Page 77 of Ruthless Touch

“I’m limited in supplies,” Priscilla explains, bustling into the small kitchen. She opens a cabinet and grabs a plastic salad bowl to fill with water from the sink. “But I think we have a pair somewhere. I used them last time I made ribs. Hang on.”

She settles me at their kitchen table, and despite her nervous chatter, her hands are steady as she begins extracting the bullet fragments from my shoulder. The pain is sharp and persistent but manageable when compared to the debilitating migraines I get.

I find myself oddly entertained by her stream of random, bright commentary.

“So you’re a Korean gangster,” she says conversationally while threading a needle. “What’s that like?”

“It’s decent,” I reply with a crooked grin. “Pretty good benefits package.”

Priscilla’s face goes slack with shock like she’s stunned to know the mafia offers benefits and a retirement plan.

I can’t help but laugh. “Feline, I like your friend. She’s amusing.”

Elise doesn’t get a chance to respond.

A key rattles the lock in the front door, a second later twisting open.

Elise moves toward the door to check who it is, but before she can reach it, the door swings wide and the same man who had bear-hugged her at the subway station weeks ago steps inside.

He’s tall and defined by muscle earned in the gym. Dark hair slicked back and a casual expression on his face, it’s clear he’s done this before.

He regularly comes by like he lives here.

Who the fuck is this guy and why does he have a key to Goyangi’s apartment?

Both Elise and Priscilla say his name at the same time.

“KD?!”

He grins like he cherishes the sound of his name on both women’s lips. Then his gaze lands one me sitting shirtless at their kitchen table with blood on my shoulder and Priscilla’s supplies scattered around me.

His entire demeanor shifts like a switch being flipped. His shoulders square, his jaw sets, and his fingers flex like they’re about to curl into fists.

It’s the same instinct I get when another predator encroaches on my hunting ground. I can tell this conversation is going to get ugly fast.

“Who’s this?” he asks, looking from Elise to Priscilla. “Baby, what are you doing?”

Priscilla raises her hands like she’s been caught at a crime scene. “Um, honestly? I’m not even sure. Eli brought him and said he’d been shot and?—”

“EQ,” KD says slowly, his eyes narrowing as recognition dawns on his features. “Is that... Rhee Gun-woo from the Cheongryong? What the fuck is he doing HERE?”

“Breathe and calm down and I’ll explain,” Elise says.

I’ve risen from the chair with my wound only half-stitched, territorial instincts overriding common sense. “I could ask the same. Who the fuck is this guy with a key to your apartment? Is he some freeloader without his own place to stay?”

KD pushes past Elise, visibly livid now. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“You heard me, ba-bo. That’s why you’re puffing your chest out like you’re about to do something.”

“I can do plenty. Let’s start by punching that grin off your face.”

“STOP IT!” Elise screams, wedging herself between us. “You’re both acting like jerks!”

But KD isn’t done. He rounds on Elise with the wounded fury of a man who’s just had his worst suspicions confirmed. “Tell me what you’re doing with him, EQ. Are you sleeping with him? You are, aren’t you? God... You’ve sunk low. You dumped me but you’ll give this guy a shot?”

“Oh, an ex,” I say with a lofty laugh. “That explains a lot. Were you not enough for her? Don’t worry, I’ll keep her satisfied.”

“I SAID STOP!” Elise screams again. She rounds on KD and grabs his arm. “We need to talk. Alone.”