4. Totoro
Chapter four
Totoro
Nyomi
I held my present while Kenji carried me up the stairs—one powerful arm beneath my knees, the other curled tight around my back. His grip radiated both protection and possession.
I was sacred in his arms.
Untouchable.
Too rare for gravity.
Too exquisite for violence.
I let my head rest briefly against his shoulder. And honestly, I was grateful. My pussy was sore from earlier, and those ridiculous heels—while stunning—were absolutely not made for climbing stairs.
And behind us?
His Eyes followed.
Silent.
Watchful.
Deadly.
Scanning every corner and shadow.
Behind them, more armed men stalked forward. Each one dressed in black and strapped with rifles and blades.
A full death squad.
It felt like being in the middle of a damn crime saga. But it wasn’t fiction. It was my life now. And that realization terrified and thrilled me in equal measure.
At the top, a final steel door waited.
One of Kenji’s men pushed it open.
Kenji carried me onto the roof.
Cold night air slammed into me.
Next, chaotic sounds came.
Gunfire.
Explosions.
Screams.
Sirens.
Oh my God!
Fear pumped in my heart.
Kenji’s pace didn’t falter. He moved like this rooftop belonged to him.
Like the sky bowed to him.
Like the chopper was his fucking chariot.
His mouth dipped closer to my temple. “Almost there, Tora.”
I nodded against his neck, not trusting my voice because I could hear more gunfire now, closer than before.
Automatic rounds.
Glass shattering.
The howl of someone dying.
Up ahead, there were three helicopters lined up. Two were dark and still. But the third’s blades were already spinning.
As we got closer, my hair whipped back and my cape billowed.
I nestled closer against him.
He was my anchor in a world falling apart, and the rooftop shifted to a portal. Behind me was my life—the one with order, calm, and escape routes. In front of me, the Dragon’s domain waited—merciless, unlit, and soaked in blood. A kingdom with no doors.
We reached the humming helicopter.
A man in tactical gear pulled the door open from inside. Kenji stepped up to the skid and finally let me down, only to lift me into the cabin himself.
I stumbled into the plush leather interior, eyes wide, hair in disarray, and my heart still racing.
He followed me in.
His Eyes and the others joined. They filled the seats behind and in front of us in silence. Not a single word exchanged. Just eyes. Nods. The occasional hiss of a weapon being checked.
The final man pulled the door shut with one hand.
Helicopter blades screamed louder above our heads.
I lowered into my seat and placed my gift on my lap.
His gaze never left mine. Without a word, he reached for my seatbelt first buckling the strap across my lap and then adjusting it at my hips. His knuckles brushed my thigh. “Too tight?”
“No. It’s perfect.”
“Good.” A hint of a smile curved his lips as he buckled himself in next.
The helicopter rose with a deep, guttural roar, and the floor vibrated up through the soles of my heels.
Outside, gunfire echoed in quick, cruel bursts
Among Kenji’s cologne and our sex on my skin, I caught the scent of burning fuel.
I leaned toward the glass. My breath fogged the window. Sighing, I watched as the rooftop dropped away from us.
Then, I saw it all.
Wait a minute. . .holy fucking shit!!
My whole body froze.
Below us, the compound had erupted into hell.
Over a hundred men battled. Guns flashed in every direction. Bursts of muzzle fire lit up bodies like strobe lights in a nightmare. Blades flashed. Flames erupted from the alley behind the building and then an explosion happened, sending one man flying backward into the air.
I couldn’t process it fast enough. There was just too much. I spotted a man dropping to his knees with a scream. Blood spurted from his neck
What the fuck?
This wasn’t just a few assassins slipping through back doors. This was a full-on army with one mission—kill the Dragon.
Had I not already been on the helicopter, buckled in and clutching my gift like it was a shield, I might’ve passed out right there—body shutting down from the sheer scale of it.
All this time. . .and this. . .was surrounding us?
There were so many dead bodies everywhere. Lined along the building. Sprawled throughout the road and alley. Twisted on top of cars. Some men still clung to life, crawling through blood.
I turned to Kenji.
Next to me, the Dragon lounged like a god—legs spread wide, arms relaxed, as if we were at the opera… not escaping a city on fire.
Shivering, I put my view back on the scene. Every second, the helicopter rose higher, I got an even greater view of the chaos.
Holy fuck!
The blocks further away from Hiroko’s building were in a panic too. Cars were jammed along the streets. Some had even gotten on the sidewalks. Horns blared. Tires screeched. People ran between lanes.
It looked like people were fleeing a natural disaster.
All this was going on earlier too and. . .I’d been moaning against Kenji. An entire battlefield had ignited around us.
Damn.
