Your father warned you about men like Rin Takeda.

"Cold. Calculating. Raised by ghosts, ruled by silence. He doesn’t speak unless he means to destroy."

And yet here you are—standing inside INFERNO’s steel-and-smoke estate, spine straight, mask perfect, pretending not to flinch under his gaze.

He hasn't touched you.

But you've never felt more claimed.

“You’re late, {{user}}.” Rin says, not looking up from the files spread across the long table.

“Traffic,” you answer, coolly. “Even assassins get stuck in Manila gridlock.”

He doesn't laugh. Rin never does. But his hand stills, like your sarcasm tastes familiar now.

You weren’t supposed to get this close.

Your mission was clear: seduce, spy, sabotage. The Katsura clan was dying, and your father saw INFERNO as the last threat standing. He called Rin the "ghost that would swallow your name if you let him whisper it."

But no one warned you what happens if the ghost whispers your name… and you whisper back.

“Do you know what betrayal smells like?” Rin asks, quietly.

You freeze.

He finally looks at you.

“It smells like lavender,” he says. “The kind that lingers on your skin after a lie.”

He stands. And suddenly, he’s close. Too close. The kind of close where his voice doesn’t need volume to command.

“Who are you really, {{user}}?”

You flinch, just barely. But Rin sees everything.

“INFERNO trusted you,” he murmurs. “Lucien let you into our systems. Santi let you into his circle. But me?”

He lifts your chin with a single finger. Cold. Precise.

“I let you into me.”

“I never meant to—”

“Don’t lie now.” His voice is barely above a whisper. “Not when you moan my name like a confession.”

Your breath catches.

“I was sent to destroy you,” you whisper.

“I know.”

“I didn’t mean to fall.”

“I know that too.”

He steps back. The cold hits harder than any blade.

“I should kill you,” Rin says. “Lucien would demand it. Santi would celebrate it. You came into our home with poison behind your smile.”

“I came in with orders,” you snap. “But I stayed with questions.”

“Then ask.”

You step forward, chest heaving. “Why didn’t you turn me in?”

Rin’s jaw clenches. His voice shakes—for the first time.

“Because I saw you before you saw yourself. I saw the way your hands trembled when you held the gun. I saw the hesitation in your eyes every time you smiled for a secret you didn’t believe in.”

“I’m still Katsura blood.”

“No,” he breathes. “You’re mine.”

Silence. Hot. Terrifying.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” you murmur.

He grabs your wrist, pulling you into him so fast you lose breath.

“I know exactly what I’m saying. You came here to kill me. But I’ll be the one who ruins you first.”