The Frenchman's Revenge (66 page)

Elena blushed a rosy pink
,
sweeping across her pale cheeks and spreading to her chest.

Bai leaned down and whispered, “That is what I mean
,
jolie
fille
.
When your cheeks flush like that, I am reminded of your rosy ass when the wicked warlord enters our chambers and uses his crop on those gorgeous cheeks of yours.”

“Bai, for God’s sake. Be serious, people can hear you!” Elena whispered, her face flushed brighter
,
but she pressed up against him and looked up at him her eyes dancing, her lips parting slightly in a breathless grin.

“Remember
,
Bai
,
if
y
our cock does get loose, it will compete with my necklace for attention.”

Bai threw back his head and laughed.

“Christ, Elena, I’m not sure putting our jewels on tonight was a good idea.
I keep thinking about those sapphires on your breasts with that delightful chain connecting them.
And th
ose
outrageous diamond
s
pe
e
king out from the
top
of your pussy makes our mission tonight fade in importance.”

As he pulled her closer
,
they were interrupted by a hearty voice calling out their names and turned to see Governor Sampson striding toward them.

“Jesus, Elena.
I didn’t know it was possible for
you to be any more beautiful.
I swear you are glowing!
I take it marriage agrees with you
?
”

He leaned down and kissed her cheeks
,
gazing at her with open admiration.

He turned to Bai with a knowing wink.

“And you--you handsome son of a bitch. Not only are you the luckiest man alive to be married to this vision
,
but business must be good.
I don’t think I have ever seen a more extraordinary necklace or earbobs. Amazing, Elena. Were they a wedding present from your handsome prince?”

Elena smiled and nodded.

The
g
overnor continued with a cheerful smile, “Not that I don’t want you to decorate this gorgeous creature in jewels worthy of her beauty
,
but don’t forget to save a few coins, Bai.
My election is coming up and I can always use
your support
.”

Bai bowed slightly, his voice was pleasant but his eyes were cool.

“I’m aware of that, Governor Sampson. I’m pleased to discuss your election at the appropriate time.”

The
g
overnor flushed
,
apparently
aware of his
faux pas
and quickly added, “Of course, Bai, of course.
All in good time. But you are correct
,
this night is for dancing, drinking
,
and celebrating with good friends.
Promise me, Elena
,
if this possessive son of a bitch will let you out of his clutches
,
that you will give me the honor of a dance.”

Bai held her arm more tightly
,
but Elena looked up at the governor and said in a sweet voice.

“I’m afraid I am the possessive one, Governor Sampson. I can’t bear to see Bai with another woman in his arms.
I know it seems silly
,
but we really are on our honeymoon
,
but couldn’t miss your ball for anything.
Please forgive us if we act like the newlyweds we are.”

“Oh
,
my dear, of course, of course.
Just looking at the two of you so much in
love warms
my heart.
I
have known you both since you were
youngsters
and no one could be happier to see the two of you together.”

Both Bai and Elena were genuinely touched by the
g
overnor
’
s sincere well wishes and thanked him for his kindness. As the governor turned to greet other guests, Wyatt and
Lei
joined them
. Knowing what they wanted to know, Bai
used their prearranged code to signal
that
the governor seemed legitimate.

“
The governor was pleased that we came to his ball on our honeymoon, wasn’t he
, Bai.
”

“I agree, Elena.
He seems to have our best interests at heart.
And I appreciate your taking the rap for being the possessive one
in
our partnership.
”

His eyes twinkled and a wicked smile tugged
a
t his mouth
.

“A
lthough now that I think about
how you
practic
e
your
k
ung
f
u skills with the
express
purpose of
d
amaging the face of any woman who comes near me, perhaps we do share the same affliction.
”

Lei smiled and shook her head at the three of them.

“I’m not sure where you got the affliction
,
Bai, except that you are a man
.
I can tell you that Elena came by her possessive streak naturally
.”

She hugged Wyatt
,
who lifted her face to his.

“Damn right, sweetheart. I pity the man who thinks he can come within five feet of you and not face the consequences.”

