The Frenchman's Revenge (35 page)

When Bai heard her
plans
,
he shook his head
in
wonder at the woman he was about to marry.
A
t breakfast
,
he turned to Wyatt in mock dismay
.

“
Mon Dieu
,
Wyatt,
do you realize the force of will, Christ, the force of nature
,
she is
? N
ot only
did she
conceive of such an impossible plan
,
but
we both know she will pull it off
!
”

Wyatt
,
Wan
,
and Alex all
smiled with pride
and nodded their agreement.

Wyatt said with a wry
grin
, “You are forgetting that
Wan,
Alex
,
and I have dealt with Elena’s impossible plans since she could walk
,
and
every one of us will tell you
God help anyone who stands in her way.
A word of warning, Bai.
When that
stubborn
chin goes up and those sapphire eyes start to flash, my advice is that you make a graceful retreat and get the hell out of her way!”

Bai was glad when
Alex, who had been
quiet
and distant
for the last
two
days,
joined in the admiring laughter of
the other men and smiled at Elena wh
en she turned and threw him a raffish wink.

But Elena and
Lei
were focused on the day ahead and
barely looked up
from
the
tasks
they were checking off
while
scrutinizing
the lists of calls they needed to make
to recalcitrant shopkeepers.

Bai caught her attention and said “
Cherie
, d
o you realize
you have decreed
that each of the girls will have
nine
articles of clothing
including
a party dress
–a total of nearly five hundred items--
ordered and delivered in less than twenty four hours
? Can you imagine what is being said and done in every
clothing
shop
in San Francisco?”

Elena responded with an airy wave of her hand, “Well
,
if
they are smart
,
they
are
thinking wha
t
a godsend this
is
and
determining
how much they can jack up their prices without resistance from me.”

Wyatt laughed.
“If
I know the two
of
you
,
the last thing they will get is price resistance.”

“
F
ather, how dare you?
Listen to him, Lei.
This is the most
extravagant man
in the world – except
,
of course
,
for you,
Grandfather
.
Just so you know,
Bai
,
you
have
a high hurdle to
jump to meet
the marvelously profligate ways o
f my father and grandfather.
But,
o
f course
,
you must know by now how terribly spoiled I am.”

Bai grinned a wicked grin and said with a chuckle, “Don’t think I don’t know that I
have my work cut out for me
, mon amour
.
But
,
cherie
,
as you know
,
there are
other
ways to spoil a beautiful woman
than with riches.
”

Elena blushed and looked down
,
seeing Bai’s eye
s
drift to her breasts
,
knowing that
her
nipples
had
hardened
in tight
peaks
f
rom
his sensual look alone.

Bai saw her embarrassment and de
cided
to be merciful and change the subject.

He tuned
back
to Wyatt in mock horror
.

“
Doux Jésus
,
imagine what she could do with a
battle
plan. Tell me the truth, Wyatt, before it is too late.
You are my mentor, my advisor
.
Am I making a terrible mistake
,
thinking that I can control this
whirlwind
that is your daughter and tomorrow is to be my wife?
”

Wyatt
’s
eyes clouded with mo
isture
. L
ooking at the red haired daughter who was the pride of his life
, he
said in a gruff voice filled with emotion
,

“
Bai, I
will
only say that
,
like
the gift
you
r
father gave me when he blessed my marriage to Lei, I am giving you the most precious gift you will ever
receive.”

Elena
saw the tears in his eyes and
jumped up and ran over to Wyatt and
thr
ew
her arms around his neck
. S
he
kissed him
and whispered, “Thank
you
,
Father.
”

Wyatt
recovered his usual grin and with a twinkle
in his eye
said
, “D
on’t forget
,
Elena
,
you are my best girl ever.
”

With happy tears in her eyes
,
she
hugged her father and gave
her
expected
response cultivated f
rom
fifteen years of
repetition, “
But
,
F
ather
,
I am you
r
only
girl.
”

With a
grateful
sigh, Wyatt answered
in form, “
I know
,
honey, I know.
”

Bai came up behind
Elena
and
put his arm around her shoulder. He
bowed low to Wyatt.

