Page 19 of Ruthless Touch

I draw a deep breath into my lungs and touch my fingers to the ring dangling around my neck.

The truth is, I don’t give a shit about pleasing the director, the board or the agency. I didn’t join Vanguard for the job perks and benefits or the prestige of black ops.

I joined for one reason and one reason only.

The chance to avenge Dad and finally make the assholes responsible for his death pay.

Everything else is just a mandatory part of the gig.

But even though I failed tonight, it won’t be the end. It won’t stop me, and I’ll only try harder. I’ll take out Rhee Gun-woo and the rest of the Cheongryong myself, because it’s what they deserve.

Only then will I finally be able to move on from the past.

I just have to recalibrate and devise a new plan.

Sometimes being a predator means having patience.

SIX

GUN

I changemy mind at the last possible second and dash after the dangerous feline. I bolt into the hallway barefoot and bleeding, still half-hard.

The door slams shut with a mechanical click—locked.

Fuck.

But I don’t even stop to think about it. I tear down the corridor, dodging room service carts and confused staff, following the phantom sound of her feet on carpet. My wound protests with every step, a burning ache in my side from where Jamie stabbed me.

Adrenaline thankfully drowns out most of the pain and makes it easier to keep going. All I see is the sway of her braids disappearing around the corner.

“Goyangi!” I shout. “Get your pretty little ass back here! You forgot to kiss me good night!”

But she’s already long gone, slipping out through the emergency exit. She shrinks into the distance, nothing more than a small black figure that soon blends into the midnight landscape.

“Fucking tease,” I growl under my breath. Sharp pain stings in my side as I turn and trudge back down the corridor.

I’ve dripped blood on the carpet and look like a madman in my boxers, clutching a handgun. A few guests have poked their heads out into the hall, and the staff that was once passing by have come to a stop.

One woman lifts her phone to snap a photo. The flash goes off and damn near blinds me.

“What are you looking at?” I snarl moodily. “Never seen a man get played by a knife-wielding sexy assassin before? There’s a first time for everything.”

I stalk past them with the indignant air of somebody wronged. As if it’stheirfault I’m bleeding with a slash in my abdomen, wearing nothing more than my boxers and clutching a gun I just fired.

I try the handle to my hotel suite, already half-aware it’s probably not going to work. My suspicions turn out to be true.

The door won’t budge.

It’s fucking locked, and my keycard is inside.

So are the rest of my clothesandmy phone.

I just had to chase after her. I just had to be so pussy-whipped I even intentionally missed the shot I took—and I haven’t even had a taste of her yet!

A scowl clenches onto my face as I think about what went down.

Things between us had been enjoyable until she had to go and ruin them. Couldn’t she have just fucked me like most women I pick up in nightclubs?