Deadly Testimony (Safeguard #2)(49)

“All right. Then we need to know more.” These situations sucked. Hostage, kidnappings, these had a nasty chance of going badly. And the last time they’d had to deal with one, there’d been a lot of explosions and gunfire involved.

“What else can I tell you?” Agitated. And rightly so.

She needed him to calm down. “Walking out there to trade yourself for them is relatively stupid. Thank you for not doing that while I was gone.”

Actually, the relief she felt about that was something she should probably think about later. It was almost dizzying.

Kyle blew out a breath and sat on the edge of the bed. “What can I tell you that will help?”

She opened her mouth, but he held up a hand.

“These are people, good people, better than me. I want you to think of them as such.” His gaze bore into hers with his determination to make her believe his words. “They deserve a safe and happy life far more than I do.”

“You said they were applying for visas. I’m not going to make assumptions or guess.” She didn’t relax but she did give him a small nod to acknowledge his message. “Where were they and why did they want to come here?”

A small smile flashed across his lips. “I am slightly surprised you ask why. Many would simply assume that of course people would want to come here. In truth, my older sister was very happy in Korea. She chose to stay with her husband when my family moved here.”

“Okay.” Well, Korea was not one of the countries she’d ever been to. Being able to recognize people from different parts of the world was one thing, and a useful skill, but actually having traveled there was a completely different life goal.

Kyle continued, “My sister’s marriage was seon—a type of arranged marriage in Korean customs.”

“They still do that kind of thing?” Normally, Lizzy bit her tongue about things like this. Different cultures had different customs. With Kyle, she tended to let herself go a little unfiltered. For good or bad, it was what it was for the time being.

He held up his hands. “In South Korea, marriage is considered to be a merging of two whole bloodlines. Such a decision involves the families of both the bride and the groom. Often, parents encourage and arrange a meeting for the two intended in the hopes of a match but the decision is ultimately theirs. For my sister, there were several seon with different suitors before she actually married.”

“Ah.” Lizzy didn’t know what to say. It seemed less arranged and more like parental involvement. Which, if she thought about it, could be a different kind of pressure but just as tough to live with.

“Our parents were, of course, eager for her to choose her husband. He and his family were a good match for ours. He, in particular, seemed a good balance for her in personality, achievements and appearance.”

“Of course.” Okay, maybe her tone had gone dry, deadpan, whatever.

Kyle’s gaze found hers again and he smiled, but there was sadness in his eyes. “When any dating can start, here or there or anywhere, what can anyone go on but such things? And of those three characteristics, only two are actually quantifiable. Parents do their best, but there’s no way to know for sure. They can only hope. It is not unusual to hope our loved ones can be happy, I think.”

She could give him that. But she wasn’t going to say anything for the moment. Family interference in her choices hadn’t ever been something she’d been willing to accept—not in childhood or as an adult.

“In any case, my sister dated her husband for a year before they married. It’s not so different from the way it works here in the US.” Kyle shrugged. “If anything, in such arranged marriages, there’s less chance of strain during the actual marriage. Since parents are involved in the choosing, there is significantly less chance of family opposition to the union.”

Familiarity. Culture. What a person grows up with and considers normal. It’d be an interesting conversation to explore under other circumstances.

“I can imagine.” She rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the tension out of them and stay loose. “I’m not sure I’m good with the tradition itself. It’s something to think on when there’s more time to consider the context, but I’m to going to go with it for now. If she was happily married, then why are she and her son here now, on their own?”

The sadness spread across his whole face now. His shoulders slumped. “I’m not sure. I only know her husband decided on a divorce a year ago. She was going to tell me why when she and her son arrived here.”

“Was his family in agreement with the divorce? Was yours?”

He tipped his head. “You were listening.”

She resisted the urge to tap her foot. For a man in a rush, he was telling a long story. Or maybe he didn’t know how to tell it when he was still trying to unravel it himself. “Yes. I was listening. I’ll process my own opinions on it later. Right now I’m taking mental notes on what might matter to help you with your current problem.”

He nodded. After a moment, he started up again. “Our family came here to establish a presence in the US while her husband’s family saw to the combined family business interests back in Korea. My father did well enough starting a software company to support life sciences. I learned some of what I know of the industry from him. But the stress of it, of living in a place so different from where you grew up, of trying to make a name. It overwhelmed him. He died of a heart attack. And with him, the US presence of the family business was gone, as well. My mother got sick and passed away not long after. So for my sister, there is only me left here. Our extended family fell out of touch with me when I didn’t try to resurrect the family business here.”