The Frenchman's Revenge (51 page)

For all the years he fought for recognition
of his talents
, the trajectory of his
fortunes
shot
sky high
when he met
A
ldo Marcello. He never kn
ew
someone with as extreme
penchants
as his own until Aldo.
The first time he heard about
Marcello’s
treatment of women and men
,
he
climaxed
in his pants. W
hen they finally met in person,
Greg
knew that
he
had met
his
doppelganger
--
a living reflection of
his
evil.
From
that day forward, he bec
a
me the mastermind
,
the nerve center at each synapse of Marcello’s enterprise
. N
o one, not
M
artin, not
G
overnor
Sampson
,
S
enator
Sinclair
,
or most important
,
not that
C
hink fu
c
ker
,
t
he Frenchman
, knew that Aldo’s
partner
,
the mastermind of the enterprise
,
was none other than Greg.

Greg left the complex
,
having
secured
Elena’s
promise that she and Bai would attend the governor’s ball next month and
,
of course
,
she was welcome to invite her father and
Lei
.
Greg
had received a message while with Elena
to call New York immediately. In several clandestine calls
,
he learned that the biggest shipment of money and jewelry that Marcello ever engineered was to take place a week from Friday. He licked his lips and stroked the bulge in his pants in anticipation.
He was the
genius
who created Aldo’s
money laundering
venture
. He connected Ma
rcello
with his banker contacts
,
who were
eager to
participate in
the profitable
undertaking.
The money flowed like
a whore’s cunt.
Before
Marcello
took his third
,
Greg took a quarter
,
an amount second only to Aldo
’s
.
After the bankers took their cut
,
what little was left was returned to the gangs.
No one had the audacity or courage to complain.

~~~

After Greg left, Elena joined Bai in the dojo.
Elena
was fascinated with
s
avate
,
the
French kickboxing that Bai had woven into his practice of
k
ung fu
S
he
begged Bai to teach her the basics.
From
the time
they
first
met,
k
ung fu
was
a touch point for
the two of them a
nd sparring one of their most pleasurable activities
. M
ore often than not their practice ended in lascivious holds or tortured positions no one but committed lovers would attempt.
As
talented a fighter
as Bai was
,
he was generous with his teaching and spent many hours working with his men
,
but
always had time for Elena
and
her young brothers.
Deshi
was his newest
protégé
and Lei and Wyatt
gave
their permission for
Deshi
to stay on at the complex to study with Bai.

Elena lay
panting and laughing
after Bai
threw
her to the floor
following a flying kick
gone awry
. She
looked up to see Alex in the doorway
,
dressed in his practice g
i
. When he saw
Bai and Elena
, Alex’s
handsome face
hardened
and his body tight
ened
. Elena saw
him
turn
to leave
and jumped up to stop him.

“Alex, don’t go.
Come and practice with us. Come on, darling.
I’ve missed sparring with you.
Bai is teaching me
s
avate.
It’s French kickboxing.
You will love it.”

Alex shook his head, his eyes
smoldering
with unspoken emotion and turned away
,
ignoring Elena’s plea.

“Alex, please come. Don’t go. Please
.”

Bai laughed, his eyes dancing.

“What’s the
matter
, Alex, scared you’ll get beat by a girl?”

“Shhh, Bai!’ Elena whispered
,
giving him a
sharp jab with her elbow
.

“
Cherie
, there is nothing more
sure to bring a
man as proud as Alex
running
as
calling him a coward
,” Bai
murmured
in response.

“Hmm.
Especially if
you’re the one calling him that
!”

Bai
grinned and gestured
to the doorway
. Sure enough,
Elena looked up to see Alex striding toward them.

Bai stood up and
motioned to Alex to join Elena and then stepped back to give them room.
He watched
Alex visibly struggle
with his conflicting emotions.
It was clear
that
he wanted to join Elena
,
but his dark
glare
at Bai confirmed his reluctance to let down his guard. Bai lit a cigarette and struck a careless pose
,
t
hen spoke to Elena
, knowing that the best way to reach Alex was indirectly.

