Page 20 of Ruthless Touch

Why did she have to go and make the situation lethal?

…because she’s an assassin, you dumbass.

I head down to the lobby with more blood dribbling everywhere I go. Several businessmen give me disapproving shakes of their head, and one woman screams and flees like she’s in imminent danger.

Damn drama queen.

But I know what they’re thinking—the Hotel Dalbit is supposed to be one of the nicest hotels in the neighborhood. Hence why the Cheongryong has standing reservations here.

Yet here comes some bleeding gangster fucking it up.

The uniformed clerk behind the front desk eyes me like I’m an unruly street dog that’s been dragged indoors. Her nostrils twitch like she’s smelled something unpleasant. She must not realize who I am.

“Sir,” she says in Hangul with a forced polite bow of her head. “This hotel is an upscale establishment. We ask that you remove yourself from the premises or we will be calling the authorities.”

I heave a tedious sigh, then present my forearm on the front desk counter. The blue dragon inked on my skin is immediately recognizable. Her entire demeanor changes.

She gives three bows in quick succession. “Sir, please forgive me. I had no idea—what do you need? Medical attention? A shirt to wear? Would you like some complimentary champagne?—?”

“Save the ass kissing,” I snap back in Hangul. “Just get me a new room key. Room 836—andthe complimentary champagne too.”

Once she’s handed over the key, the champagne bottle, and offered several more profuse apologies, I head back toward the elevator. I’m boarding at the same time as an older couple who can’t stop staring like I’m some zoo animal.

The wife in horror. The husband perplexed, then outright amused.

He laughs and says in Hangul, “What woman has driven you crazy tonight?”

“It’s a long story,” I answer. “But the gist is, don’t trust beautiful women with claws.”

The husband hacks out a loud laugh that turns into a cough the moment his wife throws him a nasty glare.

Relief washes over me when I swipe the keycard and the little bulb on the lock flashes green.

I plod through the door like some exhausted menial worker who does back-breaking labor. But dealing with a woman like Jamie is just as tiring.

Clearly, the woman was playing a game all night long that I missed out on.

My first instincts were correct—sheisdangerous. Though it’s not in the way I suspected.

I get it now.

She’s not just some sultry beauty with mystery and allure. She’s something else entirely.

Tonight was predator versus predator.

I was drawn to her not out of pure sexuality. But out of the violent instinct one killer has toward another, recognizing one of his kind in the wild.

Thinking back over how she’d watched me every moment, I know she recognized me too. She knew exactly who and what I was.

My fingers comb through my hair as I walk into the suite and realize the ache in my skull has grown worse.

“What the hell happened to you?”

The voice draws my gaze to the corner of the room, where Joon-gi stands sipping from a drink he’s made at the minibar.

Ignoring all the destruction we wreaked, like the smashed bottles, knocked over furniture, and puddle of blood on the floor.

I shoot him a disgruntled look as I collapse in a chair. “How the hell you’d get in?”