Chapter 26

**Orian POV**

“These stones are completely untraceable.”

I ignore the dealer. I look to my diamond broker. We share looks and he nods.

“Allotrope of carbon under high-pressured conditions. Right from the dark continent.”

My hands in my pockets, leaning against the Persil wall of the office. I nod at one of my men. He breaks from the corner with the steel suitcase and hands it to the dealer. My broker pockets his jeweler’s loupe, neatly packing the prize of diamonds into the velvet box. And then some of my guards escort them all out.

Eager, I leave as well, on my way to find her.

I first go to the suite. She’s not there. Training room. She’s not there.

Find her! My mind screams. Common sense tells me she couldn’t have escaped.

Even if she did. I would’ve been alerted.

Grappling for my calm, I head outside. My eyes spot her immediately, her divine being at the gallery; the nose of the ship. But she’s not alone, she’s with Torin. He’s been sniffing around her a lot lately. His back is leaning against the railing, his attention rapt on her, looking at her in a way that makes me want to tear out my own brother’s heart.

I whip around.

“Boss.”

“What?”

Akio fidgets, avoiding eye contact. “We performed a cross-reference of data from the file of Hadassah and the data provided by Chief Anderson. I found the nexus between her and Markov Sidorov.”

I step closer, motioning for him to continue.

He swallows, looking anxious. “Allegedly, Hadassah had exposed one of his human trafficking rings, lost out on millions, and the bust forced him into hiding.” He looks down at the folder in his hand. “When he came back on the grid, he went looking for her.”

“And?”

“Uh,” he stammers. “He found her. His men ambushed her and brought her to him. According to the medical report.” He hands me the folder. I open it, perusing the list of injuries—results from a rape kit. “She was assaulted... brutally. He was never convicted.”

Fury roars through me, ripping me apart from the inside.

“Move,” I whisper.

He darts aside without question. I hurl a fist at the glass behind him, a web of deep cracks form around my bloody fist. I shake out my hand, unbothered by the pain. My shoulders deflate from the released pressure. I turn to face Akio. With my other hand, I give him the folder. Droplets of blood pelting from my clenched fist and onto the ground, staining the briny air with slight metallic tinges.

“Bandages. And get her mother’s number from the file and get her on the line. Then bring the phone to me.”

Akio snaps a nod.

“I want a location on Sidorov by day’s end. Then send a team.”

“A hit?”

“Grab team. No, I’ll do that part myself.”

He leaves. Shortly, Sherly comes with a whole first aid kit. She pleads with me to sit, then she takes out the miniscule fragments of glass, disinfecting the abrasion before bandaging my hand. When she’s done, she offers me pain pills. I stand up and walk past her, descending to be on the sundeck.

A few meters from the tip. I pause to observe them for a moment.

Sakura laughs at something he says, her eyes aglow in a way I’ll never experience. Even though she is sun-drenched, forest-brown skin radiant, her smile is incandescent. She shines brighter than the sun itself. Torin takes notice of me and straightens up. Condescendingly, I wag my finger at him, beckoning him to come to me. Torin excuses himself and saunters to me. Sakura looks over her shoulder, our eyes meeting for a split second before she looks away, busing herself with the view of the ocean.

“Don’t you have an appointment?”

A fresh swell of anger floods me in an instant. “Trying to get rid of me?”

“Don’t have to,” he says scornfully. “Nothing gets between you and business. Even if innocent lives are collateral damage.”

My other hand curls into a fist, twitching, itching to be used.

He looks at me as if he’s studying my expression. “The aforementioned blood diamonds are procured by a Liberian warlord, the proceeds of which are utilized to finance armed conflict,” he trails off, staring at me with disbelief, “... Massacres, Orian, women and children. Don’t pretend you didn’t know.”

“Who said I was pretending? In the absence of my participation, it was inevitable that another individual would assume the benefit. So why not us?”

His lips tear apart. I lift a hand to silence him.

“Go tell the captain we need to take one last detour before the trip to Greece.”

He dispels his grievances with one inhale. “Detour, where?”

“Saruga Bay on the Pacific coast of Honshū.”

He doesn’t argue. We pass each other.

