Single Girl Abroad: Untameable Rogue. Kelly Hunter
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the flames.
The rows of restaurants surrounding the wharves shone crowded and cheerful, even if the food was hit and miss. Lights from the surrounding city shimmered in the background and found reflection in the inky harbour water.
Luke sat back in his chair once they’d ordered their meals and aimed for casual conversation, the kind a man might make in passing. Did Madeline enjoy living in Singapore? Yes, she did. Had she ever considered heading home to Australia? No, she hadn’t.
And then Madeline began to counter with questions of her own. Where was he based?
Nowhere of late, though he had an apartment in Darwin that he often returned to in between jobs. He didn’t need much. He didn’t have much.
Unlike some. She’d said that his lack of monetary focus didn’t bother her and heaven help him he believed her. The problem now lay in deciding if the disparity in their wealth was going to eat at him. When it came to a short-term relationship, the extent of Madeline’s wealth shouldn’t bother him at all. It was only when he started thinking long term that her wealth and his comparative lack of it became an issue.
‘What?’ she asked, more attuned to him than he wanted her to be.
‘What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and you’d lost all that Delacourte money your late husband left you?’ Not that he was thinking long term. No way.
‘Start again.’
‘Beginning with marriage to a rich man?’
‘Not necessarily,’ she said with a shrug. ‘I know a little something about the making and keeping of money these days. I’d probably try and make my own way.’
‘You’d fight to be wealthy again?’
Her eyes flashed green fire. ‘The Delacourte empire wasn’t in particularly good shape when William died. I sold the family estate, bought the apartment I live in now, and used the change to restructure the company. Big business can mean big losses. I fight to stay wealthy now.’
‘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,