this going?
“Very bold creatures,” Kazimir turned to Sasha. “Dragons hoard treasure too. Right?”
Sasha nodded slowly. Those damn silvery grey eyes were unreadable.
A shadow passed through the far side of the room.
One of my runners, lean and forgettable by design, hurried behind Kazimir’s soldiers.
No one even looked his way.
A few seconds later, the runner slipped beside Reo and handed him a thick, blood-red card edged in white ink.
What’s that?
Reo gave the card a single glance then slid it into the inner pocket of his jacket without a word.
I put my view back on Kazimir.
“Aww,” Kazimir chuckled. “Dragons are fun creatures.”
Then his laughter died.
He placed his chopsticks down on the table with a delicate clink. And turned that glacier stare back onto me. “But dragons are myths.”
I leaned back in my chair.
“Imaginary. Nonexistent in reality. No true threat,” Kazimir sneered. “Not like lions.”
To my left, Hiro stiffened and his jaw ticked once.
To my right, Reo exhaled like he was preparing for war.
I crossed my arms over my chest, letting Kazimir have his little theater moment but my mind was already assessing—how fast I could reach Kazimir, how clean the kill would be, whether Sasha would shoot before I shattered the Lion’s throat.
More importantly, I calculated the aftermath—how long until the Bratva came for my head and flattened the city.
And only after all of that, did I decide to speak. “Kazimir, did you come to Tokyo to educate me on various creatures? If you did, you wasted a flight.”
“Do you sleep comfortably in bed at night?”
“I do.”
“Careful,” Kazimir held up one finger. “Comfort breeds weakness and weakness invites predators.”
“Then let’s not confuse comfort with control, Kazimir.” My smile widened. “I sleep well because my enemies die screaming. Because the air outside these walls carries my name like gospel. That isn’t comfort, that’s dominance.”