CHAPTER 56: CLAIMING

Chapter 56

JACE MARINO

It’s been three days since the whole blow-up with my father, and the silence is starting to feel louder than the shouting ever was. No commands. No veiled threats. Not even one of his usual "reminders" delivered through a loyal dog of his. Nothing. And that’s what worries me. My father doesn’t let things go. He doesn’t stew. He strategizes. He recalibrates. He waits for everyone else to breathe again before he cuts the air out of the room.

He’s not an easy man to bend. God knows I’ve spent most of my life trying, but he is a man who hates being defied. And he won’t just sit back and let me walk off the path he paved for me. He’s going to pull something to stop me. I can feel it, like pressure building before a storm breaks. I don’t know what it is yet, or who he’ll use to deliver the hit, but I know it’s coming.

And the worst part is that waiting for it... feels almost as dangerous as whatever he’s planning

I woke up before the sun came up. I do not know why. I just opened my eyes and felt this heaviness in my chest. I reached for my phone without thinking. My mind went straight to Julian. I wanted to hear his voice. I wanted something soft before the whole day started. So I called him.

After the call. I went to the kitchen to make some coffee when Marco walked in flipping through his phone like he had nothing better to do.

"Enzo spent the day with your boy yesterday." He said it too casually.

My hand stopped halfway to the mug. "What?"

Marco didn’t look up. "He picked them up after exams. Bowling. Escape room. Fed them. Dropped them home. Word for word according to what the men watching him told me"

My pulse hit my throat in this stupid sharp way. I kept my face flat. "Enzo didn’t tell me—why didn’t they report to me directly?"

"Since when does Enzo tell anyone anything?" Marco said. "And I told the boys to report to me or Mateo if they can’t reach you. Don’t worry they looked happy. Enzo’s identity is still unknown to them, so for now he means no harm." He finished.

I hated the way that word felt.

I put the mug down slowly because if I didn’t I would slam it. Enzo knew better. He knew exactly who Julian was to me. He knew what lines he wasn’t supposed to cross.

I stepped out of the kitchen before Marco could read my face. I pulled out my phone. I wanted to call Julian again but stopped myself. He deserved peace after exams. And I wasn’t about to sound jealous.

So I texted Enzo instead.

Me: Where are you?

He replied fast.

Frenemy: I knew you would snap

Me: where are you?

Frenemy: Relax. I gave your boy a good day. You should thank me.

I stared at the screen and felt my jaw tighten.

"Oh we’re going to talk," I said quietly. And I will tell you about my complicated relationship with Enzo later. We have a lot to do today.

We had to check on Aiko, speak with the men watching her street. My father wanted me at the construction office later to sign some papers for new workers. I already felt tired.

I walked back to the kitchen at the same time Dominic came straight up to me with an update.

"Sir, the men watching Aiko say she left her building ten minutes ago. Same pattern as yesterday. Heading deeper into Chinatown."

"Her boyfriend?" I asked.

"With her," Dominic said.

"Good. Get the car."

Marco muttered, "We’re really doing this now?"

"Yes," I said. "Before Takeda makes his next move."

Mateo sighed but didn’t argue. They knew the faster Aiko was secured, the fewer targets Takeda had to play with. The last thing we needed was him snatching her first and flipping the narrative.

We drove straight to Chinatown and it didn’t take long for us to see her.

We followed her quietly through Chinatown. She didn’t even look over her shoulder. She wasn’t trained to. She wasn’t raised like us. She didn’t know what kind of predators came out when men like her father got angry.

She headed into a narrow alley behind a row of old buildings. That was all I needed.

"Now," I said.

Marco and Mateo moved with me. We cornered her right at the door as she was unlocking it. She gasped, but she didn’t scream.

She let us in.

Her boyfriend stood up from the bed the moment he saw us.

"What is it this time?" She asked

"Your father is waging a war"

"Let me guess. I’m the problem "

"I’m not returning you to your father if that’s what you are thinking I said.

Aiko blinked. "What?"

"I’m taking you both to our safe house. Somewhere Takeda can’t reach you."

Her boyfriend stiffened. "Hold on. Why? What for?"

"Because Takeda is making threats," I said, "and he’s stupid if he thinks he gets to use you to make a point."

