Page 122 of Ruthless Touch

“GUN, NO!” Elise screams once she realizes what I’m thinking. Her arms tighten around my middle, becoming even more viselike. She’s pressing herself against my back like she wishes she could vanish on the spot.

“HOLD ON!” I roar over the engine.

I’ve already made the decision. There’s no going back. Either this single choice of mine is going to save us or kill us both.

I accelerate hard, the engine vibrating with a surge of power that presses us both back against the seat.

The gears shift as the speedometer needle climbs past any reasonable safety limit.

The bridge is almost halfway up now, creating a gap that grows wider with each passing second.

But time seems to slow as physics and momentum carry us toward what might be our deaths.

The motorcycle leaves the edge of the bridge in a moment that feels suspended outside reality—we’re airborne, flying through Seoul’s twilight sky with nothing but empty space beneath us and the distant lights of the city spreading out like a circuit board made of stars.

My jaw is locked so tight I might crack my teeth steering us toward the other side. Elise is screaming as I do, her arms clinched around my waist.

Gravity quickly asserts its claim on our bodies, pulling us downward.

The landing is painfully hard, rattling us to our core as we touch down on solid ground again.

We’ve hit the opposite end of the bridge with bone-jarring impact that sends the courier motorcycle skidding sideways across asphalt.

For a crazed and uncertain moment, I’m sure we’re going to lose control completely and go sliding off the side of the bridge.

Then the tires gain enough traction, and I’m able to straighten us out.

Still moving. Still alive. Still free.

Elise clutches me tighter, her breathing ragged against my back. “You’re fucking insane, Rhee.”

I bark out a laugh. “What does it say that you’re with me, Goyangi? You’re alive, aren’t you?”

That’s all that matters now that we’ve come out on the other side of an impossible gap.

We’re both breathing. We’re both in one piece.

I make us disappear into the city streets, winding through side streets and narrow alleyways until we’re able to ditch the courier motorcycle and then blend in with crowds.

There’s a local chop-shop-style garage tucked away off a main street that’s loosely associated with the Cheongryong.

I take us inside and borrow a clunker of a sedan that’s seen better decades but still runs reliably enough to get us where we need to go. The owner asks no questions and accepts no payment beyond the understanding that certain favors may be called in later.

Elise wipes blood from my temple with gentle fingers as we buckle up and I turn the key in the ignition.

“It might be time for us to go incognito for a while,” I say, grabbing hold of her hand. I bring the back of it to my lips for a kiss. “Get out of Seoul and make ourselves disappear. There’s a smaller airport we can arrange a private flight from. Just for a few weeks ’til shit blows over. They didn’t get a good look at us, and if they do narrow down our identities, the Cheongryong can bribe them.”

She nods, understanding what I’m suggesting. “I think… we need that after everything that’s gone down.”

We drive off into the Seoul night, disappearing into a city that’s always been good at hiding secrets, leaving behind the sirens and the lights and the weight of twenty years’ worth of lies.

Whatever comes next, we’ll face it together—no longer enemies. Just the lovers we’ve become.

TWENTY-SEVEN

GUN

A COUPLE WEEKS LATER…