Chapter Twenty-Five
Elizabeth
Ming Ming loops her arm around mine and drags me toward the bar. “You’ve been holding out on me, girlfriend.”
I give her an innocent “who, me?” look over my sunglasses.
“Yes, you.”
She finishes what’s left of her margarita—which isn’t much—while I take a mai tai from one of the three bartenders who are working nonstop to keep everyone at the party well imbibed. Ming Ming is a big believer in the “lubricating power” of limitless alcohol.
One of them hands her another margarita. She’s not too fond of mai tais, even though she appreciates some of the other aspects of Hawaii, such as the gorgeous blue waves and whale watching and kayaking and its men…the surfers in particular.
I suck down half the drink since I’m going to need it to face Ming Ming’s inquisition. “I told you I was bringing a date.”
“But you didn’t tell me he was so hot. H-O-T. Hot.” Fanning herself, she leans closer. “So you’re seeing him seriously, right?” A mischievous gleam lightens her eyes. “Or is it, like, a short fling?”
“It’s nothing. He and I are nothing.” The words hurt.
Don’t dwell on it.
She blinks at me, her fake lashes moving rapidly. “Really? So I can have him?”
No. “I thought you were dating Nicki.” Nicki Cao’s a popular actor and singer from Hong Kong. Handsome with a voice like whipped cream, he’s considered one of the most desirable men in China.
“Yeah…but in case it doesn’t go anywhere. You and that man… It isn’t because of Nate, is it?”
I frown. “Nate and I aren’t an item.”
“No way. You guys are like…this!” Ming Ming crosses her fingers. “Tight.”
“Yes, but then so are you and I. And we aren’t dating, are we?”
What about the proposal?
Nate didn’t have a ring. He probably didn’t mean it. He’s undoubtedly glad I didn’t jump up and down with joy.
Ming Ming deflates a bit. Nothing brings her down like a refusal to join in on gossip. “So tell me everything about Dominic.”
I shrug, not wanting to get into the events from ten years ago and ruin the festive mood. “There’s nothing much to tell. He and I ran into each other again at the charity dinner I hosted with Nate.”
“Again? Wait, so you knew him before?”
“He’s the guy I had a crush on ten years ago. You know, the reason I stuck around in L.A. rather than going to Tuscany.”
“Oh.” Ming Ming nods.
She only knows it ended, but not how. I never told her because I was too busy trying to convince Grandma Shirley not to hurt Dominic, then spent some days in the hospital afterward. By the time I was discharged, I understood that I needed to follow Grandma’s cardinal rule—never do anything to make me or her look bad—if I wanted to protect Dominic.
“Anyway when I asked, he expressed interest in making a sizable donation to the foundation. We met once to discuss exactly how we plan to help poor kids who can’t afford to go to school. And I needed a date for this party, so I asked him.”
“I’m surprised Nate didn’t want to come.”
“Nate’s busy with the opening of his clinic. Also he’s probably tired of people jumping to ridiculous conclusions about the two of us.”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on. I have high hopes for you guys. You can’t deny Nate’s a great catch. If I thought he was interested in me, I would totally do him. And have a prenup so we could never divorce.”
“The whole idea of a prenup is that you’re going to divorce.”
“But he’s perfect.”
“What if he snores or farts in his sleep?”
“Then we can have separate bedrooms. No biggie. He has other very good points.”
“Such as?”
She starts ticking them off with her free hand. “Handsome. Rich. Good-looking. Well-off. Attractive.”
“Those are just two things repeated in different words.”
“Well, I’m not sober. It’s hard to think. But there’s a third point…” Giggling, she leans closer and lowers her voice. “He’s hung like a horse.”
I almost spit my drink. “How do you know? Have you…?”
“Nope…but I can look.” She waggles her eyebrows. “And measure. I have very precise eyes.”
“You’re terrible.”
“I know. But that’s why you love me.”
I laugh. True, this is the reason why I love Ming Ming. She rarely takes anything seriously and laughs easily. I also envy her upbringing. Her parents are somewhat traditional and impose their beliefs on her from time to time, but they love her to pieces. She’s totally confident about her place in the world, about making her own destiny, knowing she has her entire family behind her.
“Tell you what,” she says. “I’m going to get you laid.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not playing victim to your Cupid.”
“Victim?” She gasps. “You mean beneficiary. You gotta get your words right, or you’re going to hurt my feelings. Besides, it’s my birthday. I’m entitled to set you up.”
