CH333

CH332
Ren
My lips twitched at the thought, finding it truer than it should have been. Then, I caught sight of a billboard nearby, advertising open condo spaces in this very building: the Dragon’s Palace.
I shook my head and turned away, heading back inside to get cleaned up.
I undressed for a shower, wincing at the pain and the bruising that was everywhere. I definitely needed to take another round of painkillers... and be careful of my cast and stitches. I turned on the hot water and managed to clean up as much as I could manage around keeping my stitches and cast dry. As close to clean as I could get, I grabbed the robe that had been left on the hook and left the bathroom, stuffing the hospital clothes in the bin nearby.
My muscles were a bit more relaxed and warm steam still clung to my skin. I flipped off the lights as I went. The penthouse was so quiet, humming softly like it was trying not to disturb me. I took the pills as prescribed and went searching for the nearest bedroom. I was nearly stumbling by the time I reached the door, sleep pulling at my bones, the medication dulling my thoughts into something gentle.
I was halfway into the bedroom before I realized I wasn’t alone. There was someone in the bed.
Not just anyone. Ryuu fast asleep as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
I froze.
The covers were draped low on his waist, one arm slung over a pillow like he’d meant to wait for me and lost the battle. Suddenly, his hair was much longer, loose from its usual tie, spilling over the pillow like ink. For a brief moment, he looked peaceful and a bit longing, too. The world around me shifted.
Like I was slipping through place and time and I wasn’t just looking at Ryuu anymore, but at someone else. Someone familiar. Someone Ryuu... may have used to be. A man with the same face but softer in some ways and harder in others. The name was on the tip of my tongue, but he lay reclining in a sun-drenched bed, a smirk playing across his mouth like he already knew everything I was about to say. He reached for me, teasing. Certain. And I remembered him. I remembered loving him.
The vision shattered.
I staggered back, hitting the doorframe with a dull thud.
Ryuu’s eyes opened. He was on his feet before I could retreat any farther, crossing the room with slow, careful steps. “Ren? Are you okay?”
My breath caught as he reached me.
He cupped my face in his hands, his palms warm, his touch almost reverent. I should’ve pulled away. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.
His brow furrowed, his gaze locked to mine. His eyes started to glow, and I realized a bit too slowly that they were being lit up from within but reflecting a golden light from somewhere else. Every flicker of color in his dark opal eyes, ringed with gold, seemed to come alive like a nebula forming or a fractured rainbow scattered in sunlight.
“Who are you?” He whispered, leaning closer.
I blinked at him, my heart hammering, and I felt the air warming between us. Something inside him cracked wide open—like recognition, like awe.
“What are you?” he asked again, his voice low and raw.
I opened my mouth. I didn’t have an answer.
His body leaned in, helpless, like a man drawn to a bonfire he couldn’t stop from touching. I could feel the heat of him, the pull between us, ancient and electric. My whole body trembled, not from fear, but from knowing. Remembering that we should be closer.
Our lips were just a breath apart. I could almost taste him, and I ---
Knock knock.
The sound shattered the moment.
I jerked back, startled at the sound. Ryuu let out a low, frustrated growl. He turned, his expression darkening, jaw clenched. He stalked toward the front door without another word.
I stood there, dazed and trembling in the silence he left behind.
Then I heard her voice.
“So this is where you’ve been.”
It was Morgan.

Ryuu
I was going to fucking kill someone. A lot of people in a big bloody crusade that would end with me burning down the Pearl Palace.
She stood there in the doorway like she belonged.
Morgan, in my penthouse, again. This one is an even bigger irritation than before, given how special the Dragon’s Palace was to me.
It was the first piece of property I ever developed and the only one I had developed without the use of the Syndicate’s money. It was mine in every sense of the word.
The flicker of heat I’d felt with Ren hadn’t even settled before it was replaced with something colder. Sharper. My jaw tightened as I stepped into the hallway, pulling the door open to glare at Morgan, blocking her entry into my space. I closed the door behind me, pushing her into the hallway.
“What are you doing here?” I asked flatly.
Morgan tilted her head with that familiar smug smile that always made me want to break something. “Don’t be mad. I missed you.”
“You were told not to come to my private residence,” I said, voice low and razor-edged. “I gave that order personally.”
She shrugged like it didn’t matter. “Your guards tried to stop me. I beat you to it and had them dealt with for disobedience.”
I stilled.
“You what?” My voice didn’t rise, but the air around us shifted like a storm front rolling in.
I pulled out my phone and dialed, putting the call on speaker.
“Sano. Yusuke. I want the men I stationed at the penthouse to be found. Now. If they’re harmed in any way, take a torch to the Pearl Palace.”
Morgan’s smirk faltered. “Wait—Ryuu—”
I turned my head just enough to see her flinch.
“They’re not dead!” she said quickly. “I didn’t— Look, I didn’t touch them. I swear. I slipped in through the service entrance. Followed someone else into the stairwell when they came in with groceries.”
I didn’t say anything, eyeing her. I knew there was a lie there, some half-truth, but it wasn’t one I could call her on immediately. The emergency stairs ran through the whole building, but the only way to get into it would be for a resident to let you in, and to get out of the stairwell, a resident of the right floor, security, or staff, would have to let you in.
Or their system had been tampered with.
“Sano,” I said instead, “check the building’s security footage. Service level, all entrances. Track who Morgan followed in. Find that tenant and evict them. I don’t care who they are, and anyone else who helped her get up here.”
Her jaw dropped.
Yusuke’s voice cut in. “And anyone else connected to the Turtles?”
“All of them,” I said, staring at Morgan. “If they’re affiliated, they’re gone. No exceptions.”
Morgan’s huffed like she might argue, but then she thought better of it. I ended the call and slid the phone into my pocket.
“You’ve got ten seconds,” I said coolly, “to explain why I shouldn’t throw you down the very same stairs you climbed to get up here.”