Chapter 5
SAMAIRA
T he words escaped my mouth before I could stop them. This wasn’t the normal protocol. Lena talked to the clients. She asked the questions. We decided whether we could take on the case together after the client left.
I did not make decisions on the spot. I did not take over the conversation with a client. I certainly never repositioned myself just so I could take a better look at the client's pretty face.
I did not find men’s faces pretty. As a general rule, I hated the species and didn’t trust a single word out of their mouths. They were shallow, self-serving egomaniacs.
According to Tara’s research last night, he was the CEO of Park Real Estate Group, the largest Korean American real estate company in the US, which should have automatically put me off.
If I hated men, I loathed billionaire men.
But this man. Fuck. This pretty man seemed to be carved out of the finest marble in the world.
He wore his suit like armor for battle, showing off his bulging biceps and broad chest. I’d nearly drooled behind my mask when I first saw him walk into the room.
With his hair styled to perfection and his jaw as sharp as a blade, he made the blood in my veins pump faster.
His dark blue eyes reminded me of angry and volatile thunderstorms. Something was magnetic and so insanely captivating about him that I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Even when he’d stepped inside the room, he hadn’t faltered— much— at the sight of the five of us in our gear and masks.
He had walked in, taking us in, first with disbelief, then mistrust, and finally, with intrigue.
He’d talked about his sister with the kind of strength that I admired. It wasn’t easy to describe something so barbaric and inhumane happening to your loved one. Most people clammed up, and some felt the disgust so strongly they refused to say it out loud.
But Dominic Park was out for blood, and I respected that.
The moment I said that we’d take on the case, a breath whooshed out of him.
He turned to me, and his eyes were filled with genuine gratitude and hope. “Thank you.”
I nodded, but Mr. Park wasn’t done. “And I would like to work with you personally on this case.”
“No.” My answer was immediate. But for the first time, it wasn’t because I didn’t trust the man. Just thinking about Mr. Park putting himself in danger and possibly getting injured had a violent storm surging inside me. Pull yourself together, Samaira. What is the matter with you?
When I didn’t expand on my answer, Mr. Park gave me what seemed to be his harshest glare, which probably had his employees do all his bidding. But this wasn’t his office, and I wasn’t his employee. I was the tigress of this empire.
My own glare must not be reaching him clearly because he scowled right back, fury causing a nerve to pulse on his forehead. “I will pay the Wildcats fifty million dollars if you let me work with you and find the rapists.”
“Done,” Lena said before I could give this Richie Rich a piece of my mind. “You can work with us directly. We’ll draft the contract and send it to you by the end of the day. Crimson Tiger will be in touch with you for further steps.”
A victorious smile came over his pretty face, and fuck, the way that smile completely transformed his expression. Two deep dimples appeared on his cheeks, turning his face downright angelic. What the fuck!
I didn’t even realize when Tara came closer to me and jammed her knee into the back of my chair, jerking me out of my stupor. Quickly, she bent closer to my ear, pretending to share something important with me. “Bitch, what are you doing? Pull it together.”
I could feel Mr. Park’s eyes on me as I gave a serious nod to Tara as if I wasn’t having a personal fucking meltdown right in front of my girls.
I looked at Mr. Park, who now stood shaking Lena’s hand.
My eyes zeroed in on the way their hands touched and how she wrapped her fingers around his palm.
My anger surged, a red haze blooming behind my eyes.
A sudden, inexplicable jealousy wrapped itself around my throat, squeezing me so hard I wanted to scream.
As soon as Lena let go of his hand, the strangling ceased, and I could finally breathe again.
Before I could stop it, my body—out of nowhere—stood from the chair.
I straightened my shoulders and stepped closer to Mr. Park.
I extended my hand, offering it to him. As soon as his fingers wrapped around my hand, a current of electricity surged through my veins.
It was only through sheer will that I didn’t let him see how much he was affecting me, and my voice came out strong. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Park.”
He simply nodded, his tone polite and respectful. “Please call me Dominic. ”
“Dominic,” I said, the name rolling around my tongue like a delicious treat.
With one more nod, Dominic turned and walked out of the room. I went to the monitor that Tara had set up on our property and watched him leave the restaurant.
A loud pop of bubble gum had me glaring in its direction.
I didn’t even realize Sloane had come up right beside me, but the way she was looking at me funny had my temper flaring.
I just knew they were all gonna be up my ass about this.
