by Nia Arthurs
“Well, I’m glad someone’s having a good time,” a voice blared.
Sun Gi snapped his mouth shut. He heard Joon go silent too.
Someone flipped a switch.
Light filled the room.
Sun Gi stared at his captor and his jaw dropped.
“Ty?” Joon croaked.
Tyler Ho stood before them. His hair had grown shaggy and unkempt. His skin was sallow, black eyes sunken far into his head. A scraggly beard covered his jaw and above his mouth. He wore a black shirt and black pants.
Sun Gi eyed the gasoline container in his hands.
“I knew this place looked familiar,” Joon yelled. “This is your basement.”
“Sorry about the dust. I haven’t been home in a while,” Tyler hissed.
“What’s this about, Tyler?” Sun Gi flopped in his chair. “Untie me.”
Tyler rubbed his eyebrow with a thumb and the contents of the gasoline container he held sloshed with him. “I bet you’re both so happy now. After messing around with Hanna, you moved on to be with the love of your lives.” He inhaled noisily. “Well guess what? I couldn’t do that. Hanna was the love of my life.”
“Ty, just calm down and…”
“Shut up, Joon!” Spittle flew from his lips. “You’re the last person I want to hear from. You started this mess. If it wasn’t for you making a big stink about Sky’s store, Hanna would still be with me.”
Sun Gi studied Tyler’s movements closely. He was skittish. Fidgety. “Dude, are you drunk?”
“Of course not. I’m just… a little tipsy that’s all.”
He and Joon exchanged glances.
Sun Gi softened his tone. “Tyler, we can help you. We can talk to Hanna and see if she’d be open to forgiving you—”
“No!” he snapped. “It’s too late.” Tyler opened the gasoline container and poured it all around the room.
“Tyler!” Joon yelled.
“Stop it, man! This is insane.” Sun Gi curled his foot away as the kerosene scent filled his nostrils.
“I’m burning this place to the ground,” Tyler murmured. “Leaving it all behind once and for all.”
“Tyler, no!” Joon bellowed.
Sun Gi watched in horror as Tyler emptied the gasoline can and lit a match.
29
Jo paced beside Sky as they stood in the foyer of Joon’s new store. She frowned at the clock and continued matching Sky step for step. She was mildly concerned about Joon, sure, but her thoughts were on Sun Gi.
What was he and Hanna discussing?
Would he tell her about the kiss?
Jo groaned under her breath. What if her stupid mistake started a fight between Sun Gi and Hanna?
She regretted that kiss more and more everyday.
“Joon’s still not answering.” Sky turned to her, fear in her eyes. “I’m worried.”
“He’ll be here. He’s probably just running around dealing with last minute details.”
“No, you don’t understand. This isn’t like him.”
“Do you want me to call Sun Gi? See if he can reach him?”
Sky let out a shuddering breath. “Would you?”
Jo tentatively dialed Sun Gi’s number. No answer. “That’s strange. He isn’t picking up either.”
“I have a bad feeling.” Sky peeked outside at the crowds lined up and waiting for the store’s opening.
Despite the fact that it was a workday, almost fifty people had showed up. Belizeans always liked a spectacle and the scandal surrounding Joon’s previous arrest—along with his store’s excellent prices—made the event a hot one.
Sky’s phone chirped.
“Who is it?” Jo asked.
“It’s Hanna.”
“Hanna? Why would she call you?”
Sky’s expression turned guilty. “We might have kept in touch.”
“After everything?” Jo gawked. “Hanna caused Sweet Treats a whole lot of damage!”
“She said it wasn’t her. And even if it was, she’s doing her best to make up for it.”
“How?”
Sky avoided her gaze.
Jo stepped forward and folded her arms. “Tell me.”
“I might have asked Hanna to test Sun Gi for you.”
“Test him? What does that mean?”
A phone rang. Sky frowned. “I should take this.” Sky pressed the phone to her ear, eager to escape. A moment later, she screamed. “What?”
