Counterfeit Love (18 page)

Lucy turned to Byron and smiled. ‘Should be a great party.’ She’d totally lost her pale, vulnerable edge and was glowing. ‘Better get to work. Stories to break. People to interview. Deadlines to meet.’

‘Mmm,’ Byron groaned, disappointed by the turn of events. The whole thing with Yu had transformed Lucy into a sexy, ambitious reporter again. She slipped into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Byron slumped onto the tiger sofa wondering what had just happened. The shower scene was off, which would be hard to move on from, and it looked like there’d be no time for loving tonight, either. He could already see that this evening would be all about Yu. He hated him already.

‘Are you sure I have to go to the party, too?’ Byron asked as he and Lucy sat in the back of a taxi on their way to what was indisputably the coolest poolside bar in Hong Kong – set on the rooftop of a funky seventy-storey hotel.

‘How old are you?’ Lucy teased. ‘Twenty-two or seventy-two? This is going to be the party of the year and you don’t want to go. Everyone who’s anyone is going to be there. I’ve seen the guest list. You’ll be stunned when you see who’s there.’

‘I already know everyone I want to know,’ Byron replied, taking Lucy’s hand and putting it in his lap. He sighed deeply.

‘Look, I know you’re disappointed about the key,’ she said. ‘But can’t you just forget about the Cobra for one night and have some fun?’

Byron had called her that afternoon to tell her the bad news. He’d spent the day at the yacht club. The key that they had both thought would unlock everything just unlocked a gate on the marina. It didn’t prove anything at all. Byron was no closer to finding the Cobra and in a foul mood.

Lucy totally understood that. She got pissed off when stories didn’t pan out, too, but now he was starting to annoy her. It was her turn for an important career break and he wasn’t being very supportive.

‘If you hate the party when we get there, you can just leave again. You weren’t really invited so I don’t think anyone’s going to miss you.’

‘And you’ll come, too?’ he raised his eyebrows hopefully.

Lucy shook her head.

‘What if the party’s really terrible?’

Lucy laughed. ‘The party’s not going to be terrible. And I’ll be staying until I’m on toothbrush-sharing terms with Yu.’

Byron flinched.

‘Okay, sorry, bad choice of words. I’m not planning on seducing the guy. I just really need to get an interview with him.’

‘
Right
,’ Byron muttered, looking out the window.

‘You don’t like Yu?’ Lucy asked.

‘Don’t even know the guy,’ Byron said glumly. ‘You know,’ he said eventually, changing the subject, ‘I wouldn’t have lied to you if I had another choice.’

‘I know.’ Lucy said automatically.

She’d given that subject a lot of thought during the day, and realised that she’d been involved in her fair share of deception, too. It had started on Friday night at the Art Bar when she’d kept the bag instead of giving it back to Mr Safari Suit. It was strange, because she’d always thought of herself as an honest person – it was only brave friends who asked her if their bums looked big in their jeans. Lucy never pulled her punches. And she had no respect for dishonest journalists who hacked the phones of crime victims, or paparazzi who hounded celebrities, but she was beginning to see that there were times when a little lie could go a long way.

‘Do you think if the roles were reversed you would have lied to me?’ Byron asked.

‘Of course not,’ she said, without giving it any thought. And then she caught herself – another lie. It was becoming a habit.

She turned away from Byron, feeling guilty. She realised that part of her was still hoping to break the Cobra story herself and was secretly a tiny bit relieved that Byron hadn’t unlocked anything important with the key. Unless he had, and hadn’t told her about it.

She glanced sideways at him, trying to work out if he was in a bad mood because he’d lost the Cobra again, or because he was going to a party when he could have been chasing him. She sighed at how gorgeous he looked, all dressed up. But with all of the mistrust and tension between them, she wondered if there’d ever be anything between them – other than the occasional unbelievably steamy kiss.

‘You look beautiful tonight,’ Byron whispered. He kissed her gently on the shoulder. ‘Sorry, I’m ruining your night. It’ll be a great party.’

Lucy’s arm tingled. All her concerns started to evaporate again.

‘I keep looking at you and wondering if it’s really me sitting beside you. I just feel like you’re too good for me – that’s why I’ve got a problem with Yu.’ He threw his hands up in the air. ‘There, I admit it. I’m jealous.’

Lucy glanced at her lap, embarrassed for even suspecting Byron was misleading her again. She also felt guilty for considering stealing his story. Besides, if
M.T. Lai
had been chasing the Cobra for a year without success, how was she going to track him down?

‘You don’t have to be jealous. I’m just after an interview.’

‘I know.’ Byron pulled her towards him and paused for a moment, giving her a lopsided smile, then he softly kissed her on the lips. ‘I just saw tonight working out differently. That’s all.’

‘Work before pleasure,’ she smiled, but by then Byron was kissing his way up the inside of her arm. Her whole body was aching to hold him. ‘Or maybe that’s pleasure before work,’ she breathed. And before she had a chance to think about the wisdom of making out in the back seat of a taxi in a backless and mostly frontless dress, she had her arms wrapped around Byron’s neck. His lips moved to her collarbone. He kissed her bare skin, following the neckline of her dress as it plunged towards her navel. Her worries slipped completely from her mind.

‘How do I look?’ Lucy checked her earrings as she climbed out of the taxi.

Byron took a deep breath in. ‘Sexy as hell. How long do we have to stay?’

‘As long as it takes,’ Lucy smiled playfully. ‘And stop looking down my dress.’

Byron frowned and took her hand. ‘I’m trying not to. It’s not that easy.’