Aiko swallowed hard. "He threatened you?"

"Not just me," I said. "He threatened Julian."

That shut the room up fast.

Aiko looked down. "I didn’t know it got that bad."

"It’s already bad," Marco said. "And it’s going to get worse."

Aiko stood. "So what’s your plan? Hide me forever? I’m not stupid. My father has men everywhere."

"That’s the point," I said. "He thinks you’re on the run. He thinks he’s controlling the board. He thinks he has leverage. He doesn’t."

Her boyfriend asked, "What do you mean?"

I looked at both of them. "I’m going to use you."

Aiko straightened like she expected something cruel. "Use me how?"

"Not in the way your father does," I said. "Not as a pawn. But as a message."

"Explain," Marco said. "Because I’m lost."

I looked at all of them. "If Takeda wants a war, he needs leverage. You. The marriage. The alliance. Without you, he has nothing. He can’t go to the Russians. He can’t pressure my father. He can’t twist the story."

Aiko frowned. "So what are you saying? That you’re going to tell the Russians the truth?"

"No," I said. "I’m going to give the Russians something better."

Mateo spoke up. "Jace. Don’t do something stupid."

"I’m not. I know exactly what I’m doing."

I looked at Aiko again. "Your father can’t threaten anyone if the Russians think he’s unreliable. If he loses face, the alliance collapses. And if he loses face because of something he did, not us, the Russians will cut him off."

Her boyfriend blinked. "How would they find out?"

Aiko caught on before he did. Her eyes widened. "You want me to talk."

"Yes," I said. "Not to the Russians directly. They don’t work that way. But to their middlemen. The ones who report up the ladder. The ones who spread gossip across borders. The ones who build reputations."

Mateo shook his head. "This is dangerous."

"Everything is dangerous," I said. "Takeda already crossed the line. I’m crossing it back."

Aiko stared at me for a long time. "So you want me to expose my father."

"Enough to stop him," I said. "Enough to make him look unstable. Enough to make the Russians hesitate. Enough to keep him off Julian."

Her jaw tightened. She wasn’t scared anymore. She was angry.

"Good," she said quietly. "I’ll do it."

Her boyfriend grabbed her hand. "Aiko. Think."

"I am thinking," she said. "This is the only time I get to choose something for myself."

Marco walked to the window. "Alright, but how do we keep her safe while she talks?"

"That’s the easy part," I said. "She’ll be hidden. She’ll never meet anyone face to face. Everything goes through a controlled channel I build myself."

"A burner?" Mateo asked.

"A network," I corrected. "Encrypted. Layered. Nothing that leads back to us."

Marco let out a breath. "You’ve been planning something like this."

I shrugged. "A long time."

Aiko crossed her arms. "So we go with you now?"

"Yes," I said. "Takeda’s men will eventually notice you’re missing. I want you gone before they get curious."

Her boyfriend asked, "And what happens after? When your father finds out you’re doing this?"

"I don’t care," I said. "He lost the right to control me the second he sat there and expected me to let Takeda threaten Julian."

Aiko let out a shaky breath. "Okay. Then take us."

We moved fast. Marco kept watch. Mateo grabbed Aiko’s things from her small closet. Dominic arrived outside with the car. Aiko’s boyfriend kept glancing around like he expected a bullet through the window any second. I didn’t blame him.

When we stepped outside, the cold air hit all of us hard. It woke us up.

Dominic opened the door. "Safe house is prepared."

"Good," I said. "Let’s move."

Aiko slid in with her boyfriend.

The drive was silent for a while. Then Aiko spoke softly from the backseat.

"All of this. Just because I didn’t want to marry you."

"No," I said. "Because your father doesn’t know when to stop."

She didn’t say anything after that.

When we reached the safe house, I showed them the room they’d stay in. Not fancy. But secure. Hidden. Cameras only inside the hallway. All signals blocked.

Aiko turned to me. "What now?"

"Now," I said, "we buy time. Then I tell you exactly what to say and who to say it to."

"And Takeda?" she asked.

I looked her right in the eyes. "I’ll handle him."

She believed me.

She should.

Because this time I wasn’t playing nice. And Takeda had no idea what kind of mistake he made coming after Julian.

If he wanted a war, fine.

I’d give him one he couldn’t survive.