The Fallen Angel was magnificent.

Shin Hye had never seen anything so stunning as this place, this marvelous, lush, place, filled with people who called out obscene bets and rolled with laughter, who kissed their dice and cursed their bad luck.

She had came in quietly, not wanting to reveal her identity but knowing that if she didn’t tell the men guarding the entrance her name, she would not be allowed inside. It requires a password to the place. Their eyes had gone wide as she’d spoken her identity, naming her husband and lingering in the shadows of the entryway, waiting for them to decide they believed her.

When one of the large men had grinned wide and knocked twice on the inner door to the club with a fist the size of a ham, the door had opened just barely. “Min Ho’s lady. Better let her in.”

Min Ho’s lady.

A shiver of awareness shot through her at the description—one she did not want and still could not resist. One she planned to use to her full advantage that night as she gave her husband a significant piece of her mind.

But the door opened all the way then, revealing a carnival of movement and sound, and Shin Hye forgot her immediate goal.

She pulled her cloak tightly around her, grateful for Ji Hyo’s advice and for the too-large hood casting her into shadow while she watched those around her hover over their cards, track the little ivory ball in the roulette wheel, follow their dice across the rich, green baize, as it tumbled in the winds of fate.

It was adventure in its barest, purest form.

And she loved every inch of it.

No wonder Min ho oppa spent so much of his time here; this was his goddess, his raven-haired beauty. And she could not blame him. It was a magnificent mistress.

The men in their rich suits and their perfectly done hair, the floor of the casino with trays laden with scotch and brandy, and the women in their stunning revealing clothes, each a more brilliant colour than the last. They were painted and primped, coiffed and colored, and Shin Hye wanted to be them. For one, fleeting moment, to know what it was to hold fortune in her hand. To throw the dice and know the thrill of exploit.

But it was the stained-glass massive mural that had her catching her breath. A great, stunning portrait of Lucifer, chain around his ankle wrapping twice around his leg before trailing off into the abyss. The massive angel fell, his wings no longer able to keep him in flight, headfirst into the flames of hell.

It was at once beautiful and bizarre—the perfect image for this club.

She kept her head down and moved through the crowd, loving the way the bodies moved her through their crowd. She allowed them to guide her, and she promised herself that she would stop at the first table she found along the path.

It was the roulette table, and her heart leapt to in a mix of gratitude and excitement. She knew this game. Knew its rules. Knew it was pure, unbridled luck. And she wanted to try hers.

For suddenly she felt very lucky.

She met the eyes of the tablemaster, who raised a brow. “Gentlemen . . . ladies,” he intoned seriously, “your bets, please.”

Her hand was already in her pocket, already toying with the placard she was given at the reception exchange for her money. She pulled it out, running her thumb across it, watching the others at the table place their bets. Placards were placed from minimum of $100 to $1000 on the rich green plush all along the field, and Shin Hye’s eyes were drawn to a tempting, red space at the middle of the table.

Number twenty-three.

“We are waiting for the lady’s stake.”

Her eyes met the dealer’s and she reached out, tentatively, to placed $500 placard on the baize, loving the thrill.

“No more bets, please.”

And then the wheel was in motion, and the ball was spinning along the gutter, the sound of ivory against steel a temptation in itself. Shin Hye leaned forward, eager for an unobstructed view, her breath catching in .

“They say that roulette is Lucifer’s game.” The words came at her shoulder, and she could not resist turning toward the voice even as she was careful to keep her cloak pulled low over her face. “It suits doesn’t it?”

The stranger placed his hand on the edge of the table, close enough to touch her, and the lingering caress was too slow to be a mistake. She snapped her hand back from the unpleasant sensation.

“Fascinating,” she said, edging away from her unwelcome companion, hoping that the single word would end their conversation. Her attention returned to the wheel, spinning in glorious red and black, too fast to keep track.

“There is a story of a fallen man who was so caught up in the game, so tempted by the wheel, that he sold his soul to the devil to learn its secrets.”

The wheel was beginning to slow, and she leaned in, understanding that poor man’s temptation. The man at her side slid one finger down the outside of her arm, sending a shiver of distaste through her and drawing her attention. “What would tempt you to sell your soul?”

She did not have the chance to reply, or to tell him to remove his hands from her arm, as he was instantly yanked from his spot and tossed to the floor several feet away. She turned at the commotion to find Min Ho oppa stalking the man as he scurried backward into the legs of a group of people who had stopped in the centre of the casino floor to watch the drama unfold.

