I hadn’t had anything to drink yesterday. But all that feeling sorry for myself and reading articles about humiliation in a dark room had dehydrated me and made me sensitive to the light. I shrunk away from the sun of a new day, like a vampire with a hangover.
“Don’t scream.”
Goosebumps—check.
Hair rising on the back of my neck—check.
Crazy fluttering in the pit of my stomach—check.
Sudden urge to scream even though he told me not to—check.
What the heck? I recognized that voice.
I shot up in bed….and found Hak-kan, the Dragon, sitting in the dainty vanity chair I flipped over last night.
11
Hak-kan. Phantom.
Whatever you wanted to call him. He was here.
He was rolling something in his hand—a bottle of a Hyaluronic Acid Serum that my mother had left on top of the princess vanity along with a host of other anti-aging products. That had been her version of a motivational pep talk after I told her about my break-up with Garrett.
I sensed that he’d only picked up the glass dropper bottle because he’d needed something to do with his hands.
Random beauty product aside, he looked terrific. He wore a gorgeous bespoke three-piece suit, dark green overcheck twill with a wide burgundy tie. And unlike the last time I saw him, his black hair was slicked back into a pompadour with a hard part and an undercut.
Cleaned up…. he looked about as cleaned up as a colossal granite statue with a snake peeking out of his collar could get.
I couldn’t believe it.
I rose from the bed.
And his eyes scanned me like they did that night.
But he didn’t move from his seat.
And I found that one step was all I could take toward him before asking, “What…what are you doing here?”
He twisted his lips and raised his shoulders in one of those shrugs only cynical native New Yorkers could make. “It sounded like you needed a date to this party, so I flew out.”
My heart raced at his answer, even as my brain struggled to believe, “You flew all the way to Kentucky, just so I wouldn’t have to go to the hunt afterparty alone?”
He stood up, rolled his shoulders. “Like, I said, I ain’t pretty. But I’m somebody.”
I stared at him.
And he scraped a hand over the shaved back of his head. “I understand if me coming with you isn’t an option you want to take. I flew out here private, so we could just hop on my plane and be like, fuck it, too—oof.”
He broke off with a grunt when I threw myself into his arms and whispered, “Thank you. Thank you.”
A few awkward beats. Then his arms wrapped around me, warm and sure. “You’re welcome, O.”
I was so grateful to Hak-kan just for showing up; it was pretty much up to my mom and sister to ask all the logical questions at breakfast.
Like, “Who are you?”
“Where did you come from?”
And “How did you get in here?”
My mother was especially curious about that last one. “Our room is right by the stairs, and neither Hector nor I heard you come in.”
“I’m stealthy,” Hak-kan let her know before answering the rest of their questions. “Flew in yesterday from New York. Name’s Hak-kan Zhang. Everybody but O needs to call me Phantom, though.”
Skylar narrowed her eyes and repeated, “O—is that some kind of nickname for my sister? Because the rest of us call her Livvy.”
Hak-kan leaned back in the seat he’d taken at the head of the breakfast nook table—without asking if it was okay for him to sit there. “I call her a few different things. Depends on where we’re at.”
Then he sent a heated look down the table toward me.
Skylar widened her eyes, and Mama clutched at her literal pearls to say, “Oh my….”
And I squirmed for reasons that were 50% embarrassment and 50% I don’t know what to do with myself. I’d never been the object of such a lewd stare—especially in public, and I didn’t know how to act or respond.
Luckily, Skylar pounced with more questions. “So you’re coming with us to the party, and we’re supposed to what? Act as if you didn’t show up here out of the blue?”
Hak-kan shrugged. “You can do whatever you want, Skylar. I’m here for Olivia—you know, the one who’s getting the short end of the stick in the whole mess your dad created for her.”
Skylar had the grace to blush at being called out for making this all about her.
“It’s very kind of you to come to her rescue, even if you are….” Her eyes strayed to the snake tattoo peeking above the collar of his suit… “a bit unorthodox. I’m just saying we barely know anything about you. What will I say when people start asking questions?”
“You could say it’s none of their business who your sister got with after that douchebag betrayed her. They should all be judging him, not her.”