Page 119 of Roberto

“Alright,” she murmured.

“Alright, what?”

“I can help you,” she said quietly.

I reached down, put a finger under her chin, and tilted her head up to look at me. “You don’t have to.”

“I know. But I will.”

“You have contacts who can get what I need?”

“Yes. On one condition.”

“What?”

“That you take me with you when you leave Hong Kong.”

I stared at her in surprise. “You’d leave everything you’ve built here? Your business – your entirelife?!”

“Yes.”

I frowned. “If you want to leave so badly, why haven’t you done it?”

“…it’s complicated.”

“I have time.”

Mei-ling sighed. “Well, first there’s my father. Even though he disowned me, I’m not sure he would let me leave. I think he’s hoping I’ll abandon De Sade and come crawling back to him someday.”

“He has contacts at the airports and train stations?”

“He has contactseverywhere,”she said bitterly. “I’m pretty sure he’s still having me watched.”

“But you could just drive into China and fly out of another city.”

“I also owe a lot of money to investors in De Sade. If I were to disappear, they might come looking for me.”

“So?”

“Do you thinkordinarybusinessmen would invest millions of dollars into a BDSM club?”

“…ah.”

“Exactly. You wanted to know if I had contacts on the black market. Well – that’s how I got them.”

“I see.” I stroked her hair. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“Everything in mylifeput me in danger before I even met you, and it will continue that way whether I help you or not. So if I help you, I wantyouto helpme.”

“Help you escape.”

“Exactly.”

“Alright – I’ll take you with me when I leave Hong Kong… but I have a condition of my own.”

She peered deep into my eyes. “What?”

“That when I take you with me… youstaywith me.”

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