Her husband leaned down and grabbed the man by his throat, his great hulk blocking the prone man’s face. “You will never touch a lady in this hell again,” her husband growled, raising his fist in a wicked threat.

“Goddammit, Min Ho.” The words were strangled from the man’s throat as he lifted his hands to his wrists. “Let me go. She’s just a—”

Min ho’s hand wrapped around the other man’s neck. “Finish the sentence and give me the pleasure of robbing your breath,” he said, low and close to his prey. “If I see or hear of you laying a hand on another female here, your membership will not be the only thing you lose. Do you understand?”

“D-de.”

“Say it.” He looked ready to kill, and Ji Hyo’s tale echoed through Shin Hye’s memory.

“De. De, I understand.”

Min Ho tossed him back to the floor and rounded on Shin Hye, who moved instinctively to push back her cloak. He reached out and grabbed one of her hands, pulling her into the dark corner near an exit, stepping close to shield her from prying eyes. “YAH,” he whispered, his fury unmistakable. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She met his gaze firmly, refusing to be cowed. It was time for her to act her part—the wife out for her adventure. “Aish...let go..I was having a good time before you came and caused a scene.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw, and his fingers tightened around her wrists. “I caused a scene? Half of Seoul’s VIP’s are in this room, and you think a silly cloak will hide you from them? Bicheaseo?”

She twisted her hands in his grasp, trying to free herself. He didn’t release her. “No one noticed me.” He pushed her against the wall, farther into the darkness. “No one recognized me. But now ofcourse, they are all wondering who I am.”

“They likely know.” He gave a harsh laugh. “I recognized you the moment I saw you, you foolish woman.”

He had?  She ignored the thrum of pleasure that shot through her and squared her shoulders, refusing to back down.

The roulette tablemaster appeared at the edge of the alcove. “Sir.”

Min Ho shot a look over his shoulder that could have stopped an army. “Not now.”

“Well, considering I’m in full view of half of Seoul, what’s the worst that could happen?” she asked.

“Let’s see,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “you could have been kidnapped, mistreated, revealed . . .

Shin Hye stiffened. “And how would that have been different than how you treated me?” she whispered, keeping her voice low enough so that only he could hear her, knowing she was pushing his limits.

His eyes flashed. “It would be very different. And if you can’t see that—”

“Don’t pretend you care a bit about me, or my happiness. It would be the same cell, a different jailer.”

His teeth clenched. “Three minutes in private with that pig, and you would have seen that I’m a real saint compared to him. I told you not to come here. Not without me.”

“I really don’t care about what you tell me not to do.” She took a deep breath, not knowing from where her courage had come, but hoping it would not fail her now, as he looked very, very angry.

And, she realized, very dishevelled. His shirt was wrinkled, his waistcoat was not straight on his shoulders, and one of his buttons wasn’t there. It wasn’t normal. Not for him.

“What happened to you?” she asked.

“Sir.”

The third time the dealer called him, Min ho spun around. “Goddammit. What is it?”

“It’s the lady.”

“What about her?”

Shin Hye peeked around Min ho, pulling her hood forward, making sure she could not be recognized. The dealer’s brows lifted as he offered them both a half smile. “She won.”

A beat, then Min Ho said, “What did you say?”

“She won.” The dealer could not mask his surprise. “Number twenty-three. Straight up.”

Min Ho’s gaze slid to the table, then to the wheel. “She did?”

Shin Hye’s eyes went wide. “I did?”

The staff gave her a silly smile. “You did.”

“Send her winnings up to the suite.” In a matter of seconds, Min Ho had pulled her through a well-guarded door nearby.

As they climbed a long, dark set of stairs, Shin Hye shored up her courage, prepared to face him. But first, she had to keep up with him. Her hand was tucked into his, and he showed no indication of releasing her as he pulled her down a long hallway and, into a large room that would have been completely dark if not for the light from the main floor of the casino pouring through the stained-glass wall at one end of the room—casting the entire space into a mixture of colour.

“How gorgeous,” she whispered, not noticing that he’d let her go before locking the door behind them. “From below, you wouldn’t know that there is anything behind the glass.”

“That’s the point.”

“It’s stunning.”

“What are you doing here, Shin Hye?”

She looked up at him at the question, barely able to make him out in the shadows. He seemed to have faded away into the darkness at the far end of the room. Her heart began to pound, and she remembered why she had set out for the