Page 194 of Ghost Ribbon

The heir of the organization everyone in this room feared had just publicly praised the massacre. In one lazy sentence he had ripped the target off my back and pinned a strange, unwanted shield in its place. The old men who had been hoping for my removal now had to swallow their tongues. If the Kazuma heir approved, none of them could afford to move against me.

But why?

Had Rei asked him to intervene? I doubted it. Rei barely spoke to his brother. And Kento’s own family ties to the underworld had been invisible until today. Whatever this was, it ran deeper than a simple favor for a sibling’s boyfriend.

The negotiations continued for another twenty minutes. Kento barely seemed interested. He answered in short, bored sentences, the lollipop clicking against his teeth every so often. When the final point was settled, the entire table rose as one.

And then they bowed.

Grown men who ordered executions without blinking bent at the waist like he was some kind of emperor. The sight was almost surreal. One by one they filed out, leaving the doors to swing shut behind them.

The moment the last one disappeared, Dimitri’s hand slammed down onto the table hard enough to make the remaining glasses rattle. He rose to his full height, eyes burning.

“What the hell?! Explain yourself.”

Kento rolled the wet lollipop slowly from one side of his mouth to the other, the bright red candy glistening under the lights. He stood with the same unhurried grace he had entered with, leather jacket creaking softly.

“And who are you that I have to explain myself?” His voice stayed light, playful. Then the temperature in the room dropped. “I suggest you watch your tone, Morozov. You may be my brother’s boyfriend, but I can and will bury you if I feel like it.”

The change was instantaneous. One second the sweet, manic smile; the next, eyes like frozen glass. Whiplash. I had seen men like him before - people who wore charm like a coat and kept the real blade underneath.

I rose slowly from my chair, keeping my movements deliberate.

“Why did you help me?”

Kento’s gaze slid to mine. The cold melted back into that same bright, unsettling smile. He didn’t answer me directly. Instead his eyes moved past my shoulder and locked onto Ilya.

Ilya was still rigid, face pale, jaw locked so tight the muscle jumped.

Kento walked around the table until he stood directly in front of him. He tilted his head.

“Consider it a favour,” he said softly. “We are even now my prince.”

Before anyone could react, he pulled the saliva-slick lollipop from his own mouth, then he grabbed Ilya’s jaw, forced his mouth open, and shoved the lollipop deep past his lips - pushing it far enough that the sticky ball pressed against the back of his tongue and made him gag hard.

Ilya choked, a wet sound tearing from his throat as the sugary saliva mixed with his own. His eyes watered instantly. Kento held it there for a second longer than necessary, watching the way Ilya’s throat convulsed around the intrusion, before finally letting go.

Dimitri moved like a loaded spring.

He yanked Ilya backward so hard the chair nearly toppled, placing his body between them.

“Don’t fucking touch him.”

Kento’s smile didn’t fade. He looked at Dimitri the way a cat looks at something small and entertaining.

“I’ll touch him when I wish.”

Dimitri’s entire frame tensed, ready to lash out. I saw the exact second he decided violence was acceptable. But Ilya recovered first. He ripped the dripping lollipop out of his mouth, strings of spit still connecting it to his lips, and threw it aside like it burned. Then he grabbed Dimitri’s wrist with both hands, pulling him back.

“Stop… just… get the fuck away from me.”

The words were aimed at Kento, shaking with something that wasn’t only anger. Ilya’s glare could have cut glass.

Kento only smiled wider, bright and poisonous. “You’re welcome.”

Then he turned on his heel, leather jacket swinging. “Oh and don’t tell my brother anything about this or I will have your head Morozov,” he walked out of the room without looking back.

Well… that was one thing behind me, I guess.