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Dorian's POV

My fist crashed into the man’s bloodied face. He collapsed to his knees, landing in the sticky pool of crimson that once belonged to the Shinomiya soldier beside him. The splatter reached my shoes. I clicked my tongue in irritation and spat on the floor.

“You’re not giving me what I need, and now you’ve ruined my shoes.”

I kicked him hard in the chest, sending him sprawling onto the cold, dusty cement. His pained wheeze barely stirred the air. I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. “I was annoyed before. Now, I’m furious.”

That wasn’t entirely true. I’d been seething the moment I spotted two of Sasuke’s men tailing me in my rearview mirror—sloppy, obvious, and entirely untrained. This was the third time I’d been followed this week. The fifth and sixth men I’d had to eliminate. It was becoming a routine, and I despised predictability.

“Tell me what Sasuke is planning.” My voice was calm, measured. “Tell me, and you might live.”

The soldier let out a wet, bloodied laugh. “You’ll kill me anyway.”

“I won’t.” I crouched beside him, tilting my head. “Not if you swear your loyalty to me.”

His swollen lips curled into a sneer. “I’m loyal to the Shinomiya cartel. Not you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Your loyalty would be admirable if it weren’t so pathetic. What are you? Some distant relative? A Shinomiya by marriage? Sasuke probably doesn’t even know your name. That’s why he sent you. You’re expendable.”

“Sasuke trusted me with this mission,” he rasped.

I almost pitied him. Almost. But the fact that he’d been planning to crawl back to Sasuke and report my every move was where my patience ended.

I grabbed him by the collar, hauling him up so his feet barely touched the ground.

“Haven’t you wondered where all your comrades have disappeared to?” I asked, watching his eyes widen. “You’re the sixth man I’ve had to kill this week.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

I smirked. “Hate to break it to you, but your boss sent you straight into the lion’s den. You’re a distraction. Do you get that? He knew I’d spot you tailing me, and he knew I’d cancel my meeting with one of your supposedly ‘loyal’ associates.”

The man glared at me. “No one betrays the cartel.”

“Someone already has,” I said, tightening my grip. “And you could be next. Tell me what Sasuke is planning.”

“Never,” he spat. “I’d rather die than betray my fam—”

I released him and put a bullet between his eyes before he could finish. If he wanted to die, then who was I to deny him?

I pulled out my phone and texted Boris.

Just dealt with two more of your guys. I was followed again. No meeting today.

Boris had been my inside contact for a year now. He’d helped take down Sasuke’s father, the former don, and was supposed to help me bring Sasuke to his knees. That was, if I could ever attend a meeting without having to wipe out another batch of tailing idiots.

I was about to call for a cleanup crew when my phone rang. Manuel.

“What’s my sister up to now?” I snapped.

It was the third time he’d called today. The first was to warn me about her trying to leave the house. The second was to inform me of her spree at the mall—buying lingerie and swimsuits, just to get under my skin. She knew she was being watched. She did it anyway.

“She’s back at the house. Safe,” Manuel said. “I’m calling about Sasuke.”

I straightened. “Talk.”

“Not much yet, but I didn’t want to wait. The buzz is that he’s planning something big.”

No surprise there. Sasuke wouldn’t keep sending these low-level soldiers to follow me unless he was desperate. And going after a woman I’d had a single dinner with? That reeked of desperation.

“Inform Adrian. He takes the lead on this,” I said. “I need to know what Sasuke is planning. And arrange for a cleanup at the warehouse.”

Manuel chuckled. “Again?”

“Two this time.” I exhaled. “Sasuke keeps sending them my way, so I keep taking them out.”

“I’ll handle it.”

The call ended.

I turned back to the bodies.

They were kids. No older than Adrian. Convinced Sasuke would take care of them, yet he threw them at me like scraps to a dog. I despised killing them, but I despised Sasuke more for making me do it. He wasn’t a leader. He was a coward.

And soon, he’d be a corpse.

The drive back to the mansion did nothing to cool the tension in my muscles.

It was an exhausting cycle—taking out Sasuke’s pawns without getting any closer to him. Now, on top of that, I had to deal with my sister’s antics while she pranced around buying lingerie.

Inside, I filled a glass of water and downed it. I was about to hunt her down and make her return at least seventy-five percent of her purchases when I glanced out the window—and froze.

Vivian was lounging by the pool.

If she wasn’t in the library or the garden, she was usually here. That wasn’t unusual.

What was unusual was the sheer scrap of fabric barely covering her breasts.

That wasn’t a bathing suit.

It was… nothing.

It looked like it would disintegrate the moment it touched water.

Frustration clawed up my spine. I was already wired from the day. Killing, cleaning up, strategizing. I was still wound tight, my body thrumming with pent-up adrenaline. And now this.

I was hard. Instantly.

I needed a release.

Not with her.

Not because of her.

It was just the flimsy excuse of a swimsuit she had the audacity to wear.

I stormed through the double doors, across the patio. She lay there, eyes closed, arm draped over her head like she had all the time in the world.

Her bikini—if I could even call it that—barely covered her nipples. A thin strip of blue fabric disappeared between her thighs.

My fists clenched.

She had no idea I was standing over her. No idea that I was barely restraining myself.

I reached down and snapped the thin tie at her neck.

“What the hell are you wearing?”