Page 82 of Dance of Devils

My old stuff, sure, but also all the pretty new things that Kir bought me: the gorgeous, designer warmup outfits. The leotards.The Repettos. The new Freed of London pointe shoes that I went and got sized for the other day.

I left it all back there.

And there’s no going back now.

19

KIR

“Fucking grump.”

Despite the sour feeling that’s persisted for days, I allow myself a small smirk.

“Uh-oh,” Freya snickers into the phone, thirteen hours ahead of me in Kyoto. “That sounded dangerously like a smile, Kir.”

I sigh, still smiling a little as I shake my head.

“You know,Dadmight work, too.”

She snorts. “I dunno. I’ve given it a spin a few times. It feels fucking weird.”

She’s not wrong.

Before we discovered that she was the daughter I quite literally never knew I had, Freya, together with her best friend Annika, worked for me as a world-class hacker and a world-class thief, respectively. It actually got to the point that Ithoughtof them as daughters. So when that revelation came, it was both a strange and yet natural transition.

Still, the “dad” thing is…tricky.

“Let’s go back to why you're being such a grump,” she sighs.

I make a face as I take a sip of my coffee. It’s eight in the morning here in New York, and nine at night in Kyoto.

Interestingly, we’re both just starting our days.

Freya has a rare skin condition calledxeroderma pigmentosum, which essentially means she’s allergic to sunlight. Obviously, this means she’s been a night owl her whole life, but luckily, Mal, her husband, had no issue switching to a mostly nocturnal schedule himself.

“Just work,” I lie. “You know…the usual shit.”

“Gotcha. Oh, by the way, Isaak says hi and wanted to know if you saw his email about the Leginov deal.”

I chuckle. “Tell Isaak that if he contacts me again while he’s on holiday in Japan, I’ll stopgiving himthose holidays.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Freya shrieks. “It would break Kai’s heart, which would breakmyheart, and I’d never speak to you again, so there,Pops.”

I roll my eyes as she giggles.

Isaak, my number two, is in a serious relationship with Kai, the head of security for the Mori-kai Yakuza family—which is Freya’s family now. Obviously, him working in Tokyo and Kyoto, and Isaak workingherein New York, creates a logistical issue, but they make it work.

Okay, Ihelpmake it work, either by giving Isaak time off or inventing bullshit "business" in Japan and insisting he go deal with it. Other times, since the Mori-kai does have some dealingshere in New York, Kai comes here, and Isaak disappears for a week.

But I’m happy for him.

“I’m curious,” I frown. “What exactly do two of the biggest, toughest, most heavily muscled men I’ve ever metdowhen they go out on dates?”

“I’m gonna go with taking turns railing thefuckout of each other.” She snorts a laugh. “No, actually…” She sighs. “They’re fucking adorable. Kai goes all out on date night. He hired a master sushi chef to come give them a cooking class at the house the last time Isaak was here. I think they’re going to the imperial rose gardens in Tokyo tomorrow.”

I let out a long, dramatic yawn.

“Oh, fuck you,” Freya laughs. “They’re very happy and totally in love. You should try it sometime.”