It loaded.
Nyomi leaving the kitchen, the food cart visible behind her with the breakfast trays. She was laughing, probably at something Hiro had said.
Her face was lit up with joy.
The angle on this photo made my stomach turn. I could see the edge of a door in the frame. The spy had been peeking through a crack, watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to capture her face.
This traitor had been in my house this morning. In my kitchen. Watching my Tiger be vulnerable, safe, and completely fucking unaware that she was being hunted.
"Kenji—"
“Any more messages?”
“Yes.”
“Show me.” My voice was barely human. The Dragon was speaking now.
He swiped again.
This next photo was closer. A shot of Nyomi's face, captured mid-laugh. Her eyes crinkled at the corners. Her mouth open.
So beautiful.
So alive.
So exposed.
The caption beneath made my vision tunnel:
Kenji's Tiger. Many are now calling her, the Dragon’s Heart. Right now, this is his biggest weakness.
My breath stopped.
The intimacy of it was a violation that made me want to rip the piece of shit apart with my bare hands.
Fortunately, my father hadn't received any of these messages. My hackers had intercepted everything before it reached him.
But the spy knew she'd burrowed so deep into my heart that I'd claimed her with a word that meant everything.
And the spy was trying to tell my father.
Trying to hand him the perfect weapon to destroy me.
Cold terror crashed through me.
For all my father knew, all his spies were dead or captured. He might be sitting in his bunker beneath Tokyo wondering why he'd lost contact with his entire network hidden within mine.
But the moment he found out about Nyomi—the moment he learned I'd claimed a woman, loved her, given her my heart—he'd come for her just like he'd come for Nura.
And he would kill her with no mercy.
My hands were shaking so badly I wasn't sure I could hold the phone if Reo handed it to me. “Did the spy try to send more?”
“Yes. There were more texts.”
"Keep. Going."
He swiped to the message thread.
