Her Unexpected Affair (The Robinsons) (34 page)

Shan’s face tightened before growing blank. It had taken him an effort to tamp down his emotions, which made her confident in her guess.

“You lying piece of garbage! You try to get me into bed, but when I turned you down, you came here and hooked up with my friend!” Her arm lifted, almost as if it had a mind of its own and started to swing. Drew caught her arm.

“Don’t do it, love. You’ve got your easy out from the contract.”

Knowing he was right, Meilin reached out a hand to her friend. “I want to know. I need to know. I’m breaking things off with him, but I need your account. Please.”

Junlei didn’t look too happy with her, but she nodded again. “Oh don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it. You’re better off without him. He’s no good.”

“I agree,” Meilin soothed, running a hand down Junlei’s arm. “I didn’t know he’d been with you. If I had known he’d go find someone else the first time I turned him down, I never would have agreed to marry him. I’m just glad to find out now, before the wedding.”

Junlei nodded again, then burst into tears and threw herself into Meilin’s arms.

“I’m so sorry,” she cried.

“What have you got to be sorry for? It’s all on him.” Meilin hugged the younger woman tight. “It will all work out, don’t you worry. We can get a DNA test to prove he’s the father. I believe you, but a test will guarantee he has to take care of you. I won’t let him hurt you anymore. I promise.”

Shan tried to shake off the bouncer’s hand on his shoulder, but when he couldn’t, he crossed his arms over his chest with a wince. “This does not break the agreement. You know how much your family will suffer if you don’t follow through. Your father never planned for catastrophic illness. His insurance won’t cover it, and he doesn’t have the savings.”

“I’ll take care of my father,” Meilin pronounced over Junlei’s sobs against her shoulder. “It’s my responsibility. I didn’t ask you, and my father had no right to make such a deal. It was a low, underhanded move on your part to make it part of the contract.”

“It’s a business deal,” Shan sneered. “Not only did I agree to take care of your parents, but I promised to inject some funds into the restaurants to help your brother get a stronger foothold. If you back out, then I can sue for breach of contract and your family will suffer. You’ll be in no position to help them once I ruin your business. Your name won’t get you a cup of coffee in the entire Bay Area once I’m done with you. You’ll work the rest of your life to pay off your debt to me. If you can find a job outside your family’s restaurants.”

Junlei straightened and accepted a handkerchief from Arnie. “You’ll do no such thing to Meilin! She can sue you for breach of contract because you fathered a bastard on me not two weeks after your engagement to her. I’ll make sure everyone in Chinatown knows you go screwing around and then refuse to accept the consequences of your actions. That will sure put a dent in your reputation for being kind and generous.”

Shan blanched but he didn’t otherwise acknowledge Junlei’s words. “Meilin.” He spoke low, as if it would make him sound dangerous or something. “Come with me now and I won’t take legal action. Hold up your end of the agreement and make everything right. I promise you it will be a good marriage. You won’t want for anything.”

“Other than honesty? You’ll give me everything else but the truth? Will you get a head start on your other life? Have you already picked out your mistress?”

Shan glared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only want you.”

“And yet, once you didn’t get me into bed the night of the Schultz’s party, you found another, got her pregnant and refuse to acknowledge it, and you expect me to marry you even now? Your lack of integrity bothers me. A lot. If you were the last man on earth, I wouldn’t marry you.” So angry she shook, she started to move forward to slap him, but again Drew held her back.

“Easy, love. We’ve got him. And you’ve got witnesses. Besides, he’s injured enough.”

Meilin looked up at him, then around the nightclub to find a dozen or more phones aimed their way. Easily half a dozen were close enough to have picked up the conversation. It was then she noticed they weren’t shouting to be heard over the music, which had quieted to background level.

From the crowd someone shouted, “We’ve got your back, Meilin! Everyone who works in a low level position in Chinatown knows what a prick Shan Lin is.”

A round of cheers went up in agreement.

Which made her wonder, if these people hated him, then who had told him she was here?

“Shan, how did you know where to find me?”

