Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
And somehow, that clarity felt like freedom.
"I do." I nodded slowly. "I understand."
He studied my face for a long time, and I wasn’t sure if he was searching for any doubt or hesitation.
I swallowed. "It took me a while today to even understand. Honestly. . .it really was spending time with your brother that opened my eyes to the reality of all of this."
His brow furrowed. "My brother talked to you about this?"
"Yes." With my free hand, I raised it to my face and squeezed his hand against my cheek. "And I want to be vulnerable with you too. The way you just were with me."
“Go ahead, Tora.”
“Demanding that you ask for my permission wasn’t just about power, it was about. . .well. . .I wanted to help carry the grief with you." I sighed. "I saw what you went through last night. Everything you carried after you tortured Sako and the others. Everything you faced. And I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to help shoulder it. . ."
Kenji closed his eyes.
He was still for a moment.
Just breathing. His hand still cradling my face, his chest rising and falling beneath my palm. And I watched the emotion move through him—the realization that someone wanted to carry his pain with him.
That I wanted to.
When he opened his eyes, they were watery. “Tora. . .”
I wanted to look away, but I kept my focus on him.
"You can help me carry the grief in other ways. Just by being here."
"I could do more."
"And you will. Hold me when I need you like you did last night and let me hold you." His thumb stroked my jaw. "Let me smell you. Breathing you calms me. Kissing you gives me peace. Loving you gives me purpose." He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to mine. "That's enough, Tora. That alone, eases everything."
To prove it, he leaned forward and pressed his face into my neck. Right into the curve where my pulse beat.
He inhaled.
Long.
Slow.
Deep.
Like he was drawing my soul into his lungs.
My eyes fluttered shut. My hand slid from his chest to the back of his head, fingers curling into his damp hair.
He exhaled against my skin, and the warmth spread down my neck, across my collarbone, and settled in my chest like a second heartbeat.
"See?" he murmured against my throat. "Peace."
I held him there.
Let him breathe me in some more.
Let the moment be quiet and full.
My heart swelled.
The dragon-shadow watched us.
Still.
Silent.
Present.
"Kenji. . .”
“Yes.”
“I also realized something else today."
He lifted his head from mine. “What did you realize, Tora?”
“I was trying to teach you when I should have been learning. I was making demands like I had the authority to make them." Heat rose to my cheeks. "I made a mistake this morning. I shouldn’t have."
"No." Firmer now. He lifted my hand from his chest and pressed his lips to my knuckles. "We're human, Tora. We all make mistakes."
"But I don't want to make mistakes with you. I want to do this right."
“That’s impossible.” His thumb brushed my jaw. "We're human. The best parts of us are our imperfections and mistakes."
I leaned into his touch and let his words settle into my bones.
"You are so smart. So intelligent. So vital to me." His hand slid to the back of my neck, cradling it. "And today I learned from the Lion that many of the spies in that pyre were also his spies too. Apparently, the extra pay off from my father wasn’t enough. They got greedy and started feeding the Lion information too."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"You exposed them, Tora. You. Your presence. Your questions. Your instincts. That makes you even more important than you ever were."
I tried to process this.
"Which is why. . .I am glad you did make a demand.”
“Why?”
Kenji moved his hands away from me and then gestured to the 4D Tokyo. “I sit on my throne and control this empire.”
I looked back at it—this massive, bustling city, and now understood that we weren’t just eating in his war room for romance or aesthetics either.
He was using every facet to speak to me—our surroundings, his attire, even the food, probably even the performance.
I took in the space with new eyes, and he waited, clearly wanting me to understand it all on my own. I stared at the red cord draped across the buildings.
In the performance, the woman had stood between two forces, not choosing either—trying to exist in the middle.
And that was what destroyed her. Not the swords. The impossibility of being torn in two.
I lifted my gaze back to Kenji, understanding settling into my bones.
This wasn’t about men.
It was about worlds.
And I was the woman caught between them.
I looked back at him. “You want me to choose you and your world. Leave mine.”
“You can’t be on both sides anymore, Tora. You’re my Heart now.”