24. Dominic
The sun crept over the horizon, casting a soft glow across my weary face. I stared at my reflection in the antique mirror hanging in the hallway of my grandfather’s estate. Dark circles enveloped my bloodshot eyes, and the lines of exhaustion etched on my brow mocked me like thin scars left by an invisible enemy.
Gods, I looked like hell. It’d been another sleepless night. Another night spent reminding people to pay what they owed or face the consequences. This was what happened when one was tangled up in mobster shit.
My family’s legacy pressed down on my shoulders like I carried the weight of the world. At this rate, my death would come far too quickly.
To make matters worse, I hadn’t been able to see Bree again. Not since the motorcycle ride, and there was only so much satisfaction I could get from my hand and sexy messages or pictures of her.
I wanted the real thing, craved her scent and taste nearly to obsession. I dreamed about how good she would taste coming against my mouth and woke with an aching need to be deep inside her.
Worse still, she’d hardly messaged me over the last two days and hadn’t answered my calls. She claimed she was simply exhausted from prepping Subliminal for the upcoming fight that night, which made sense. It would be a full house.
Except something about her messages hadn’t sat right and had triggered a concern for her safety. I wouldn’t put it past Ichiro to ruin something good in his bastard grandson’s life, so I’d asked Rin to keep a close eye on her.
So far, everything was as it should be. She was working longer than normal hours, exactly as she’d said.
And yet.
Perhaps she’d finally realized just how much of a monster I could be and did the smart thing—run.
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. This world of luxury and power came at too high a cost sometimes. Enough was enough. I had to put an end to the pyrocrystal dealings. That godsforsaken drug had taken over my life.
Giving my reflection one last weary glance, I adjusted my collar and strode down the hallway.
I would claim what was rightfully mine or die trying.
The familiar scent of sandalwood and corruption accosted me as I entered the study. Ichiro sat behind the massive oak desk, his gnarled fingers moving across some papers as he studied them.
I cleared my throat. “We need to talk.”
Ichiro looked up from his work, his dark eyes glinting dangerously behind his wire-rimmed spectacles. “Do we now?”
There was no sense in skirting around the issue. It was time to rip off the band-aid. “You need to name me as heir. Officially.”
For a moment, the room seemed to grow darker, the tension between us palpable.
“Is that so?” the old man asked quietly.
I hated these games with a passion so thick I could taste it. My grandfather wasn’t looking for a response, and the silence stretched on as the weight of the demand sank deep into the air.
“You think you’re better suited than the others?” Ichiro finally asked, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers.
“What others?” I asked with a scornful laugh. “You know as well as anyone that no one else can follow in your footsteps.”
The smile that tugged at the corners of my grandfather’s lips sent a chill down my spine. It was the sort of grin that made me feel like a child being toyed with by a particularly sadistic dragon.
“Very well,” Ichiro said slowly, his voice low and lethal. “But remember, boy, there are consequences for failing your family. Are you prepared to face them?”
“You’ve made it very clear from the day I was born that I wasn’t a welcome part of this family.” My own voice was laced with a mixture of defiance and fury. “But I don’t need to be welcome to be right, and I won’t fail. Set your terms.”
Breaking through the Sato family’s dark legacy wouldn’t be easy, but for Bree’s safety, I was willing to do whatever it took.
The sunlight caught the glimmer of cruel mischief in Ichiro’s eyes. “One last fight, and I will grant your wish.”
I stiffened. Outside of training with my friends and my bet with Bree, it had been years since I’d fought in the ring. I’d left that world behind.
Or so I thought.
“Why now?” I asked.
“Consider it payment for destroying my property.”
Along with the shipping container filled with pyrocrystals, the entire warehouse had burned to the ground, just as I had ordered. I’d paid for it every day since. Hence, the dark circles beneath my eyes.
I smiled. “When do I fight?”
Ichiro tapped one of the papers sprawled across his desk. “You’ve likely heard that Ms. Delgado has announced a fight for this evening. She claims no one can beat this new mystery fighter. I want you to prove that fae woman wrong.” His eyes flashed dangerously with red. “Prove that no one is stronger than a Sato dragon.”
During my fighting years, I had never lost a single match. I was the undeniable best—back then. But as everything does, I was getting older, and my last fight had almost killed me. The close call was my whole reason for getting out while I still could.
The difference now was Bree and keeping her safe from people like my grandfather, which meant I needed to speed up my plan’s timeline.
I nodded. “Fine. But when I win, you will announce me as your official heir. Tonight.”
My grandfather’s eyes narrowed in calculation, as if weighing the potential consequences of granting my full request. The air in the study grew thick and heavy, like a storm brewing on the horizon.
“Very well. But remember Dominic, your mother found out the hard way that forcing my hand comes with a steep price.”
Ichiro’s words were deliberate and cruel, designed to make me falter. But I had always been an outsider, standing on the fringes of this twisted family. And I’d be damned if I folded now.
No matter what price I had to pay, I would face it head-on. “I’ll burn down every last corner of that gym if that’s what it takes to win.”
With a savage smile, the old man pushed back his chair and stood before offering his hand.
I stepped forward, clasping my grandfather’s forearm to seal the deal.
As Ichiro gripped my arm tight, his cold gaze seared through me. “There will be no turning back, boy. If you lose, you die.”
Although I assumed that would be the case, hearing my death sentence spoken out loud chilled me to the bone. “Good thing I never turn back.”
Ichiro gave a curt nod. “As you say, let it be bound.”
Wisps of red smoke curled around our enjoined arms. The vapor seeped into our skin, binding us with magic before disappearing.
It was done.
Leaving the suffocating confines of my grandfather’s study, I strode down the hall, each step echoing on the polished wood floor. The farther away I got, the more the weight lifted from my shoulders and soul.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was stepping into the unknown, but whatever awaited me after the fight, I knew I wouldn’t face it alone. The image of Bree’s smiling face filled my heart, her presence a beacon of hope in the ever-present darkness.
With her in my life and by my side, there was nothing I couldn’t overcome.