Jo whirled around. “What’s going on?”
“Come on.” Sky grabbed her hand and tugged her along. “I’ll explain on the way.”
The women scrambled into Jo’s car and they took off.
“Where are we going?” Jo asked from the passenger seat.
“To Tyler’s house.”
“Tyler? Is he back in Belize?”
“He just called Hanna.” Sky’s eyes were wide. “He told her that he was ending everything and that he wanted to see her one more time before...”
“Why are we going then? Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“Hanna already called them, but she’s scared. She wants backup.”
“Why didn’t she call her own friends?” Jo mumbled.
“Come on, Jo. Girl power.” Sky threw a fist.
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Joon is M.I.A. and Sun Gi isn’t picking up his phone. Shouldn’t we ask them for help before we take on a lunatic like Tyler?”
“We can do this.”
They headed out of the city to a neighborhood filled with mansions. Jo saw something curling in the distance and pointed it out to Sky. “Isn’t that…?”
“Smoke!” Sky stepped on the gas.
Jo lurched back in her seat.
They stopped in front of a sprawling house with a thick gate. Jo stumbled out of the car and saw Hanna standing on the lawn.
“Hanna!” Sky yelled and ran toward her.
Jo followed.
“Did you see Tyler?” Hanna cried. Soot clung to her clothes and her face was lined with ash.
Sky clutched her arm. “No. I thought he was here.”
She shook her head. “This place was already on fire by the time I got here. I tried to go in, but the door was locked. I thought I’d wait for the police.” She wrung her hands. “I’m so scared.”
“It’s okay.” Sky threw her arms around Hanna’s shoulders.
Hanna glanced at Jo, brown eyes soft. “Thanks for coming.”
“This is nothing.” Jo bit down on her bottom lip guiltily. “I don’t know if Sun Gi told you, but I need to apologize—”
“Sun Gi and I broke off the engagement.”
Jo blinked. “What?”
“He doesn’t like me. He never did. I would have ended things long ago, but Sky had something she needed to check.”
“I was making sure he was good enough for you,” Sky said. “I wanted to see if he would do right by Hanna or mess with you on the side. After everything Joon had told me about him, I didn’t want you getting hurt.”
“Are you serious?”
Hanna nodded.
Dumbfounded, Jo shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Just don’t be angry.” Sky winced. “We had good intentions.”
“Girl, I am—”
An explosion cut off her words. A blast of heat knocked them off their feet. The women went flying and landed in the grass.
Hanna jumped up first and screamed. “No! Tyler!”
Sirens blared in the distance.
Flames ate at the roof of the house like fiery, orange tentacles. A lump formed in her throat. There was no way anyone who’d been in that house would have survived.
“Hey!” Sky screamed and pointed to the side gate. “Look!”
Through the haze of smoke and ashes, Jo squinted and saw a trio of men limping toward them. She climbed to her feet and stepped forward. The guy on the left. He looked like…
“Joon!” Sky shot forward.
“Sun Gi!” Jo gasped
and dashed toward him.
Hanna was right on their heels, screaming Tyler’s name.
Everyone else faded from sight. All Jo could see was Sun Gi. He dropped Tyler’s arm the minute he spotted her.
Jo sped up and flung herself against him. Panicked tears filled her eyes. “What were you doing in there? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Sun Gi’s sooty hands cradled her face. She could barely see his pale cheeks, but there was no mistaking the intent in his eyes. He leaned down and kissed her.
Jo wrapped her arms around him and deepened the embrace. He tasted like soot and ash, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was Sun Gi, safe and sound in her arms where she’d only dreamed he’d be for so long.
He pulled back first and gently wiped her cheek. “Hanna and I are over.”
“I know.” She swallowed.
“I almost died today.”
She looked him over with a strangled laugh. “I can see that.”
“While we were in there, all I could think about was you.” He leaned his forehead to hers and whispered. “I’m crazy about you, Joana Lee Gregory. Nightingale. All of you. I couldn’t die without you knowing that.”
