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The familiar scent of sandalwood and corruption accosted me as I entered the study. Ichiro sat behind the massive oak desk, his gnarled fingers moving across some papers as he studied them.
I cleared my throat. “We need to talk.”
Ichiro looked up from his work, his dark eyes glinting dangerously behind his wire-rimmed spectacles. “Do we now?”
There was no sense in skirting around the issue. It was time to rip off the band-aid. “You need to name me as heir. Officially.”
For a moment, the room seemed to grow darker, the tension between us palpable.
“Is that so?” the old man asked quietly.
I hated these games with a passion so thick I could taste it. My grandfather wasn’t looking for a response, and the silence stretched on as the weight of the demand sank deep into the air.
“You think you’re better suited than the others?” Ichiro finally asked, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers.
“What others?” I asked with a scornful laugh. “You know as well as anyone that no one else can follow in your footsteps.”
The smile that tugged at the corners of my grandfather’s lips sent a chill down my spine. It was the sort of grin that made me feel like a child being toyed with by a particularly sadistic dragon.
“Very well,” Ichiro said slowly, his voice low and lethal. “But remember, boy, there are consequences for failing your family. Are you prepared to face them?”
“You’ve made it very clear from the day I was born that I wasn’t a welcome part of this family.” My own voice was laced with a mixture of defiance and fury. “But I don’t need to be welcome to be right, and I won’t fail. Set your terms.”
Breaking through the Sato family’s dark legacy wouldn’t be easy, but for Bree’s safety, I was willing to do whatever it took.
The sunlight caught the glimmer of cruel mischief in Ichiro’s eyes. “One last fight, and I will grant your wish.”
I stiffened. Outside of training with my friends and my bet with Bree, it had been years since I’d fought in the ring. I’d left that world behind.
Or so I thought.
“Why now?” I asked.
“Consider it payment for destroying my property.”
Along with the shipping container filled with pyrocrystals, the entire warehouse had burned to the ground, just as I had ordered. I’d paid for it every day since. Hence, the dark circles beneath my eyes.
I smiled. “When do I fight?”
Ichiro tapped one of the papers sprawled across his desk. “You’ve likely heard that Ms. Delgado has announced a fight for this evening. She claims no one can beat this new mystery fighter. I want you to prove that fae woman wrong.” His eyes flashed dangerously with red. “Prove that no one is stronger than a Sato dragon.”
During my fighting years, I had never lost a single match. I was the undeniable best—back then. But as everything does, I was getting older, and my last fight had almost killed me. The close call was my whole reason for getting out while I still could.
The difference now was Bree and keeping her safe from people like my grandfather, which meant I needed to speed up my plan’s timeline.
I nodded. “Fine. But when I win, you will announce me as your official heir. Tonight.”
My grandfather’s eyes narrowed in calculation, as if weighing the potential consequences of granting my full request. The air in the study grew thick and heavy, like a storm brewing on the horizon.
“Very well. But remember Dominic, your mother found out the hard way that forcing my hand comes with a steep price.”
Ichiro’s words were deliberate and cruel, designed to make me falter. But I had always been an outsider, standing on the fringes of this twisted family. And I’d be damned if I folded now.
No matter what price I had to pay, I would face it head-on. “I’ll burn down every last corner of that gym if that’s what it takes to win.”
With a savage smile, the old man pushed back his chair and stood before offering his hand.
I stepped forward, clasping my grandfather’s forearm to seal the deal.
