Vincenzo
Ihad only been at the club I ran a handful of times over the last month. It wasn’t my scene. It was Rocco’s domain, my third brother. He ran the clubs, strip joints, and gambling dens beneath them. He thrived on the energy of humanity's hot, misbehaved mass, whereas I became colder than ever, shutting down and withdrawing as much as possible. Tonight, I was here for one reason alone. I had guests.
Min-Ho Song had to be in his eighties, yet Suna’s father was upright and strong as he sat before my desk and watched me with a narrowed gaze. His son, Jae, was a bristling ball of tension beside him.
Min-Ho had that look of distinction that few can carry off. His gaze was steadfast, and there was no hiding from the intelligence in his eyes. This would be a tough man to lie to.
He spoke as soon as I sat. “Do you have her?”
The question echoed through the room. So, the old kingpin wasn’t trying to be subtle, even though his daughter running away from her engagement would be a breach of our contract.
“Have who?” I asked because making people beg was a pure instinct for me.
Jae shifted in his seat, sending my guard on high alert, watching from the door. There was an unbridled, aggressive energy about the future Song boss that made them nervous. I got it. He was powerful looking and unpredictable. I focused on his father to let him know I wasn’t intimidated by him.
“My Suna. Do you have her?” Min-Ho asked again.
His clear, dark gaze was fixed intently on me, but I saw through the posturing and politics and glimpsed a father worried for his daughter. I inclined my head. All the air seemed to rush from the older man’s chest as he closed his eyes and sagged forward. It was relief, and it filled up the room.
“Is she safe with you?” Jae demanded.
I looked to Suna’s hot-headed brother. One day soon, he and I would have to work closely together, and every interaction we had paved the way for that relationship. I was always on guard around him.“She is, and she might have been yours, but soon, she’ll be mine only.”
His hands loosened from tense fists on the arms of the chair, and relief eased his features. Jae cared about his sister enough to come here, to my club, bristling with my armed men, and demand to know she was safe. My estimation of him rose a degree.
“When will you bring her back?” he asked, tugging at the knot in his black tie as if it was trying to strangle him.
The thought of releasing Suna back to her family, where she might run off again, filled me with dark anger. No. She wouldn’t be going back. I remembered her body writhing against mine in the car and could almost smell the scent of her desire.
“He isn’t going to. Are you Vincenzo?” Min-Ho said quietly.
“There’s no need, considering the wedding is only two days away,” I said flatly.
Jae surged to his feet, and the guards at the door had guns trained on his head in a blink.“My sister isn’t some common whore you can abuse—”
“Your sister is an engaged woman who tried to run away, putting herself and her entire family in danger. Your sister is my fiancée and someone I wouldneverhurt.” The icy anger in my voice carried across the room, easily drowning out Jae’s words.
He fell silent as Min-Ho waved a hand in his direction. The motion was clear. The Song Patriarch was finished listening to his son’s outburst. Jae sat down slowly, and I focused on Min-Ho. He had watched me without blinking. Now he nodded, looking resolved.
“Since you are happy for the wedding to go ahead, regardless of Suna’s… difficultness, I should tell you we have been dealing with a complication. There is a person who opposes the match, and they are trying to make trouble for us.”
“Who?” I asked immediately as curiosity clambered up my throat. Who the fuck in this city would get between the Songs and the Lucianos? It was a death wish.
“Someone from Suna’s past,” Min-Ho said.
“If they make trouble for you, they make trouble for me. I want a name,” I told him quietly. The fucker would be dead by morning. “It’s him, isn’t it? The ex-fiancé?” As soon as I said it, I knew it to be true.
Min-Ho nodded, looking tired suddenly. I knew there were secrets in Suna’s past. I knew there was more than the rumors suggested, and now, I would get to know it all. There was no part of Suna I didn’t want to explore, and it started tonight. But first, there was the issue of an objection to the marriage. There was only one solution to that problem I could think of, and I couldn’t fucking wait.