Single Girl Abroad: Untameable Rogue

A grim little smile twisted her lips. It would surprise no one if she did. She who’d married a soft touch for his money, buried him three years later, and never looked back. She who continued to play by rules no one else could fathom. The trophy wife who thought she had the wit to rebuild Delacourte. The woman who saw in a homeless street waif the spark of something pure and good and had known just the man who could take that spark and coax it into a strong and steady flame. The woman who loved the security that only extreme wealth could bring, but who nonetheless donated her annual wage to charity.

Delacourte made the money, paid Madeline and hundreds of others a wage, and Madeline gave her portion away. That was the way of it ever since William’s death and the why of it was unfathomable even to her.

The workings of such a system, however, depended entirely on putting Delacourte Enterprises first. Everything else flowed on from that. That much she did know.

She’d already sacrificed love to the altar of financial security. Why not friendship too?

Round and round her thoughts went as the afternoon wore on. First one way and then the other.

Round and round again.

At four-thirty, Madeline put her office phone to her ear and called the dojo in search of Luke. When he wasn’t around, she got his mobile number from Jake and called him direct.

‘There’s access to gallery parking at this show tonight. I thought I might take the car,’ she said when Luke answered his phone. No need to mention that a goodly portion of her reasoning for wanting to take the car was a heartfelt desire to stay out of elevators that had Luke in them. ‘So I’ll swing by the dojo and collect you around seven? How does that sound?’

Silence. Then, ‘Wrong,’ muttered Luke dejectedly. ‘So wrong in so many different ways.’

‘Luke Bennett,’ she scolded, thoroughly amused and not particularly surprised. ‘Is this a money thing?’

‘No, it’s a car thing. The money thing is only a peripheral problem in this particular instance. The boy acquires a car. The boy picks the girl up in his car. The girl is impressed by the lad’s ability to procure, drive, and run said car. The car is a metaphor for his ability to provide for her. That’s how it works.’

‘Quaint,’ she said, smiling into the phone. ‘What say I take your ability to provide all manner of things as read, and cut you a break seeing as you’re a stranger in a foreign land and pick you up at seven?’

‘What say I hire a car?’ he said a touch desperately.

‘Now why would you want to do that when I’ve a perfectly good vehicle sitting here practically unused?’ she said sweetly. ‘Would it help if I let you drive?’

‘No, that would merely add insult to injury.’

‘Whatever happened to equality of the sexes?’

‘The Bennett boys opted out. What kind of car is it? No, let me guess. It’s a pastel-coloured fuel-efficient compact.’

‘It’d serve you right if it was,’ said Madeline.

‘It’s not lime green with those smiley hubcaps that don’t turn round, is it? Because if it is, we’re walking.’

‘It’s a Mercedes convertible.’ Madeline wasn’t above a little teasing of her own. ‘SL class, twelve purring little cylinders. Lots and lots of buttons to play with. You’ll like it.’ A strangled sound happened along the phone line. ‘Luke Bennett, are you whimpering?’

‘Yes, but only because the tailor just found my inside leg with a pin. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the thought of being picked up from my brother’s house in that car by a woman whose wealth is vastly superior to my own. My ego is far more robust than that.’

‘Of course it is. So I’ll pick you up from the dojo at seven, then?’

‘Whatever,’ he said glumly.

‘What colour’s your suit?’

‘Black.’

‘Perfect.’ Madeline smirked. ‘You’ll match the car.’

‘Life is cruel,’ said Luke and hung up.

‘Just because a tiger purrs, doesn’t mean you have to pet it.’

Yun’s words of farewell rang in Madeline’s ears as she slid to a halt outside the dojo at seven that evening, ignoring the ‘no parking’ sign in favour of giving Po—who stood on sentry duty in the dojo doorway—a smile and a wave. Po smiled back and disappeared inside. Moments later Luke appeared and Madeline’s heart thumped hard before settling into an irregular rhythm.

He’d been Navy once, she remembered, and those boys knew how to suit up when occasion demanded it. No discomfort from this man about wearing formal evening wear—just another uniform in a long line of uniforms that would help to get the job done.

Po skipped alongside Luke, a small boy with wide eyes as he stared first at Madeline and then at the convertible as Luke slipped in beside her.

‘Jake said to tell you that if Luke’s not home by midnight he’ll think the worst,’ said Po with a grin. ‘He said you wouldn’t want him to be thinking the worst because then he’d have to bust Luke’s sorry arse.’

‘Fair enough,’ said Madeline.

‘Easy for you to say.’ Luke eyed Madeline darkly.

Po slipped back inside and Madeline eased out into the traffic with a discreet rumble. Luke studied her as she drove and she wondered what he saw. A nervous charlatan playing dress-ups or a confident woman who knew exactly who she was and what she wanted? Because when the Delacourte jewels went around her neck and the designer evening gown slid on, Madeline didn’t feel confident and empowered at all. Mostly, she just felt vulnerable.

‘Diamonds suit you,’ he said finally, and Madeline shot him an uncertain smile.

‘They belonged to William’s grandmother.’

‘They still suit you.’

‘I like your suit,’ she said.

‘It has its uses.’

One of which was to drive her insane with wanting to peel him out of it.

‘What do you know about Bruce Yi and his family?’ asked Luke next.

Solid ground. Finally. ‘Elena is Bruce’s first wife, which is something of a rarity for a man of his wealth and age. Elena’s family is practically Shanghai royalty. Bruce Yi’s lineage is equally impressive but Singapore based. Word has it that the marriage was an arranged one. Somewhere along the way it became a happy one.’

‘Any children?’

‘Two sons, our age. They work for their father. They work hard for him. No free rides there.’

‘Are the sons in relationships?’

‘Never for long. They play as hard as they work.’ Madeline thought back to the family relationships Bruce Yi had spoken of the other night. Of Ji being Elena’s brother’s child. ‘So Ji’s a Shanghai Xang?’

Luke nodded.

‘That’s serious wealth.’ Wealth enough to more than match the Delacourte family fortune. ‘How did Jake cope with that?’

‘You mean when he finally found out?’ said Luke dryly. ‘Not well.’