Dirty Secret (17 page)

“Her,” I corrected.

“What?” David cocked his head in confusion.

“Scarlet. Her,” I repeated. “She prefers to be called her. We call her
nuna
.”

We stared at each other for a long second. I hoped I’d improved my unreadable expression, but I wasn’t going to bet on it. My own brother said I was the worst poker player in the world. More specifically, he said a kid hyped up on cotton candy had more control than I did.

David made a small sound and nodded thoughtfully. “Sorry, I think of her as a man. I’m not… used to all of this.”

“No worries,” I said, shrugging it off. “Takes a while. She was your dad’s best friend. What he did came as a shock to her too, and I think she’s sorry she didn’t get to see you guys grow up.”

“It sounds like a lot of people have regrets from that time,” he admitted. “I can’t take that money. It’s got my father’s blood on it. And I have to wonder if it has Helena’s blood on it too. None of it made sense to me. Why would someone kill her? Then Shin-Cho told me about how my father got the money. Maybe someone he stole from was trying to get back at him through us.”

“You think someone shot her to get back at your family for this?” I contemplated the possibility. “Unless they weren’t aiming for her. She wasn’t the only one hit.”

The timeline of events lined up a little bit. Someone in Dae-Hoon’s pictures could have known Han Suk-Kyu was going to tell his stepsons about the money, but if revenge was a dish best served cold, shooting Helena would be like a frostbitten TV dinner from the back of the fridge. It was a very roundabout way of getting back at someone, especially if that someone was Dae-Hoon, and not Kwon.

He could have fried me on the spot with the anger that flared up in his eyes.

“I know it’s probably not something you want to hear.” I leaned closer. “I’d like to agree with you that it’s connected to the money, because it would make some sense of things. Hell, it could still be connected, but I have to toss it out there that she might not have been who they were aiming for. They could have been trying for you, or even Shin-Cho, and just missed. Hell, the shooting in the alleyway could be connected. It might not have anything to do with two gay guys making out behind a bar.”

David looked away, turning the thought over in his head. His features were still, and his eyes grew distant. Finally, he licked at his lips and calmly nodded. “That makes sense. Especially if it was someone who lives here. Not everyone goes back and forth to Seoul like Uncle does. They can get to us now. Not like before.”

“I’d suggest you take precautions,” I said. “Even if we don’t know for sure, it’ll be a smart thing to do. Your uncle’s got guys he uses. I can talk to him about getting some protection if you want.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” David smiled. “It’s funny. The family distances itself from Uncle because of… Scarlet, but he’s the first one who offered to help after… Helena. And now, here with Shin-Cho, he’s the one I can count on. No matter what happens between him and the others, I’m still his family. There’s nothing more important to him than that.”

“Yeah, I get that.” I did understand what he meant. Maybe not to the depth that he and Jae meant it, but if I hadn’t had Mike, my life would have been beyond shitty after my father kicked me out, and it would have been pure hell after Rick died.

His cell phone sang out a little tune, and David grimaced. Checking the message, he sighed heavily, and gulped down the rest of his tomato juice like it was a shot of moonshine.

“Shin-Cho’s been moved. I want to head back over in case he wakes up.” Putting down the glass, he dug out his wallet and put a twenty down on the table. “If Shin-Cho agrees, I’d like to know what you find out. Especially if… all of this is because of my father.”

“I can’t make any promises.” I stood up to follow him back over. “It’s up to Shin-Cho.”

“That’s fine,” he said softly, and gave me a slow, assessing look. “I can’t promise you what I’ll do if you find out who did this. So we’ll be even.”

I
DIDN
’
T
stay at the hospital much longer after that. After checking in with Jae, I’d wanted to see about talking to Seong about Dae-Hoon, but Scarlet was against it.

“He didn’t do anything,” she insisted as I was getting into the Rover. “He told me he kept paying Dae-Hoon because
hyung
felt they were still family, so he was responsible for him. He didn’t know about the blackmail. I swear to you.”

