"The Fox has had access to her since she was four just like me." I said it quietly, but the words still cut.
Reo nodded slowly. "I know."
"He could have been grooming her for years. Decades."
"It's possible."
"Hina might not even have known she was his spy." I ran a hand through my damp hair. "He could have manipulated her sothoroughly that she thought she was protecting me while feeding him information.”
"Or she knows exactly what she's doing." Reo's voice went flat, his grief hardening into something colder. "Either way, it could be her. It really could be."
“Nyomi never said anything definite. She just got a feeling. My thoughts were that. . .Nyomi figured she might be hiding something.” I sighed. “My words. Not hers.”
“Hina. . .hiding something.”
We stood there, two men who'd built an empire on trust and violence, now facing the possibility that someone we cared for had betrayed us both.
The uguisu called again.
Ho-ho-kekyo.
Even the bird's song sounded mournful now.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "I trust Nyomi’s instincts. Spy or not, let’s figure out what Hina is hiding.”
Reo nodded. “We'll monitor her movements. Get proof before we act. We could be wrong."
"We could be." But his tone said he didn't believe it.
Neither did I.
I watched Reo's face—the exhaustion, the grief, the way he was barely holding himself together.
The air between us thickened. Even the ocean held its breath.
Reo had been talking—words circling, details stacking—but none of them werethe thing.
The reason he’d come.
The reason his hands trembled just enough for me to notice.
I’d given him time.
Too much fucking time.
The Dragon inside me uncoiled, impatient. My pulse slowed, heavy in my throat, and the silence that followed felt like a blade hovering an inch above my skin.
My voice came out low. “That’s enough.”
Reo’s Adam’s apple bobbed once.
I undid my arms and held my hands at my side. “Whatever it is, stop walking me toward it. Just fucking say it.”
A gust of wind caught his tie again, snapping it across his chest like a flag in surrender. His eyes flicked to mine—hesitant, apologetic.
And I knew then that whatever he was about to say would scorch everything I’d just experienced on the beach.
His hand went to his pocket, pulling out his phone.
