Fair Trade

Did he say his name was Kirill Kuzmin?

Sei stared at the man who brought her things and laid them out calmly.

Yeah, this is how the Red Mafia should be like. Sei hadn’t looked closely before, but the man was covered in tattoos everywhere except his face. Either because of his neat suit attire or the picture she had in her mind, his appearance seemed very cold-hearted to her.

In short, a thick blood scent emanated from the man. Like how Romano and Lorenzo, Giulio’s henchmen, were smeared with the smell of blood from their victims.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Since you’re Yuri’s guest, I will do my best to take care of you.”

“That guy… Is he really Yuri Petrov? Seriously?”

“That’s not a name that should be used recklessly, lady.”

Sei shut her mouth at the murderous intent in his voice. Yuri’s men lined up behind Kirill, smiled with their eyes curved, put down her bags, and left the room. Kirill gave her a curious glance for a moment, perhaps because her work tools were strange, but when he saw Yuri standing in front of the door, he quickly stepped aside.

Yuri still had a cool, clean smile. But Sei could feel it. The fear of everyone in the room was directed at this man.

Sei, who wet her lips with her tongue, said, trying hard to avoid Yuri’s gaze as he held a laptop.

“Seeing that you brought all my belongings, do you mean to not let me go…?”

Cough cough, why am I suddenly coughing?

At that moment, the sound of a man’s footsteps got closer. He put the laptop he was holding on top of Sei’s biggest suitcase. Then, with a slightly bored expression, he touched the monitor. On it, the amount in the account had been reduced more than yesterday.

Without a word, she put down her bag, which she had picked up earlier, and faced the man.

“I can’t lie to Guilio. See, I’m on your side and I’m also pretty good at fooling people, but this doesn’t work on him. If he strangles me, I’ll likely confess everything about you to him. Do you think you could take that risk?”

“Hmm… then there’s nothing we can do about that. I’ll transfer all of this money to your personal account. Wouldn’t it be worth seeing the betrayed expression on Guilio Parenti’s face? What do you say?”

“Hey!”

As soon as she shouted, Yuri closed the laptop and sat down on the suitcase placed on the bed, hugging her waist. Surprised, Sei reflexively hugged his shoulder. The man’s unreadable eyes turned to her.

“You don’t understand. Giulio Parenti is not the one you should be afraid of. Well, this sure is kind of novel, but… I don’t feel so happy about it.”

A monster feeds on fear.

A full lion does not hunt. Rather than instantly killing their prey, they enjoy tormenting and hurting them as much as possible with their sharp claws.

“So please decide. Will you continue to offend me or…. will you join me with a joyful heart?”

Yuri was that kind of predator.

He lowered his head and buried the tip of his nose in her clavicle. He moved softly as if savoring her body, but Sei couldn’t move her body due to the underlying tension between them.

Only the slight contempt and ridicule in Sei’s eyes, who clenched her fists tightly, expressed the feelings in her heart.

“Let’s be fair. Giulio Parenti is not only a sadist but also possessive. I can’t betray him. If he finds out, I don’t think he’ll be satisfied with just blowing my head off. Why should I take that risk and help you? Give me a reason other than that you are Yuri Petrov.”

He started unbuttoning the buttons of the housekeeper uniform she was wearing and smirked as he kissed the top of her lace bra. Goosebumps erupted all over her body at the soft kiss.

“If you get this done properly, I’ll help your father apply for bail. I’ll give you the money for his bail. And, your mother will also be able to get her treatment without you having to worry about hospital bills.”

“And then?”

“Then, I’ll erase your name clean from my list.”

Sei said to him, laughing out loud.

“… There’s no knowing whether I’ll succeed or fail. The moment I bring up your name, I could be branded as a traitor and then it would be all over. I’m just something fun to pass time for him.”

“Well… you’re interesting. It’s fun to watch you.”

“Ha, I’m gonna go crazy.”

Yuri furrowed his forehead at the Korean that flowed out of her mouth. The man looked at her with his gray-blue eyes.

The sunset loomed over the sea where the sun was disappearing. The red light seeped into the bedroom and narrowly touched the two people’s skin.

“Is that Korean?”

“…”

He licked the soft skin that had been pushed over the bra and raised his bowed body. Then, his red lips brushed against the nape of her neck. A muffled voice came through her hair.

“I like you quite a lot but don’t take too many liberties with me. Well… Seeing you rebel is quite provocative in its own way.”

Crazy bastard.

Sei decided not to think about it anymore. Biting her lips tightly with a flushed face, she pushed him away and said, “Why? Are you going to eat me up? You seem to like stimulating things.”

Yuri’s gaze dropped sharply at her provocative tone. As he stared at her hand pushing against his chest, he chuckled lightly as if pretending to be a kind and pure-hearted person. He answered with a neat little smirk.

“That’s something we don’t know. Whether you’ll be eaten… or I’ll be eaten up. We’ll find out soon… But I’m different from Giulio. You’d better remember that.”

Just when a bewildered Sei sucked in a sharp breath. The cell phone placed on the bed vibrated slightly. Only one person knew the number of this mobile phone. Seeing Giulio Parenti’s name appear on the screen, Yuri released Sei and got up from the bed.

“Take it.”

His voice was softer than ever, but the corners of his lips were curled up cruelly.

“I’ll prepare some champagne.”

Sei’s hands shook as she took the cell phone he handed. She felt like the sandwich she ate a while ago. A cheap frozen sandwich that didn’t taste very good.

“Yes, it’s me.”

[“Come up.”]

* * *