Jae leaned over into my open window. We were close enough to kiss, so close I could feel his warm breath on my mouth. I parted my lips, taking what he felt he could give me, inhaling the kiss he couldn’t give me. His lips quirked to the side, and he looked away, eyes shining with amusement. His fingers closed over my forearm, and he gave me a quick squeeze.

“I agree with
nuna
,” he murmured under his breath. David’s stepfather had followed us out, heading straight for the smokers’ area to light up. He watched us from his spot under the canopy, the smoke from his cigarette flying away from his face as the wind picked up. “
Hyung
wouldn’t hurt Dae-Hoon. Besides, everyone already knew he was gay. That’s why he was sent to Los Angeles.”

I nodded, but my attention was still on Han Suk-Kyu. When I’d come back from the diner, he seemed very cozy with Kwon. It could be my back was up where Kwon was concerned. He was a predator, and I didn’t like him around Jae, but Jae could take care of himself. If anything, I pitied Kwon if he made a move on him. What Jae left behind, Scarlet would take care of. Still, Han Suk-Kyu’s beady eyes followed everything Jae and I did as we talked.

“Watch yourself, okay?” I wanted to kiss Jae, so Han could see he was mine. It was childish and unnecessary, not to mention it would embarrass the hell out of Jae-Min. Once again, I reminded myself Jae was the source of cuddles and food. Not someone to piss off without just cause. “I’ll see you at home?”

“Later,” he promised. “Now that Shin-Cho’s going to be okay, I’m going to head out to the old zoo at Griffith Park. The light’s shot for the buildings I wanted to hit up this morning, but it’ll be good there.”

“Be careful,” I said. He rolled his eyes at me and stepped back from the Rover. “Well, at least call me if you get arrested for trespassing. I’ll bail you out.”

In the end, I agreed with them about Seong. He wasn’t at the top of my list of people who’d want Dae-Hoon dead. If anything, he seemed to be the one person whose life most closely resembled Dae-Hoon’s. Except on all accounts, Seong’s turned out much better.

Bobby’s truck was parked in front of my building when I got back. I found him sitting in Claudia’s chair with his feet up on her desk. I smacked his boots when I passed him, knocking them off. He swung an open hand at my ass, but I quick-stepped out of the way.

“You should shuffle that quick in the ring,” he snorted. “It would save that pretty face of yours from getting banged up.”

I debated another cup of coffee, but the pot was empty and the machine was off. Snagging a bottle of iced sweet tea from the fridge, I slid into my own chair and rocked back, popping open my drink. It was noon, and my office manager was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Claudia?”

“She went down the street to the farmer’s market.” He saluted me with a water bottle. “Said something about kale and strawberries. I’m holding down the fort. Not that there’s a lot to hold down. Do you have
any
clients?”

“I’m picky,” I sniffed when he snorted at me. “And fuck you. I did you a favor with Trey, and look at how that turned out.”

“True,” he conceded. “Trey’s an asshole. Don’t know what I was thinking. Kind of like when I do favors for you. Like finding an ex-cop who was there the night Bi Mil got raided.”

“No shit.” I nearly choked on my tea. “Is he willing to talk to us?”

“Yeah,” Bobby said. “But it gets even better.”

“Dae-Hoon’s living in his basement?” I guessed.

“Not that good,” he sighed, and shook his head. “He’s gay, and would you believe, he hooked up with some Korean guy he met at the bathhouse. They’ve been together for years. He can meet with us tomorrow morning around ten. I promised him I’d bring doughnuts.”

“Fuck me.” I whistled. “I could kiss you.”

“I’d take the fuck, but it would ruin our tragic and unrequited romance,” Bobby drawled. “I’ve also seen Jae cut an onion. I’d worry he’d do the same to your balls.”

“What makes you think it’s going to be my balls he cuts?” I couldn’t stop smiling. If the cop could remember anything from that night other than a big black car, it would mean a welcome break.

