The Frenchman's Revenge (9 page)

Alex learned in a letter from his grandfather t
he latest bombshell
rocking
the combined family
. To everyone’s surprise, Wan disclosed that
Bai, the young man who had been Wan’s second in command and his closest confidant
,
was in truth his son.
Like Lei
’s mother
, Bai’s mother was white
. She
lived in France
,
refusing to live Wan’s
violent
lifestyle
in a country openly hostile to the Chinese
.
Even Lei hadn’t known
Bai
was her half brother
. It
was a secret Bai intended to keep
. W
hen he assumed leadership of the Sing Leon
from his father
,
Wan
overruled him
,
eager to declare his beloved son.

Clinging lovingly to his arm,
Lei bombarded Alex with questions about his China adventure
, eager to catch up on all the news.
She
attended
Hong Kong
University
and had many friends in China
.
As they
walked
through the gardens with Le
i
’s excited
laughter
filling the air,
Watsu
, the manservant,
approached
. Deferring to Alex, he asked
where he should put
Alex’s
trunks.

Lei responded, “Alex’s
chambers are
next to Wyatt’s and mine, Watsu. Please put his trunks there.”

Alex broke in
.
“Lei, I’m sorry but I don’t intend to stay here.
I won’t need a
room
.”

“I don’t understand, Alex.
Of course you will
s
tay here. Elena and Bai created the most amazing
quarters
for us.
Even the twins have their own
chambers
. A
lthough much to their dismay
,
they have to share a bathroom and don’t have a fireplace
and private bath
as
we
do.”

At that moment
,
Wyatt came up behind them
. Draping
a protective arm over
L
ei’s shoulder
, h
e nodded curtly to his son
.

“
Alex is upset about what happened to Elena when he was gone, Lei
. He
needs time
to adjust
to the fact that she and Bai are getting married.”

Lei looked in surprise at Alex
. F
or the first time
,
she
seemed to see
the anger and pain on his face. She put her arm around him
.
Before she could
speak
,
Alex
interrupted.

“No Father, I don’t
‘
need time to adjust.’ I will never accept Elena’s marriage to that man.”
Seeing Lei’s shocked
expression
, he continued, “I’m sorry, Lei.
I know how ha
rd this must be for you.
First
, he
spring
s
on you that he is your half brother
. N
ow
he thinks he can
marry your daughter.
You must be as upset as I am.”

Lei and Wyatt exchanged a glance
. S
moothing her expression,
Lei
said in a soft voice, “Alex, come here, darling
. S
it down
.
”

She pulled
him over to a
stone
bench and sat
n
ext to him. Wyatt took out a cigarette, lit it
,
and stood off to the
side,
a thoughtful expression on his stern face.

Lei’s tone was gentle.
“Honey, I know this is a big surprise.
Your father and I were as surprised as anyone when
we
learned from your grandfather that Bai is my half brother.
I always admired him and felt a connection
. N
ow that I know who he is
,
I see that your grandfather and Bai are so much alike
,
they could only be father and son. And
,
honey, when Elena comes back from her ride
,
you will see for yourself how much she loves Bai
.
I am certain you will be happy for her.”

Alex stood up and moved away from Lei
,
his face contorted with anger.

“No
,
L
ei, I will not be happy for her. I
ndeed
,
I intend to do everything I can to see that she does not marry him.
I am
sorry to say this
,
Lei
,
given your relationship to him
,
but Bai is not an honorable man
. He
is not worthy of my sister.”

Lei
stood up
,
her eyes wide
, a frown washing over her face
. Before she could speak, Wyatt
moved between her and Alex
and took a drag off his cigarette.
He
blew the smoke up in the air
,
then
tossed the cigarette to the ground
, glaring
at Alex.

“Son, for the moment
,
I
will
ignore your rudeness to Lei
,
as I
ignored
your rudeness to your grandfather.
What I will not ignore
,
or permit
,
is your doing anything to detract
from
your sister’s happiness in these next days before the wedding.
To be clear, you will stay here in the extraordinary quarters that Bai
designated
for you
. You
will not disgrace your mother, your grandfather
,
or me by acting like a jealous child instead of the honorable young man we know you to be.
Do you understand me, Alex?”

