He still remembered the first time his lips had brushed hers. Like it was yesterday. They’d been standing in his apartment. Wrapped in each other’s arms. While they slow danced to a new song.
He had gazed down into her eyes for a long time. Before he’d been drawn to her like the opposite pole of her magnet. His eyes had grazed her lips first. Before his mouth had found its home amongst those luscious lips.
He had lingered there on those lips. Reveling in their softness. Tasting their sweetness. Enjoying her very breath. And the feel of her mouth against his.
Feeling like she had been designed just for him. And him for her. He knew it wasn’t so. He didn’t believe in soulmates. He believed in choice. But given the choice, he would choose this girl. The one with the sad eyes. Could he have just one more chance to fill them with joy? For a lifetime?
Right now, though, he wasn’t looking into her eyes. He was locking eyes with a much colder pair of orbs. The ones that belonged to her appa. Just then, the older man spoke.
“Suppose I consider your proposition. What’s in it for me?”
“A happy daughter,” Jungkook responded effortlessly.
Lee Kwangjo pursed his lips. “You think highly of yourself, don’t you?”
“I think highly of your daughter. And for some reason, she chose me. She thinks I make her happy. I certainly desire to do so.”
Lee Kwangjo stared at him. For the first time, he suffered a qualm. What if his plan worked, but, in the process, he forever alienated his daughter? Was he prepared to lose her? Over a Gwan?
His eyes perused Jungkook’s face. He was a pretty boy. It was no wonder he had turned Bora’s head. There was an unusual quality in his countenance too. Something soft, something Lee Kwangjo didn’t encounter much in his line of work. Would this boy break quickly?
He had been part of his father’s organization for years. Though, he had refused to do any of the dirty work. Still, he had lingered. Doing odd jobs that required simple skills.
There was one nagging question that Lee Kwangjo had never been able to answer. How had the boy broken away from his father? The man was, by all accounts, ruthless, so why would he let his son simply walk away? Lee Kwangjo knew that Gwan Bongju had had men killed for lesser offenses than his son had committed. So how had Jungkook disentangled himself from his father’s hold and lived to tell the tale?
What would his father do when he heard of Jungkook’s decision today? Would this move on Jungkook’s part convince his appa that he was dispensable? Would Gwan Bongju take care of Lee Kwangjo’s problem for him? And if he did order the execution of his own son, would Bora ever forgive her appa for the part he had played in bringing about the death of her beloved?
Lee Kwangjo had no conscience, so what was it about this boy that was causing him all these qualms today? As his eyes raked over the boy from head to toe, Lee Kwangjo had one more question. What were his real motives? Did he truly love his daughter, or was this some elaborate ruse to get him close enough to Lee Kwangjo to do some real damage to him or his organization? Did Jungkook think he could fool her father by drawing attention to Bora? Was he actually working undercover for his own father? Was dating Bora simply a ruse on Jungkook’s part?
Lee Kwangjo stared into Jungkook’s eyes as he tried to discern the lad’s motives. But he wasn’t getting anywhere. He just looked like a lovesick fool. So he was going to take a chance.
“All right. I will give you one opportunity to prove your loyalty to me. Meet me here tonight at midnight. And lose the bodyguards first.”
Jungkook sighed. He could try. But he’d probably fail. His father’s guards clung to him like barnacles to the bottom of a boat. Was there any way he could shake them? And if he did, would he be walking into his own death chamber?
