Page 176 of Roberto

The only difference was my father had been enraged; Lau’s expression never changed.

I stumbled backwards in shock, my hand on my stinging cheek.

“Are you in control of your emotions now?” Lau asked coldly.

I just stared at him in shock. I couldn’t believe he had done it.

“Assemble your staff. I need to speak to them.”

“What about Kam?” I asked with a trembling voice.

“The girl is beyond our help. Mr. Han will take care of it.”

“But the Russian – ”

“Is a billionaire and a personal friend of Vladimir Putin. He wouldn’t face any consequences even if hewerearrested by the police. He’s going back to Russia, and he won’t return.”

“But – ”

“Get rid of the customers and assemble your staff,”Lau snarled.

I stumbled out of the room and did exactly what he ordered.

Fifteen minutes later, Lau stood in front of my employees in the lounge and introduced himself as the co-owner of De Sade.

He said there had been a tragic accident.

However, no one was to go to the authorities.

In fact, no one was to ever tellanyonewhat had occurred at De Sade that night.

It was regrettable, but it had happened, and the only thing we could do was move past it.

As an inducement to ‘move past it,’ Lau handed out envelopes stuffed with 100,000 Hong Kong dollars – about $12,800 US – to each employee.

For most of my dominatrixes and subs, it was more than they made in a week.

For the support staff, it was more than they made in two months.

Everyone understood exactly what was happening:

They were being paid for their silence.

They also understood what would happen if they talked…

Because everyone knew Han was upstairs with a plastic tarp.

By the time Lau had finished his speech, Han and Kam’s body were gone.

After Lau departed, I sent the rest of the staff home early and cleaned up Kam’s blood myself as a sort of penance.

I wept the entire time I did it…

And cursed the powerful men of the world who did whatever the fuck they wanted without any repercussions.

Including the old man with the grandfatherly smile who held the invisible leash around my neck.

In time, the shock and pain of Kam’s death abated.

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