Chapter 32
Dae
Where the hell is she? I wonder as I check my phone for the fifth time within twenty minutes. The tracker on my phone hasn’t moved in hours. According to her cell, she’s at her office, but I had someone on the security staff check.
Kennedy isn’t at her office, although her car is still in the parking lot.
I move my attention from my phone screen to one of the television screens on the wall in my office. Inside of the Lavender Room, Kennedy’s brother, Kyle, his wife, Riley, her cousin, Diego, and his wife, Monique, along with a number of employees of Townsend Industries, are enjoying a celebration.
Kyle recently closed on a new deal, and he’s throwing a celebration in the private room. He doesn’t know where his sister is either, although she was supposed to attend. The text message he sent her half an hour ago asking what time she planned on showing up remains unanswered.
I can read her text messages through the latest tracker I placed on her phone.
I pace my office for another ten minutes, wracking my fucking brain to figure out where she’s gone. The only reason I can think of is work-related. Her going off the radar could have something to do with the case she’s working on.
That thought twists my stomach into knots. I know it’s useless, but I will start to call her on the phone again. If she doesn’t answer this time, I’m calling the fucking police myself and having them put out an ABP.
Yet, there’s movement on her phone before I can make the call. She sent a text to her brother.
Little Warrior: Sorry, something with work came up. I just got home and changed, and I’m on my way.
Relief floods me, but I grow hot with anger just as quickly. Why the fuck didn’t she respond to my calls? She has her phone now. She can see that I’ve called her.
A beat later, a text message pops up on my screen.
Little Warrior: Hey, I’m on my way to the Black Opal now.
I glare at the screen. A million questions run through my head, and she’s the only person I want answers from.
I call my security team.
“Mr. Kim,” my security answers.
“Make sure to park Kennedy Townsend’s car in the reserved spot when she arrives,” I order before hanging up the phone.
Without thinking, I’m out of my office, nearly knocking Jersey over.
“What’s the rush?” she asks.
“Do you need something?” I ask her, not bothering to stop.
“You’re leaving your office, so I can imagine who’s about to show up,” she says behind me with laughter in her voice. “Don’t you think it’s time you introduced me to her?” She follows me.
“No.” I don’t stop on my way to the entrance of the club. I plan to be the first face she sees before entering. But Jersey’s words stop me.
“I was coming to your office for something. We need your signatures on these documents.”
“Later.”
“Can’t wait. I have to send them out first thing in the morning. They’re the final documents we must send to the Global Group. We need this before we can proceed with the next steps of this partnership.”
“Shit,” I grit out. I glare at Jersey before doubling back to my office. The task isn’t as quick as she made it seem, but after ten minutes of electronically signing the fucking documents and ensuring that all three of us—Taehyun, Jersey, and myself—had signed the documents, I leave to find Kennedy.
My security staff informs me that she’s already arrived and headed straight for the Lavender Room where her family is.
That’s where I head. The private room is on the fourth level of the club, which gives enough privacy for our clients to host their exclusive events out of the public eye. As soon as one of the security staff guarding the door sees me, he steps aside, opening the door for me to enter.
I nod at him and allow my gaze to scan the room, large enough to host a ball. The white and lavender marble floor reflects the gold trimming and accents of the large pillars spaced throughout the room. The strategically placed lighting disperses enough light throughout the room to reflect the lavender walls and accents, making the entire room feel as if it”s bathed in lavender.
The splendor of the room doesn’t hold my attention though. I’m looking for one person.
When my gaze moves toward the head of the room, I spot her. Kennedy’s back is to me. Every muscle in my body tightens as I watch her in a backless, black dress that stops a few inches above the knee. She’s paired the dress with gold high heels and wearing her curly locks down, free hanging around her shoulders.
My fingers itch to grab a fistful of her hair and pull her to me until she’s begging me to let her come.
“There was a work situation,” I hear her tell her brother as I approach.
He’s the one who notices me first. He immediately narrows his eyes in suspicion.
Kennedy gasps in surprise when I wrap my arm around her waist from behind while I continue to meet her brother’s glare.
“Dae,” Kennedy says as she spins to face me. She smiles, but then it drops.
“You’re late,” I say, finally looking from her brother to her.
“I sent you a text,” she responds as if that’s enough. As if she’s not dressed in this come-fuck-me outfit in public without me by her side. I force myself to tamp down my anger.
“You didn’t explain where you were,” I say in the calmest voice I can muster. But it still comes out sounding possessive as fuck. I’m not even sorry about it.
