Chapter 30
Tommy
“When the fuck didyouget here?” I squawk at Yosef a few hours later. He’s sitting in the dining room with Young-gi, glasses of amber liquid between them on the table. All that’s missing from this cliche bratva meeting is the cigars, and stacks of cash.
I’d say prostitutes too, but I’m right here. Ha.
“I called him over while you took a nap,” Young-gi says.
“I wasn’t napping,” I mutter, weirdly reluctant for anyone but Young-gi to know that I take naps sometimes. It’s like…intimate or some shit. That’s kid stuff. It’s embarrassing.
I was just resting my eyes after getting fucked into the mattress, that’s all. And maybe I was in the bathroom for a little while, staring at my bruised ass in the mirror, enjoying the evidence of my spankings. Maybe I found some creams and goos for my skin and was playing around with those, too. Bite me, I can do what I want.
Fuck, maybe it would be less embarrassing to just say I was napping the whole time.
“Mm-hm.” Young-gi gestures for me to join them, so I storm over and sit at the far end of the table, out of reach of both of them, my arms crossed over my chest. But sitting makes me wince and I shift in my seat, embarrassed because I’m sore as hell and I basically just advertised that.
Young-gi’s lips deepen at the corners, like he’s almost smiling at me.
“Bastard,” I mutter, without any real heat. Then my eyes fall on the paper between them, and I freeze.
The blackmail letter is sitting there, plain as day. Yosef is right there, he can see it, they’re both clearly looking it over. Which means–
Which means–
Young-gi told Yosef about us. My gaze ping-pongs between them, but they look as stoic as ever. Not like this is an embarrassing mistake or a disgusting secret. Like maybe Young-gi told Yosef because to him, it’s fine if his people know about us. Like maybe he’s not ashamed of me at all.
A tingly warmth suffuses me from head to toe.
“What are you guys doing with that?” I ask as casually as I can.
“Planning,” Young-gi says. “We need to come up with outings for you and Kira to be accessible. Once the blackmailer sends someone with more instructions, I’ll have a tail follow the delivery person and work from there. We just need one more moment of contact to get a lead.”
“The restaurant where the first letter was given to you had no cameras,” Yosef complains, annoyed. “So we need to give the bastard another chance at you.”
Fair enough.“What were you guys thinking?”
“There’s an event tomorrow night at a historic building,” Yosef offers. “An art exhibit, for a fundraiser. It’s exclusive, but Kira RSVP’d already, so it’s perfect bait.”
Hmmmmm.
“Rich people have a lot of fundraisers,” I sigh, grimly amused. “But I think you guys might be looking at this wrong.”
I shift in my seat and wince again when my spanked ass flares with a deep ache. Young-gi, as always, is a brick wall, but his intense stare is like a weight, and I get the feeling that he’s enjoying watching me squirm.
Fuck. Is it a kink to like that he likes it?Maybe I’m just a freak. As long as he likes it, I guess it’s fine.
“What do you mean?” he asks, his deep voice sending shivers right down my spine. Yeah, he definitely likes watching me squirm.
I clear my throat to stop my voice from tightening with the thrilling nerves he always gives me. “I think you might be making the wrong assumption. You guys are talking like the blackmail is definitely connected to someone in Kira’s circle, like they’ll be keeping tabs on her, and they’ll know where she’s going to be.”
“The Vandmorson boy is the most likely suspect,” Yosef says in his smokey rasp, scratching his stubbly chin thoughtfully.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not, sweet boy?” Young-gi asks, as if calling me his sweet boy in front of another person is no big deal. My insides get all squiggly in a pleasant way, and I get lightheaded. It takes real effort for me to focus on the conversation.
“Blackmail isn’t about revenge,” I explain. “It’s about wanting something. If this were revenge, the pictures would already be leaked. What could a person as rich as Brian or his family want from me? If he needed more power, he’d be blackmailing you, not me. The only thing I can give him is cash. Nah, I think this is someone from my world, not yours.” I hate admitting that, hate clueing them into the suspicion that’s been brewing in the back of my mind all day.
