Chapter 25
The cargo hold of the ship was dark, the air thick with the smell of saltwater and engine oil.
Inside the metal cage, Riko Tanaka and his two men lay in silence, the only sounds the creaks and groans of the vessel as it cut through the sea.
The steel bars around them rattled occasionally with the movement of the ship, but Tanaka was unmoving, his eyes narrowed as he stared into the dim space ahead of him.
His wrists were bound tightly with coarse rope, the rough fibers biting into his skin.
His men sat beside him, their heads down, too humiliated to protest. Tanaka’s anger simmered just beneath the surface.
He had never imagined he would find himself in this position, his pride and control shattered.
As the ship rocked along on the ocean, Riko could hear the low murmur of voices outside the cage, the whispers of men who were escorting him home, transporting him like a common prisoner.
His reputation—everything he had built was slipping through his fingers, and the rage was eating him alive.
The humiliation of being caged, carted off like a wild animal, gnawed at his insides.
"You know," Riko started, his voice low but sharp, "this is not the end. It’s just a small setback. Once I get back to Japan, I will destroy him. Luca Bernardi—he won’t know what hit him."
His men didn’t respond, they all knew what they faced when they were presented to their boss. It wouldn’t be pretty.
The ship’s engine roared as it powered through the night, carrying them farther from the world they knew and closer to the reckoning that awaited them.