Page 46 of Mercy (The Sins Trilogy 3)
Yuna turns and says something in Korean. He shakes his head as he replies, his voice firm.
She stiffens and narrows her eyes, shooting words like bullets from a machine gun. His tone turns into a plea, but she shakes her head and sticks her hand out.
Exhaling tightly, he reaches into his jacket pocket and hands over a phone. He drags his bag and boards the plane, his steps slow.
“Is he flying next to a lavatory?” I ask.
“First class.”
“Then why is he acting like he’s a cow off to a slaughterhouse?”
“He’s afraid Dad’s going to be mad at him, but he didn’t join the company to be my babysitter. Mom will also want to hear how I’ve been doing, and his report should reassure her, but she’ll be angry, too.”
“Is his career going to suffer or something?”
Yuna shrugs. “He deleted your messages from my phone. That’s unacceptable.”
The gate agent announces the final boarding call.
Yuna loops an arm through mine. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Anthony
All four of us arrive home. I’m glad we were able to reach Yuna in time. It would’ve been a shame if she’d gotten on that flight. I hate seeing Ivy upset and forlorn.
I bring out wine, cheese and fruit for everyone. Yuna takes an armchair, while Ivy and I share a couch.
Ivy brings Yuna up to date on what’s been happening. She glosses over her kiss with Byron Fucking Pearce—which I haven’t forgotten. She also glosses over Mother’s visit. I don’t think she’s trying to hide things from Yuna. Maybe she’s still trying to process her encounters with Mother first. Hell, not even I can make any sense of them.
But there’s no glossing over the attempt on her life. Yuna’s eyes grow huge when Ivy recounts the motherfucker trying to run us over.
“Oh my God! Are you okay? Shouldn’t you be at a hospital?” she demands, looking at Ivy, then me.
“No, we’re fine,” Ivy says. “The driver didn’t hit us. But I wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for Tony and Bobbi.”
Yuna turns her pale face toward me and Bobbi. “Thank you. I mean that.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I say, uncomfortable with the mild hero worship in her eyes. Any man would’ve done the same for the woman he loves. “But you do have to be extra careful. You could become a target. The bastard doesn’t care who he has to hurt to get to Ivy.”
“I promise I will be. But aren’t the police looking into it? They’re taking it seriously, aren’t they?”
Frustration dribbles over me. “Yeah, but it isn’t that simple. I heard from them, and the car used was reported stolen by one of the tenants at Julie’s apartment complex. And they found it ditched in an alley. Wiped clean.”
“So…he’s a professional?”
It’s the same question I had for the detective. “Probably not,” I say, repeating the answer I got. “He would’ve picked a better way to attack if he were.”
“Trying to run you two over when you had a bodyguard in the car wasn’t the brightest move. It was probably done out of impulse—because he saw the target and…maybe because he thought your fiancée was going to be out of reach,”the detective said.
“Did you see him?” Yuna asks.
Ivy shakes her head. “It was too dark, and it happened so fast.”
I shake my head when Yuna looks at me. I was too panicked to notice anything except that it was a man, wide-shouldered, probably fairly tall. My first and only priority that time was guarding Ivy.
Yuna leans forward, her mouth set in a grim line. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You’re already helping by being here with me,” Ivy says. “Although now that I think about it, maybe I should’ve let you board the plane back home after I told you I’m sorry. I doubt he would fly to Korea to get to you.”
Yuna scoffs. “I’m not letting some psycho terrorize me into cowering at home.”
Ivy gives her a smile, and I too smile at what Yuna says. It’s the same courage Ivy has shown time and again. No wonder they’re such good friends—soul sisters.
Despite Ivy’s brave façade, I know it isn’t easy to live with the knowledge that somebody out there is trying to kill you. She needs to have a good girlfriend or two to distract her with something normal and fun, like online shopping or wedding details.
Watching Ivy and Yuna chat and laugh, I swear I’m going to make sure their friendship never changes…and Ivy will always have a reason to smile.
