Page 181 of Lust & Lies

“Great!” I beamed at her before turning to Aiden and grabbing his hand, stroking my thumb over his knuckles. “With her device, you’ll know that I’m safe. And if I encounter any danger, you’ll know that too.”

He took a deep breath. “If anything happens to you...”

“It won’t,” I rushed to assure him. “So, do you agree?”

He stared at me for a long time. For a second, I thought he’d disagree. Finally, he nodded.

“Let’s do it your way,” he told me.

“Yay!” I kissed him to thank him.

It was supposed to be a quick kiss on his lips. But he placed his hand on the back of my head and held me there, deepening the kiss. I melted against him, missing this, missing him.

“You two are too handsy for me,” Gertrude mumbled, gathering up her stuff to leave. “Kissing is fine,” she called out on her way out. “But nothing more than that. If Noe pulls her stitching, I will separate you two. Oh, and when Seo-Jin stops by, I’ll fill him in on the plan.”

The door closed behind her with a soft click.

Aiden pulled back to stare down at me. “She acts like she’s the boss of us,” he grumbled.

“We must respect our elders,” I reminded him.

“She’s not that old. You should’ve seen the way she cocked that gun and threatened to shoot motherfuckers the night the rogue Watchdogs attacked.”

“She’s old, but she still got it,” I bragged. “Speaking of rogue Watchdogs, the actual number of rogues needs to be figured out and taken care of.”

“I know. There’s always been Watchdogs who've gone rogue throughout the years. But since my grandfather has been in charge, that number seems to have grown.”

“Before I lost my memory, Seo-Jin and I did a mission-audit. We looked through hundreds of previous missions and more recent ones. Before your grandfather took control of the Watchdogs, the organization had more missions that helped struggling communities protect themselves and their properties from illegal bank seizures and real estate investors who wanted to buy their land at a cheap rate, using illegal means to get them to sell.”

“Makes sense. That’s what the Watchdogs were created for. They weren’t created solely to protect the Park family. The Parkfamily’s just the top of the tree. But the roots? They stretch through every neighborhood, every community that’s ever been stepped on, ignored, or threatened. You remember the story of how my family came to Mississippi, right?”

“Yes, how could I forget? I mean, I did forget at one point. Anyway. You all were the Bak family back in Korea. You came here during the Korean War, and to make things easier on your descendants, you all changed your last name to Park. Your family settled in Biloxi. But you faced racism, threats, and violence, like other Korean immigrants who came here, fleeing the war. And so did the Black families who took them in, gave them shelter.”

“Right. I often marveled at how a group of people who were already being suppressed was actually willing to take in and help others. The Watchdogs started right here, in Mississippi. Not as assassins, but as protectors. They guarded civil rights leaders, protected immigrant businesses from being burned down, and stood between cops and kids who couldn’t even walk down their street safely. When my dad told me about how the Watchdogs started, it made me want to be one. But he told me I wasn’t able to because my grandfather had made a rule that Parks weren’t allowed to be Watchdogs.”

“But before him, Parks were some of the strongest Watchdogs. When your grandfather became the head of the organization, a lot of things changed. During the audit, we learned that since Mr. Park took over, there have been more Park-Family related missions than ever before. Missions that were aimed at people and companies who either wronged your family, or were in the way of something your family was after.”

“So, grandfather has been using the Watchdogs as his own personal minions.”

“Yes. And the number of assassins that have died on missions increased after your grandfather took over.”

“Damn it.”

“I have the data on my computer. I was planning to show it to Tristan after my contract was over. But I’ll let you show it to him now.”

“I will. That’ll convince him that it’s time to make grandfather step down. The next question is, who will replace him as overseer of the organization?”

“I know someone who could take charge until we figure out who should take on that role.”

“Who?”

“Gertrude. Sam too. They can run it together until you all figure out the next step. They understand the organization better than we do. It’s been their only job their entire lives. They worked for your grandfather and your great-grandfather before him. They have integrity and we know we can trust them. Plus...”

“You don’t have to convince me, love. They are the only ones I’d trust for the job.”

“Really?” I beamed.

“Other than you. And I guess, Seo-Jin, as long as he doesn’t look at you while you work together.”