Chapter 30
Tommy
“When the fuck did you get here?” I squawk at Yosef a few hours later. He’s sitting in the dining room with Young-gi, glasses of amber liquid between them on the table. All that’s missing from this cliche bratva meeting is the cigars, and stacks of cash.
I’d say prostitutes too, but I’m right here. Ha.
“I called him over while you took a nap,” Young-gi says.
“I wasn’t napping,” I mutter, weirdly reluctant for anyone but Young-gi to know that I take naps sometimes. It’s like…intimate or some shit. That’s kid stuff. It’s embarrassing.
I was just resting my eyes after getting fucked into the mattress, that’s all.
And maybe I was in the bathroom for a little while, staring at my bruised ass in the mirror, enjoying the evidence of my spankings.
Maybe I found some creams and goos for my skin and was playing around with those, too. Bite me, I can do what I want.
Fuck, maybe it would be less embarrassing to just say I was napping the whole time.
“Mm-hm.” Young-gi gestures for me to join them, so I storm over and sit at the far end of the table, out of reach of both of them, my arms crossed over my chest. But sitting makes me wince and I shift in my seat, embarrassed because I’m sore as hell and I basically just advertised that.
Young-gi’s lips deepen at the corners, like he’s almost smiling at me.
“Bastard,” I mutter, without any real heat. Then my eyes fall on the paper between them, and I freeze.
The blackmail letter is sitting there, plain as day. Yosef is right there, he can see it, they’re both clearly looking it over. Which means–
Which means–
Young-gi told Yosef about us. My gaze ping-pongs between them, but they look as stoic as ever. Not like this is an embarrassing mistake or a disgusting secret. Like maybe Young-gi told Yosef because to him, it’s fine if his people know about us. Like maybe he’s not ashamed of me at all.
A tingly warmth suffuses me from head to toe.
“What are you guys doing with that?” I ask as casually as I can.
“Planning,” Young-gi says. “We need to come up with outings for you and Kira to be accessible. Once the blackmailer sends someone with more instructions, I’ll have a tail follow the delivery person and work from there. We just need one more moment of contact to get a lead.”
“The restaurant where the first letter was given to you had no cameras,” Yosef complains, annoyed. “So we need to give the bastard another chance at you.”
Fair enough. “What were you guys thinking?”
“There’s an event tomorrow night at a historic building,” Yosef offers. “An art exhibit, for a fundraiser. It’s exclusive, but Kira RSVP’d already, so it’s perfect bait.”
Hmmmmm.
“Rich people have a lot of fundraisers,” I sigh, grimly amused. “But I think you guys might be looking at this wrong.”
I shift in my seat and wince again when my spanked ass flares with a deep ache. Young-gi, as always, is a brick wall, but his intense stare is like a weight, and I get the feeling that he’s enjoying watching me squirm.
Fuck. Is it a kink to like that he likes it? Maybe I’m just a freak. As long as he likes it, I guess it’s fine.
“What do you mean?” he asks, his deep voice sending shivers right down my spine. Yeah, he definitely likes watching me squirm.
I clear my throat to stop my voice from tightening with the thrilling nerves he always gives me.
“I think you might be making the wrong assumption. You guys are talking like the blackmail is definitely connected to someone in Kira’s circle, like they’ll be keeping tabs on her, and they’ll know where she’s going to be. ”
“The Vandmorson boy is the most likely suspect,” Yosef says in his smokey rasp, scratching his stubbly chin thoughtfully.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not, sweet boy?” Young-gi asks, as if calling me his sweet boy in front of another person is no big deal. My insides get all squiggly in a pleasant way, and I get lightheaded. It takes real effort for me to focus on the conversation.
“Blackmail isn’t about revenge,” I explain.
“It’s about wanting something. If this were revenge, the pictures would already be leaked.
What could a person as rich as Brian or his family want from me?
If he needed more power, he’d be blackmailing you, not me.
The only thing I can give him is cash. Nah, I think this is someone from my world, not yours.
” I hate admitting that, hate clueing them into the suspicion that’s been brewing in the back of my mind all day.
Because if it’s someone from my past, then it’s basically my fault.
“Who?” Yosef asks the million-dollar question.
I shrug. “Fuck if I know. I’ve made a lot of people mad. A lot of people that I know go dancing at that nightclub; it could have been anyone. I’ve probably bent over for half the crowd on any given night, or fucked up the rest with my fists, but they’re all scared of me. No one really likes me.”
