Oh.
One by one, every other pair of eyes around the table followed. The Fangs. The Claws. Hiro. The twins. All of them turned until their focus converged to where I sat.
In the center of the table. Between the Dragon and Hiro. Surrounded by killers who would burn the world for me.
My pulse kicked hard.
I'm the bait.
The thought should have terrified me. Days ago, it would have. But now, sitting here with Kenji's hand on my thigh and Hiro's heat radiating from my left, I felt something else entirely.
Clarity.
If we needed bait to draw out a snake, then fine. I'd be the fucking bait. But I wouldn't be helpless prey waiting to get caught.
“Bait? Okay.” I met Reo's eyes. "Tell me what you need me to do."
Chapter twenty-nine
Bait and Braids
Nyomi
Before Reo could speak, Kenji leaned forward. "Reo, you want to set a trap? Fine. Use decoys. Use misinformation. Use every fucking resource we have. ButmyTiger will never be bait in anyone’s trap."
I widened my eyes.
The room went silent.
Reo set his phone down slowly, carefully, like he was handling something explosive. "With respect, we're discussing possibilities—"
"And I'm now telling you certainties. She's not doing it."
I felt the possessiveness radiating off him. This wasn't just protective alpha instinct—this was the Dragon drawing a line in blood.
Still, Reo didn't back down. He met Kenji's gaze head-on, respectful but unwavering. "I understand your concern. But we need to thinkstrategically. The spies are watching her. They've already marked her as a target. If we control the situation, we turn their interest into our advantage."
"You want to dangle her in front of killers." Kenji's jaw clenched. "That's not strategy. That's sacrifice."
I let the cherry-sugar lollipop dissolve slowly, savoring the warmth and letting the subtle sweetness ground me while they argued about my role.
"I don’t believe we’re talking about sacrifice, Kenji. I think it's calculated risk," Reo countered. "With every precaution in place. Full security detail. Controlled environment. We choose the location, the timing, every variable."
"Variables fail." Kenji's hand was still on my thigh, and his grip had gone iron-tight. "People die when variables fail."
From my left, Hiro made a low sound—not quite a laugh, not quite agreement.
I glanced at him and found him leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, dark eyes moving between Kenji and Reo like he was watching a tennis match.
Assessing.
Calculating who would win.
The corner of his mouth twitched, just slightly. He wasn't going to intervene. He wanted to see how this played out.
Reo tried again, and his voice was tense, yet logical. "Kenji, I respect your position. But the Fox won't stop. The spies won't stop. We can either wait for them to strike ontheirterms, or we force their hand onours."
"Or we force their hand another way."