We continued forward and rose higher.
Neon signs turned to smears. Headlights to ghosts. The dark skyline bled into blackness.
Kenji leaned toward the glass and took in the war below. A slow grin spread across his face. “They are lucky I didn’t have Totoro with me. He hasn’t eaten in months. This would’ve been a buffet.”
A ripple of laughter broke out among the men.
Even the Eyes cracked smiles.
I blinked at him, stunned. “Who is Totoro?”
Kenji turned toward me, still grinning. “That’s the name of my flame torch.”
I gasped. “You just. . .have a flame torch?”
“It’s usually with me, but tonight was a date. So, I left Totoro at home.”
I stared at him. “What do you mean usually with you?”
“Under any bed I sleep on. In the trunk of my car. On my plane. On my yacht too.”
I stared at him. “Seriously?”
“I’ll show him to you tonight.”
“When he. . .is put under the bed?”
“Yes.”
“A flame torch?”
“Not just a flame torch.” He shook his head. “Totoro is custom. Top of the line. High-heat. It can project a flame up to twenty-five feet.”
“Twenty. . .five. . .feet. . .”
He nodded. “He runs on a hybrid mix of butane and thickened gel fuel.”
“Okay but. . .the flames go as far as twenty-five feet?”
“Of course, Tora.”
“Of course?”
“The Dragon must have flames.”
I blinked.
“And one burst from Totoro and everything it touches is scorched clean. Not just burned. Erased. ”
“And. . .” My throat went dry. “You keep that with you all the time?”
“Except on our dates.”
Lucky me.
He studied me and must have noticed the horror on my face. “Don’t worry. You’re safe, Tora.”
“But. . .are you going to be safe? That is a whole ass army down there.”
One of the Eyes snickered.
“My men are stronger and better. Those bodies on the ground are mainly theirs, not ours.”
“Well. . .” I looked back and saw the other helicopters. “What about Reo and everyone else? Are they coming too? Will they be okay?”
“They will be fine, and they’ll be on their way.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“I’m scared for them.”
“Reo is upset. You should be scared for our enemies.”
I shivered.
Slowly, he reached out his hand and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. That simple touch steadied me a little. "Breathe, Tora. Not because you’re calm. Breathe because I need you to.”
I inhaled a shaky breath and let my chest rise and fall, shallow at first, then deeper.
He leaned in closer and brushed my chin with his fingers. “That’s it. Just like that.”
I drew another breath.
Slower now.
I let it fall from my lips.
Again.
Again.
And somehow, the sharp edges of this nightmare dulled.
His thumb dragged lightly down the column of my throat, tracing the tremble there. “You are safe, with me. I swear it on every grave I’ve ever dug.”
“I can’t see you digging graves.”
“You would be surprised.” He moved his hand down to my chest and then flattened his palm between my breasts. “I can feel your heart racing like a trapped bird.”
“Because I felt like we were just in the middle of hell.”
He tilted his head. “You still are in hell. But I’m your devil now. And I don’t let what’s mine burn.”
Those words hung in the air.
Then, suddenly he leaned in until our foreheads touched and his breath merged with mine. “How do you feel now, Tora?”
“Better.”
“Good.”
I closed my eyes, and for one perfect moment, there was no fire.
No bullets.
No bodies.
No sirens.
Only the hum of the blades above us.
Only the heat of his skin.
Only the sound of our shared breath—threading us back together.
And for the first time in years, my body wasn’t braced for impact. I wasn’t preparing for the microaggressions of this crazy world. Wasn’t rehearsing my boundaries. Wasn’t tightening my jaw or softening my tone so I didn’t come off as, too much.
I wasn’t waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under me.
Or the mask to slip.
Or the lie to finally reveal itself.
I wasn’t just safe .
I felt safe.
And that feeling was so foreign, it hurt a little.
Because safety had never been a constant for me.
When I was younger, I thought safety meant good schools and Sunday brunches.A house with a security system, a yard with trimmed hedges, a mother who wore Chanel No. 5 and pearls that weren’t fake.
I thought safety meant we’d made it.
Until the Feds came.
Until they tore through our house in the middle of the night like it was a crime scene, flipping mattresses and dumping drawers. Until I watched them slam my father’s body against the ground while my mother begged them not to shoot him.
Even though my father had deserved it all, I still walked away with anxiety and thinking that the worst could always come for me too.
But this right now?
This was different.
I was in a helicopter surrounded by men in black with blades and guns.
Below us, Tokyo was at war.
People were dying.
But Kenji was near, and if death tried to climb into this helicopter, he would drag it back down and set it on fire.
His phone rang, disrupting my thoughts.
I opened my eyes.
Who’s calling?