Chapter 28

28

HANA

By mid-morning, my thoughts are a jumble. By noon, I’m a fucking mess .

Damian is missing.

Cold panic has settled in, making my chest tighten with every passing second. He isn’t answering any messages. There’s been no sign of him since last night, no trail to follow.

Just…vanished, into thin air.

I feel like I’m going insane. My mind won’t stop seeing his face, replaying every intense moment we’ve shared. The way he looks at me like I’m something he needs. Something precious.

It’s not even a question anymore. What I feel for this man… It’s nothing I’ve ever known before. A feeling with a particular word I’ve never used with anyone outside my family. And I don’t know how it happened, or what it means for the future, but I do know this:

Somehow, I fucking fell in love with Damian. And I won’t lose him.

I’m pacing the hotel room, waiting for Kai to report back on his search of the city, when I glance to Takeshi, a grim expression on his face.

“We burned Kolya’s hostess club. Damian mentioned he had to ‘take care of something big’ right afterward. Those were his exact words.” He glances at me and makes a face. “I…sort of thought…you know…” He trails off, uncomfortable.

“You thought he meant what?!” I press, my heart pounding.

“I thought he was making a gross euphemism about hooking up with you!” he groans, his mouth twisting in disgust, frustration in his eyes. “Clearly, I was wrong.”

Just then Kai walks in, his face as grim as Tak’s. “Nothing. I mean, it’s a huge goddamn city, but we’ve checked every place he could be. It’s like he’s just disappeared.”

I shut my eyes, trying not to fall apart. This is Damian. He doesn’t just disappear .

My phone rings and I scramble to answer, seeing that it’s Freya on FaceTime. Both families were apprised of Damian’s disappearance this morning when I woke up to see no trace of him. Freya, hacker queen that she is, has been trying to triangulate and track his position from cell tower data.

“Anything?” I blurt anxiously.

Her face is grim. “Not yet,” she says tightly, her voice strained. “Tokyo’s massive ,” Freya continues. “Signals get lost in the city’s data mess. I’ve been looking for a social media account pinging his phone or a web cookie trying to scrape him for ad data, but there’s nothing. His phone must be off.”

“Off?” I cling to my own phone like it might pull Damian back to me.

Freya nods, frowning. “There is one thing I’m not supposed to be tapped into…well, a bunch of stuff I’m not really supposed to be tapped into…but anyway, I just saw an internal report from the State Department about a possible break-in last night at the US Ambassador’s residence in Tokyo?”

I frown. “You think Damian broke into it?”

She huffs out a breath. “Not really, but it struck me as—off. Dunno. Could be worth digging into. I just have a weird feeling. Anyway, I’m jumping back in. Call you back if I snag anything.”

When we end the call, I turn to see Takeshi standing there, his face hard.

“What?” I demand, a little too sharply.

He clears his throat and glances at Kai, his expression inscrutable. “Could you…”

Kai nods without any protest before he turns and leaves us, stepping out of the room.

“That might be our lead,” Tak murmurs. “I think that was Damian.”

I stare at him. “Why the fuck would Damian break into the Ambassador’s house?”

Takeshi hesitates before answering. “The new Ambassador isn’t just anyone, Hana.” His voice drops. “He’s Kempton Donahue.”

The name hits me like a physical blow. I feel my knees buckle, my hand instinctively reaching out to steady myself against the wall.

“ What ?”

“As of a month ago. He’s serving out his Senate term, but he’s already in Tokyo.”

My heart drops, my pulse thudding like lead in my veins. “Damian… went to them?” I whisper. All the pieces fall horribly into place, fear and anger and helplessness all swirling together.

“They…” my head swims. “Tak, they?—”

“I remember,” he growls, his eyes narrowed. “I remember when those fucks came and harassed you after?—”

“Tak,” I say quietly. My face falls, the color draining from it as I look up at him with a pained expression on my face.

“Hana?”

“There’s…more to it than that.”

It all falls out. I’ve never told anyone about the painting, and the money, and constant threats from Josh’s parents. Only Damian, just the other day.

But as the words just fall out of me, I watch my brother’s face rampage through all manner of emotions: pain, anger, sympathy, sadness…until finally it settles on something cold, brutal, and venomous.

“We have to go—” I start, my voice wavering as I fight to control the vortex of emotions.

Takeshi stops me, his hand firm on my shoulder. “No.” His voice is as cold and unyielding as the unnervingly icy expression on his face. “No, this one’s all me.”

“Takeshi—”

“ No ,” he repeats, his tone steely, and I see a darkness in his eyes that sends a chill down my spine. “Those motherfuckers put you through hell, Hana,” he hisses through clenched teeth. “This has been a long time coming. If Damian’s missing because of them…” His hands clench. “Those bastards are due for a reckoning.”

Every instinct screams to run, to fight, to do anything I can to bring Damian back. But I see the fierce determination in my brother’s eyes, and I know he won’t let me.

Takeshi heads for the door, giving me a hard look over his shoulder. “I’ll get him back, Hana. Don’t worry.”

And then he’s gone, leaving me with nothing but my frantic heartbeat and the crushing weight of helplessness.