His face remained stoic. “I just knew. Now, Meilin, this is quite enough. It’s time to leave and it’s time to take your proper place. With me. Not him.” Shan nodded toward Drew at her back.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Lin old man,” Drew said, his accent crisp and clear, sounding more royal with every word. “Her place is wherever she wants to be. Her job is to do whatever she wants. If that means she chooses to be by my side, then that’s her proper place. Not at any man’s beck and call. But rather there as a partner. Something you never offered her. Now, I suggest you prepare to meet her lawyer. He’ll be in touch very soon.”

The DJ jumped into the action then. “And that concludes tonight’s floor show. Leroy, Alex, show the man out. The rest of you, save those videos, I’m sure they’ll be appreciated in court. Now, let’s dance!”

The music kicked up to full volume and Meilin had to laugh. Drew grinned wide as he dragged her out to the dance floor to Aretha Franklin belting out R-E-S-P-E-C-T from the sound system.

Meilin gripped Drew’s hand as they deplaned in London’s Heathrow airport.

The last several weeks had been such a rush, she hardly knew where she was anymore, but what counted most was she was with Drew.

Drew had been able to put off flying to Beijing with his class for a few days while they’d met with his parents, her parents, and Shan’s lawyers getting everything straightened out. Thank God for Shan’s cheating ways or they’d be in court about now wrangling about the voiding of the contract.

Drew’s father, in particular, had been a huge help in smoothing things over. Not only had he presented her with the perfect job offer, he’d advanced enough money to help her wrap up things in the city. She’d been able to concentrate on getting her visa, hiring and training a designer to oversee her business, and she’d paid six month’s rent in advance on her apartment. Randi had advised her to keep the place because Meilin and Drew would want their own home when they made trips back to San Francisco. It was a solid idea and one Drew approved of.

It hadn’t been easy, but she’d pulled everything together to arrive in China for Drew’s final week in the program. She’d traveled with his parents, who’d put her up in the company apartment not far from the China head office. It was big enough for two families, and there were tentative plans made for a family gathering there sometime in the future. Eventually she and Drew would find a small house of their own.

But for now, after nearly twelve hours in the air, she and Drew were visiting London for a short break before they both started work in earnest. She’d never logged so many air miles in so short a time. By the time they returned to Beijing, by way of a fast trip through San Francisco, it would be her first complete trip around the world.

“All right, love?” Drew tugged on her hand. “You’re looking a little shell-shocked.”

Loving indulgence softened her heart as she gazed at her tall Viking warrior with the golden hair. “I am a little, but it’s all good.”

He leaned over and kissed her. “Wait until you see the house. We’re headed straight for Sussex for a few days. After that, we’ll have a day or two to hang out in London and get indoctrinated with the company line, but I want you to see the house first.”

Both Drew and Randi had talked about it, of course. She knew it was big, built in the Tudor era, very formal, but family friendly as well. Drew had described summers running through the parklands surrounding the house with trees, ponds, and the adventures to be had. She wanted to see it all, but mostly she wanted some time to just hold Drew’s hand and walk in the forest.

The usual hassle with Immigration and Customs seemed to go a little smoother, and in what seemed like no time at all, they were pulling their suitcases toward the sidewalk of Arrivals.

“Look, there’s Martin,” Drew said and tugged her to the right where several cars down a black Land Rover waited. The butler she recognized from the party stood beside it talking with an airport cop. Martin was impeccably dressed in a dark suit with white shirt and blue tie. Just the color that matched the Robinson eyes.

As they approached, they overheard Martin saying, “Look mate, there they are. I’ll be out of this queue in less than three minutes. I appreciate your need to keep traffic moving, and I’m moving.” Putting action to words, Martin moved to the back of the vehicle and opened the rear. “Right here, Mr. Drew. Pleased to see you again, Miss Wu.” He took their bags and hefted them into the vehicle. “Just climb right in, now, and we’ll be on our way so the good man here can go assist someone else who needs him more.”

The officer tipped his hat and wandered to the next car at the curb.

Drew held the door for Meilin, then climbed into the back, taking the seat near her.

“Bloody, officious, meddling, traffic cops,” Martin was muttering as he climbed behind the driver’s wheel. “Everyone buckled in? Right, let’s be off.”

