Page 129 of The Dragon 1

But he refused.

Now he lived in that hospital. Hooked to machines. A coward in silk.

He claimed, “no one would bomb a hospital full of innocents.”

And maybe he was right.

Most in Japan still held reverence for sanctuaries of the sick.

But it wasn’t just about safety. I believed that he couldn’t bear to walk past the empty rooms of our estate. Couldn’t face the ghost of Jobon’s laughter echoing down the halls or smell mymother’s perfume that still, even after all these years. . .lingered in every room.

And so. . .he put me in place to rule while he gave me his demands from a hospital bed.

Behind glass.

Surrounded by guards and ghosts.

Still giving orders.

Still, expecting obedience.

But never stepping outside.

Reo pulled me out of my thoughts. “Are you sure we should not bring the Fangs with us?”

“Father would only use them against me, as he is doing with Hiro.” I turned to Reo. “By the way, where did they pick up Hiro?”

“In the anime section of Akihabara. He was playing in an arcade with a woman.”

I frowned. “What woman?”

Reo exhaled. “Her name’s Nura. Remember the Somali woman from last night when we were heading to deal with the Lion?”

My mind flickered back to the Candy Room on the underground distribution floor where all drugs were processed, portioned, and prepped for export.

Hiro’s voice sliced through the silence. “Who’s the girl over there?”

I followed his gaze.

Near the back wall, a new face sat quietly at a workstation lined with rows of compressed MDMA tablets. She had dark brown skin and her scalp was shaved close. She was sorting, weighing, sealing—never once touching the product directly.

“She’s sharp,” Reo had said beside me. “Fast. Never slips. Never samples. Keeps her head down.”

“Background?” Hiro’s gaze remained locked on her.

“Somali,” Reo answered. “Refugee camps. Trafficked through Libya. Escaped from a black-market compound in Athens six months ago. We found her hiding in a cargo container bound for Tokyo. She asked to work for us.”

Hiro studied her like he was watching himself from another life. “Interesting.”

Of course, Hiro picked her.

Of course, he saw himself in her—saw the same broken steel welded into something new.

I returned my mind back to the car. “So, Hiro took her out?”

“Yes. He returned to the Candy Room that night after we wrapped things up with the Lion. Our people said he walked her home. Talked to her the whole way. Watched her go inside. Stood out there for a few hours before leaving.”

Under my order, Reo had guards tailing Hiro to make sure no one messed with him.