I sidle her flank, taking Torin’s stead. She looks at me and scoffs, turning to leave. I move swiftly to trap her. My hands brace the railing, forming unbreakable defenses on either side of her, a silent shield in the charged air between us.

“Ori—what happened to your hand?”

I slant forward, my lips grazing the shell of her ear; “Is that concern I hear?”

She grips the railing, suppressing the shivers. “Someone’s delusional.”

“Someone’s in denial.”

She swivels around to face me, inclining her head at me. “Don’t confuse me with the other thirsty hoes you’ve had up in here.”

A small laugh slips out. “What hoes are these?”

Her brows nearly touch her hairline. “Should I make a list?”

“Why do you care?”

She huffs, her face twisting into a frown. “I don’t.”

I give her a doubtful look. She looks away with a maddened eye roll.

“First, Olivia is an ally. Daughter of a corrupt CEO, her father is a good friend of mine. Our trip to Milan, we traveled there separately to attend an event I only appeared at for less than five minutes.”

She entertains the explanation. “What about Yua and the other bitchy one?” she asks so fast she even seems shocked by her question.

I struggle to fight off a smile. “Yua... I will protect with my life.”

Her eyes widen comically, blinking too fast.

“Because she is like my baby sister. I watched over her since she was a child, Sakura. Same with her sisters, including the bitchy one.” I nearly laugh at her relieved expression. “They are the ones that have been on this yacht. I severed ties with Daku, but not with his daughters. They’re the only siblings I knew before Torin.”

She nods slowly. “Oh.”

“I hope you feel ridiculous.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “What for?”

“For being jealous, my Sakura. Believe me, you will never have a reason to be.”

Her eyes drop to my lips. She bites down on her own.

“Don’t do that,” I say too roughly. “I want to do that.”

Her teeth lift from her lower lip. She comes so close; we share breaths.

Whispering, she says, “You are sicker than I thought if you think I would be jealous. Being jealous would mean caring, and I would never care for a deranged, heartless motherf—”

Calm mutates into feral fury. I find my hand gripping her jaw. “Don’t you ever fucking talk to me like that again.” My words fall into her open mouth. Both hands catch my wrist, nails digging into my skin. “You’ll live longer that way.”

Breathing hard, she takes a few loud breaths before saying, “Go to hell.”

I smile at her. “I would. But I was kicked out.”

I let her go. She holds her jaw, eyes simmering with hatred.

I don’t understand her. Why is she so difficult?

She looks past my shoulder. I swivel around. Akio, walking towards us, holding out the satellite phone.

I point to her. “It’s for her.”

Her hand drops from her jaw, looking back at us bewilderedly.

“Take it.”

With an unsteady hand, she takes the phone from him and answers. “Hello?”

A second later, shocked tears pour from her eyes, her mouth rounding. ”Mom?” she says in a broken voice.

She looks at me. I nod.

“No, no, I’m not crying.” She quickly clears her throat, tucking a curly lock behind her ear. “I’m just happy to hear your voice.”

I don’t know what she’s saying to her, but I can hear mother’s voice booming from where I’m standing.

She laughs through her tears, fingertips touching her lips. “I’m so sorry, things have been busy—I know it’s been weeks—wait, what magazine cover?” She waves her other hand frantically. “Never mind that, ma, I’m calling now. I’m sorry there’s been a lot happening, much more work than I anticipated. It seriously has been... a killer."

Half an hour passes and they’re still at it. I linger around her, monitoring their conversation to make sure she doesn’t convey any kind of information that she’s not supposed to. She expertly derails her mother’s questions when it comes to her current destination and the specifics of the mid-term position. Eventually, the conversation dies down. She makes a false promise to call daily. My forbearance precipitously declines when she utters the boy’s name. Calum. I hate the way she says his name, laced with love, and carried with care.

She ends the call and hands the phone to me.

“Why’d you do that?” Wiping her tears angrily. “Is it to remind me to obey or you’ll kill my mother if I don’t?”

The scalding pain of my fist breaking glass is a love tap compared to her words.

“No,” I say with gritted teeth.

“Then why?”

Shaking my head, I turn, walking away.