“What?” I grumbled, not meeting anyone’s eyes as I headed to the rack of boxing gloves.
Sloane chuckled and followed me. “Umm, Lena,” she shouted, turning around for a second, then looking at me with downright amusement.
“What?” Lena asked, pulling off her lioness mask, a teasing smile on her face as well.
I rolled my eyes, but Sloane quickly raised her fingers, chiding Lena. “You know, don’t ever touch Dominic’s hand again. Otherwise, Samaira here will eat you.”
“Fuck off,” I grumbled, knowing that this wasn’t the end of it.
Tara chuckled. “Did you see how she kept staring at him?”
“Very subtle,” Naomi chimed in.
“I must say, he looked yummy, ” Sloane piped in.
“Don’t—” I said.
“Touch him. I know,” Sloane finished the sentence that I was not going to say, making the rest of them laugh.
I put my boxing gloves on and went to the punching bag, just realizing that I didn’t deny her words. I couldn’t deny her words. Fuck.
The only way to get out of this conversation was not to get involved at all.
“And what was up with removing the mask, Sami?” Lena asked .
I punched the bag hard.
“Ooh, someone’s mad,” Sloane teased.
And this was a fucking tough question to answer. But I ground out the words anyway. “I just wanted to see him better.”
Tara and Naomi joined in with Sloane in ridiculous hooting and laughing as Lena said, with a teasing smile on her face, “And you wanted to see his face because…”
I did a three-punch combo at the bag and sighed as hot blood rushed my cheeks. I raised my hand in a fighting position, and without meeting anyone’s eyes, I muttered, “He was pretty,” and punched the shit out of the bag, listening to the obnoxious cackling from my four best friends.
“Sami found a new toy,” Naomi teased.
I kicked and punched at the bag, pouring out all the pent-up energy, purging myself of the ridiculous thoughts that had taken over my brain.
What the fuck was wrong with me? Staring at a pretty man with googly eyes?
I punched the bag again and again and again until all thoughts of Dominic Park and his dimpled smile, his razor-sharp jaw, and his fucking three-piece suit disappeared from my mind.
And I kept punching because every single one of those thoughts seemed to have taken up residence in my deteriorating brain.
Lena suddenly appeared on the other side of my punching bag, grabbing it to a stop, daring me to punch it again. Only she could get away with doing that. “Why’d you agree to work on his case so impulsively?”
I could still see the fury in Dominic’s eyes, not just for the rapists but at himself. I knew that anger. Knew the way it burned through your organs, your very sense of self, the way it destroyed your soul.
The look of utter destruction that he wanted to inflict on himself and the world made me react on instinct.
I looked at Lena, and instead of explaining all that to her, I said, “He needs us. If there are rapists who could rape a powerful billionaire’s sister and get away with it, can you imagine what they have already gotten away with?
We need to find those bastards and eliminate them. ”
She knew I was right, but she also knew me enough to know that wasn’t the only reason I had accepted the case. Not that Lena would’ve refused to help him. We’d never refused anyone who was telling the truth and genuinely needed our help. Ever.
After staring at me until she could probably see my soul through my eyes, she let go of the punching bag. “Fine. Now let’s get serious and set up the case.”
That reminded me. “Speaking of serious, how could you agree to Dominic’s idiotic demand to work together?”
“Fifty million dollars, Sami.”
I rolled my eyes. “He could get hurt. Who’s going to give you fifty million dollars if something happens to him? We’re probably dealing with powerful people here. Dominic is a public figure. What if he gets himself killed? What if we get exposed while working with him?”
Lena’s eyes turned challenging. “Then you better protect that man like your life depends on it, Sami. You and I both know how many lives fifty million dollars would affect.”
Why was everyone hell-bent on driving me insane?
The moment Lena stepped away from the punching bag, I kicked the damn thing until it punctured.
It was during my post-workout shower when I realized I would be working on the case with Dominic Park.
I’d be seeing him on multiple occasions.
I wiped the fog from the mirror after getting out of the shower, only to find a stupid smile etched across my face staring back at me.
In the next moment, I immediately smacked myself hard on the cheek, wiping off the idiotic smile .
I did not get infatuated by a pretty man.
I definitely did not get infatuated by a pretty billionaire .
And I most definitely did not get infatuated by a pretty billionaire who was also a public figure, whose mere association with us could risk the secrecy of the Wildcats and destroy everything we had built.