Page 18 of Ruthless Touch

Click.

I haven’t stood all the way up yet when I hear the hammer of a gun being cocked. That’s when I realize why Gun didn’t try to grab me—he was grabbing his handgun instead.

He holds up the gun he’s grabbed from the nearby nightstand drawer, pointing it right at me.

“I didn’t want it to come to this, feline,” he says. “But you’ve left me no choice. If it’s either me or you, then you already know your fate.”

An uncertain moment passes where I stand still and he points the gun. At the very last second, he slightly shifts his aim and fires a shot.

The bullet cuts through the air and shatters the lamp on the desk a few feet from me.

It’s a warning shot.

He intentionally missed.

I take it as my cue to get the hell out of the room. My mission has imploded and there’s no way I can realistically get it done if he’s armed.

I snatch my wristlet on my mad dash out the door, making it to the hall as Gun shouts something after me.

But I don’t pause to listen, nor do I even glance over my shoulder. I sprint down the hotel corridor, making it to the emergency exit and shoving the door open to vanish into the night.

I leap from the exterior stairwell, jumping to the rooftop of the building next door, and then I take off all over again.

It’s not for another several blocks that I eventually slow down. Sweat slicks my skin, my cropped top damp from exertion. It’s still not as bad as the ache in my ribs from some of the collisions we had.

I’ve barely caught my breath when my phone buzzes and I see Director Hart’s name on the Caller ID.

Shit.

I bite my tongue and answer. “This is Silk.”

“Silk, I have it on good authority tonight’s mission has failed,” comes the cool, icy voice of Director Camille Hart.

My boss.

“You failed to complete the operation targeting Lieutenant Im, and what’s this I hear about you going on a late-night side quest to target Rhee Gun-woo?”

Ugh.

Thanks, KD.

You damn snitch.

“His guard got in the way,” I grit out, clutching my phone tight. “But it’s nothing that’ll hinder me and Onyx from moving forward. Tomorrow we’ll?—”

“Nothing that will hinder you, and yet now the Cheongryong areawarewe’re after them,” she snaps uncompromisingly. “I’d say that throws quite the wrench in our plans, Agent Silk. Expect an earful from the board tomorrow. If you can’t get the job done, then I’ll bring on a suit that will.”

She hangs up on me with no further words.

Just the abrupt end of our call and the dial tone to drone in my ears, letting me know I’ve been summarily dismissed for the night.

And you know what?

I can’t even be mad or angry at the director—she’s right that I’ve failed tonight.

I didn’t land Im Hyun-sang, and to make matters worse, I went on a rogue mission to take out Rhee Gun-woo.

…then failed again.