“Because I know your boy.” Bobby rocked back and forth, making Claudia’s chair squeak loudly. “If he got mad, he’d take revenge on you. Me? I’d be like the glass bottle on Trey’s dick. Once it’s broken off, it’s just trash.”

Chapter Twelve

“
H
EY
.” I met Jae’s gaze in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. Dots of shaving cream speckled my jaw, and I pursed my lips into an air kiss for him, only to get some of the cream in my mouth for my efforts. I made a face at the taste and spit out what I’d gotten on my tongue into the sink.

I’d spent the day successfully avoiding thinking about the dinner with my family, only to have it come rushing up to hit me as I stepped out of the shower. If there was one place I
didn’t
want to be that night, it would have been Mike’s house. I’d never been a coward, and running away from my problems, while attractive, never really solved anything, but pulling Jae into bed and staying there for a week sounded awfully good.

“Let me take a shower first. Then we can get going,” Jae said, stepping past me. The towel around my waist grew uncomfortable when he began stripping off his clothes. It got worse when he slid his T-shirt off, and I could see the trail of bite marks I’d left on his shoulder and spine.

“Hmmm.” I did my best purr and wrapped my arms around his waist, moving in close so he could feel my cock pressing up against his ass. “You know….”

“Out.” His hands worked my arms free, and Jae turned around, pushing against my chest. “Go get dressed. I pulled some clothes out for you. They’re on the bed.”

The door shut in my face before I could protest my rough treatment, and I gave in to a small sulk. Luckily, Neko was in the same mood, and she mewed at me from her place on the bed, clearly disgusted by the presence of my pants and shirt on her lounging area.

I got dressed in the charcoal-gray slacks and dark-red button-up shirt he’d laid out for me. It would have been more comfortable going over in jeans and a T-shirt, but from the looks of things, Jae had other plans. I left off the tie. There was only so much dressing up I was going to do for my own execution.

Jae’s keen gaze skimmed over the open collar of my shirt when he came out of the bathroom, but he didn’t say anything about my lack of tie. He dressed quickly, much quicker than I would have liked, but I had no complaints at seeing him in black dress pants and shirt. To be a pain in the ass, I offered him the ebony silk tie he’d put out for me, but he slapped my hand away to go look for a pair of socks.

We were quiet leaving. I wanted to ask him about his day, the parts I hadn’t been involved in, but Jae didn’t seem in the mood to talk. Turning the CD player on, a whispering, sensual Korean song seeped out of the Rover’s speakers. He smiled at the music, and his hand reached over to grasp mine. Talking was no longer important after that.

An unfamiliar sedan was parked on the circular driveway of Mike and Maddy’s Hollywood Hills home. I pulled the Rover up behind it and turned off the headlights, leaving enough room to turn around if I wanted to make a quick escape. The garage doors were closed, effectively cutting off my sneaking in through the back door that connected the carport to the rest of the house. The sleek contemporary house was private, overlooking the canyons, and its large square windows were lit up bright enough to cast shadows on the front walk. I could see people moving around behind the sheer curtains on the lower floor, and I swallowed, bracing myself for the inevitable.

“It’ll be okay,” Jae promised me, brushing his hand across mine. “I’ll protect you.”

I laughed, imagining my slender, muscular lover standing up to a man who’d carried fifty-pound packs through jungles for a living. Still, it was easy to slide my fingers into Jae’s grip, gathering strength by touching him. I rang the bell, and its cheerful toll chimed through the house. A few seconds later, Maddy opened the door, and I was lost in her tight hug, nearly dropping the bottle of expensive wine I’d bought to look civilized.

They’d just gotten together when Rick’d been killed, so to say Maddy had seen me at my worst would be an understatement. She gently bullied me through physical therapy, pointing out she’d done it as well, and kicked its ass. When a tall Nordic woman with a gap-toothed smile, and missing the lower half of her legs challenges you to beat her doing curls, no man with his balls in the right place would let her down.

I had my ass handed to me. Wrapped up in a pretty bow, and all.