Page 91 of Phantom Flower

“If he wanted you to know where he is,” I said coldly, “he would tell you himself.”

Kento’s lips curled into a dangerous smile. He took another drag, then flicked ash onto the ground.

“He hasn’t answered my texts in over two months. I’ve been lenient. Patient, even. But my patience is wearing thin.” His voice dropped. “Tell me where my brother is. Right now.”

Alexei pulled his gun in one smooth motion, aiming it straight at Kento’s head.

“Say the word, Dimitri,” he growled.

Kento did not even blink. He simply smiled wider, blowing smoke toward us.

“Listen to your dog, Morozov,” he said mockingly.

I raised a hand toward Alexei without looking away from Kento.

“Put it down.”

Alexei’s jaw clenched, but he lowered the weapon.

Ilya, however, looked like he was two seconds away from lunging. His usual sunshine smile was gone, replaced by a vicious snarl I had rarely seen on him.

“Hey, little prince,” Kento called out, turning his gaze to Ilya with a sneer. “Mind telling your brute to stop playing with guns and tell me where my brother is? Or do I need to burn a few more of your expensive toys before you start cooperating?”

Ilya nearly snarled, stepping forward with pure rage in his eyes. “You fucking—”

“Enough,” I snapped, cutting him off.

Kento took one last drag of his cigarette, then dropped it to the ground, crushing it under his expensive shoe. His eyes returned to me.

“Tell me, or the next thing I blow up will be more valuable.”

I took a step closer, meeting him head-on. “Rei is exactly where he needs to be.”

“If you’ve touched him—if you’ve laid one fucking finger on my little brother, I will gut you and feed your insides to your own dogs.”

Ilya was practically vibrating on the side, eyes locked on Kento like he wanted to rip his throat out with his teeth.

I held Kento’s gaze. “If Rei wants to see you, he can. I’m not prohibiting him. He’s not a prisoner. But he stays under my protection until I say otherwise.”

I turned on my heel and started walking away, done with this waste of time. I had more important things to handle.

Kento moved to follow.

Ilya jumped in front of him instantly, blocking his path with a vicious snarl.

I did not hear what followed after that. I kept walking.

A few minutes later, Ilya caught up, looking pissed off and breathing hard.

“I got rid of him,” he said. “For now.”

“Good.”

After dealing with Kento’s little fireworks show in the garage, I dragged Ilya and Alexei to one of our secure safehouses on the outskirts.

Ilya worked on his laptop in the room, fingers flying across the keys while multiple screens glowed in front of him.

“Tomorrow,” he announced suddenly, leaning back with a wild grin. “The final proxy is cracking.”