Standing in the doorway was a breathtaking young Chinese woman in a silk dress. Cobus recognized her instantly as one of the pole dancers he had eyed when he first met with Wan. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, Wan had said of her.

Upon seeing her, Cobus deduced that Wan had decided to bury the hatchet, and he had sent one of his prized assets as a peace offering.

The girl began to speak to him in Cantonese, but Cobus interrupted her. “I don’t speak Chinese.”

Ignoring his comment, she said something else he didn’t understand, then entered his apartment and shut the door.

Inside, the young woman stood before Cobus. The two stared at each other in silence. Her slender fingers then moved to her clavicle and delicately tugged the straps of her dress until they slid off her shoulders. The sheer fabric clung to her breasts, and the girl peeled it down until it cleared her firm contours and fell to the floor, leaving her in nothing but her thin black panties. Cobus took in her beautiful, fragile form, wondering how she looked so unspoiled after what he could only imagine had been some hard years in the flesh trade. Everything about her was so . . . delicate.

If he had met her at a pub in Jo’burg, he would have killed to win her affection. But here, he was just another john. The young woman sensed his reluctance to accept Wan’s gift. As he looked away so as not to leer at her, she placed a hand on his damaged face, drawing his eyes back to her body.

She had a job to do, and if she didn’t do it, she would report back to Wan that Cobus had rejected his peace offering. Not only would she be punished, but Cobus’s slight would be the end of his relationship with Wan—and the end of his mission. In short, Wan had made both him and the girl his prisoners in this moment, and each held the key to the other’s escape.

The woman cupped Cobus’s genitals through the towel. He was immediately aroused despite his misgivings. She led him to a chair, where she removed his towel and took him in her mouth.

As Cobus looked down at her head rising and falling, he felt shame. He instinctively lifted her head, stopping her. He wanted to give her all his money and tell her to run away from Macau and never come back. She looked into Cobus’s eyes, sensing his deep current of pain, and seemed to want to relieve him of it, even if only for an instant.

As he sat frozen before her, she rose to her feet. Tucking her thumbs in her waistband, she tugged her lacy black underwear to the floor and stepped out of it.