She circled me. “Six. Your silence should be louder than their voices. Don’t compete with their noise. Drown them in stillness.”
My breath deepened.
“Seven. Men talk too much when they’re nervous. Let them. They’ll reveal more than you ever need to ask.”
I closed my eyes for a second, feeling her words brand themselves beneath my skin.
“Eight. Always enter with the energy of a woman who knows her lover would die for her.”
My eyes fluttered open.
That one hit hard.
Because Ididknow.
Kenji would burn cities for me. Bleed countries. Slaughter his father. And that was a kind of power I hadn’t fully dared to hold.
Not until now.
“And nine. . .remember this. . .a room full of powerful men is just a room full of little boys who were never properly loved.”
My stomach flipped.
My blood surged.
“Are you ready, Nyomi?”
“Yes.”
“Then, it is time.”
Fuck. Am I going to pull this off?
Chapter twenty-two
The Journey
Nyomi
In no time I was out of the bedroom and downstairs. Once I made it to the main level, I followed Hiroko’s instruction and took my time getting there.
My heels clicked against the polished floors of Kenji's mansion like tiny gunshots.
The sound echoed through the otherwise silent hallway.
Heads turned.
Servants paused.
A tattooed guard at the corner of the hall saw me and then quickly adjusted his stance—shoulders back, gaze right to the floor.
I moved on past two guards in mid-conversation. When I got close, they fell silent. One nodded at me. The other hit his shoulder and spoke hushed sentences in Japanese.
A young maid froze mid-step, her eyes widening before she quickly bowed and stepped aside.
I could feel her gaze tickling my skin, sliding over the sway of my hips, maybe confused by my stilettos since no one else wore shoes in Kenji’s house.
Alright. I’ve got it so far.