Drew laughed. “Still giving the authorities a bad time, Martin?”

“Not me, Mr. Drew. It’s them giving me a hard time. I’m just a good law-abiding citizen trying to mind my own business. Have a good flight?”

“Flight was fine.”

With Drew’s arm around her, Meilin listened to the two men bantering, and stared out the window watching the city turn to country as they traversed the highway. On the wrong side of the road. Of course they’d had the discussion about right versus left hand driving, but since Beijing went with most of the world, despite Hong Kong adhering to the British system, neither one had actually climbed behind the wheel of a car over there. Going along with Court’s recommendations, because traffic was so horrendous, the laws so mysteriously confusing, they either rode the public transportation or hired a car and driver. Or would, when they were there longer. She’d barely had time to unpack the few boxes she’d checked on the plane before Drew had completed his course and spent a week at the office before they were on a plane again.

With her head still spinning, she found it easier to just relax against Drew, still taking in the direction of her new life with him, and just absorb the world as it rushed past her beyond the vehicle.

“Not far now,” Drew murmured in her ear. “You can see the chimneys.” He pointed to where red brick rose above the trees in the distance.

“Big house.”

“Just a house. Not a castle or anything so grand.”

“Is it more like Pemberley or Longbourn?” She strained to see more as the road curved and once more it hid behind a grove of trees.

“Let me guess, a Jane Austen reference?” The teasing laughter in Drew’s voice caught her attention. “What is it with you ladies? Randi said almost the same thing, word for word.”

“You haven’t read it or seen the movies?” Honestly, it was the best way for Americans to make the comparison. Presumably the Brits had their own way, which she’d probably figure out in a decade or two.

Drew theatrically shuddered. “I suppose my mum made me watch it once. It’s only since Randi and Birdie have come into our lives that I’ve heard it discussed. And then it’s more along the lines of who made the best Darcy.”

“Colin Firth, hands down.” She smirked at him.

“I believe Randi is of the same opinion. As for the size of our house, I believe she determined it’s something in between.”

Martin slowed the car, then turned between a pair of large brick gate posts. If there had once been gates across the drive, they were missing now. The lane narrowed and was almost a living tunnel beneath the trees forming a canopy from where they lined the sun dappled gravel trail. What seemed like miles later, the trees opened up and the lane resolved into a large oval before a very tall, three story house of red brick. Tall windows reflected the sunlight and all manner of plant life surrounding the grand house.

“Now that’s not just a house, Drew. That’s a country manor. And it doesn’t look Tudor. Where are the beams and whitewashed stucco?” In fact, it wouldn’t look out of place in Pacific Heights back home.

“The house is clad in tile. Another renovation over the years, and it’s a house. Just a little bigger than what you’re used to. It has bedrooms, bathrooms, a library, dining room, even a kitchen.”

“And many other rooms, I’d imagine.”

Martin pulled the car to a stop before a set of steps leading to a grand double door, probably carved from good solid English oak.

Gazing at the house, she asked, “What year was it built?”

“The Lynfords built it about 1550. More or less. It’s been through several renovations and additions, depending on family fortunes at any given time.”

Meilin accepted Drew’s hand and stepped from the vehicle.

“I’ll see to the bags, Mr. Drew,” Martin said. “Mrs. Robinson said to put you both up in your room…?”

“That’s fine, Martin. Thank you. Anyone at home?”

“Your father said they were going to be out for the afternoon, but everyone will gather in the drawing room at six-thirty before dinner. If you need anything pressed or steamed before then, please let me know.”

“I think we’re good.” Drew turned to Meilin. “We have time for a lie down if you want a nap. I know you didn’t rest well on the plane.”

No, she hadn’t. Too excited. Not that she thought she’d be able to nap now, but if she didn’t, she’d probably fall asleep face first in the Yorkshire pudding, or whatever was on the menu for dinner. “A nap sounds great. A shower even better.”

“Come. We’ll ring Cook for a tray of tea to tide us over.”

Martin slammed the back of the vehicle shut. “I’ll just take these directly up, and then I’ll ask Cook for some refreshment. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a tray set up already.”