Page 38 of Roberto

“But it is. Unfortunately, I am busy again tonight – but I wish to make sure you’re well taken care of.”

Translation: Lau wanted nothing to do with me. He was going to pawn me off on Han again…

So his subordinate could watch my every move.

“I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I’m sure you would be. But as long as you’re with Mr. Han, you’ll have access to the company helicopter if you wish to return to Macau. Or, if you wish to stay in Hong Kong, he can get you into places that might otherwise be off-limits.”

That stopped me cold in my tracks.

I wondered if Han had told Lau about what had happened at De Sade.

Pff – ofcoursehe had.

Or he eventually would, whenever he ended up speaking with his boss.

It was information that Lau could use to gain psychological leverage over me in our negotiations.

I cringed. I didn’t like Lau knowing about my evenbeingat the club, much less my humiliating interaction with Mei-ling…

But I put all that aside.

There was only one thing that truly mattered:

Seeing her again.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know the club’s address.

And Lau seemed to be hinting I wouldn’t be able to get back into De Sade without Han’s help.

Which made sense, considering my previous interaction with the club’s owner.

“Actually, I’ve changed my mind,” I said. “I would be happy to have Mr. Han’s company this evening.”

“Excellent. What time should he arrive at your hotel?”

I paused as a plan began to form in my mind.

“How about 5 o’clock?”

“I’ll tell him to be there promptly at 5. Have a wonderful evening, Mr. Rosolini.”

“Thank you.”

And then I hung up.

I had preparations to make before Han arrived.

I did a bit of research on my cell phone and came up with several possibilities.

I called the hotel’s concierge and explained what I had in mind. He told me that one of the options was far superior to the others and that he could put me in direct contact with the person in charge.

A few minutes later, I was speaking on the phone with the exact person I needed. He proved amenable to what I wanted. After we ironed out the details, I thanked him and hung up.

The stage was set.

Now all I needed was for Mei-ling to say ‘yes.’

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