“Because he did! He was fixated on you, stalking you, and he wasn’t going to leave you alone. Ever. The only way this was going to end was with your death or his. I chose his.”
Out of nowhere, a wave of exhaustion hit Ji-Su. He couldn’t process that someone had wanted to kill him and that his gentle lover had killedthembecause of it. “I need time to think.”
“I understand.”
“Away from here,” he added.
“You mean away from me.”
“Yes.” Ji-Su swallowed past the tightness in his throat. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
Raul looked at him in silence, the glow slowly fading from his eyes. Finally, he nodded.
“You can leave if you want. I won’t stop you. But I can’t let you go out unguarded.”
“Fine. Send a guard with me. Do whatever you have to do. I don’t care, as long as I get to drive myself out of here in the next ten minutes.”
A muscle clenched in Raul’s jaw before he turned around and headed for the door.
“I’ll go make the arrangements for your hotel.”
Chapter 44
“You look stressed.”
“I am. I fucked up.”
John gave Raul a sympathetic clap on the shoulder.
“Sit down and I’ll make us something to drink.”
Raul went to the sitting area of John’s office and took a seat in one of sorrel leather wingback chairs while John went to the polished wood dry bar in the corner. John knew his preferred drink and fixed them both a whiskey Highball. His shoulders tense and his mind on Ji-Su, Raul listened to the clink of ice cubes and liquid pouring into glasses.
He was here for a meeting with the head of the LaMonte family. The Syndicate was the more powerful of the two so they didn’t have to extend this courtesy. But any enemy, no matter the size, could be dangerous. Raul wasn’t sorry that he’d killed Cedric, but he understood that as their head, John had to think of diplomacy. Besides, if they could put this to bed he wouldn’t have to worry about the LaMontes attempting to harm Ji-Su in order to get payback.
John joined him, passing him his drink before taking the other wingback chair. They left the settee in the center for LaMonte.
“What went wrong?”
“In all the months we were together, Ji-Su was never afraid of me. That changed the moment he learned I killed Cedric. He’s been exposed to violence and murder because of me.”
“That must have been hard for him.”
“Heranfrom me.” Raul grip on the glass tightened as he remembered watching Ji-Su flee from him in fear. He forced himself to relax so he didn’t shatter the glass. His next words were pushed out past a throat tight with regret.
“I never should have brought him into this world. Never should have touched him. I should have freed him from Cedric, gave him a nice payout, and then immediately sent him away. Instead, I kept him with me because I was selfish and I wanted him.”
“Where is Ji-Su now?”
“I put him up at the Sapphire Suites Hotel with a couple of guards on duty. I wanted to be sure he was safe until we cleared things up with the LaMontes.”
“Smart,” John said with a nod. “What will you do once the situation has been resolved?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Do you want Ji-Su to stay with you?”
“Absolutely. I think...” He put a hand on his chest, rubbing it as if it ached. “I think I won’t be able to breathe if he leaves.”