Page 21 of Ruthless Touch

“One of the doumi’s in the hall let me in. All I had to do was smile and be nice. And tip her five thousand won.” Joon-gi glances at the slash mark on my stomach, then the gun in my hand. “You should try it sometime, my friend.”

“You’re one to talk. Usually,I’mthe charmer.”

“Things go south with the American cutie? Or was she too kinky for your tastes?”

“Let’s just say things were going great… right up until she tried to murder me.”

Joon grins. “So she was very kinky, eh? I don’t mind a little pain.”

“Hey, are you an idiot?” I snap in Hangul. Then I switch back to English, no less irritated. “She’s a Black Suit.”

“A Black Suit as in…?”

“As in one of the bastards hired to take out members in the Cheongryong—yes, that kind of Black Suit,” I say, popping open the bottle of champagne. I take a quick swig before any of the fizzy drink spills out. “But not just any Black Suit. She’s Black Silk.”

Joon does a double take. “Black Silk?TheBlack Silk?”

“Is there any other? We’ve assumed it’s a man all this time. But think about it more clearly. What man calls himself Silk?”

“She was very… silky.” Joon rubs at the back of his neck, shaking his head. “So you believe tonight was all a ruse? She was luring us?”

“She was luringme. It was all by design.”

“Wow, we are in a James Bond movie. Do you realize that, Gun-woo?”

I roll my eyes as he goes on to tell me the plot of some old film starring Pierce Brosnan where some femme fatale character tried to crush his head between her legs.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad way to go,” Joon admits with a laugh.

“That would’ve been preferable to this.” I gesture to my stab wound. I get up from the chair and cross the room to grab a towel and wipe more of the blood. “Luckily, it’s not very deep. She could’ve slashed harder if she really wanted to hurt me.”

“Is that what the gun was for? You shot at her?”

“And missed.”

“Intentionally?” Joon’s eyes widen when I shoot him another disgruntled look. “Tch, Gun-woo. What would your appa say? He’d be pissed.”

“He’s not going to find out. I’m going to handle it—handle her—myself.”

A slow grin crawls onto his face as he snaps his fingers. “I know that look. That’s that bloodthirsty savage look. I haven’t forgotten what you did to those Dokkaebi Goblins when they overstepped into our territory. Strung them up like rabbits!”

“It was deserved for not knowing their place. Apparently, the feline doesn’t know her place either.”

“But she’s so beautiful and harmless looking. Will you really be able to hurt her?”

I cast aside the bloody towel I’ve used to apply pressure and stop the bleeding. Joon watches on as I move from the bathroom sink toward the long windows overlooking Seoul after hours.

It’s so late, the partiers are finally trickling out of the clubs and bars. They wander the streets competing for taxis and screaming into the night.

“I’ll not only hurt her,” I say, my voice calm but dangerous, “I’ll end her. Her days are numbered.”

SEVEN

ELISE

The bruiseon my side looks like a Rorschach test, but all I see is failure. I prod at my tender ribs, examining the mottled purple skin when the door flies open.

Priscilla bounces in with her usual bubbly energy, two mugs in hand. “I made milk tea!” she sings. “This recipe went viral on TikTok and got, like, three million views in two days or something. It has black tea, caramel syrup, and this super-secret ingredient no one ever guesses—spoiler alert, it’s tahini! Don’t over think it, Eli. Just try it!”