Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
I turned to face him fully. "So those twins could be yours?"
"They could."
"Or Kenji's."
"Also possible."
My pulse kicked up. "Is there. . .anyone else?"
Hiro's jaw tightened. "I think Kiko has slept with our father too, but Kenji doesn’t believe it."
The hallway tilted.
Behind me, I heard fabric shift—one of the twins moving, probably crossing his arms. Then another soft sound, like air being pushed through teeth.
I widened my eyes. “She slept with your father too?"
"Yes. The Fox."
“How do you know this?”
Hiro glanced back at the twins.
I looked at them.
Yuki crossed his arms over his chest. "The Claws watch the Fox."
Aki's jaw tightened. "For the past three years, Kiko has visited him a lot in the middle of the night."
"And when she leaves the hospital—" Yuki's mouth curved into something cold.
"—her clothes look disheveled." Aki finished, his tone flat. "Hair, too."
My stomach dropped.
The implications hit me all at once—Kiko sleeping with three men in the same family, positioning herself to claim whichever one would give her the most power, the most security, the most status.
"So. . .” I turned back to Hiro. “Could Kiko be a spy?"
"Of course." Hiro's expression didn't change. "None of us have any doubt that she goes back to our father with information, which is why when she told Kenji she was pregnant, he moved her out of Tokyo. And put her under 24-7 watch."
"Could Kiko have been the one trying to send messages to the Fox on this island?"
Hiro shook his head. "Kiko is so untrustworthy that Reo has a secret special team that monitors her every move. He’s got a spy in her crew and her entire staff is Kenji’s Ears. We know that she's been desperate to get a phone—no doubt to call our father. However. . ."
I quirked my brows. "What?"
"Kiko would want Kenji to win this war, so even if she got in contact with him, she wouldn’t share too much."
"Why?"
"Think about it." Hiro's voice went quieter. "If her kids are Kenji’s and the Fox is out of the way, her status is much higher. She becomes the mother of the Dragon's heirs. Untouchable. Wealthy beyond measure. The most powerful woman in the continent of Asia. But if the Fox wins. . ."
I leaned my head to the side. "What happens?"
"Then she's nothing but a whore with a dead man’s twins." His tone was brutally matter-of-fact. "And honestly, he would be like a lion in the wild."
I frowned. "What do you mean like a lion?"
Behind me, Yuki made a soft sound—dark, knowing.
"When the lion takes over a new pride, he kills the alpha male—" Aki's voice dropped lower.
"—he kills the alpha’s cubs too." Yuki finished.
Ice flooded my veins.
I stared at Hiro. "Your father would kill Kiko's kids if they're Kenji's?"
"Easily.”
“But, those are his grandkids.”
"Doesn't matter." Hiro's expression went cold. "You have to understand something about my brother and my father. They're not just seen as dangerous gangsters in all of Asia. People believe they're. . .something else. Something mystical."
I parted my lips. "Mystical?"
"The Fox survived a bomb that should have killed him." Hiro's voice dropped. "Walked out of the wreckage without a scratch. Now, half the underworld treats him like he's immortal. Like he's God. Other organizations throughout Asia don't just fear him—they worship him. Many have statues of his face next to altars."
What the fuck?
Behind me, one of the twins shifted.
"And Kenji?" I asked quietly.
"The Dragon." Hiro's jaw tightened. "People see him the same way. The things he's survived, the enemies he’s killed at times with his bare hands, the many he’s burned alive, the way he moves through violence like it can't touch him, the legends that follow him—it's not just reputation. It's belief. Faith. People think he carries something. . .otherworldly that he not only got from his father, but from his mother too."
My chest constricted as I thought of the animal shadows in the hallway’s paintings.
Hiro continued, "Even if the Fox kills my brother—even if he wins this war—if those twins are Kenji's sons, people will treat them like they carry that same mystical spirit. That dragon legacy. They'll look to those boys as the rightful heirs. As if the Fox is just keeping the throne warm for them."
"And that takes attention away from your father."
"Exactly." Hiro's eyes glinted. "Grandsons or not, the Fox can't have people believing Kenji's bloodline still walks the earth. Can't have two baby boys growing up with everyone whispering that they inherited the Dragon's power. His mystique. His destiny."
Ice crawled up my spine. "So he'd kill them to erase Kenji completely."
"Not just kill them. He’d do it in the most public and brutal way."
I shivered. “Little babies?”
“Yes.” Hiro's tone went flat. "And he would make it look like mercy. Like he tried to save them, but they were too weak. Too human. He'd destroy the legend along with the bloodline."