Chapter 40
Ji-Su stared at the screen in horrified shock.
For a split second, he thought the pictures were real.
But that wasn’t possible. The only time he’d ever taken any kind of sexy photos was with Raul and he hadn’t posed like that.
He wasn’t partially covered by the blue sheets that had been on the bed that night either.
The pictures were definitely fake. Probably created with AI. It was simply an awful coincidence that this happened a few weeks after he took those photos with Raul. While Ji-Su stood there frozen, watching the auto scrolling feed, Raul whipped around to the social media manager.
“Get that off the fucking screen!” he furiously demanded. “Now!”
His thundering shout cut through the celebratory music playing and the chatter of the crowd. The social media manager—who’d been frozen like Ji-Su—jumped to obey. Her hands visibly shaking, she disconnected the cable connecting the social media laptop to the monitor with a sharp yank.
The screen instantly went black. The photos were no longer visible, but they were still up on the social media pages. And Ji-Su didn’t want people thinking those photos were actually him. He got up from his chair and determinedly strode out to face the crowd.
“Those aren’t me,” he loudly declared. “I’ve got a strawberry shaped birthmark and it’s not in those pictures.” He quickly undid his jeans and yanked them and his underwear down far enough to show the birthmark on his pelvis. “See?”
“Damnit, Ji-Su!”
Raul sped over to stand in front of Ji-Su, blocking the crowd’s view of him as he pulled his pants back up.
Ji-Su looked up at Raul as he redid his pants for him. “It doesn’t matter,” he said sadly. “The pictures are out there now. There’s no taking it back once it’s on the internet.”
Some of the fury eased from Raul’s expression.
“I’ll get them taken down, I swear it.”
Ji-Su wasn’t sure about that. But there was nothing he could say as Raul quickly hustled him from the stage, leaving the conclusion of the tournament in Elaine’s capable hands.
THEY LEFT THE BALLROOM and went to Raul’s office. Inside, Raul settled Ji-Su in a chair and brought him a drink.
“You could probably use this,” he said as he held out a glass filled a third of the way with amber liquid.
Ji-Su took the glass and sipped at the drink.
Whiskey. It burned his chest going down—but Raul was right.
He did need it after seeing his face attached to someone else’s naked body and blasted out on social media for the entire world to gawk at.
He held the glass with both hands while Raul kneeled in front of him and soothingly stroked his knee.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Ji-Su swallowed another sip before he spoke. “It’s not your fault.” It wasn’t Raul’s fault. But Ji-Su was certain he knew the culprit behind that awful and humiliating prank.
Someone knocked on the open office door. Burke was there with Petra and Juan behind him.
“Can we come in?”
Raul rose to his feet but remained by Ji-Su’s side.
“Yes.”
Burke came in and looked at Ji-Su sitting curled in on himself on the couch.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, Ji-Su.”
Petra and Juan offered sympathetic nods behind him.
Ji-Su gave them all a small, shaky smile. “Thank you.”
“We all know who did this.”
“Cedric,” everyone said in near unison.
Raul nodded in agreement. “Yes. But I want proof to be sure.”
“I can have my teammate Iesha trace the origins of the account that posted the photos,” Ji-Su offered. She’s in tech and can track pretty much any IP address.”
“I appreciate the offer. But I have a team who can do the same. I’ll get them on it. Burke, I want you to take Ji-Su home.”
“Of course.”
Ji-Su immediately jumped up from his chair to protest. “But I want to stay!”
Raul cupped his face with both hands and met his gaze before he spoke.
“I know you do. But this is one of those times that it’s best to let me protect you. This could take a while and I may have to leave to find Cedric. I don’t know where he is or what his next plans are. I want you home where I know you’ll be safe. Go and let me handle this. Okay?”
Ji-Su looked at his lover. He didn’t like the cold, hard expression on Raul’s face. Or the angry glint in his eyes. In fact, they scared him a little.
“Are you sure? I could help maybe.”
Raul shook his head. “The best way for you to help is getting yourself behind those gates at the ranch so I don’t have to worry about you. Understand?”
After a long moment, Ji-Su gave a single miserable nod. He didn’t want to be at home doing nothing while Raul dealt with the man harassing him, but he didn’t want Raul distracted because he was worrying about him either. “I understand,” he said softly.
Raul kissed him once then gave him a little push toward Burke.
“Take him straight home,” he ordered. “And take two follow cars of guards with you. Text me as soon as he’s safely on the property.”
Burke nodded. “You got it. Come on, Ji-Su. Let’s go.”
Ji-Su allowed Burke to escort him from the office.
He left the casino surrounded by six guards.
Two got in the front seat of one car while Ji-Su rode in the backseat.
Two more guards were in a car behind them and the last two pulled out in a car in front of them.
Ji-Su looked back at the casino as they drove away.
“He’ll be okay, right?” he asked his driver.
“Of course he will, Mr. Ji-Su. You can trust him to take care of the situation.”
He did trust Raul. But that didn’t stop him from worrying the entire ride home.
IN ALL THE YEARS OF his extremely long life, Raul had never been this furious. He was ready to go tearing off after Cedric and end that piece of shit for good. But a move that final required definitive proof. So, he waited.
