Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
He didn’t even ask who I was.
For my name.
The sheer intrigue and outrage of the prospect of being outsmarted at a dated mind game made him throw all caution to the wind.
Zachary Sun wasn’t used to losing.
What a terrible existence.
If you couldn’t mourn your losses, how could you celebrate your wins?
I eyed his relaxed shoulders. “Don’t you have a party to go back to?” He hadn’t once glanced at the door.
Zach ignored me, collecting a stone between his index nail and middle fingertip. Without pausing to think, he blocked my attack.
It happened in less than a second. All with flawless stone etiquette.
He reclined against the plush upholstery, propping one leg over the other, finally gifting me a sliver of his attention. His slacks rode up until the hem revealed his sock—black.
Just like his heart.
“Where’d you learn to play Go?”
I knew an accusation when I heard one. Used to it, unfortunately.
“Korea.” I didn’t offer more, leaning forward to assess my next move.
Outside, music, laughter, and champagne glasses clinking together seeped past the door. My hectic thoughts drowned them out.
I needed to escape.
I’d come for the pendant another day. Another time.
His left brow arched a millimeter. I was sure he wanted to ask what a white American girl was doing in Korea, but he held himself back.
I had a feeling he prided himself in not caring about others. Or perhaps he simply didn’t care, and pride was his default setting.
I stole a quick glance his way, checking to see if his face still made my pulse accelerate.
It did.
“If it makes you feel any better, I participated in some Go competitions when I was there.”
His lip curved up in a snarl. “Why would it make me feel better?”
“When I annihilate you.”
“Now who’s being cocksure?”
“Please, Zach. There’s only one dick in this room, and I think we both know that it’s you.”
Yup. That just left my mouth.
Vera was right.
Maybe I was impossible to civilize.
Zach moved another stone. He’d cornered me, both literally and figuratively. He was a fantastic player. Calm, pragmatic, steadfast.
It didn’t surprise me. Just annoyed me. I’d grown used to having an edge analytically. Dad always warned that the price of stupidity is always paid.
Maybe that was how Zachary Sun had built his wealth from Forbes-worthy inheritance to the nominal GDP of Luxembourg.
He possessed no weakness to exploit. Had no stupidity to pay for.
I twirled a stone in my palm as I waited for his move, ignoring stone etiquette, knowing it would bother him. “Shouldn’t you go back to your guests?”
“No,” he said decisively. “They’ll have more fun without me.”
He maneuvered a stone, leaning closer to me to do so. I did not interest him in the slightest. One could argue that I was practically half-naked, on a platter before him, completely at his mercy.
He didn’t care.
Those poor girls downstairs didn’t stand a chance.
Zachary Sun didn’t do love, nor passion. Humans did not thrill him. Numbers and mind games did.
I cleared my throat. “You have a nice house.”
I needed to fill in the silence somehow. To keep him from asking questions about me.
At the same time, I worried he’d recognize my voice. All the other times we’d met, we both wore masks.
A few moments passed before he looked up in my direction. It didn’t even last a second. “That’s not a question.”
Christ.
“Is it true that your mother is forcing you to marry by the end of the yea—”
“I wish to play in silence.”
I buried my knuckle into my temple, hoping to relieve the building pressure. “And then you’ll let me leave in peace?”
“And then I might let you leave in one piece. That’s my best and final offer.”
“That’s not much of a bargain for me.”
“I think it is. Unless you’re fond of prison food.”
“I’m not picky.”
At the very least, I’d no longer have to fork over rent to live in my own childhood home.
“Neither are the people who will corner you in the showers.”
“Are you imply—”
“I do not imply things. I outwardly say them. And right now, I am outwardly saying, ‘Make your move. Without a word.’”
I obeyed him.
For the next two hours, we lost ourselves in the game.
Every twenty minutes or so, someone would knock on the door and attempt to lure him back to the party. They were all met with lazy waves, a wordless instruction for them to leave.
Zach’s full attention remained on our game, which was why I tried hard to prolong it as much as possible. I didn’t want him to start interrogating me again.
But dammit, he had skill.
If he told me he competed at the Majors, I’d believe it.
Sweat beaded at my temple. We entered our third hour with flourish.
Me—with burning feet, ready to sprint out the door as soon as he’d let me.
And him—with a perpetual frown etched onto his lips.
His frown morphed into a full-blown scowl when our stalemate became evident. We’d reached a dead end.