“Please
know
,
Wyatt
,
that in all my life I ne
ver dreamed that I would be blessed with a
woman like Elena.
I
thank
both you and Lei for helping to create the woman she is.
I am grateful and humbled.
”

~~~

The boxes arriv
ed
amidst huge excitement
.
Elena and Lei
organized
a virtual
brigade
in the major dining room
,
sorting the
clothing
items by siz
e
and function.
There were fifty cards
spread among the
table
s
. E
ach
card had
a girl’s name and her sizes
.
After nearly four hours of steady work
,
punctuated with excited
“
oohs
”
and
“
ahhs
”
, all fifty stacks had been arranged and each of the girls was called in to receive
her
gorgeous bundle.
Most of them were too stunned to do anything but stare at the beautiful clothes. Elena met each girl’s shy reluctance with an excited question and a hug.
Over and over she
asked
, “Do you like it?”
Or
,
she
shriek
ed
in delight,
“Oh
,
look at this!
” or “
This is wonderful
,
”
or
“
Look at how this fits you and how it matches your eyes!
”

Her excitement was infectious and soon the room was filled with
laughter and shrieks of delight
as the
girls
tried on their clothes and whirled in circles in f
ront
of the beautiful woman who
se
admiring
smiles and hugs made them feel lovely and loved.

Chapter
16

El
ena
waited
to
return
to her room
until all th
e clothes had been the delivered and the girls had gone back to their quarters to rest after the excitement of their impromptu fashion show.

She walked through th
e private garden on the way to her
quarters
when she saw Bai.
Thinking that he had gone to town
,
she was surprised and excited to see him in the garden.

She started to call out to him
w
hen
she
saw that he was with Jeng Ming. They were deep in conversation and neither of them saw her. She started to turn away
,
not wanting to interrupt
,
but
stopped struck by Jeng Ming’s beauty.

Lei was the most beautiful
Oriental
woman Elena had ever known and Jeng Ming had that level of
exquisite
beauty
,
only she was
the same age as Elena. Something about her conversation with Bai had erased the hard
ness
around
her eyes and mouth
and
instead of her
usual
haughty demeanor
,
she looked happy, enticing. For the first time Elena could appreciate
the
stunning
beauty not only of her face
,
which was remarkable
,
but also her body. She was small, at least four inches shorter than Elena. But her body was amazingly lush.
Her breasts were high and full
and tapered to a tiny waist and curvy hips.
Her legs were slender and her hands and feet,
delicate
, lovely.

Her long black hair hung
to the middle of her back
and swayed in a shiny silken mass when she moved.
Elena knew that Alex
was
wildly smitten
with
her
. W
atching her with Bai, Elena understood the attraction men would feel for Jeng Ming. It wasn’t as though she was
flirting
. I
t was her presence, the way she tossed her head, swayed her hips, smiled a
knowing
smile,
inviting them
to come closer – if they dared.
Growing
up the way she did in
Marcello’s hideous
lair,
Elena could see that
Jeng
Ming
developed survival skills that included how to use her astonishing
beauty to capture and control the men around her.

Jeng Ming
was looking up at Bai with a
n admiring
look.
And why wouldn’t
she
, Elena thought with a snort. Bai was as handsome as Jeng Ming was beautiful. His tall
,
lean body was strong, rippling with
powerful
muscle
.
His white
silk
shirt was open
at the neck
and tucked in his fitted black riding breeches that emphasized his hard muscular thighs. His
collar length hair was
hanging
loose
,
not tied back in the more formal queue
he usually wore.
It shadowed his
face
like a silky b
lack curtain and
ruffled
by the wind,
was
sexy, inviting.
Elena loved it when Bai wore his hair loose
,
loved to run her fingers through it
, pull his face close to hers.
With a catch in her throat
,
she appreciated how gorgeous he was.
With his casual clothes, his tousled hair, his soft accent and l
ow chuckle
,
he looked more like a young Lothario than a man who was to be married the following day.