While a member of the Syndicate’s tech support traced the origin of the upload, three of their hackers were working as well.
He had them pull every single one of those fake pornographic images of Ji-Su off the web.
He didn’t care if they had to delete people’s accounts or infect their devices with viruses.
He wanted the pictures gone for good. He’d let them know a sizeable bonus was theirs once they completed the job.
Raul crossed his arms over his chest as he stood in front of the window overlooking the casino.
He wasn’t just angry. He hurt for Ji-Su—for the humiliation he’d suffered and the disappointing end to a project he’d been so proud to bring to life.
He clenched his fists. Cedric would pay for hurting his love.
Someone knocked on the door.
“Come in!” he called out.
The door opened and a moment later, Juan’s reflection appeared in the glass behind him.
“We got confirmation. It was definitely Cedric.”
Raul gave a satisfied nod. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, Raul walked into Sanguis Syndicate tower.
He’d received the confirmation he needed, but he had to talk to John first. No matter what, he was going to kill Cedric and anybody who stood in his way.
But Cedric came from a powerful family, which meant he needed to give the leader of their organization a head’s up before he acted.
The LaMontes were too small to start an outright war against the Syndicate, but John would want to be aware that there might be conflict with them.
He took the elevator up to the top floor where all of the main bosses of the Syndicate had their private offices. After a brief wait, John’s secretary showed him into his office. John greeted him from behind his desk.
“Raul. How are you this evening?”
“Not good.”
At his answer, John got serious.
“What’s up?”
“I’m here to give you notice of what I’m about to do.”
“Which is?”
“Kill Cedric LaMonte.”
John frowned. “Who is...” He cut himself off. “He’s the bastard who hurt Ji-Su, right?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do now?”
“He posted fake nude photos of Ji-Su online, uploading them to social media and tagging the tournament we hosted tonight so that everyone following the tag would see them.”
John’s eyes went wide before he shook his head in disbelief. “That is disgusting. How is Ji-Su?”
“He was pretty shaken up and embarrassed. I sent him home while I deal with this. I’m going to kill Cedric.”
John studied him for a long moment. “The LaMonte’s aren’t a criminal family, but they are powerful. Taking out one of theirs could result in a sticky situation. Are you sure it’s worth it to kill Cedric over this?”
“Ji-Su is mine,” Raul fiercely stated. “I’ve warned Cedric to leave him alone multiple times and yet he continues with his bullshit.
He came dangerously close to deep draining Ji-Su, destroyed his property, verbally threatened him, and stalked him to a hotel with the intention of hurting him again.
This is the final straw. So yes, it’s worth it. ”
A slight smile curled the handsome vampire’s lips.
“You could have stopped at Ji-Su is mine.” John leaned back in his chair. “If things are that serious between the two of you, have at it. Don’t worry about the LaMontes. If they have an issue with Cedric’s demise, we’ll handle it.”
Raul nodded. “Thank you.” He turned and strode from the office. Now that he had proof and the go ahead, he was determined to get to Cedric as soon as possible. However, before he could make it out of the tower, he ran into LaToria and Everett.
“You look like you’re about to commit murder,” Everett said.
“That’s because I am.”
“Who are you about to send to Glory?” LaToria asked.
“Cedric LaMonte,” Raul answered. At both of their questioning looks, he gave them a quick explanation of what went down at the casino.
“Damn,” Everett swore as he shook his head. “He should have left well enough alone.”
“He should have. But instead, he chose to cross way over the line. I’m sick of him harassing Ji-Su. This ends tonight.”
“We’re coming with you,” LaToria said.
Everett nodded in agreement.
Raul wasn’t surprised at their offer and he gladly accepted it. “Thanks. I could use the back up.”
“Solan is here,” Everett said. “Let me tell him I’m leaving first.”
They stopped by Everett’s office, where Solan was ensconced on the sofa reading a paperback novel. Everett went over to him while Raul and LaToria waited inside the doorway.
“I’m afraid I have to cancel our dinner plans this evening, my love. I have to assist Raul with something important.”
“Okay,” Solan said easily. “What are you hot, sexy vampires going off to do? Does it have anything to do with what happened to Ji-Su earlier?”
Raul arched a brow in question. “You know about that?”
“I have social media and I was following the hashtags for the gaming event tonight. As soon as I saw those pics in the tag, I knew Cedric was behind it.”
“Yes, it does involve the attack on Ji-Su,” Raul answered Solan’s question. “Cedric will regret embarrassing him that way.”
“You guys are going to kill Ji-Su’s abuser? That’s so romantic.”
LaToria laughed. “I’d say I was shocked that you automatically jumped to murder as a solution but I remember that you’re a mob kid.”
“Born and bred,” Solan said with a proud grin. His expression turned serious when he looked back at Raul. “If Everett gets hurt tonight, I will absolutely kick you in the balls.”
“Noted,” Raul said seriously. He believed Solan would make him regret it if his lover was hurt in any way.
Everett huffed a soft laugh at Solan’s threat. “Behave yourself.” He tapped Solan on the chin and the human lifted his face for him to kiss. “I’ll see you at home.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
As soon as Everett said his goodbye to his bonded mate, Raul left the office. He headed down the hall with his partners at his back. It was time to take care of business.