Page 54

We hover in awkward silence for a couple seconds. Monroe glances uncertainly at the toilet and then pushes the button to flush.

“Don’t worry, I’ll use the bottle next time.”

She moves to rush past me, but I catch her arm on her way out. “Just knock,” I say. “If it’s after hours and you need to go, knock on my door. So that we don’t…”

“Have an encounter in the dark in the bathroom? I think I’ve learned my lesson.”

For a brief second, her eyes flit over me like mine had her, where she drinks in the fact that I’m shirtless in boxer briefs with a semi-erect penis.

Apparently, I have a similar effect on her. I can feel the warmth she gives off as she tears her gaze away and then rushes the rest of the way out of my room.

I sigh.

The temptation between us just might be our undoing.

The first bullet tears through Kwong Sang-bae’s skull at the squeeze of my trigger.

Blood sprays across the mirrored wall of Club Gongshi’s VIP suite, violent red streaks splattering across the glass. Kwon Sang-bae slumps against the couch, a chunk of his head blown out.

The gunfight is instantaneous.

Bulgeomhoe members firing back at us. Me and my men firing back at them.

We’ve turned up at Club Gongshi only to find them doing what we warned against. They’ve been encroaching on our territory for some time now, infiltrating clubs like Gongshi to sell their products.

Glass crunches beneath my boots as I move. The thudding bass from the club’s speakers plays on. The drunk partiers havestarted stampeding for the door, screaming and hysterical. But the gang war carries on without care if they’re made casualties.

We’ll collect what blood we need to as a form of payment. Some collateral damage has never mattered.

“Down!” I bark, grabbing my youngest solider, Dong-woo, by the collar. I fire at the gold-tooth motherfucker who was about to shoot him from behind.

Gunfire rips through the air and men drop to the ground riddled with bullet holes.

A soldier of mine named Byun Hyuk screams from across the room, struck in the neck by a bullet. He’s the Baekho Pa’s only casualty as we take out the rest of the Bulgeomhoe soldiers.

All except one.

A skinny, rat-faced bastard who drops to his knees and begins begging in Hangugeo.

“Get the fuck out of here,” I snarl at him. “Go to your leader. Tell him all you’ve witnessed. Make sure he knows this is his future should the Bulgeomhoe continue defying us.”

He scrambles like the rat he resembles, disappearing from sight.

The carnage leftover at Club Gongshi is more than usual. Bodies litter the floor, along with shards of glass from shattered mirrors and liquor bottles. Tables and chairs are broken into pieces. Bullet holes puncture the walls. A handful of civilian casualties lay slumped at the bar and near the door.

My shirt is soaked. I glance down and see blood seeping through the fabric. I’ve been grazed. During the fight, my adrenaline was buzzing at such a level, I didn’t even feel the hit.

But it doesn’t matter. We’ve won the confrontation and I can patch myself up at home.

I step over broken glass and head for the exit.

By the time I’m in my car, the wound in my shoulder throbs away. I crank the window down and let the warm summer air wash over me.

The feeling of victory is like no other. It’s a reward for hard work and dedication.

The Bulgeomhoe will know that this was just a taste of our wrath. If they press more buttons, I’ll tear them to shreds. My name in the Baekho Pa is Silent Hunter for a reason.

My mind wanders to Monroe on the drive home.