Page 143 of Chains of Recompense
The kiss is brief but devastating.
Soft.
Familiar.
Full of everything unsaid.
It tastes like goodbye and hope tangled together so tightly, I can’t tell them apart.
He pulls back just enough to rest his forehead against mine. “Just in case,” he murmurs.
I close my eyes, clinging to him, knowing with terrifying clarity that everything we could be hangs in the balance.
37
RAFAEL
Unlike the last time we came blasting through the front gates of the Tanaka estate, this time, they open readily as the Murray brothers pull up, just three men in an armored car.
The high walls that surround the traditional Japanese-style home loom above, vast and impenetrable as we roll down the long drive to the courtyard.
My mouth goes dry at the sight before me.
It’s been cleaned up since the last time I came barreling into Tatsuo’s home, though I can still see the remnants of destruction in the broken statues that line the path.
Unlike last time, Tatsuo’s men are in full view, their weapons in hand as they silently close in around the vehicle, following us toward the house.
Somewhere on the outskirts of the property, hidden in the trees, my brother should be convening with Callum Murray, preparing to invade the Japanese fortress.
But my pulse still races as we enter the lion’s den with practically nothing to defend ourselves, nothing to ensure Aisling’s safety as she tempts death right beside me.
My hands are zip-tied behind my back, my shoulders pulled tight by the Murray brothers gripping my arms as they drag me from the back seat and march me up the front steps of the Tanaka home.
It’s theater, all of it for Tatsuo’s benefit. For the Yakuza soldiers lining the perimeter with guns and blades and dead eyes.
I keep my head up. If I’m going to die today, I won’t do it bowed.
I feel Aisling behind me—that pull in my chest, sharp and frantic, dragging my gaze sideways until I find her cloistered between her brothers.
She’s pale, eyes too bright, her hands clenched in the fabric of her coat like it’s the only thing keeping her upright. She looks terrified.
Good. It means she hasn’t gone numb, and I need her senses on full alert if she’s going to achieve her part of the plan. She’s the lynchpin to it all, the key piece in our strategy. If she doesn’t get Riley out, then everything will fall apart.
I’ve never been inside the Tanaka house before.
It’s beautiful, understated, steeped in tradition but with an elegant modern twist, and for a fleeting moment, I almost regret that we’re going to burn it to the ground.
Then my eyes land on the man responsible for all the pain my family has endured these past several months.
Tatsuo Tanaka waits at the center of the entryway, flanked by guards.
He looks smaller than I remember, older—even just since the gala.
His hair is more gray than black now, his posture stiff with arrogance rather than strength.
A king who let his son do all the killing.
And it’s cost him everything. Even his sanity. I can see it in the burning depths of his dark eyes as Ryan Murray shoves me to my knees in front of him.
