The Frenchman's Revenge (7 page)

Alex’s face flushed a
s
he visibly struggled to control his fury.

“
Father, do you know who he is? Truly is?
He is famous in China. Infamous!
Notorious!
Everyone is talking about him. He is
a
goddamn warlord
. They call him the
modern day Genghis Khan
. S
eizing
territory
, g
rabbing
leadership
, k
illing anyone who gets in his way. That’s how they see him in China, Father. He is despised, hated!”

Wyatt
’s
lips twisted in a half smile
. Th
inking back
, he remembered
how many people ascribed to him all the things Alex was saying about Bai. He
asked
in a mild voice, “Is
it
hatred they feel for him,
S
on
? O
r a combination of fear
and respect
, with a little envy thrown in
?”

“I can’t believe you are saying that, Father. I can’t believe that you want Elena to be a part of that life.
She has everything
. S
he is beautiful
. Sh
e is talented
. She’s
wealthy.
She
could have any man in the country and you are willing to let Bai have her
? S
ubject her to his lifestyle
?” He gripped the edge of the table with both hands and said in a harsh whisper
,
“Father, please tell me you will not let Elena marry that arrogant bastard
. P
lease
,
Father?”

Wyatt looked his son in the eye
.
“Number one, Alex, Bai is not a bastard
.
H
e is my wife’s brother,
your grandfather’s son.
And
,
yeah, Alex, now that Bai has taken over for Wan
,
he
is the leader of
the Sing Leon, the
largest and
most violent Tong this side of China.
I’m not surprised he is a legend in China.
Hell, he’s one here in this country and he isn’t even thirty years old.”

Alex shook his head
. His voice was bitter.
“If I didn’t know better
,
I
’d
think you admire him, Father.”

“Alex, Bai saved Elena’s life twice.
Not only that
,
when he was eighteen years old he save
d
D
eshi’s
life.
Like me, he is a
k
ung fu grandmaster
. He
lives that creed in every element of his life. You and Elena are both
k
ung fu masters
. Y
ou know first hand
the discipline
and talent
it takes to be a grandmaster.
Bai was a grandmaster at the age of seventeen, a record as far as I know.
”

Pinning his son with a hard glare,
Wyatt took a drag off his cigarette
.

“M
ost important,
Alex,
Elena has chosen
Bai
to be her husband.
She deeply loves him and he loves her.
And yeah, Alex, I admire Bai
. W
hen he and Elena marry on Friday
,
I will be honored to call him my son
-
in
-
law
.”

Alex stared at
his father in disbelief
. He s
a
t frozen for a moment,
then stood and
stalked
out of the
tavern
,
unable to
stop
the
frustrated
tears that rolled down his cheeks.

Wyatt
shook his head
in resignation
.
Downing
the
last of his whiskey
, he
walked over to the bar and threw down several large bills.

The wizened up
tavern owner
,
who had know
n
Wyatt for years,
smiled
and bowed
, acknowledging
his generosity.
Wyatt
,
the
famed moneyman and former governor of Wyoming
,
was
well-known
in the Chinese community.
Years ago
,
the Triads had ordered him killed for breaking the prohibition against non-Chinese practicing
k
ung fu.
Wyatt killed the assassin they
sent
and over the years
killed his way to the top of thei
r violent art and became a hero to the Chinese.
His reputation was further enhanced when he married Lei Chang, the daughter of Wan Chang, the legendary leader of the Sing Leon.
I
f that wasn’t
enough
, now his only daughter was about to marry
t
he
Frenchman
, the closest thing to a folk hero among the
immigrant Chinese,
young and old
alike.

“
I have a question
,
g
overnor. How come you
’re
the same
good-looking
son of a bitch
you
were
twenty years ago? You gotta be pushing
fifty
.
”

“Hell
,
Charlie
,
I been fifty for two years now.
”

“And all you got is a little grey in that handsome head of yours
?
Christ
,
I think the women like that even better than the solid b
l
ack.
At least it seems so.
I‘ve never seen a
man attract
as much attention from the ladies as you do.
Hell, you walk down the street and every head turns.
”

Wyatt grinned and his eyes twinkled.

