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When I hear those words, my first instinct is to look for the mask. Instead, my gaze lifts to the doorway, and every muscle in my body seizes.

There is no way. I convince myself I’ve finally snapped. Stress-induced hallucinations. Honestly, it wouldn’t even crack my top five mental health concerns.

But no, it’s him. There is a bright red lollipop rolling lazily between his teeth.

And no mask.

Dimitri stills beside me as chairs scrape across the floor and people stand.

“Did I startle you?” Kento asks, directing a sweet smile at Dimitri. “Let’s not waste time. I’ve been sent here for some talks. Yes?”

Kento says something. I miss the first half of it completely. I catch a few words, nod internally like I understood any of it, and stop listening again.

Then he mentions Alexei.

This is the moment they’ve all been salivating over. If Kento so much as raises an eyebrow at Alexei, these vultures will descend before the sentence is finished. The loud ones will finally get the bloodbath they’ve been begging for, and the spineless bastards who’ve spent the last hour hiding behind “careful consideration” will suddenly rediscover their testicles.

One sentence from him is all it would take to bury Alexei.

But he is not condemning him.

If anything, he’s praising him.

“Very thorough,” Kento says. “I liked your work. Do it again sometime, yes?”

The other men scramble to rearrange their faces. “Ah… y-yes,” the man who previously wanted Alexei dead stammers. “He’s… really quite… talented.”

“A unique approach,” another adds.

Once Kento starts praising him, everyone follows.

The target comes off Alexei’s back in under five minutes.

The negotiations continue for another twenty minutes. Kento contributes maybe eight words in total, punctuated by the occasional click of that stupid lollipop against his teeth.

When the final point is settled, the entire table rises as one, and then they bow.

Grown men who order executions without blinking bend at the waist like he is a king.

The room barely has time to empty before Dimitri slams both hands onto the table.

He rises to his full height, eyes burning. “What the hell? Explain yourself.”

Kento rolls the wet lollipop slowly from one side of his mouth to the other. The bright red candy catches the light every time it shifts.

Against all reason, it is the only thing I can look at. My attention keeps snagging on it. I want to take it from him and put it into my mouth.

He pushes himself to his feet. “And who are you that I have to explain myself to?” His voice stays deceptively light. Conversational. “I suggest you watch your tone, Morozov. You may be my brother’s boyfriend, but I can and will bury you if I feel like it.”

Kento moves, stopping in front of me. “We are even now, my prince.” Before I can brace myself, his hand comes up and grips my jaw. Fingers dig into the soft flesh beneath my chin, and he forces my mouth open.

I barely have time to register what is happening before he shoves the saliva-slick lollipop deep past my lips. So far that the sticky ball presses against the back of my throat and makes me gag hard.

Then, mercifully, he lets go.

Dimitri catches me by the shoulder and hauls me back a step. “Don’t fucking touch him.”

Kento’s smile never wavers. He looks at Dimitri with amusement. “I’ll do as I please.”