Kennedy’s eyebrows narrow, but before she can reply, her brother says, “Who the hell are you to ask where my sister was?”
He approaches, and his eyes drop to my arm, still locked around her waist. “And why is he touching you like he knows you?”
“Kyle, calm down,” Kennedy says with impatience. “He’s—”
“The man she’s going to marry,” I say, cutting her off. I extend my free hand to him. “Nice to meet you, future brother-in-law.”
His expression morphs into a scowl. “Did he just …”
“Kyle, there’s someone who has a question for you,” Riley, his wife, calls, pulling him by the arm.
“They can wait,” Kyle responds, not taking his eyes off of me.
“Dae, this is my brother, Kyle,” Kennedy says.
“This is important,” Riley repeats with a smile. But I don’t miss the looks she throws my and Kennedy’s way. “Plus, I’m starting to get a migraine. You need to hurry up and talk with this guy so we can leave soon.” She rubs her fingers across her forehead as if she’s really in pain.
Kennedy’s brother gives me one final glare before turning to his wife. “Are you okay?” he asks, wrapping an arm around her, his demeanor completely changed.
Riley glances back at Kennedy and gives her a wink before heading in the opposite direction with her husband.
“You’re with me,” I say to Kennedy, taking her by the hand and leading her out of the room full of people.
I need her alone. First, I need to find out where the fuck she was for hours, and then I need to make sure she knows never to disappear like that again. And third, I need to be inside of her.
“Dae, what the hell are you doing?” she demands, pulling away from me as soon as we enter my office.
I slam and lock the door behind us.
“Where were you?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“I told you I was on my way.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
She glares at me. “I’m not your fucking possession,” she says before gesturing to the door. “I barely got a chance to speak with anyone besides my brother and Riley before you pulled me out like a maniac.”
“Where were you?”
She folds her arms across her chest, drawing my attention to the low-cut neckline of the dress. My dick pulses.
“Work,” she finally answers.
I shake my head. “You weren’t at your office.” I take a step toward her. “Don’t lie to me, Kennedy.”
“I have no reason to lie. Besides …” she narrows her eyes, “how do you know I wasn’t at my office?”
“I had someone check,” I say without remorse.
“What? Who?”
“Not important.”
“The hell do you mean, ‘not important’? Are you having someone spy on me?” Her voice grows louder.
“I had someone check your office to see if you were there since you were late and not answering your phone, and your phone says you were at your office,” I say without thinking.
Her lips part, but she stops and holds up a finger. “Wait …”
Shit.
I’ve said more than intended.
“My phone says I was still … Dae.” Her voice lowers, and she peers at me with suspicion. “Dae, are you tracking my fucking phone?” she yells.
“Yes.”
Her eyes balloon. “What? How?” She pulls out her cell and stares at it. “I do periodic sweeps of my phone to ensure there’s no tracker on it.”
She glares at me.
I step closer. I can feel the anger starting to vibrate off of her, drawing me closer.
“There are ways around those,” I answer honestly.
“You’re fucking insane. Stop tracking my phone!”
I shake my head. “Not when you’re out at all hours of the night meeting with God knows who for what.”
“For work,” she says, emphasizing the word ‘work.’ “I need to meet with—” She cuts herself off and shakes her head. “I’m not explaining myself. Take the tracker off of my phone.”
I narrow my eyes at her.
“I mean it.”
“Or what?” I challenge. I take another step toward her, getting in her space.
“Or … we’re d—”
“Don’t even think of finishing that sentence. There is no done when it comes to me and you. Ever.”
I lightly wrap my hand around her throat, letting my thumb trail against the vein that’s starting to throb.
“You sound like a psycho when you say shit like that,” she says.
“I am a fucking psycho, Kennedy. For you, I always will be.” It’s a fact I accepted long ago.
She shakes her head, and I tighten my hold around her throat. It’s not painful, but it is just this side of being unyielding. I back her up so that her ass grazes against my desk.
“Take the tracker off my phone,” she says through gritted teeth.
I grab my phone with my free hand and navigate to the tracker app. I show her as I delete the app while she watches.
“Happy?”
Her eyes meet mine. “Maybe.”
“Where were you tonight?”
Her eyes lower and she appears as if she’s debating on what to tell me.
“An important piece of the case landed in my lap, and I couldn’t turn it down. This was even better than Blackmon showing up at my office last week. But—”
“He fucking what?!”
“Shit,” Kennedy curses. “Calm down.”
“Why would he come visit you?” I ask, dropping my hands because the urge to tighten them into fists overwhelms me.
