“Joon? Joon Gi, are you okay?”
He heard Sky’s voice but it sounded faint, tinny, as if she was screaming at him from the other end of a tunnel. His mind swam with a million thoughts and not one of them made any sense.
Tyler?
His best friend?
The man who’d bailed him out of jail and gave him shelter while he figured his life out?
There was no way Tyler would go to all that effort to do anything to hurt anyone. But why on earth would he target Sky and Sweet Treats when he had no ties to them.
No, Ryan had to have it wrong. He must have misread the papers. Or maybe he mistook Tyler for someone else. Joon couldn’t count the number of times someone had mistaken him for another Asian just because he was pale skinned and had ‘the eyes’.
But Ryan wouldn’t divulge Tyler’s name if he wasn’t connected somehow.
Joon shot out of his seat.
Sun Gi.
This had his brother’s disgustingly twisted scent all over it. Sun Gi must have set things up so Tyler took the fall. If Joon lost faith in the only friend that had stuck by him through the thick of his arrest and bankruptcy, then he’d be backed into a corner.
Then he’d have truly lost everything.
“Joon!” He felt someone tugging his arm and glanced down at Sky. Her hair was pulled away form her face in a low ponytail. A vein popped out of her smooth temple and her eyes swam with worry. “Joon, talk to me. What are you thinking?”
He scrambled away from the table. “I have to see Sun Gi.”
“Sun Gi?” Sky held on to his hand as if they were glued together and followed him toward the exits. “Why would you talk about Sun Gi when the culprit is Tyler?”
“It’s not Tyler.”
“You have the evidence right there!” She flung her hand at the napkin.
“Ryan could be mistaken.”
“That’s highly improbable.”
“I know my best friend, alright? He’s not like me. He wouldn’t do something like that.”
“Joon, I know you want to believe in him, but at least open yourself up to the possibility that Tyler was behind this.”
“IT’S NOT HIM!”
Sky leaned back, her jaw slackening in shock.
He pulled in a deep breath, nostrils flaring. “I’m sorry for shouting.”
“Talking louder won’t change the truth.” She dropped his arm. “But fine. If you’re so convinced that your brother is behind this, let’s go and ask him.”
He stared at Sky as she ran around flipping off the lights and grabbing the keys to lock the door. “Are you coming?”
“You’ll kill him in that state. Do you think you should go alone?”
“This isn’t your fight.”
“Like hell it isn’t.” Sky slammed a fist against her hips. “If Sun Gi was behind this, he has a lot to answer to. He didn’t just mess with my store. He tampered with my mother’s legacy. If anyone’s going after him, it’s me.”
He sighed. They were wasting time standing around arguing. “Alright.”
Joon waited impatiently while Sky locked up and then they caught a bus together. With every rock that the wheels made over the highway, Joon kept resisting the still, small voice that warned he might not find the answers he was looking for.
He fought that voice with everything he was worth.
Fifteen minutes later, he and Sky strode into Sun Gi’s store. Joon noticed her struggling to keep up with his long strides and slowed down to her flurry of smaller steps. He felt bad for yelling at her back in the shop. Sky shot him a tiny smile of appreciation and his heart relaxed.
They stopped in front of the door to Sun Gi’s office.
Joon reached out but his hands hovered over the knob and refused to hold on. He swung around and stared at the wall, summoning the courage.
Sky touched his back. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m right here with you.”
“It’s not him.” Joon swallowed. “It’s not Tyler. I’m just angry.”
Sky said nothing, but she kept soothing circles into his back until he had enough time to regain his composure. When he turned around to face the door, she slipped her hands into his.
Joon Gi looked down at their interlocked fingers. At any other moment, he would have given her a squeeze and savored the feel of her soft and slender hand clasped in his. But right now, all he could think about was ending this.
Sun Gi had done enough damage.
He twisted the lock and burst through the door. His eyes scanned the office until they locked on his brother. Sun Gi sat behind his desk, phone to his ear and foot propped up next to a cup of coffee.
His foot dropped when they stormed in but the phone remained perched to his ear. He focused on the conversation on the other end, his voice remaining steady as if he hadn’t seen them at all.
“Uh-huh. Make that order for me.” He paused. “Yeah, I’ll get back to you.” Sun Gi set the phone back into the cradle and stood. “Sky. Hyung. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
His brother’s cavalier attitude spurred fury in Joon’s chest. Sun Gi had ruined his life. He wouldn’t stand idly by while he came after Sky.
His body trembled.
Fingers balled into fists.