“I think all three of you are a little crazy
,
but it’s why I love you.
You love so fiercely in return,” Lei replied with a bemused smile as she reached up to kiss Wyatt’
s
cheek.

~~~

Martin’s face was gr
ay
. His red-
rimmed eyes
watered fiercely
. He choked
out a harsh breath then
vomited for the third time in the wastebasket.
Beads of sweat glistened on his fat face
. H
is voice was a raspy groan.

“Jesus Christ, Greg, how can you stand there like a
fuckin
’
sphinx w
hen you just killed a man?”

Greg looked
with distaste
at the sweaty frightened little man
. He
check
ed
the
chamber
on his gun
,
then tuck
ed
it back in his boot holster.

“Please do yourself a favor, Martin
,
and act like a man.
A man who
goddamn well knew
the plan for tonight.
”

“
F
uck, Greg.
We agreed
t
he Frenchman was going down tonight but, Jesus Christ, Louie Sinclair?”

Martin’s voice skidded to a halt as he leaned over the waste basket
,
heaving
the last remnants
of his hearty dinner.
He wiped his hand across his mouth
,
catching particles of vomit on the back of his hand
. He
looked over to the crumpled body on the floor as if he hoped it had disappeared.

Greg glared at him in dis
gust
.

“I’m going to say this once and, Martin, if you value your life, you will listen to me.
You are to do everything I say without question, do you understand?”

Martin’s lip
s
quivered and his eyes filled with watery tears, but he managed to shake his head
yes
.

“That’s better.
Now
,
we are going to meet with the governor and you will
do as I say, get control of yourself, correct?
”

Martin looked back down at the body next to Greg’s desk.
The pool of blood collecting by its head confirmed what he already knew. He closed his eyes then opened them and nodded to Greg.

“Fine.
Let’s go.
Everything is proceeding according to plan
, Martin.
Don’t fuck up
.”

~~~

The governor frowned
when Peter
,
Greg’s assistant, grabbed hold of his arm and whispered in his ear.

“It sure as hell better be important. It’s not as though I don’t have several hundred guests to see
,
”
Governor Sampson growled to the emissary beside him.

“I understand,
g
overnor, but Greg said it
’s
urgent. He and the
l
ieutenant
g
overnor are in your office.”

The governor shoved down his annoyance
,
excused himself
,
and followed
Peter
down the hallway to his formal office
. He muttered
under his breath that heads would roll if this was some ridiculous staff issue that Greg couldn’t handle.

He threw open the door to his office and accosted his
c
hief of
s
taff.

“For Christ’s sake, Greg, what could be so fucking important that
Pete
r
would drag me away from the most important event in my reelection campaign? Goddamn, I was just getting started with Phi
lip
Carpenter
. N
ext to Bai and Wyatt,
Phil is
my biggest fucking contributor.”

“Governor, we have a serious issue.”

Greg’s voice and one look at Martin’s grey face dripping with sweat
brought the governor up short. He looked over his shoulder
and was
surprised to see
Chris and Hank,
two of Greg’s staff
,
join
Peter
,
who closed the door behind them and locked it.

“What the hell’s going on
,
Greg? Christ,
M
artin
,
you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Greg could
n’t
hide the
w
ry smile that quirk
ed
across his face.

“In a sense, he did. There’s no easy way to say this
,
g
overnor, but Loui
e
Sinclair is dead.”

“What
? What
the hell
?
Where? How?”

The governor’s face was white with shock, his voice disbelieving.

“He was shot.
His body is in my office.”

“My God, Greg.
And we
’re
just standing here?
We need to get the
s
heriff! Christ
,
when did it happen, how did it happen?”

“Calm down, Brad.”

Greg used the governor’s
first
name, something he rarely did, and guided the shaken man to his chair
. He went over to the bar and poured a glass of brandy and
handed
it to the governor.

“Governor, this will come as a shock to you, but we are
facing
serious issues
. E
very one of our lives is at stake.”

“What…what the hell…I don’t understand.”

“Of course
,
you don’t, Brad.
You
were
unwilling to see the evil in our midst. I have been warning you for some time about
t
he Frenchman
.
In my opinion, the epitome of evil is that fucking Frenchman.
He is a curse, a yellow curse on every upstanding American. He intends to take us down,
g
overnor
. First our women, then us. O
ne at a time
. He intends to take over this
state and then the country.
He is a menace
,
a fucking Chink menace.
”