Chapter 14 - Gun #3
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. Joon-gi’s text lights up the screen like he’s aware I’ve woken up seconds ago.
How’s World War III with the feline?
I stare at the message, debating if I want to bother trying to explain. The truth is too complicated and messy.
Far from over. Just heating up.
Might be time to bring out the nukes
Joon doesn’t realize how true his words are, even as he texts in jest. It is time to bring out the nukes against Elise.
It’s time to crush her and make her regret the moment she ever decided to come for me and the Cheongryong.
No mercy will be had this time.
I set the phone down and push myself out of bed. In no time I’ve got the hot water going as I get ready to bathe.
But even as the steam rises around me, I know it’s going to take more than hot water to cleanse myself of Elise.
I won’t be able to get the touch and feel of my black cat out of my mind any time soon. At least not until I bring this war to its inevitable conclusion…
My first stop for the day is the Cheongryong headquarters in Inwangsan. The blue tile facade on the palace-like house gleams in the morning sun.
The dragon archway at the front looks like a mouth as I step through like I’m heading into the belly of the beast.
I ride the elevator to the third floor where the Four Horns’ offices are located and am stopped halfway down the corridor by Lieutenant Im.
His gait is eager despite his frail, withered appearance. “Gun-woo-ah. I heard from your father that you’re close to tracking down Black Silk. You can do it; you’re one of the brightest captains we have.”
I nod at the small, balding man whose time is running out regardless of whether Elise manages to eliminate him or old age does the job first.
But even as I do, I’m wondering why my father would share details about my progress with another Horn?
Was it genuine pride, or just another way to apply passive-aggressive pressure, letting everyone know I’m supposedly close to delivering the syndicate’s most-wanted target?
My jaw sets as I consider Joon’s advice about defying him outright. I’ve wasted so long seeking his approval and yet it never comes.
When I reach his office door, I knock twice and wait for permission to enter. The familiar ritual has been etiquette since I was a kid.
“Come in.”
The office looks exactly as it has for the past two decades—traditional furnishings that border on dated, all dark wood and deep blue accents and dragon markings that match the syndicate’s mythology.
My father sits behind his huge desk, phone pressed to his ear as he speaks rapid Hangul about what sounds like investment portfolios and profit margins.
When he sees me, he holds up one finger and continues his conversation for another thirty seconds before finally addressing whoever’s on the other end.
“I’ll call you later,” he says, setting the phone handset down. “Ah, if it isn’t my dependable heir. What gift has my prized second son brought me today?”
“I apparently didn’t need to provide any updates. You seem to know all about how close I am to finding Black Silk. You even let Lieutenant Im know about it.”
His grin spreads across his weathered features. “I did that to brag about my son. Am I not allowed to do that? You see, aegiya, when you have a disappointing son, you have to find the smallest ways to brag about him. I assure you it’s not easy.”
“If I disappoint you so much, then why would you want me involved in finding Black Silk, Appa? Surely someone as competent as you can handle it on your own.”
Anger flashes in his dark eyes like lightning, the grin dying on his face. He rises from his chair. “Watch your mouth, Gun-woo.”
My jaw sets as I regard him with unapologetic defiance.
He matches my stare, moving around his desk. The lines around his eyes deepen as he glares at me in scrutiny.
“What have you been up to anyway? You’ve been absent often this past week. You wouldn’t be getting yourself into trouble, would you? You wouldn’t be fucking up like so many times before?”
It’s clear that even now he has no respect for me as a Yongsa. He sees me as his foolish, incompetent son who can never—and will never—do anything right.
Father he looks at me like everything about my existence is wrong and disappointing. That comes down to even my face, even my features bothering him. They remind him too much of the woman who supposedly tricked him into marriage.
I should tell him to fuck himself. I shouldn’t be so hell bent on trying to prove myself to someone who will never see me as anything more than a reminder of his own poor judgment.
But as I meet his suspicion head on, I know that’s not going to happen.
Despite everything—his contempt, his constant criticism, his obvious preference for Ho-seok—I still want his acceptance.
I want to prove to him once and for all that I can rise to the occasion. I can be the son he’s always wanted.
And Elise made her choice clear. She chose her vendetta over whatever was building between us. She’d rather face potential death than have anything to do with me.
My loyalty belongs to the Cheongryong.
The path forward couldn’t be clearer.
A slow grin quirks the corner of my lips.
“Actually, Appa, I’ve been very busy. I’ve been doing exactly what I told you I would—handling the situation with our assassin.
” I pause long enough to watch the curiosity flicker on his face.
“I know the identity of Black Silk. It’s no man. It’s a woman, and I know who she is.”