“You and Alex spar the way you usually do
,
then when you see an opportunity
,
you can try one of your
s
avate moves.”

Elena nodded and assumed a fighting stance across from her brother.
Before he could resist her invitation
,
she yelled out a fierce spirit cry
,
signaling an attack
,
and drove at him with a hard kick to his ribs.
Alex
intuitively reacted
and soon the two were sparring as they had done most of their lives.
They were evenly matched. Although Alex was taller and stronger, Bai had worked with Elena to overcome her size disadvantages and her improved aerial skills had Alex whistling in appreciation.

W
hen Alex rolled to the ground
,
intending to rise with a knee slash to her hip
, Bai caught her eye
,
signaling the opportunity for a
s
avate move.

To Alex’s surprise,
Elena drove a smashing kick to his shoulder
,
stopping him in mid flight.

“What the hell are you doing, Elena?
Goddamn, that hurt!”

“Roll to the left, Alex!” Bai shouted
,
but Alex ignored him and tried to stand.

Elena came f
rom
the other side with a similar
k
ick
,
keeping her body
close to the ground. Again Alex shouted out his pain and disbelief at her attack.

“I said, roll to the left, Alex.”

Alex jumped up and faced them both
,
his face flushed with anger.
It was clear that he would do anything to avoid listening to Bai.

Turning
to Elena, Bai shook his head in amusement and ground out his cigarette.

“Move aside for a
bit
,
Elena
.
Let me work with this stubborn colt for a minute.”

Before Alex could respond
,
Bai
threw
himself down to the floor in much the same position Alex had been in. Pantomiming Alex’s moves, he said, “Watch what happens when I do this. See how I’m open to you when I move the way you did? Let’s try it again
,
but when I say roll,
g
oddamnit
,
you roll! But when you roll
,
come up on
the
other side so you have a clear shot.”

For the next
while
,
Bai patiently demonstrat
ed
how
s
avate fighters anticipate
d
their opponents
’
moves.

“You
rolled
the way everyone does, Alex, and an accomplished
s
avate fighter knows that and is
prepared
to counteract your move.”

They worked for several moments, Bai expertly guiding his movements with a
f
lick of his wrist or an
inspired
throw over his shoulder.
When it
seemed
as though Alex was beginning to catch on, Bai motioned for Elena to come back
in. He directed them move by move
,
the expert choreographer that he was
,
praising their quickness and adaptability.

“Excellent, Alex.
You are a natural.
One more thing and then we can set up a practice schedule and I’ll work with you.
Remember
,
this if you
forget everything
else.
Unlike
k
ung fu, th
ere
isn’t one goddamn thing
honorable
about
s
avate.
The
s
avate fighter has one goal in mind and that is to kill his opponent
in
as dirty and
painful a way
as possible.
Remember that and you’ll know why I occasionally call on my
s
avate skills.”

He added with a grin, “They’ve served me well.”

At that moment
,
Nianzu called to him from the doorway and Bai
stood
in response. He leaned over and kissed Elena
,
whispering in her ear. She blushed and it wasn’t hard to imagine what he said.

As he left the dojo
,
Bai called
back
to Elena.
“Don’t hurt him too bad,
cherie
. He’s a sensitive guy.”

Chortling with laughter
,
Bai and Nianzu
left the dojo leaving a red-faced Alex grimacing.
But even though he was angry
,
Alex couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at
the corner of
his mouth.
Elena threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“I’ve missed you, Alex.
Please come back.
I need you in my life.”

Alex blushed
,
and
assumed a fighting stance
. He
yelled
a
spirit cry
then charged
at
his
sister with both fists raised.

Chapter 2
3

Rory
Calhoun
sat in the bar of the Palace Hotel biding his time
,
drinking in the
magnificence
of the
opulent
landmark
hotel.