Chapter 38
Dae
All I see is red as I drive. And I fucking hate it.
I loathe that I was so thrown off at seeing Daniel Park in person. And when that fucker made that remark about being the son that … that man never had, I almost lost it. I should go back and break that fucking bastard’s nose for even daring to get close to Kennedy.
“Dae, are you listening to me?”
Kennedy’s demands for answers bring me back from the edge. I don’t want her to see that side of me.
“Are you going to say anything? Who is Daniel Park, and why did just seeing him upset you?” Kennedy asks as soon as we enter my house behind closed doors.
I run my hand through my hair, loosening the ponytail I have it in.
“It looks like I need to go back to the convention center to start asking questions since you won’t answer,” she says, glaring at me.
I stop her, getting in between her and the door. “You don’t need to go back there.”
“Dae, I swear I will if you don’t start giving me answers.” She’s pissed.
I ball and flex my hands at my sides as the image of Daniel Park’s fucking grin flashes in my mind.
“Then start talking,” she insists.
“Daniel Park is Sebastian Blackmon’s business partner from South Korea,” I tell her, meeting her narrowed eyes.
Her eyebrows lift. “That name’s never come up in my investigation.”
I shake my head. “They keep it hidden through a series of overseas subsidiaries. That’s probably why his name hasn’t come up in your research.”
She nods.
“And who is Daniel Park to you?” She raises an eyebrow. “Because he sounded like he had a personal issue with you. And your response to him …” She trails off.
I look Kennedy in the eye and answer, “Daniel fucking Park is the son my father never had, apparently.”
Her eyebrows raise, and she shakes her head in disbelief. Emotions ranging from confusion to curiosity parade across her face.
I undo the bowtie around my neck and toss it to the floor before taking her hand in mine. Wordlessly, I lead her to the couch in the living room.
She says nothing as she lets me sit her on my lap, our bodies facing the brightly lit aquarium. I stare at the exotic yellows, blues, and greens of the wildlife in the aquarium. A flood of childhood memories wash over me.
But the one that stands out the most isn’t from my childhood. It’s from the day Daniel Park tried to end my life. The same day Kennedy saved me in that alleyway. She doesn’t even remember.
I don’t want her to, either.
I don’t ever want her to remember the weak-willed, broken soul I was in that alleyway.
“Dae,” she says, her voice softening. “Talk to me.”
I stroke a finger through one of her curls while keeping my other hand flat against her stomach and deciding what to share.
“My biological father was Soon Kim, owner of Kim Entertainment Group. His company ran a production studio, owned convenience stores, and other businesses under the name,” I explain.
Kennedy turns to me. “You said your father wasn’t part of your life.”
“He wasn’t.” I shake my head. “He and my uncle inherited the business from their father when they were twenty. Soon Kim was an underhanded motherfucker who pushed my uncle out of the company and took over.
“He grew what was once a small business into a successful company valued at millions of dollars.”
I watch my fingers as they play with one of her curls.
“My mother was his maid.” I snort. “Fucking cliché. She cleaned his house for years, and eventually, they started an affair. She became pregnant, and when he found out, he fired her and demanded she get rid of me.”
Kennedy turns sideways so that she can better look at me. Her hand moves to my face, and I nuzzle her palm with my cheek.
“But she didn’t,” she says.
I shake my head.
“After she had me, she went to him, but he wanted nothing to do with her or me. I honestly think she believed he would come around because, for some fucked up reason, she loved him.”
“But he never did.”
“No,” I reply. “At some point, she told him she would leave him alone if he paid for my schooling. All she wanted was for me to go to a top private school to get a quality education she could never afford. He agreed.
“He paid for all of my schooling and tutoring but never for extra incidentals or things like school trips.”
I glance over at the aquarium, and Kennedy does, too. “Which is why you never got to go on your trip to the aquarium,” she says, finishing my thoughts out loud.
“My mother couldn’t afford it on her salary. She had to go back to cleaning houses after she had me. I only met him a few times throughout my life. But MiSoo, my half-sister, and I were enrolled in the same school.
“I saw him occasionally, picking her up from school. Once, he caught a glimpse of me. He stared through me as if he didn’t see me.”
“That must’ve been awful.” Her voice is so … gentle. I fucking hate it.
I pull my hands from her body. “Don’t pity me.”
“I don’t.” She cups my face. “It’s not pity I feel for you. I’m pissed off.” Her voice turns fierce. “You deserved a hell of a lot more from that son of a bitch,” she spits out, her eyes narrowing with her anger.
Despite my mood, a smile crests on my lips. “My little warrior.”
Her eyes blaze in anger. “Is he still breathing? Your father.”
I shake my head.
“Good.” She pushes out a breath.
I chuckle and kiss her palm before continuing.
“Daniel Park was a student at my private school, too. He was a few years older and hung out in the same circle as MiSoo. His parents owned department stores. He was an asshole, but because I was a few years younger, I stayed off of his radar until he found out who I was.
“He and MiSoo were dating. One day, when my father forgot to pay my school’s tuition, my mother went to his office. Daniel overheard. He found out the truth.
“After that, school turned into a nightmare. Even after he graduated, he would have other students—friends of his—torture me in any way they could think of.”
“No one stopped them?”
I snorted. “I was a nobody. Everyone thought I was nothing more than a scholarship kid who wasn’t worth the trouble. I figured I’d endure it until I graduated.
“But my mother got sick and died before I started my final year of school. Soon Kim refused to pay for the last year at the private school. One day, as he was leaving work, I went to him, pleading that he would pay my tuition so I could finish school. He refused, saying his agreement was with my mother and not me. He looked me up and down as if I were garbage.
