Page 93 of Forge the Blade

“Five bedrooms, large family wedding, and the rumors start circulating within a week.”

“Agreed.”

“I do not like you, Envoy.”

“I do not find myself fond of you either.”

“Good. How will you put a stop to the arrest order, once I have it?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to not know.” Sevastyan stood and buttoned his suit jacket.

Her lip curled in disgust. “And how will you compensate me for seeing his disgusting face in every ad and billboard?”

“One tenth of a percent of all earnings recovered will continue to flow to you. That’s the commission. Count your money every time you see his face. He’ll be working for you.”

Black Flower glared at Sevastyan for several heartbeats. “You have no heart, do you?”

You have no idea. Sevastyan kept his thoughts firmly behind his teeth as he buttoned his suit jacket. He signaled the butler at the door for his coat. “Considering what I buy and sell, a heart would be a liability, wouldn't it?”

Sevastyan

The next stop was going to be even less pleasant. Sevastyan took time to walk along the Han river and make a call to Ellisandre, leaving Oscar and Ma with Red to get lunch. Ellisandre answered immediately.

“I’m getting hints that there’s a secondary owner being paid out of 5N’s profits by Bak Gyeong,” Sevastyan started without preamble. “What’s the likelihood that the owner is Jun’s father?”

“High. Give me a moment. Alice and Ash have been working on this with Damian. They have the most up-to-date info.”

Ellisandre rang back ten minutes later. “Jun’s father has been siphoning off his income through a secondary company, SP4700Y, that technically owns 5N. BBB3 is technically only licensed or hired to run 5N. On paper, it looks like Jun owns SP4700Y, but he’s never seen the paperwork. The money disappears into offshore accounts. Damian is in the process of reclaiming significant property under Jun’s American name set up by Bak Sahyuk. Not sure what else will show up. It looks like Sahyuk funded his rise in the Merchari through Jun’s career.”

Sevastyan closed his eyes. That made way too much sense. And also explained—partially—why Bak Gyeong was so far behind in his payments. “Thank you. How much of this information can I prove I’ve gotten through means other than you?”

“I can send you the court case number to look up.”

“That will help.” Sevastyan rubbed his eyes. This was the type of investigation into assets that the local Merchari should have been doing. Rei’s investigative work at the moment was completely focused on how to bring the Merchari down. Sevastyan hadn’t tasked him with looking into Jun’s case any more. “I should just ask you if there’s anything I should know from now on.”

Ellisandre made a thoughtful sound. “I’ll ask Alice and Damian to keep me up to date.”

Sevastyan

Sevastyan walked into BBB3’s headquarters, Ma and Oscar trailing him. There wasn’t anyone at the front desk in the building’s lobby. Sevastyan glanced around. The tile needed a deep cleaning and its grout reworked. The ceiling was dusty and the HVAC vents in sight had brown dross hanging out of them. Sevastyan shook his head.

“Place is going to the dogs, boss,” Oscar muttered.

“It is,” Sevastyan agreed.

Ma slapped his hand over the bell on the desk. A harried-looking woman ran out of the back office and bowed. She looked suspiciously like she had been crying. “Welcome to BBB3. Do you have an appointment?” Her English was accented but highly passable.

Sevastyan raised an eyebrow and responded in the same language. “Tell Mr. Bak that Mr. Morosov is here to see him.”

The young woman paled a little and bowed deeply. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Bak is not accepting visitors right now. He’s in a meeting.”

“Mr. Bak always has time to see me.” Sevastyan leaned forward, reading her name tag, written in both English and Korean. “Just go tell him, Julie. I’ve been traveling for a very long time. Say it’s about 5N.”

She blanched and scuttled.

Bak Gyeong took a good five minutes to arrive. When he did, he was wiping at his lips with the back of his hand as if he’d just come from a late lunch. Three lackeys followed in rumpled suits.

Sevastyan frowned. Bak held out his hand. Sevastyan demurred, giving a nod instead. “I’m sure there’s somewhere we can speak privately.”