Fair Trade

“That was Jimmy. Jimmy Servignon. He returned nearly half-dead after his encounter with your boyfriend in Las Vegas, so he sought revenge. Then, by an odd twist of fate, we crossed paths at the hotel last night. I had no option but to leverage the situation to make my escape.”

“So, are you using me as an excuse?”

“Don’t you understand that he had me imprisoned? I had to do everything to get out of the situation I found myself in. And he knew about the thing. You are more famous than I thought.”

Sei looked at Yuri, asking if it was true. Sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, he nodded once.

“I was informed that Jimmy Servignon had arrived in New York. Since it wasn’t anything important, I forgot.”

“… You know, it’s worse to know than not to be informed about things like this.”

“I’m a mafia guy. Did you forget? I am a bad guy by nature.”

Oh… Is there a place where I can go and curse my heart out?

Sei, who had a calm attitude, kneaded the back of her neck as she felt her blood pressure rise. She sat down on a chair next to the bed. Then Lily, who approached timidly, squatted on the floor and she began to cling to her pleadingly.

She started by asking for help with excuses about how she couldn’t help it. And even with half-threats that she might die if caught this time.

“I…. I broke up with Jimmy after screwing him up at the end. I swapped out the goods he was supposed to distribute. That’s why I was dragged into the hotel in Las Vegas. I’m not here to find your stuff or anything. I’m just trying to buy time. I’m telling you the truth.”

“… I don’t have the stuff.”

“What?”

“There’s no stuff.” Sei replied in a nonchalant manner and continued, “By the way… Does any dog or pig think they can pick on me now?”

Looking down at Lily’s face, who was kneeling almost to her knees, Sei jumped up, kissed her sleeping mother lightly on the cheek, and whispered that she would be back.

Then she squatted down to make eye contact with Lily, who looked up at her with a bewildered face.

“You, make sure you follow the plan. Or else I won’t let it pass. You want to live, right?”

“Of course! You know my motto! I’d like to live a long and fine life.” Lily nodded quickly and raised her knees.

If you want to hide a tree, then you should go to the forest*. When the truth disappears, it’s natural for falsehood to fill the void.

[*T/N: It is a proverb that means a single tree is harder to spot within a dense forest. So if we hide something in a prominent place, it will be less likely to be found.]

“You should risk your life because I will save you this time too. That is my condition.”

* * *

Sei stopped Yuri who was about to fire a bullet into Jimmy Servignon’s Mercedes. If the purpose was clear, all that was needed was to achieve that purpose. The place where they headed next turned out to be her previous apartment.

After tidying up the tattered door, Yuri stepped into the house and placed the seven revolvers that Stefan had brought on the table.

“These are the ones I have right now. Of course, it’s not loaded.”

He knew how scared she was of the guns. As if to prove it, her lips trembled slightly as she opened the workbench hidden in her closet.

Yuri opened and closed his fists, wanting to hug Sei. No matter how much he thought about it, he was too weak in front of her. He was so weak that he even seemed pitiful. However, what could he do? The more he acted weak, the more he triggered a soft and yielding response from her.

“I’ll be done in two hours. Just follow the drawing I drew earlier. And Yuri, please download the data I mentioned here.”

She held out seven USBs. He seemed to know what Sei was trying to do. She always whined that she was scared and afraid but would become bolder and braver than anyone else when something happened in front of her eyes.

Yuri lightly kicked the marveling Stefan in the shin and opened the laptop.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think? I’m trying to save you. I want to live, too.”

“So what is it?”

“We need to get an insurance. If you really want something, I’ll give it to you. Very few people know what was in it. I’m trying to be generous here.”

Wearing a loupe, she picked up a diamond workpiece. Then painted the Petrov family’s coat of arms delicately on the sapphire surface. Lily, who was half-dazed, moved quickly as if she had come to her senses..

The collaboration between the two women began to increase. Yuri observed the sapphire embedded in her buttstock with a curious expression. It was an elaborate imitation that even got him confused.

“That’s amazing”

Despite his murmur, Sei did not take her eyes off the sapphire.

The woman never even looked at him when she was focused. Nevertheless, it was clear why he didn’t feel bad.

“Seeing that you remember my family crest, it seems that we have become very close. Is it because we see each other often?”

As her face flushed, flinching at Yuri’s words whispered in her ear, Stefan frowned and clicked his tongue. At first glance, he seemed to have gritted his teeth, calling them a “perverted couple.” Lily, the only one who didn’t know anything, trembled.

“Rose is the smartest person I’ve ever seen. If she had studied with that brain, she would have gone to Harvard.”

“Don’t speak nonsense. Just do the work properly.”

“I’m trying to give you a compliment here, seriously!”

The two moved quickly and accurately while bickering.

What Yuri put into USB was a porn video containing malicious codes that could chase the trail and locate someone. If someone disassembled the gun and connected the chip, the location would be displayed on his phone.

He stood by the window and looked outside. With the lights on in the house, he was sure someone would report the situation to Giulio Parenti.

As cold sweat poured down her face, Sei’s eyes, which happened to be fully alert to the danger, held absolute seriousness in them.

“Let’s move up the time. We have to finish it in an hour.”

On the other side, where he had shot Giulio last time, something like light shone.