Young-gi raises his eyebrows sternly, and his eyes flick over to the kitchen meaningfully. I flush, because surely he wouldn’t threaten me with soap in front of someone else?!
Then again… he’s made it clear he’ll Daddy me with or without an audience. Daddying waits for no one, I guess.
I’m not risking it! “I meant to say that there are plenty of people there who it could be,” I hastily correct, flushing warm under his satisfied stare.
“If it’s someone from your past blackmailing you, it’s for my money,” Young-gi muses, relaxing now that he’s gotten his way and I’m remembering the taste of soap.
“Me being there was the catalyst. They saw a chance to hurt you and use you, and get rich doing it. It’s an interesting theory.
But we can’t rule out the Vandmorsons until the demand is made, which should reveal more about the blackmailer.
It could also be the Palmer brothers, Gregory and Leonard. They weren’t happy with you, either.”
Gregory and Leonard? Oh right. I remember them. I glance at my knuckles and smirk.
“But Tommy might be onto something,” Yosef says. “Written blackmail is amateur. I would’ve expected something more sophisticated from the Vandmorson or Palmer families.”
“Not if it wasn’t family sanctioned,” Young-gi reasons. “If it was just one of the idiot kids, they’d surely choose something as ridiculous as a letter for blackmail.”
It strikes me as funny how casual they’re being about this.
They’re talking about it like it’s nothing but an annoying inconvenience, not a huge threat.
I feel my tense shoulders relax. It might be someone from my side of the tracks, but even if it is, they’re no fucking match for Young-gi.
They have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into.
Which means even if it’s my fault, it won’t be so much trouble that Young-gi decides I’m not worth it anymore.
Maybe that’s cynical of me, but… I can’t help it. I can’t imagine someone wanting me badly enough that they’d really, truly trouble themselves to have me. As long as things stay easy, and he doesn’t have to go out of his way, then he’ll let me stay-
“Tommy,” Young-gi captures my attention. “Now that you’re awake, I need to ask you for a favor.”
“I wasn’t napping,” I snap, then tilt my head, immediately suspicious. “What do you want?”
“I need you to tell Yosef the names of the men you killed.”
What?
“Why?” My fingers bite into my biceps, and I struggle not to bare my teeth at him.
Young-gi’s attention is rock steady, calm, as always. “What you described at the crime scenes implies a lot of potential biological evidence. I won’t allow a fucking cold case file to take you away from me and send you to prison. So I’m going to take care of it.”
The growling edge to his promise sends shivers right down my spine again.
It wasn’t what I expected, but it’s…sweet?
Is it sweet that he’s offering to fuck with cold case files for me?
Yeah, I think it is. And that’s out of his way, isn’t it?
Extra work that he doesn’t need to do, just to make sure he gets to keep me…
Shit, I think I might really like this man.
“Fine,” I snap. “Pen.” I make grabby hands at them.
Yosef hurriedly pulls a pen from his inner jacket pocket while I snatch a napkin from a nearby stack.
I write them down fast, focusing on the letters rather than the whole names.
I don’t like seeing them. When it’s done, I shove the napkin away from me like it’s poisonous. “There.”
Yosef takes it with a somber nod of thanks. “What state did this take place? How long ago?”
“Like a decade ago, in Illinois. A couple hours outside of Chicago.” I think back, pressing my sore ass against the wooden seat to keep the soreness alive, to help it ground me in the present.
“I think I was born in Chicago, maybe. I’m not sure which city he actually snatched me from.
I went looking there, but couldn’t find anything familiar. ”
I shrug, like it’s no big deal.
“I’ll have any evidence taken care of,” Young-gi promises again, his fingers linked together with white knuckles like he’s holding something inside. He’s giving strong Daddy energy right now, and I lean towards him. “You’ll never face any trouble for what you did to them. It was deserved.”
Good boy, I hear it like he’s whispering it into my ear.
And goddammit, but that’s the moment I realize.
This right here is the exact second I realize that I don’t just like Young-gi. I might fucking love him.
My stomach drops, my heart skips, and I tingle all over with electric adrenaline. The reality of my feelings hits me like a wrecking ball.
Shit.
**********
Young-gi
Something’s wrong with Tommy.