“Who’s the other unwitting victim? One of your cousins? A mainland actor?”
“No, no. Dominic. He’s too delicious to ignore, don’t you agree? It’ll be perfect: a down-memory-lane fuck.”
I shake my head. “You’re wasting your time and effort if you think you can make anything happen between the two of us.”
She gasps. “Them’s fighting words!”
“Them’s the truth.”
“I’m gonna make you eat ’em.”
I wave away her mock outrage. “Yeah, yeah. And you also own a gold-plated bridge in Brooklyn.”
She’s about to say something, but gets distracted by something over my shoulder. “Ooooh, ooooh, Auntie’s gesturing. I should go and see what she wants.”
There’s only one person she calls Auntie, and that’s Zhao’s sister, who is the wife of an admiral in the Chinese Navy. That woman redefines the term “dragon lady” but she’s sugary sweet to people she considers family. Unfortunately, I’m not sure where I fall. There are times she’s so nice it brings tears to my eyes, and there are times when I’m afraid she’s going to skin me alive and set me on fire.
“She probably found you a guy,” I say.
“I know. I’ve been telling her I don’t need her help, but you know how she is.” Ming Ming widens her eyes and rolls them dramatically. “She thinks Nicki isn’t good enough.”
“No man is.” I don’t think anybody can meet Auntie’s exacting standards. “Say hello for me.”
“I will.”
Ming Ming takes off, and I grab another mai tai.
“Hello, Elizabeth.”
The mai tai almost slips from my grasp. Everything inside freezes at the familiar purring voice. I haven’t heard it in five years, and hoped it would be a lifetime. The scar underneath my left breast burns as though he’s just stabbed it—again.
Calm down. Don’t show any fear.
I breathe in and out slowly, then turn to face him, even though what I really want to do is scream and run as far away as possible—or cower and cover my head with my arms.
Andy Brown watches me, water droplets beading on his lightly tanned skin, although his shoulders are covered with a bit of powdery salt as well. Twenty-eight years old and originally from the Ukraine, he’s tall and lanky, his muscles ropey and strong. He was adopted by Dominic’s Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Chuck. Golden curls, sky-blue eyes and full lips give him an air of gentle sweetness. Except that’s a lie.
He’s a predator through and through.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, modulating my voice so I sound unaffected over the loud pounding of my heart. I have an irrational wish that I’d left my hair down. It would have given my neck a sense of protection.
“Enjoying the party.” His lips twist into a smile. “What, did you think I crashed it?”
I wish. Then Ming Ming’s security could throw him out. But I know better. With her important uncles and aunts in attendance, there’s no way her men let just anybody in.
“I didn’t realize you knew Ming Ming well enough to be invited to her birthday party,” I say. If I did, I wouldn’t have come.
“You don’t have a monopoly on her. She’s a very friendly girl.”
“She is indeed, but I remember telling you to stay away from me for everyone’s sake.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t go to parties hosted by good friends of mine.”
“It means exactly that if we’re going to run into each other.” The pulse at my neck flutters, and there’s nothing I can do to control it. Nor can I stop his gaze from settling there.
He grins in a friendly way that makes me want to vomit. “What are you gonna do? Beat me up? Sic your dog on me?” He snorts, chilling me to the core. He knows Tolyan’s not here. “I’m not doing anything illegal.”
No, he isn’t. Andy is very careful.
“Don’t even think about getting my parents involved. They can’t be my leash forever. They’re not invulnerable. A little slip and fall down the stairs. Hit and run. A mall shooting.” He leans closer, and I swallow and stand my ground. “Anything could happen to them.”
His breath fans over my bare skin, and I flinch, nausea coiling like a python. How can he speak of his parents’ deaths so casually—almost gleefully—as though the prospect is as exciting as Christmas morning?
“Hope you like my little present, Elizabeth…”
Cold apprehension skitters down my back as full panic constricts my lungs. What present? I think wildly. I don’t want…need anything. I hate presents. I hate Andy. I can’t—
I tighten my grip around my drink, willing my hands to be steady before I have a full-blown panic attack.
Perhaps I should’ve brought Tolyan after all.
People don’t know what Andy truly is—a monster behind a cherubic face. The bloody history between us is a secret. And it’ll remain that way as long as his parents hold their end of the bargain…
The bargain I made to escape my mother’s clutches and to make amends for my mistake ten years ago.