"Was hoping you would let me take care of it. Cracking some skulls is the best stress relief. " Ivan whines as he opens the door that leads back to the back alley.

"My way was faster, besides they're just downstairs. You can get some 'stress relief' anytime you want." Ivan lets out a hum.

"Those two Chinese......they work directly for the emperor himself?"

"Yeah, I'm positive."

"Сукин сын. What the fuck did you do to have them on to you?"

"Tell you later. First, I need to make another phone call, I'll meet you back in your office." I take out my phone and dial Nan's number again.

"Tsk. Sometimes you sound just like Larisa." Ivan opens the door that leads to the dance floor.

"Well, That's fucking harsh. Do I look that old?" Ivan waves his hand as the door closes behind him. I hold the phone while surveying the alleyway. The ring back proceeds for almost a minute.

Even though I'm certain Xu Yu was telling the truth, I still want to know what they have to say about this.

This is taking too long.

I thought back to what he told me. Qin Cunhua, the emperor himself task those two to spy on his own daughter........ Overlooking the fact that it sounds weird as fuck, is it because Qin Yan is making some moves that her father disapproved of? Is it because of the package in my jacket? For fuck sake the temptation to open it grows over time.

Just before I get sent to voice mail he finally picks up.

"Hello, Nan! I just had a little profound conversation with Xu Yu. He told me his side of the story. Now I want to hear yours." I say with a cheerful sound.

There's some static in the back and a series of noises, the sound of boots impacting the floor. After a loud 'thump' noise. It's silence again.

"Nan if this is a bad time we can always......"

"Mr.Lee. " The sound of a wind chime rings through my phone.

"Miss Qin..... didn't expect to hear your voice again so soon."

"This task has my utmost attention. Mr.Lee. I've heard about your ...... circumstances. I understand you might suspect that I have you followed. But I can assure you I would never do such a thing that would potentially sabotage your work. What do I need to do to have you believe me?" Welp. She asked for it.

"For starters, what do you know about

Xu Yu?"

".......I don't know him personally but I know he reports directly to my father."

Good enough.

"Hah. Next. Who's Ching Lou?"

"Mr.Lee. This is some very....."

"Answer my question or I'll burn the envelope before Ivan sees what's inside."

"......Ching lou is one of the most well-respected seniors in our organization. He's also the mentor of Xu Yu and a close associate of my father."

So far so good. Both she and the poor bastard downstairs are telling the truth. Few questions remain but I don't think I can get any of this on the phone.

"Thank you for your honesty, Miss Qin. Now would you put Nan on the phone? I got something to ask him too." A bit of static, then Nan's voice came through.

"Mr.Lee. What can I be of service?" A mocking tone, I can almost see the smirk on his face.

"Nan! I would like to apologize for my behavior earlier." I use the most sincere sound I can come up with right now. "And also. Hope you and June can xiucheng zhengguuo." I say the last sentence in Chinese.

"How the fuck did you......"

"Tell Miss Qin I'll get the job done." I hang up on him again.

***

I take a moment before opening the door to Ivan's office. The thought of dragging Ivan into this cluster fuck keeps bugging me. A man like him could take it......whatever 'it' is. Now that my job is coming to an end I can only hope the best for him.

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Whatever comes after..... a smile forms on my face. Never thought it would be the other way around, brother.

Ivan is sitting on his chair behind the desk reading some crumpled notes from a folder. He leans back when he sees me.

"Now. Are you going to tell me what in the name of god were you up to tonight?" He lights up a cigarette, takes a small drag, and puffs out towards the ceiling. The smoke in the air slowly flows through the golden edge of the black ceiling.

I take out the yellow Kraft envelope. And put it in front of him. Ivan raises his eyebrow.

"Special delivery. With your name on it." He takes another drag.

"So what, you're also a mailman now?" He flicks his cigarette on the ashtray. I shrug at his question.

"All this fuss......just for this?" He pokes the envelope a few times until he hits the rectangle object too. "Care to tell me who send it?"

"Qin Yan." Ivan lets out a chuckle.

"The princess herself? Ha!" Ivan put his cigarette on the ashtray and starts laughing.

"Igor was right. You were fucking the emperor's daughter for the past months!

ты сумасшедший! How was it? Is it true she is still a virgin? " He takes the envelope and inspects its exteriors while smiling ear to ear. His gold tooth on the upper row left shines.