Joon felt a pressure on his hand and realized Sky had but both of her palms over his clenched fingers. He met her eyes and saw the message glistening in the light brown orbs.
No.
Joon breathed in deeply before speaking, “Did you have to go that far, Sun Gi?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Did you set up Director Grayson to investigate Sky’s store and ruin her image?” Joon demanded.
Sun Gi sprang out of his chair and trotted around the desk. “What kind of crazy drugs have you been smoking, brother?”
“Just tell me the truth!” Joon yelled. His voice echoed in the opulent room.
Sky stepped forward, her tone calm and steady, striking through the tension ricocheting in the air. “What your brother is trying to say is… did you have anything to do with the health inspection of Sweet Treats?”
“Of course not.” Sun Gi stared at Sky.
She held his stare and then glanced back at Joon. “He’s telling the truth.”
Joon Gi grunted. With her disposition, Sky would believe anyone.
“Even if I’m not the culprit, and I’m not,” Sun Gi furrowed his brows, “why would you assume that the inspection was meant to harm you. Isn’t it common to have random inspections every now and then?”
“Of course. I’m not against random inspections, but this wasn’t random.” Sky folded her arms over her chest. “Whoever called it in wanted my business to falter. They got the inspectors to barge in during the peak of my business, and they had reporters with them. As if they wanted to capture me in a bad light. It was planned.”
“Well, it’s not me.” Sun Gi leaned against the desk and crossed his ankles.
“How can we trust you?”
“Think about it for one minute, Joon. What would I have to gain by attacking Sky’s store? Besides, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”
His skin prickled at the words. Sun Gi sounded far too sincere.
Sky smiled kindly at him. “I know you wouldn’t. But someone did.”
“The culprit is someone who would gain from Sweet Treat’s demise.”
“I don’t have any enemies that I know of,” Sky said. “But…”
“But what?” Sun Gi prodded.
Sky looked at him as if seeking permission to share the information they’d just learned. Joon hardened his mouth and glanced away.
Sky must have taken that as approval because she turned back to his brother and confessed, “Our lead at the department said that Tyler had been meeting with the director.”
“Tyler?” Sun Gi tipped his chin in thought.
Then he laughed.
Joon snapped at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Tyler, that idiot.”
“Do you know something?” Sky asked, drawing closer to Sun Gi.
Joon noticed the way his brother’s gaze landed on her and lingered. “Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. I just didn’t expect things to shake out this way.”
“Just get to the point.” Joon glared darkly.
“Let me guess.” He popped an eyebrow. “Hanna wants Sweet Treats.”
“What does that have to do with Tyler?” Sky asked.
“Tyler’s been in love with Hanna for… I don’t even know how long.”
Joon surged forward and grabbed his brother by the collar. “Stop spitting nonsense.”
“You’re the only one that’s spitting, hyung.” Sun Gi wiped his face with the heel of his hand.
“Joon! Get off!” Sky wiggled between them and pushed him back.
Joon dropped his hands. “You’re lucky she’s here.”
“Or what? You’d beat me until I lied? I’m sorry you were too stupid to see the truth, Joon, but there it is. They’ve been sneaking around for months now.”
“What do you mean sneaking around?”
“I mean banging, hooking up, hitting the hay, whatever term you fancy.” Sun Gi fluttered his hands. “Personally, I don’t mind. Hanna is a means to an end. As long as she’s discreet—and she obviously is since you look like a deer in headlights right now—I don’t have a problem.”
Joon shook his head as his brother’s words sunk into his soul. “No. You’re wrong. Tyler isn’t like that. Even if I wasn’t in love with her, he wouldn’t betray my trust.”
“Well, he did.” Sun Gi smoothed his collar. “It’s love, brother. Makes you do crazy things.”
A conversation he’d had with Tyler weeks ago popped back into his head.
“Love is caring about someone more than you care about yourself. It’s going crazy and turning inside out and losing control because the person with all the power isn’t you.”
The person in control was Hanna.
A sick feeling twisted his insides. His eyes burned. Slowly, torturously, he looked at Sun Gi. “You didn’t really call the feds on me, did you?”
“No.” There was no smile on his brother’s face; no sneer or scowl.
Just the truth.
“All this while…” Joon Gi staggered back. “It was happening right under my nose and I blamed you. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me think—?”
“You wouldn’t have believed me anyway.” Sun Gi stared at the floor.
Too stunned to think or speak, Joon Gi stumbled. Sky rushed to his side and supported him. He held onto her, desperate for something to anchor himself.
Even with Sky by his side, Joon Gi knew he wouldn’t find steady ground for a while.