I lowered the phone slowly and stared at the screen—at Grandma's contact photo, the one I'd taken last Christmas when she was laughing at something my cousin said. Her face lit up with joy, wearing that ridiculous reindeer sweater she loved.
That woman—fierce, protective, full of joy—was being watched over by ten elite yakuza soldiers.
And she had no idea.
She thought they were just nice young men who needed feeding.
A laugh bubbled up in my chest, but it came out broken, tangled with something that felt dangerously close to tears.
I pressed my hand to my mouth.
The scarred guard shifted slightly. "Are you alright?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice yet.
But I wasn't alright.
I was overwhelmed.
Because this—this—was what loving the Dragon meant. It wasn't just silk sheets, dangerous sex, and whispered wordsin the dark. It wasn't just being claimed, protected, and worshipped.
It was this.
It was Kenji reaching across continents to safeguard people he'd never met. People who didn't even know his name. People whose only connection to him was me.
My grandmother would never know that the "nice young men" across the street were trained killers who would die before letting anything happen to her.
My mother would never know she was being watched.
My father—complicated, distant, broken—would never know that even behind bars, someone was making sure he stayed safe.
Because of me.
Because I mattered to the Dragon.
I started walking again, descending the rest of the stairs slowly, my legs feeling unsteady.
The guards followed, silent and respectful.
When I reached the bottom, I stopped and turned to face them.
All three straightened slightly.
"Could you get a message to the men in Charleston?"
One nodded.
“Okay. Good. Please. . .tell them. . .thank you for helping my grandma out. And if they hurt her feelings by refusing her food, I'll be very upset, so. . .they must eat."
The scarred guard's mouth twitched with an almost smile. "I'll pass that along."
I nodded and turned away, heading toward my office, but my vision blurred. I blinked rapidly, refusing to let the tears fall.
Not here.
Not in front of the guards.
But inside, my emotions had cracked wide open.
