Fair Trade

“Is this a study?”

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It was an unusually dark room.
On the mahogany desk under the light of a yellow desk lamp, she saw a laptop that appeared to belong to the man.
Looking around one more time to confirm that no one was around, she approached the desk pretending to empty the trash can.
Then she peeked into the laptop screen where a program was running.

Together, with a familiar bank logo, hundreds of account numbers constantly floated on the screen, appearing and disappearing.
At the same time, astronomical amounts of money flowed nonstop through these accounts.

Money laundering? Is he a money launderer? But these astronomical amounts…

Feeling half-dazed, as she stared at the screen where the money was moving, Sei felt strangely thirsty.

Her throat felt uncomfortable as if she was swallowing sand and a strange fatigue engulfed her body.

Shaking her head, she moved the mouse to open another hidden window.
She was instantly taken to the Dark Web.
Sei’s eyes quivered wildly.

The default browser that was earlier running was a decoy.
Seeing the familiar account number on the screen, her legs softened into a jelly.
The running program was used by MI6 as a bank account backtracking system.
Sometimes the CIA also used it for the same purpose.
And the account that the program was tracking right now was Giulio Parenti’s Swiss secret account.
That’s the account she had to protect with her life.

“Damn…”

It was a decoy.
When she realized it was a decoy, Sei’s nerves were on edge as if someone had put a knife to her neck.
Sei realized that she had to get out of here right away.
These watches and cash were not more important than her life.

After leaving the study and hurrying into the dressing room, she put the stolen things back in their place, took off the sticky latex gloves, and stuffed them into the laundry basket.

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She felt dizzy and her vision started becoming hazy.
Though she hadn’t found out anything about the man’s name or identity just now, it was certain that he was a dangerous person.

But why…

Her legs buckled as she grabbed the handle of the cart.
As she plopped down on the floor, her lips parted, gasping for air, and her stomach was turning upside down from nausea.
Everything that happened today was suspicious.

Was it the champagne? Chocolate? Or… Was it the cookie? Maybe it was because of Giulio’s kiss?

Time seemed to be passing by very slowly.
She tried her best to remind herself that she had to get out of here.
Just when she struggled to raise her head, she felt the cart in front of her being pushed aside, and a pair of black derby shoes that she had seen in the dressing room appeared in her vision.

Her gaze went up along the cropped trousers and landed on the face of a man with a big jacket on his arm.
The corners of his smooth lips were turned up with a few buttons on his shirt undone.

At that moment, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

It didn’t make sense.
The fresh platinum blonde-haired client she saw at the casino couldn’t be this beautiful.

“Who…”

Just before she could finish what she said, she fainted.

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* * *

Sei shook her head with a blank expression.
Then the voice of the man rang again in her ears.

“I just asked you, is it true that you are Giulio Parenti’s mistress?”

She shut her eyes tightly.
She didn’t know who this man was, but at the very least he was not an ordinary person.
No way…

“I guess that you’re Russian.
Your accent is quite different.”

“Let’s say I’m a transnational person.
You still haven’t answered my question, lady.”

“Please put the gun away first.
I can’t answer because I’m scared.”

At her brazen words, the man let out a cold laugh.
Only then was the gun that was pressed against the back of her head removed.
Relieved, Sei bowed her head and muttered, “Give me some water at least.
My throat hurts.
I feel like I’m going crazy.”

Then Sei grumbled lowly, asking what he did with the cookies.

Narrowing his eyes, the man went out to the drawing-room and brought the water from the refrigerator.
But Sei’s both hands were tied back.
So he knelt down and raised Sei’s head.
She alternatively looked at the man’s face and then at the bottle of water and her lips opened wider.

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“Feed me.
Spill it, splash it, or pour it gently.
Do whatever you want.
I need to live.”

The man’s expression was maintaining an ambiguous balance between curiosity and contempt; interest and annoyance.

He seemed more austere because of his gorgeous appearance.
Nevertheless, the reason why she was having such thoughts was probably because of his lips that looked more provocative than that of a woman’s.

While spinning the water bottle in his hand, he approached and sat face to face in front of Sei.

“I don’t think you’re going to die even if you don’t drink a sip of water.”

“How would you know?”

The man, who opened the lid with a smile, put the water bottle on her slightly parted lips.
Water slowly dripped down the corners of her mouth.
After she had quenched her thirst, Sei looked down at her wet shirt and slumped over to her side.
Now that she was feeling more alive, she felt more game for whatever was coming her way.

The man was still wielding a pistol beside her as she blinked blankly.

Beretta M9.

Sei only moved her eyes to observe the man’s behavior.

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“How long are you going to tie me up? I wouldn’t want to mess with someone who knows everything about me.
You know I can’t just run away.”

“What’s your relationship with Giulio Parenti?”

“I’m just an errand girl.
I just take care of some of his personal tasks.
Did you perhaps think Giulio would tell me anything or that I would know something? If so, I don’t know who you are, but you picked the wrong person.
If you’re going to catch Giulio Parenti, then you should have gone to his room on the 17th floor and captured him, not me.”

Her bold tone lowered the man’s voice even more.
“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of capturing Giulio Parenti.
Because my purpose is to become his associate.
I see you have seen the account in front of you.
Its real owner is Giulio Parenti, right?”

She snorted with an expression of ‘why are you asking when you know everything.’

“Have you ever met Valentin Orlof?”

“Ha, how do you… See, I don’t know anything about him.
I just know that he’s a broker who handles Giulio Parenti’s stuff.”

Sei comforted herself that she didn’t have to be so nervous.
Eventually, she would either die or live.
Of course, her wish was the latter, but she didn’t know if the man would cooperate.

His lips twisted as he stared at her.

“By any chance, have you ever wondered what would unfold on Parenti’s side if somebody were to kidnap you?”