So, seeing Leo in my wing of the house is somewhat disconcerting.
“You lost, Brother?” I tease as I close the distance between us.
Leo snorts, his signature smirk curving the corners of his lips as he turns to walk beside me. “Hardly. For the first time, I feel like I’ve found myself. But I can’t find Sora, and I needed to tell somebody, so you’re my lucky number two.”
“I’m honored,” I say dryly, my curiosity piqued. “But where’s your wife? You run her off already?”
“Ha. If I were capable of that, she would have been long gone by now.”
The rich affection in his tone is even more prevalent than when we were discussing Sora on the yacht yesterday, and I can sense a shift in my restless younger brother that I never thought I would.
Leo might have hated the arrangement when the Don told him he would be marrying the Tanaka girl, but against all odds, and despite my brother’s affinity for keeping his women on a constant rotation, I think Leo might actually be falling in love with his wife. I’ve never seen him so protective—or possessive—of a woman.
Not that I blame him.
Sora might be the daughter of a family we considered our sworn enemy less than a year ago, but since Don Augusta negotiated a truce with the Yakuza and brought her into our home, she’s pleasantly surprised us all.
“She is a resilient one?” I observe.
“Hmm.” Leo’s hum of amusement confirms my suspicions. He’s definitely smitten.
“She’s important to you, isn’t she?” I ask, intrigued by the change in him that’s happened over a matter of months. But I already know the answer, and something twists inside me.
I’ve never been jealous of my younger brother.
I don’t envy Leo the crown Don Augusta intends to pass on to him.
I don’t yearn for the attention he receives for being incredibly handsome, by any girl’s standards, not to mention the chosen one our father favors.
I like my role in this life.
I’m good at it. I was formed under intense pressure, sculpted by fire, chiseled into an invincible demon meant to thrive in the shadows of our violent world—and yet, the thought of having a woman I would scorch the earth for… I’ve never pictured wanting that. Until now.
“She is my wife,” Leo points out, seeming oblivious to my inner turmoil.
And maybe that’s all it is. Maybe swearing to be with her, to love and protect her, creates the kind of connection Leo has with Sora, but I doubt it. What they have is special.
It’s raw and unfiltered and instinctually passionate—despite the obstacles they faced.
And for the first time, I find myself wishing I knew what it was like to be Leo.
“Yeah, but this is something else,” I state. “I’ve seen you around a lot of girls. I know when you have something physical going on. But with Sora, you’re different. You’re protective of her.”
Leo huffs, but even that sounds unconvincingly skeptical. I stop to study my brother as the silence stretches between us, and he turns to me.
The look in his eye is something I’ve never seen before. It holds a solemn resolve, a grave conviction, and the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach warns me of what’s coming.
Somewhere, deep in my soul, I always knew this day would come. The day when my brother would walk away from this life, away from his family—away from me.
He’s never wanted any of it. I just never thought a woman would be the reason Leo chose to give up his father’s legacy.
“What’s going on, Leo?” I press because I need to hear him say it—even if I already know what he sought me out to tell me.
Sighing, he rubs the back of his neck, his eyes dropping to the ground. “I?—”
But before he can get the words out, a massive boom ripples across the grounds, shaking the foundations of the house.
We both turn toward the source of the unexpected noise, and the hair on the nape of my neck stands on end as I sense more than see what caused it.