Jo clutched his neck and brought his face close to hers for another kiss. Her heart was exploding and all she wanted to do was climb him like a monkey and stay by his side for eternity.
Joon cleared his throat and broke them apart. “Okay, you two! Hey!” A whistle. “Love birds! The police are here.”
They separated.
Jo ducked her head shyly. Sun Gi put his arm around her and pulled her to his side.
Hanna was staring at them with a wry smile. “Wow, you two couldn’t even wait a second, could you?”
“Sorry.” Jo winced.
“It’s okay.” She nodded to the police officer. “Sun Gi, they need to take your statement.”
Jo glanced around and found Tyler’s body on a cot that was being wheeled toward an ambulance.
Hanna saw the direction of her gaze and smiled sadly. “I’ll go with him. Are you guys okay here?”
“Yeah,” Joon said. He pressed a kiss to Sky’s forehead. “We’re good.”
The police led them to another waiting ambulance and questioned them while they were being checked over. Jo held onto Sun Gi’s hand. Everything was happening way too fast. She needed Sun Gi’s touch to ground her.
“Can you tell me what happened?” the officer asked, notebook in hand.
Sun Gi frowned. “At around nine this morning, someone assaulted me with a metal rod. I got knocked out.”
“Same thing happened to me about a half hour later,” Joon agreed.
Jo tightened her grip on Sun Gi.
He squeezed her fingers reassuringly and turned to the officer. “When I came to, I was in Tyler’s basement. A few minutes later, Tyler walked in and started pouring gasoline everywhere.”
“Did he say why?” the official asked.
“Because Hanna broke up with him.” Joon bobbed his head. “He’d reached his breaking point.”
Sky frowned. “This is insane.”
“I know, babe.” Joon sighed.
“How’d you get out?” Jo asked.
The brother’s exchanged warm glances.
“We worked together.” Joon gestured with his hands. “The flames weren’t high enough so Tyler left to get more gas. When he was gone, I hopped over to Sun Gi and he untied me. I got up, untied him and we wrestled Tyler together.”
“We got him under control and pulled him out through the side door just as the gas line went boom,” Sun Gi finished.
“You’re so brave, baby.” Sky cooed and glanced at her phone. “You’re also late.” Her expression tightened. “Joon, the opening!”
Joon winced. “Officer, can I leave?”
The officer released them.
Everyone piled into Jo’s car. With Sky driving like a maniac, they arrived at the new store in minutes.
Joon and Sky hopped out and ran to the opening ceremony, while Jo stayed behind with Sun Gi. She’d been curled in his side the entire ride and didn’t plan on moving.
He lifted his arm from around her. “I need a shower.”
“Nope.” She pulled his arm back down.
“Don’t I smell like smoke?”
“You smell a little like barbeque.” She hunkered into him. “I like barbeque.”
Sun Gi laughed.
She grinned along. This—his soft smiles, his yearning gazes for her—it all felt too unreal.
“Why don’t you want me to go?” he asked.
“Because if this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up from it.”
“Mm.” He tipped her chin up and kissed her softly. Pulling back just a bit, he murmured, “When you talk like that, I get ideas.”
“Oh? What kind of ideas?”
He took a few minutes to show her.
When they both came up for air, Jo joked breathlessly, “I think we fogged up the glass.”
He chuckled low in his throat, a sound that sent goosebumps skittering up her arms. Pulling her to his chest, he whispered, “I have a question.”
“Go ahead.” She played with the buttons on his shirt.
“That night when you sang at the bar, did you know it was me you were looking at?”
She nodded. “I knew. It’s embarrassing but… I had a huge crush on you. That night, my feelings popped out.” She winced. “I felt so guilty afterward so I tried to avoid you, but you kept looking for me.”
“And I found you.”
“You did.”
He nuzzled her forehead. “Sing me a song.”
Delighted, Jo sang the song from the bar. This time, there was no guilt, no secrecy. Her heart was out in the open. Her love had been returned.