“It was an intimidation tactic on his part.” She shrugs like it”s not a big deal. “He wanted to scare me off this case, I suppose.”
“What did he say?”
“I can’t tell you that.” She holds up her hand when I open my mouth. “You know I can’t give you the details of my conversations. It doesn’t matter.”
“It fucking matters. He thinks—”
“He thinks he can intimidate or scare me from pursuing this case.” She moves to me, her hands going to the collar of my suit jacket. “It’s not going to happen because I know he’s a piece of shit, and I’m going to expose him. And you,” she glares at me, her hand tightening around my collar, pulling me to her, “are not going to stand in the way while I do it.”
I grit my teeth.
“I don’t trust that bastard or…” I start to say the name of my nemesis, the bastard Blackmon is working with.
“Or who?”
I shake my head. “Anyone he works with. I don’t trust any of them. You already have the evidence I’ve given you. Isn’t that sufficient for your case?”
“No. And you know it’s not. It’s unrelated to Erika Dalton since she didn’t work at La Vie. It proves he’s a low life, but I want him for … what this case is shaping out to be. It’s much bigger than some bribes to a few reviewers or watered-down alcohol.”
I pull her to me by the waist. Her hands still cling to my suit jacket. I start to back her into my desk once again.
“This could be dangerous. And I’m not about to let you risk your safety for that son of a bitch.”
“Let me?” Her voice sharpens. “No one lets me do anything.”
I can’t help the smile that creases my lips. Though I don’t and won’t ever take her safety as a joke, I love the attitude she gets when she feels threatened.
“Right now, I’m going to let you come on my cock if you’re a good little warrior.”
Her hands tighten around my collar, and she scowls at me, but the vein in her neck pulses with need from my words.
“I’m serious, Dae.” Her voice grows huskier even as she tries to keep up the attitude. “I’m on the verge of cracking this case wide open, and I won’t let anyone stand in the way.”
“I’m not in your way.”
“Keep it that way,” she orders, then gasps when I pick her up to sit on my desk.
I spread her knees wide.
“Are you wearing panties?”
“Dae,” she warns. “W-We weren’t done talking.” She sucks in a rush of air when my fingers make contact with the lace panties that cover her pussy.
Frowning, I look her in the eye. “Another pair to add to my handkerchief collection.”
Her forehead creases in confusion right before the sound of me ripping her panties from her body rents through the air.
“You don’t want me to stand in the way of your case?” I ask.
She blinks and then shakes her head.
I push her down to her elbows and spread her legs even wider while I push her dress above her hips.
Around us, files, paperweights, and even the telephone on my desk crash to the floor. I couldn’t give a shit about any of it.
“Then beg me,” I growl right before opening her up and diving face first to her pussy.
“Shit!” she curses, her hand going to the back of my head.
She’s already wet for me. I attack her pussy like a starved man because it’s been over twelve hours since I last tasted her. As far as I’m concerned, I am starved. In addition, I didn’t know where she was for hours, and the overwhelming possessive need to own her came out.
“Dae, shit!”
I pull back. “I said to beg for me, little warrior,” I order before attacking her pussy again. I lap at her clit with my tongue and taste every part of her lips.
“Please, please,” she begs.
Her orgasm comes quickly.
I don’t give her time to recover before I pull her up to stand, spin her around, and bend her over my desk. My hands make quick work of unbuckling my pants and freeing my rock-hard cock.
Even if I wanted to take this slow, I can’t. Kennedy’s pants and moans demand me to take her, all of her, and remind her who the fuck she belongs to.
“Mine!” I say through gritted teeth at the same time I spear her with my cock.
I lift one of her legs and place it on the desk, opening her even farther for my invasion.
She immediately arches her back and curses.
“Say it, Kennedy. You’re fucking mine. Say it!” I order as I pound into her.
“Y-Yours,” she admits.
Her admission brings out the beast inside of me, and I push into her as deeply as I can get. I pull out almost to the tip and ram into her again. Over and over, I do this, owning her body while she owns mine.
Because she does own me. Mind, body, and soul.
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep her safe. And I tell her as much in her ear as her pussy walls start to squeeze around my dick as she comes. I promise never to let her go, always to keep her safe and to protect her with everything I have.
Because she’s mine. Ever since that day in the alleyway.
It’s not until we both come down from the high of our orgasms that I realize I made all of those promises in Korean. My tendency to slip into my mother tongue when I’m balls deep inside of her means she didn’t understand a word.
It doesn’t matter.
It still rings true.