If Jin Di had been half a second slower, his nose would've shattered.
The strike came without warning. One moment, his fingers brushed her shoulder. Next, her body twisted like a released spring, fist cutting through the air with brutal speed. Instinct saved him. His hand snapped up and caught her wrist mid-swing.
The impact rang through his bones.
Power surged behind that slender arm. Real power.
Jin Di's eyes narrowed.
"Be good," he growled low.
She ripped her arm back instantly and sprang off the couch, putting distance between them in a single fluid motion. Her stance was defensive, weight balanced, eyes sharp and burning.
There was no hesitation in her glare. She looked less like a startled girl and more like a cornered predator deciding whether to kill.
For a brief second, the hotel lobby seemed to thin around them.
Jin Di slowly lifted one brow. He stepped around the couch with unhurried strides and bent to pick up the book that had fallen to the floor.
Russian.
He flipped it open.
Symbols. Lines. Entire words he couldn't read.
"I was just going to ask a question," he said calmly. "No need to try and break my face."
Across from him, Elena forced her breathing to slow. The violent instinct faded, but the wariness stayed. This man felt different. Not just rich. Not just powerful. He carried the kind of presence that bent rooms without raising his voice.
Sharp suit. Clean cuffs. Deadly stillness.
Her heartbeat skipped once. Annoyed, she ignored it.
Jin Di sat down casually and asked, "Can you even read this?"
"Who are you?" she asked with a frown.
"Do you know Russian?" he countered, completely ignoring her question.
She frowned. "What I read is none of your concern. Sir."
She edged toward the couch, eyes locked on the book in his hand and her purse beside it. Simon would arrive any minute. She just needed to grab her things and leave.
Jin Di opened his briefcase instead.
He withdrew a folder and slid it across the glass table with two fingers. "Read this."
She slapped it aside and reached for her book.
Jin Di lifted it just out of reach.
"Read the folder first," he said calmly. "Then maybe I'll believe you're not pretending."
Her jaw tightened.
Mockery flickered in his eyes.
She considered abandoning the book entirely and walking away. But then a name jumped from the brief glimpse of the folder's cover.
Zvezda
Her hand paused.
Slowly, she snatched the folder and opened it.
Jin Di watched from behind with cool indifference as her eyes moved across the Russian text. Not stumbling. Not hesitating. Her gaze flowed line by line, smooth and precise.
Minutes passed.
Inside, he scoffed.
An entertainer who barely escaped high school. Fluent in Russian. Ridiculous.
He had already pulled her entire life apart on paper. Early fame. Broken education. Mediocre grades. A life built on spotlight and noise. Unless she had hidden a second life in the shadows, there was no way she should understand what she was reading.
And yet…
He had been in the restaurant earlier, too. Had heard her voice. Had watched that performance cut into the room like a knife through silk. He had recognized her immediately.
Elena Zhang.
The girl he ordered to be watched.
The girl, all the reports said, had suddenly changed.
He hadn't believed it.
Until now.
Her eyes lifted from the folder.
"You're Jin Di," she said quietly. "And you're considering partnering with Zvezda."
This time, the surprise couldn't be hidden.
"And you just crossed your own death line in business," she continued calmly. "Zvezda is involved in international prostitution rings. Human trafficking. Illegal arms exports. Their shell companies are already on three watch lists."
Jin Di's gaze sharpened instantly. How did this celebrity trash know this much?
She closed the folder and slid it back to him.
"If you're set on entering the Russian market," she added lightly, "you should look elsewhere. There are cleaner doors. Zvezda is a trap disguised as a shortcut."
Silence pressed between them.
Jin Di leaned forward slowly, eyes dark and unreadable.
"How," he said quietly, asking the question that rang in his head earlier. "How do you know things even my intelligence division is still verifying? Are you really Elena Zhang?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Elena knew she might have shown too much knowledge earlier because of her past ties with Russia.
Her fingers curled slowly at her sides as Jin Di's gaze sharpened, colder and heavier than before.
She forced a laugh.
"Relax, Mr. Jin," she said lightly, tilting her head with feigned ease. "I was just playing around with you. You didn't actually believe that, did you?"
His eyes didn't soften.
Instead, they grew darker.
She shrugged as if bored. "A president-CEO believing random allegations from a stranger? I expected better judgment from President Jin."
His jaw tightened.
"Goodbye, Mr. Jin."
She shoved the folder back into his chest, snatched her book from his hand in one swift motion, grabbed her purse, and turned to leave.
His hand then caught her arm firmly.
"Wait."
She inhaled sharply, then turned and looked at him with flat, icy eyes. "Mr. Jin," she said slowly, "you're being rude now."
"Do you really know Russian?" he asked.
She hesitated a fraction of a second.
Then, calmly, "Yes."
"How?"
"Self-study."
"When?"
"In my free time."
"Why?"
She tugged once. His grip didn't loosen.
Annoyance flickered through her composure. Heat from his palm seeped through the thin fabric of her sleeve, warm and intrusive, making her heartbeat stutter against her will.
This was an enemy.
Her instincts screamed it loudly now.
"Why did you learn Russian?" he pressed her, again.
She looked straight at the ceiling, visibly done with this conversation.
"Because I like Russian men," she said bluntly. "And Russian men are hot. Is that reason enough for you?"
For the first time, his expression cracked into a scowl.
Right at that moment, her phone rang.
She nearly laughed in relief.
"Let go," she said coolly. "I need to answer that."
After a moment's hesitation, his fingers finally loosened.
She then stepped back at once and answered. "Hello? Simon? …You're outside? Good. I'm coming."
She lowered the phone and glared at him.
Jin Di only watched her in silence and didn't stop her anymore.
But that look in his eyes sent a chill down her spine.
He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping low.
"I don't care whether this sudden personality of yours is real or an act," he murmured. "But stay far away from my brother."
Her brow creased. "Your brother?"
Jin Yang.
The name surfaced immediately.
The celebrity.
The obsession.
The idiot passed.
Understanding flickered across her face.
Then irritation followed.
She sighed, suddenly exhausted. "Don't worry, Mr. Jin. I have zero interest in your brother."
His lips curved faintly. "How convincing."
"I don't care what you believe." Her voice turned sharp. "You're rude, intrusive, and unpleasant. I don't want to see you again."
His smile widened slowly. "You might not get your wish. I suspect we'll cross paths often from now on. And as long as you stay away from my brother, I wouldn't mind seeing you."
Amusement glittered in his eyes.
She stared at him, speechless.
Her headache spiked.
Without another word, she turned and stormed out of the hotel.
Behind her, Jin Di watched her flee like an entire storm trapped in a small body.
"Interesting," he muttered.
A second later, his phone rang.
He answered as he stepped into the waiting car.
"President," Ryan Zhao said, "I've arrived."
"Drive," Jin Di ordered. "And reopen the Zvezda investigation."
Ryan Zhao stiffened. "We already cleared them, President."
"This time," Jin Di said coldly, "check for weapons smuggling. Human trafficking. Prostitution networks."
After a pause, he added, "Use the black market if necessary."
Ryan Zhao's eyes widened as he drove. "Understood."
Another pause later, he added, "Also, checking Elena Zhang's background again. See if she or her father has any ties with Russia."
"Yes, Sir."
Jin Di then leaned back against the leather seat, gaze drifting to the receding hotel in the rear mirror.
He didn't fully believe her.
But he also didn't ignore his instincts either.