Page 78 of Ruthless Touch

I glare as she leads him toward what I assume is her bedroom, the door slamming shut behind them.

The sudden silence feels heavy and oppressive, broken only by Priscilla’s gentle sigh as I sink back into my chair.

“I wish he’d let it go,” she mutters, threading her needle again.

“Let what go?”

“KD’s a great boyfriend, and I like him a lot. But I’m pretty sure a part of him is still in love with Eli.”

It’s no surprise given how territorial he was acting. It seemed to bother him that Elise had brought me here more than it had Priscilla was stitching me up.

I file that information away for later. I’m rarely the jealous type, but I’d be lying if I said a sense of instant jealous and territorial rage doesn’t run through me as far as Elise is concerned…

By the time Elise and KD return from their private conversation, the wound is properly closed and bandaged.

The tension in the room remains. It feels thick enough to cut with a knife.

I meet Elise’s gaze across the cramped living room, ignoring the way KD’s glare burns into the side of my head like a laser. “We better get going.”

As I pass KD, my shoulder bumps into his.

I sense his muscles coil with the urge to retaliate, though he keeps himself in check.

Smart man. Wounded or not, I’d still drop him with no trouble at all.

Elise hesitates a couple seconds longer. She looks at both Priscilla and KD almost apologetically. “I’ll be in touch.”

Out in the hallway, with the apartment door closed behind us and the weight of her decision settling between us like a third presence, Elise turns to me with weary exhaustion.

“What now?” she asks. “Where the fuck can we go with your gang looking for us?”

I press the button to the elevator and stand back as it dings. “I’ve got a place in mind.”

SEVENTEEN

ELISE

The next forty-eighthours are a blur.

We successfully evade the Cheongryong and escape Itaewon for a different district within Seoul. Gun revealed he had another secret apartment he keeps for emergency situations. This one located in Pangyo, a tech-heavy neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.

Otherwise known as South Korea’s Silicon Valley.

“Even more discreet than Mullae-dong,” Gun reassures as we speed down the expressway in our stolen taxi.

“Is this another sex hub?” I ask sullenly.

He shoots me a sidelong look, one hand on the steering wheel. “No, Goyangi. I only have one of those. How many women do you think I’m fucking?”

“I don’t want to imagine even a little bit.”

“You enjoyed yourself. You came three times?—”

“Okay!” I say instantly, my cheeks warming. “Thanks for the trip down memory lane. But that’s not necessary, Rhee.”

“You’re one to talk—what about you and that lovesick puppy back at your apartment?”

“His name is KD, and he’s not lovesick. He has a girlfriend.”