From now on, she was Sun Gi Kim’s nightingale.
And he?
He was hers.
30
Two weeks later
“Hanna says she and Tyler got to Korea safely,” Jo announced, her gaze perusing the email on her screen. Moving away from her desk, she narrowed her eyes at her hot boss. “Are you sure letting Tyler walk was the best thing?”
“Tyler needs help. And Hanna truly cares for him, even if it’s not love. Those two should figure it out.”
“You’re so considerate.” She tilted her head up.
“Am I?”
She nodded.
“Compliments should come with a reward.” Sun Gi tapped his cheek.
Jo ducked. “Here? Anyone could just walk in?”
“I don’t care. In fact, the world should know that you’re mine.” He pretended to throw a punch. “I’ve got enough horny bastards trying to get with you when you sing at the Reef.”
Jo chuckled. “But no matter how many men approach me, there’s only one that I sing to.”
“You better.” He winked and pulled back. Jo saw the moment his expression shifted and knew he was back in work mode. “The DollarGram people suddenly changed the meeting time so I can’t meet with Eun Jung today. Could you meet her for me?”
“This is the second time this month.” Jo frowned. “The managers are calling me ‘samonim’.”
He chuckled and tried to hide the sound by clearing his throat. “Well, you are the boss’s girlfriend.”
“Still…”
“It’s a sign of respect. It literally means ‘ma’am’.” He stood. “Besides, Eun Jung says there are more managers who respect you than are against you. I know you’ll win over the rest in no time.”
Jo sighed and swung back to her computer as Sun Gi returned to his office.
Around lunchtime, she knocked on Sun Gi’s door. He wore his glasses—which she found adorable—and was engrossed in work.
“I’m buying from the rice and beans place you like. You want something?”
“Just the usual, please, babe.”
“Okay.” She didn’t want to bother him or jar his workflow so Jo swiftly pulled the door and headed outside.
The store clerks greeted her and she smiled back as her heels clacked toward the exits. Jo flipped her sunshades on to help with the glare and turned toward the parking lot when someone slid in front of her.
She looked up into Brighton’s face, shock stealing her breath. “Brighton?”
“Hey, Jo.” His golden skin glowed in the Caribbean sunlight. He looked good, settled.
“What are you doing here? I haven’t heard from you in months.”
“I know.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It was hard to find another job and I didn’t want to approach you until I had.”
“Approach me?”
“Remember that date you promised me?” He winked. “I’d like to take you up on that now.”
Her jaw dropped. “Brighton, I—”
“Sorry, man. She won’t be able to keep that promise.”
Jo whirled around and found Sun Gi behind her. He clamped his hand on her shoulder and smiled suavely at Brighton.
Brighton’s gaze darted to where Sun Gi held her. “Are you two… dating?”
“I’m sorry, Brighton,” Jo said.
His jaw tightened, but he shook his head. “Nah. I should have known someone as beautiful as you wouldn’t wait around for a guy like me.”
“Brighton…”
“It’s fine, Jo.” He stepped back, his gaze on the sidewalk. “Have a nice life.”
Jo watched sadly as Brighton slumped off.
Sun Gi dipped his head close to her face. “What’s with that expression?”
“I just feel bad. Brighton’s a nice guy. I didn’t want to hurt him.”
“Should I call him back? Propose a duel to the death for your hand?”
Jo smacked him in the arm as she chuckled. “What are you doing down here? I thought you were busy?”
“I’m never too busy for you.” He steered her to his car. “I’ve got a surprise.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
Sun Gi drove her to a pricey boutique downtown. A tall, slim woman with bronze skin and perfectly plucked eyebrows greeted them as they walked in.
“Mr. Kim?”
“Yes.” Sun Gi strode forward.
The woman’s eyes found hers. “And you must be Miss Joana Lee Gregory.”
Jo’s name on her lips sounded like an exotic drink. She squirmed. “Who… are you?”
