Page 49 of Fallen Starboy

Jun waved him off. “We’re fine, just a little shaken up. Have the police arrived yet?”

Pujin nodded. “We caught the guy slipping out the window. They’re stuffing him in the back of a squad car now.” His eyes trailed over me and Jun, assessing before he gave in to Jun’s insistence. “They’ll want a report, and you might as well let the EMTs check you out, just to be safe.”

I let Pujin lead me out of the house, thankful for the interruption, even if it only bought me a few minutes to gather my thoughts.

Because all hell was about to break loose, and I would have to figure out how much to come clean about with Jun.

Something I’d been dreading from the moment he stepped back into my life.

Chapter

Twenty

JUN

I stareddown at my daughter—our daughter—as the police finished with Arista. I could tell by the uncomfortable look on the detective’s face that he didn’t like what he was hearing. Yejin seemed otherwise occupied with my phone, so I tilted my head and tried to listen in, though I knew it was wrong.

“So you say you didn’t recognize the person with the gun?” The detective scribbled on a notepad, his eyes never leaving Arista. “But you know who sent him?”

“That’s right.” She made no move to elaborate, frustrating the cop.

“How do you know where he’s from but not who he is?”

She pursed her lips, frowning so hard her brows creased her face. “He’s from SeoulSOUL Entertainment.” She hesitated, her eyes drifting across the living room to find mine. When she found me staring, she didn’t look away, but a sadness and regret welled up within their depths. “They’re here for Jun, and they’re not afraid to kill anyone who gets in their way.”

“Surely he wouldn’t work for the company who killed his daughter?”

“They won’t kill her now. But they’ve tried before.” She turned her arm over, showing the cop her wrist. “They caused a car accident meant to take my life while I was pregnant. They chased me across two continents, trying to force me to get rid of the baby that posed a threat to their income.” Only then did she break our locked gazes, her eyes drifting back down to the floor. “As long as I was out of the picture, he’d keep working for them. They didn’t care how or at what cost their desired results came to be.”

“And you think this man?—”

“Iknowthis man is working for them. He admitted it himself.” Her sigh was heavy and laden with regret and pain and sorrow. “Listen, it’s been a long day, so if you have any more questions, I’d be happy to answer them—first thing tomorrow, with a lawyer present. Right now, I think I’m done talking.”

The detective presented his card and shook her hand, then followed his colleagues out of the house. Almost immediately, she pulled her tablet off the side table and got to work, scrolling and furiously typing away.

Two minutes later, I learned why.

“We’re not staying here. I booked us a suite of rooms at the Egress, our local luxury hotel.” Her eyes traveled to Pujin, who stood in the corner of the room, watching like a hawk. “Pujin, can you assemble a traveling team to provide security there? I can have backup sent from the company, should you need it.”

His nod was curt. “I can handle that, ma’am.”

“Good. I’m not sure how long we’ll be there.” Her brows nearly touched now. “The company wants to make sure the Kims are well protected.”

The Kims.She just as well as admitted to that cop that she was the target here, and yet they were worried aboutoursafety, nothers.

What a joke.

“Who gives a fuck about us? They were afteryou.”I marched over and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her as if by doing so, I could bring her common sense back. “How are you so calm right now?”

She shrugged, her eyes a bit unfocused as she refused to meet my gaze. “I’m used to running liaison for artists in some precarious positions. This is what I did to get where I am now.”

I reached out to her, my hand falling short as she pulled away and curled in on herself. “But you’ve never been the target, have you?”

“I was the target seven years ago,” she pointed out, her tone dry and emotionless. “I survived that, I’ll survive this. But they’re notonlyafter me now. So let me do what I do best, and stay out of my way.”

There it was. The old her peeked through as she deflected attention like she’d always done when she wanted you to look anywhere but at her. Ari, at her core, had always been horrible at accepting concern and care from others.

Some things never changed.

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