Page 145 of The Dragon 1

His bottom lip quivered. “Why?”

“Because I love you and because he took Nura from you.”

Another tear slid down Hiro’s cheek. “I didn’t even know what we were going to be. . .”

“I know.”

“We could’ve just been friends. . .”

“Yes.”

“She had a tough life. I wanted to touch her but I knew after all she had been through. . .it would take years before she would be comfortable.”

Hiro looked down at her again, slipping his fingers across her cheek. His fingers shook. “I was willing to wait decades just to kiss her. . .”

I looked away, swallowing the hot coil of pain in my chest.

“She didn’t deserve to die this way.” Hiro murmured.

“No,” I whispered. “She didn’t.”

“All that she went through. Being sold at a young age. All the rape. The abuse. The shit she survived just to land in this city and die by some old man that shits in the bed and needs an oxygen mask to breathe.”

Reo turned away, pressing both palms against his face, clearly unable to deal with all of the emotion rising in the car.

“Kenji. . .” Hiro exhaled shakily. “I made her laugh today.”

“You did?”

“Yes.Reallylaugh. And she blinked like she didn’t know where the sound came from. Like it surprised her. Like she didn’t recognize the feeling.” He touched her cheek some more. “That was the most beautiful thing I’d seen in years.”

The car rolled through the quiet Tokyo night; neon lights reflected in his tear-filled eyes and bloodstained fingers.

Hiro’s voice broke the silence once more. “I didn’t even know what we would be.”

“I know, brother.” I couldn’t give him answers. Couldn’t give him comfort. All I could give him was blood.

And vengeance.

And fire.

And the kind of loyalty that would destroy dynasties.

So, I sat there in the shadows and stared at my brother as he wept some more.

When we finally pulled up to Hiro’s condo, the Rolls-Royce didn’t dare make a sound. Even the engine seemed to understand that silence was sacred now.

The other Claws waited outside. Their postures straight. Faces tense.

Daisuke was the first to spot us.

The moment Hiro stepped out, carrying Nura’s lifeless body in his arms, Daisuke’s hand went straight for his gun. His mouth parted in disbelief, in pain. His finger curled around the trigger like vengeance was just one exhale away.

Hiro whispered. “No.”

Daisuke lowered the gun with shaking hands, his gaze locked on Nura’s bloodstained foot dangling beside Hiro’s hip.

The chauffeur closed the door softly behind me.