“That’s what I mean,
there’s
that famous
twinkle
. Course you and I know that
sparkle
hides a hell of a
lot of
mischief
. M
ore than your share of danger, right,
g
overnor?” He added with a grin,
“But
whether they’ll admit it or not, the ladies love a dangerous man.”

“
You
oughta
know, Charlie.
Y
ou have almost as many kills under your belt as I do
. H
ell, what are you on
? Y
our
fifth or
your
sixth
wife?
”

Charlie’s wrinkled up face cracked in a wide smile
. He
said with mock dismay,
“Never did figure out to bed ‘em, not wed ‘em.”

Wyatt laughed and threw another bill on the bar. Charlie picked it up
with a grateful nod
and stuffed it in the drawer.
He looked at Wyatt with a knowing smile.

“
T
hat
your oldest son,
g
overnor?”

“Yeah, Charlie.
That’s Alex, Elena’s twin brother. He just got back from
six months in China.”

“
Just in time for th
e
big wedding
?”

“
Yep,
Charlie
. J
ust in time for the wedding.
”

“
It d
on’t
seem
like
your boy is real happy about the wedding,
g
overnor.”

Wyatt sighe
d
,
then grinned at the old man.

“You know how brothers are, Charlie.
Possessive as hell.
They think no one
is
good enough for their sisters.”

Charlie nodded
in sympathy.

“Ain’t that the truth, Wyatt
. A
in’t that the truth.”

Wyatt nodded in return and
clapped his arm around the old man’s shoulder
. He
gave him a friendly hug
then walked out to the wharf to help Alex and his men load Alex’s trunks in the waiting cart.

~~~

Wyatt and Alex rode up to the
v
illa that Bai was renovating
for
Elena.
It was
on the outskirts
of San Francisco
,
bordering
the vineyards Wan and
Bai bought
five years earlier.
Bai
bought
the
magnificent
v
illa
as a wedding present for Elena. F
or
mo
nths
,
scores of workmen frantically
work
ed
to ready
the
Spanish hacienda and surrounding grounds
according to Bai’s exacting specifications.
The
t
wenty
thousand acre
compound stretched from the edge of the city
t
o the rolling hills surrounding the vineyards
.
It
included desert flatlands,
grassy mesas
, rocky canyons
,
and
v
egeta
tion of every variety
,
from
towering pines to desert scrub
.

Alex
was
overwhelmed
by the beauty of the
v
illa.
It was extraordinary.
He was accustomed to wealth and opulence
,
but this was beyond even his father’s Wyoming
ranch
and Wan
Chang
’s palatial home.
Everything about
t
his complex spoke to
superb
craftsmanship and sophisticate
d
understanding of the marriage between beauty, comfort
,
and understated elegance.
P
lagued with
resentment
, Alex knew
it was Bai’s vision and taste that made it what it was
.
K
nowing
that
Bai created it for Elena
, h
e
tried to
choke down
his jealousy
, s
tifle
the
rage
that threatened to consume him.

~~~

Alex saw his grandfather,
Wan
Chang
, standing in the courtyard waiting for him.
Nearing seventy
,
the only sign of
Wan’s
age was his head of steal gray hair. A lifetime of daily
k
ung fu practice had kept his body as lean and strong as a twenty year old.
Alex took a deep breath when t
he
legendary
Tong leader’s
normally stern face softened and his eyes misted
when he caught sight of him.
Alex had been a serious child,
vulnerable to his outrageous sister’s every whim
. He
had always
looked up
to
Wan with adoring eyes
–
hoping for his approval
.

Alex remembered the first time he had dared to look to the imposing Tong
leader for
approval.
When
his father
and
Lei married
,
their son,
Deshi
,
crawled up on Wan’s lap and
said
in his two year
old
lisp
,
“
I lover you granfatter
.
”