"And how much did they pay you? No wait, what did they pay you with? Silk? Gold? Did they give you a Chinese sword or something?" Ivan keeps on laughing as he extinguished the cig and pulls out an M9 bayonet to opens it. His motion stops when he sees the wax seal.

"Lee. Who send this?" He stands up and raises the envelope to the ceiling light. It's light tight.

"I told you." His smile faded. Replaced by a cold expression. His eyes look like a cool flame, hiding beneath the surface and hard to detect. But it's there, and it is burning like the inferno flame underneath our earth.

"You're actually working for those fucking sharks!" He shouts.

"Ivan, could you just open....."

"Where the fuck were you huh? You went missing for months. And when you came back you bring a package from the Qins with fuck knows what in it. Do you know what that sounds like ?"

"Just open it and see what's....." Ivan sticks the knife on the table so hard that I hear a cracking sound. The bayonet handle shakes.

"No, first you tell me what did they give....."

I'm not sure what came over me. Sometimes it just happens. I'm used to surpassing all my emotions and only showing the ones people want to see or what the situation requires. Sweeping the unnecessary ones under the rug and letting them dissolve over time. But sometimes it gets too much, or my subconscious just took control. Tonight is the first night I'm back on the field and after all the bullshit it throws at me, when I think about it afterward it's probably only natural.

I snapped.

"Fuck you Ivan! Fuck you for thinking for even a single second that I would work for those cocksuckers of my own will. Do you know what I was thinking when I walk inside that fucking jiu lou with all those pigs and cannibals in suits? I was thinking about how many I could kill with my own bare hands before I go down! But no. I fucking can't, not because of my rules but because they have dirt on Vera and they're using it to blackmail me! That high and mighty cunt at the top floor and her lapdogs! Fuck. The whole Qin family can go to hell and have a tea party with Satan! But before that happens, Ivan. Just open that cursed thing. I want to get this over with."

The door behind me was opened since..... I don't know when.

"Ivan. Lee. Everything under control?" Igor's deep voice came behind me.

"It's fine Igor. Just sorting things up." Ivan answers while keeping eye contact with me. Igor lets out a hum and closes the door. Ivan slowly walks up to the coffee table and takes the vodka bottle from earlier and takes a swig.

"Haven't seen you like this for a long time." He smiles and takes another swig. "Brings back old memories......." He passes me the bottle. I gladly take it and take a long swig.

"The cleaner sisters huh?"

"Yeah.......they know what happened that night."

"And they threatened you with it.......It has been a long time isn't it?"

"What?"

"Since you fight for anyone but yourself."

I stay silent. My right eyelids flinch as my line of sight falls down to the floor. Ivan pulls the bayonet from his desk and slices open the seal.

He extracts a fuck load of papers, letters and a small recorder out of it. He starts with the letters, inspecting every single one of them carefully, and places the ones that he read on the side. His facial expression grows more and more serious, he knits his eyebrows tightly, and I can hear his teeth clenching. When he finished reading them all. He presses play on the recorder.

Muffled sounds, fabrics rubbing against each other, people talking, no, arguing in the distance. Clicking sounds of heels on the floor, a sharp sound of ceramic objects breaking. Door slams with the unpleasant noise of rusty hinges. Coughing. Silence.

Then, the familiar voice of Miss Qin appears along with the hoarse voice of an old man. They're both speaking Chinese. The sound quality is piss poor, and there's a lot of Chinese and Cantonese slang involved but I understand most of them. The recording lasts about 5 to 7 minutes.

For some reason, I didn't leave the room as soon as Ivan plays that thing. It's almost like the reasonable part of me died after the confrontation with Ivan. Only after the recording ends do I realize what I did. And what I heard meant for me, for Ivan and the Russian mobs, for Miss Qin and piao jie.

Ivan passes me the bottle of vodka and gets himself another one at the coffee table. I remove the lid and aim the bottle's mouth at mine. I raise it upside down so the liquor can pour into my body at maximum capacity. I count to five.

One, I should have never stayed in this room.

Two, I should have never dragged Ivan into this.

Three, I should have never taken the job.

Four, I should have never come back.

Five, I should have never walked into this god-forsaken city.

Half of the bottle is gone. But I'm not feeling any better, just dizzy. Maybe I should use the inhaler again? Ivan takes a swig of his own bottle. He looks at the bottom of the vodka for a moment. Then he takes a deep breath.

"What were they arguing about?"

I look into Ivan's eyes. The deep blue sea churns because of the storm upon it.

"War."