Alex’s face
was hot. He fought the angry tears in his eyes.
He glared at his father
,
but seeing the hard cold anger in
Wyatt’s
eyes, he just shook his head and nodded.

At that moment
,
they heard a clatter of
horses’
hoofs as Elena rode
up to the courtyard
,
flanked by her guards
. She
shouted
in delight
when she saw her brother
. Her bright red sun
-
kissed curls
flew
in
a
cloud
behind her
. H
er
dark
blue eyes
shone
with excitement.
She was riding a
white Arabian mare
that
to Alex’s amazement had eyes as b
lue
as Elena’s.

Elena leapt off her horse and threw herself at Alex
,
almost bowling him over. He forgot his anger
for
the
moment
and grabbed her
a
nd swung her around in a dizzying circle. They
both laughed
and
cried
at the same time.
Elena asked him a hundred questions
,
not waiting
for
an answer before rushing on to the next
. She
interspers
ed
her questions with hugs and kisses
. Finally,
Alex managed to squeeze in a few questions of his own.

“My
G
od
,
Elena, where did you get this mare?
I
’ve
never seen anything more beautiful – except for you and Lei – of course.”

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Elena asked breathlessly. “Bai gave her to me.
He insisted that I have a white Arabian with blue eyes.
He went to thirteen breeders before he found her.
He had seen a horse like this in Persia when he was a boy.
He said she belonged to a princess and
he
wanted me to have one just like the one he
remembered
.
I
named
her Zhenqui – it means “precious” in Chinese.
Bai suggested the name.
Have you ever seen a more beautiful horse, Alex?”

“No, Elena, I haven’t
,
” Alex said with a forced smile.

If Elena
noticed
her brother’s reserve
, she gave no sign
. I
nstead
,
she dragged him over next to Lei and Wyatt
.

“Oh, Alex, you have no idea how glad I am that you made it home in time for the wedding.
It would not
be
as wonderful without you.
W
e are going to have a gorgeous party tonight.
You w
on’t
believe the people who are coming.
The
g
overnor, the
c
hief
j
ustice, about ten different
s
enators and legislators and so, so many of Father’s and Grandfather’s and Bai’s business friends.
And Alex
,
wait until you see my dress.
Thanks to Lei
,
as always
,
I will be gorgeous and…and
…
”

She stopped
,
as though
aware that she was incoherent with giddy joy
,
and burst into peals of laughter. Her father and Lei joined her
.
Even
Alex couldn’t stop his grin.

“Oh,
Alex
, I
am so excited and so glad that you are here!”
She
threw her arms around him
brushing his cheek with another kiss
. “I need to get ready, Alex
. P
lease know how
happy
I am you got home
,
not only for the wedding
,
but in time for the party tonight.”

Lei and Elena left to go
to
their
chambers
. E
lena’s excited chatter and Lei’s musical
replies
float
ed
across the courtyard. Wyatt turned to Alex
. H
is
expression
was solemn, stern.

“I arranged for your formal clothes brought from the ranch.
Y
ou will find everything you need in your chambers.
Bai assigned Watsu as your valet
. H
e will help you with any
needs you have
.”

Wyatt
turned to go
,
then looked back at
him. Alex quickly looked down, refusing to meet his father’s eyes.

Wyatt’s voice was as stern as his
expression.
“I’m
glad you’re back, Alex
.
I look forward to having you at the party tonight.”

With that
,
he turned and went to find Lei.

Chapter 4

A myriad of brightly colored Chinese lanterns
hung from
the
tree
s
and shrubs
surrounding the
v
illa
. They
filled the gardens with flickering lights
,
rivaling
the beauty of the
starlit
night. In the ballroom
,
c
andles and gas lamps
glimmered
, wine and spirits flowed
. E
legantly attired Chinese
servants passed trays of exotic food
and the string quintet filled the air with beautiful music.
The sounds of laughter and gay conversation
echoed
across the courtyards.