Kelly Hunter - Single Girl Abroad

‘You like it,’ he said. ‘The fight.’

‘So do you,’ she countered. ‘When it comes to your work you’re all about challenge and danger and pitting yourself against the odds. Of course, when it comes to women, I’ve a very strong feeling that you’re not looking for a fight at all. You’re looking for perfection.’ She leaned forward, her eyes warm and ever so slightly mocking. ‘Sorry to disappoint.’

‘You don’t have to keep pointing out your flaws, Maddy. I can see them.’

She laughed at that, a rich vibrant chuckle that warmed an already sultry night.

‘How exactly did you end up doing what you do?’ she asked him, directing the conversation away from money and the making of it and back towards him. ‘I can’t imagine a school counsellor sitting you down to do a jobs test and saying that he thought you should diffuse bombs for a living.’

‘He didn’t. Though he did think a stint in the armed forces might not be such a bad thing should I ever wish to acquire some discipline. No, I followed my brother Pete into the Navy straight from school. Pete had his eyes on the sky, the Navy Seahawks. All I wanted to do was dive. After the training came the jobs, one of which was clearing sea mines. Then came retrieval of unexploded weaponry from various naval training grounds and I ended up as part of a three-man Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. Then some land-based work happened my way and I finished up with the Navy and went freelance. I still consult for them every now and again. I teach for them too, on occasion.’

Madeline smiled wryly. ‘Okay. I’ll admit it. I’m impressed,’ she said, and looked up as an immaculately dressed elderly Asian man paused on his way past their table. The rest of the man’s party moved on ahead.

‘Mr Yi,’ said Madeline, not quite concealing her surprise, though she made a creditable attempt at a polite smile.

‘Mrs Delacourte.’ The briefest of bows accompanied the statement, before the man’s gaze cut to Luke.

‘May I introduce Luke Bennett, my dining companion?’ said Madeline, responding to the unspoken cue, again with manners and caution rather than warmth. ‘Luke, may I present to you Bruce Yi, philanthropist and financier.’

Luke stood and shook hands with the man. Firm, slightly calloused grip, steady eye contact.

‘Any relation to Jacob?’ said the older man.

‘My brother.’

‘Ah.’ Hard to tell if Bruce Yi thought this was a good thing or not.

‘You know Jake?’ asked Luke.

‘I know of him,’ said Bruce. ‘Jianne Xang is my brother-in-law’s child. My niece.’

‘Ah.’ Awkward. ‘Give Ji my regards,’ said Luke quietly. He bore Ji no grudge. None of them did.

Okay, so maybe Jake bore her a tiny grudge for leaving after less than a year of marriage and taking his heart with her. Luke was still pretty sure that Jake would be the first to say that his expectations of marriage and of Ji had been too high. Had Jake ever actually talked about his ill-fated marriage to anyone, that was. Which he hadn’t.

‘Curious, don’t you think, that after all these years of separation neither Jacob nor Jianne has ever filed for a divorce?’ said the older man with the searching eyes.

‘I don’t pretend to know my brother’s mind,’ said Luke. Bruce Yi would have to look elsewhere for his answers. ‘And I certainly don’t claim to know Ji’s.’

‘One can never truly know the mind of another,’ said the older man. ‘Still, one can speculate, can they not?’

‘I’d rather not.’

Bruce Yi inclined his head and turned to Madeline. ‘My wife has a new exhibition previewing on Friday evening. A small gathering only.’

‘I’m sure Elena will put on a magnificent show,’ said Madeline. ‘She always does.’

‘I’ll add your name to the invitation list,’ said Bruce. ‘We’ll hope to see you there.’

Madeline smiled but made no comment.

‘You too, Mr Bennett.’

Madeline’s silence seemed well worth emulating.

‘Enjoy your meal,’ said the older man, and with a nod resumed his course towards the door.

‘Friend of yours?’ said Luke once he’d taken his seat.

‘No. One of Singapore’s banking elite.’ Madeline’s eyes were unhappy, her features tight with tension. ‘For the past six years, I’ve been consolidating Delacourte’s assets. Now I’m ready to grow them. I have a development proposal with Yi Enterprises that needs strong financial backing and very specific partnerships. Bruce Yi can make it happen. I thought his overture was business related. I thought it was an invitation, in typical Chinese fashion, to start dealing. It wasn’t. He’s using me to get to you. He’ll use you to get to Jacob.’

‘That’s quite an assumption,’ said Luke. ‘Given that until you introduced us he had no idea who I was.’

‘He knew,’ she said simply. ‘Maybe he noticed your resemblance to Jake and hazarded a guess, maybe he knew some other way, but he stopped by this table because of you, not me.’ She stared at him unhappily.

‘And his invitation?’

‘Should be viewed as an invitation to negotiate. I’m guessing that he wants Jianne’s divorce finalised.’

‘What’s the project?’ asked Luke. ‘The one you want Bruce Yi to finance?’

‘A Delacourte apartment-block build, our first major development in years, only this time we aim to incorporate onsite childcare, preschool, and early primary school facilities into the mix.’

‘It doesn’t sound risky to me.’

‘We also want to fit a high-grade air-filtering system that’ll give us a superior clean-air rating. They don’t come cheap.’

‘And you’ll adjust your prices accordingly. Still not seeing a problem,’ said Luke.

‘The problem is me,’ said Madeline bluntly. ‘More specifically, Bruce Yi’s perception of me. William was supposed to have had a stalwart first wife of good breeding who’d had the forethought to bear him children before being discarded. The bulk of the money would go to them. The problem being that William had no previous wife, children, or close family connections at all.’

‘So you’re the poster child for trophy wives,’ said Luke with a shrug. ‘So what?’

‘So Bruce Yi still sees me as an upstart who got lucky. He doesn’t see the businesswoman. He sees only what he wants to see.’

‘Then change his mind.’

‘How? By sacrificing you and Jacob to my ambition?’

‘No, by attending this art preview, showing Bruce Yi your stripes as a visionary developer tycoon, and letting Jake and I take care of ourselves.’

Madeline shook her head ruefully. ‘You don’t understand. Bruce Yi doesn’t need the Delacourte project. There are a dozen equally worthy proposals on his desk, all vying for his attention. He doesn’t need anything from me except access to you. He’s just made that very clear. And if I don’t bring you …’

‘Then bring me.’

‘He’s subtle.’

‘You’re annoying,’ countered Luke. Nothing but the truth. ‘Besides, I like a challenge. You said so yourself.’

‘It’ll be black tie.’

‘I’ll find one,’ he said.

‘I wouldn’t put it past Bruce to arrange for Ji to be there.’

‘And if you were trying to convince Jake to attend this function, that’d be the deal breaker. It’s not a deal breaker for me.’

‘I’d probably end up using you as a shield as well.’

‘A shield against what?’

‘Amorous intentions, mischief making, and the occasional dagger.’

‘Has anyone ever told you that you make a lot of waves?’

‘Frequently.’ And if the shadows that fell across Madeline’s eyes were any indication, it hadn’t been delivered as praise. ‘Forget it,’ she said as the waiters descended with the food. ‘You don’t have to come. It’s just a test.’