Lucy pulled a lipstick out of her bag and stopped at a mirror in the hotel lobby. She gasped at the sight in front of her. The Hollywood tape that had been holding her dress in place before she left the apartment had abandoned her, leaving her dress to take its own course – a decidedly more revealing one. There was nothing left to the imagination – more skin than dress. ‘I see what you mean now.’

‘So you want to go home and … change?’

‘No.’ Lucy pulled out a mask from her bag. This was no time for a wardrobe crisis. ‘Just help me with my mask. No-one apart from you and Charlotte will know me anyway.’

When Lucy’s mask was tied, she pulled another from the bag for Byron.

He took it and frowned. ‘Funny. Really funny. A two-faced villain.’

‘Don’t look at me, I didn’t choose them,’ she laughed.

‘You look like a bird of paradise and I look like a duplicitous creep.’

Lucy tied Byron’s mask on. ‘You look cute.’ She couldn’t hide a grin. ‘Come on, we’re already two hours late.’

‘Did you tell Charlotte about me?’ Byron asked as they rode the lift to the top of the building.

‘I haven’t mentioned anything. I assume you don’t want anyone to know. Besides, I think Charlotte would have a heart attack if she knew she’d let in an investigative journalist.’ Lucy squeezed his hand. ‘Your secret’s safe with me.’ She leant towards him to offer a kiss, but her feathers got in the way.

‘I can’t even kiss you,’ he said forlornly.

Maybe it was his mask that was making him look miserable, but Lucy was beginning to think it had been a mistake to bring him along. She was even having second thoughts about being there herself. The longer she looked at Byron in the lift, the more she just wanted to get back to the apartment and finish what they’d started in the taxi. She wasn’t sure she could face a party crowd. Then the lift doors opened.

‘
Wow
,’ Lucy breathed, stumbling in a daze into the middle of a Venetian
Carnevale –
complete with stilt walkers, fire eaters, jugglers – and, of course, a gondola, floating in the pool. A fog machine obscured the crowd, but it looked like everyone was masked, with many in costume as well – the terrace was a blur of feathers, fur, silk, colour, noise and celebrities. She thought she recognised a couple of Chinese actors, and a Brazilian model.

‘You made it!’ Charlotte appeared out of nowhere. She was wearing a black lace mask, with her signature blonde hair cascading around her face, so there was no mistaking her.

‘Great party, Char.’ Lucy gave her flatmate an air kiss. ‘You don’t do things by halves.’

‘Do you like your masks?’

Lucy smiled. ‘Byron is really pleased with his.’

‘I’m glad,’ Charlotte said, missing the sarcasm, her eyes darting around the crowd. ‘I’ll send some champagne your way. Have fun.’

Lucy touched her arm. ‘Before you go – has my friend arrived yet? I might not recognise him behind a mask.’

‘You will. He looks like something out of the Last Emperor. Oh, and Durban’s looking for you. He’s in a clown thing.’

Charlotte swam back into the crowd, leaving Lucy feeling slightly queasy about the prospect of Durban being out there somewhere. She was glad she was in a mask.

‘Who’s Durban?’ Byron asked. ‘Someone else you want to find?’

‘No, someone I want to avoid,’ she mumbled. ‘Durban Blackmore, the world’s biggest bore.’

Lucy noticed a flicker of concern cross Byron’s face.
He must hate bores, too.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll keep well away from him. Just avoid all clowns.’ Lucy reached for Byron’s hand as her eyes skimmed the crowd, looking for a Chinese Emperor. ‘Coming to meet Yu?’

Byron didn’t move. ‘Let’s get a drink first.’

Lucy nodded to a waiter who was walking past with a tray of champagne flutes. She took one and handed another to Byron.

‘Okay?’

‘You go and meet Yu,’ Byron said, still not moving. ‘I’ll just get in your way.’ He nodded towards the party. ‘Go get ’em.’

Lucy gave Byron a little mock salute and wandered off to find Yu. It wasn’t long before she spotted him by the pool in a gold embroidered cloak talking with a bunch of guys in jester suits. His face was partly hidden behind a small gold mask, but it had to be Yu. As she watched him with the jesters, she wondered if Durban might be among them. There was one who seemed to be doing all the talking. She hovered by the group until Yu started looking her way.

Lucy fixed her eyes on him for a few moments and then turned to watch a juggler. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Yu staring at her. It made her nervous to have his eyes on her – but if she was going to get to know him, she had to step outside her comfort zone. She glanced in his direction, giving him a shy smile. It worked. Yu left the jesters and sidled up to Lucy.

‘A great party,’ she smiled when he was standing beside her. It was definitely him – the white fleck in his hair confirmed it. ‘Is that Qing or Ming?’ Lucy asked in Mandarin, touching his cloak.

Yu beamed. ‘
Yu
Dynasty. I’m starting my own.’

Lucy smiled to herself.
Not the Last Emperor, but the next
. Charlotte had picked him in one when she’d described him as a young fogey – a really old man in a young man’s body. ‘Impressive. I hope it’s more successful than the last one.’

Yu sniggered. ‘I can guarantee it.’

‘So confident, Mr Yu.’

‘Yes, Miss …?’

‘Yang.’ Lucy extended her hand and Yu shook it. It had been part of her plan to keep things formal between them. She was better in Mandarin if she avoided colloquial banter, and hopefully the formal tone would keep him guessing about her intentions. One thing was certain: she wouldn’t reveal her plan until the very last minute. Yu had to be totally hooked before she mentioned who she worked for, let alone brought up the possibility of an interview. ‘It’s an honour to meet you, Mr Yu.’

‘Your Mandarin is quite beautiful, Miss Yang, but I detect an accent.’

‘I was educated in Australia. I have been in Hong Kong only these past three months.’

‘Oh, I see. I am a visitor myself. What brought you here, Miss Yang?’