“I had to transfer to a public school and found a few jobs that paid me in cash to afford a tiny room. I had no one. I managed to finish school and graduate because I knew it was what my mom wanted. But I didn’t know what to do beyond that. I decided to give up.”
A lump forms in my throat as I recall those dark days. When the entire world felt like it was collapsing in on me. It hurt to even breathe back then.
“One day, I chose to end it all,” I tell her. She’s the first person I’ve ever admitted this to. “I decided to go to his office building. I was going to go up to the roof and …” I trail off.
Kennedy claps her hand over her mouth. “No,” she mumbles.
“But someone from security called my father’s office before I could enter the building. Daniel Park worked at his office by then, and he sent Park and a group of his friends down to take care of me.”
I stop there, deciding not to go into the details. But Kennedy’s curiosity thirsts for answers.
“What do you mean ‘take care of you’?” she asks, horror filling her eyes.
“Exactly what you think it means,” I answer honestly. Then I shake my head. “Needless to say, they didn’t succeed.”
“Why? How? What did they—”
I cut her off by cupping her face. “It’s not important. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.”
I pull her lips to mine.
“Oh my god,” she says, pulling back. “And he commented tonight about being the son your father never had. That motherfucker,” she fumes. She starts to get up. “I’m going to go kick his ass.”
A full-on laugh spills out of me as I grab her by the arm, bringing her back to my lap. I don’t know if it’s from finally revealing the truth to her or how she’s gotten all protective over me, but that does it, and my entire mood shifts.
Only she can bring me out of such dark, low spots this fast.
“He’ll get exactly what’s coming to him,” I promise. “Part of my work with the Global Group was to use their assets to expand our presence in Asia beyond South Korea. Despite his bragging, Daniel Park is shit at running the company that was left to him and my half-sister. It’s financially weaker than it seems.
“I plan to use its weaknesses to take him and the company down. Eliminating Blackmon from the Global Group is one step in that direction.”
Kennedy looks me over, realization seeping into her beautiful eyes.
“You’ve waited years to do this,” she concludes.
I nod. “Patience is one of my strongest attributes.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. “Since when?”
“Since always,” I reply.
She shakes her head, making the curls swoosh around her shoulders. “Not when it comes to me.”
I pull her into me and kiss her collarbone. “If you only knew,” I murmur before kissing her neck.
“Wait.” She presses against my chest. “Is whatever Daniel and his friends did to you why you have this scar?” She runs her thumb along the hidden scar on my chin.
With a nod, I tell her, “The day I received this scar was the day I decided to get my revenge on the son of a bitch. A few months later, I started my military service. That’s where I met Taehyun. We were both so stricken by how much we look alike.”
Kennedy nods. “You guys look like you’re brothers instead of cousins.”
I nod. “Technically, we are brothers.”
Her eyes balloon.
“Remember I said Soon Kim pushed his brother out of the business?”
She nods.
“It was his identical twin, who eventually moved to the States and started his own private lounge and entertainment company.”
She gasps. “Your Uncle Jin.”
I bring her fingers to my lips, kissing them. “He’s Taehyun and Jersey’s father. Taehyun and I became friends in the military and eventually discovered that we’re family. After our discharge, I moved to the U.S. and started working for my uncle. Taehyun didn’t get along with his father for a long time, but I took to the business like a fish to water.”
I became his trusted confidant, and when he left the business, all three of us ran it.
“Taehyun decided to run and operate the Seoul subsidiaries, so he often travels between the States and South Korea. Jersey works with me. We all intend to take Daniel Park and that company down for what they did to us.”
Kennedy nods in understanding.
“They deserve it,” she says, cupping my face. “Just …” She pushes out a breath. “You’re not that boy anymore.”
I cock my head sideways.
“The boy without a father or anyone to look out for him. Daniel Park deserves to pay for what he did, and Blackmon, but they can’t hurt you. Your father was a piece of shit for abandoning you like he did, and I’m so sorry you ever felt your life wasn’t worth living.”
She pauses.
“I wish I had been there for you back then. I wish I had been there to tell you how special and loved you are and will be.”
My heart nearly stops in my chest. She has no idea that she was there. That she was the one who stopped me from ending it all that day. Even if Park and his bastard friends hadn’t finished the job, I would’ve.
Until she showed up.
She was the spark that made me believe my life had value, some meaning, and that if I could live long enough, I might see it.
I know I’ve reached that exact moment I’ve longed for when she finally says, “I love you, Dae.”
I crush her lips to mine before pulling back and telling her, “I love you, my little warrior.”
I kiss her again, needing to feel her lips against mine. She moans, and my dick instantly comes alive. I start to roll down the zipper at the back of her dress, but she stops me, then slithers away and goes to her knees on the floor.
I don’t have time to ask where she thinks she’s going before she’s unbuttoning my pants. When Kennedy pulls my cock out, there’s already a drop of precum at the tip.
I’m always ready for her.
Still, when her hot mouth covers the tip of my dick, my hips jerk upward, searching, demanding more. My little warrior obliges.
She takes all of me straight to the back of her throat.
“Fucck,” I groan. There’s nothing, save for being inside of her pussy, better than having Kennedy on her knees in front of me.
“Eyes on me,” I demand.
She obeys and meets my gaze. I almost come right there from watching her with my dick in her mouth.
She sucks me off like she was made for me. Because she was. Kennedy Townsend, my little warrior, was made only for me. As I come down her throat, and she swallows every drop, I know that I’ll move heaven and earth to keep her safe.
I will annihilate the ghosts of my past so they no longer hang a shadow over either one of our heads. Then, I will make her my wife.