I wave away her mock outrage. “Yeah, yeah. And you also own a gold-plated bridge in Brooklyn.”
She’s about to say something, but gets distracted by something over my shoulder. “Ooooh, ooooh, Auntie’s gesturing. I should go and see what she wants.”
There’s only one person she calls Auntie, and that’s Zhao’s sister, who is the wife of an admiral in the Chinese Navy. That woman redefines the term “dragon lady” but she’s sugary sweet to people she considers family. Unfortunately, I’m not sure where I fall. There are times she’s so nice it brings tears to my eyes, and there are times when I’m afraid she’s going to skin me alive and set me on fire.
“She probably found you a guy,” I say.
“I know. I’ve been telling her I don’t need her help, but you know how she is.” Ming Ming widens her eyes and rolls them dramatically. “She thinks Nicki isn’t good enough.”
“No man is.” I don’t think anybody can meet Auntie’s exacting standards. “Say hello for me.”
“I will.”
Ming Ming takes off, and I grab another mai tai.
“Hello, Elizabeth.”
The mai tai almost slips from my grasp. Everything inside freezes at the familiar purring voice. I haven’t heard it in five years, and hoped it would be a lifetime. The scar underneath my left breast burns as though he’s just stabbed it—again.
Calm down. Don’t show any fear.
I breathe in and out slowly, then turn to face him, even though what I really want to do is scream and run as far away as possible—or cower and cover my head with my arms.
Andy Brown watches me, water droplets beading on his lightly tanned skin, although his shoulders are covered with a bit of powdery salt as well. Twenty-eight years old and originally from the Ukraine, he’s tall and lanky, his muscles ropey and strong. He was adopted by Dominic’s Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Chuck. Golden curls, sky-blue eyes and full lips give him an air of gentle sweetness. Except that’s a lie.
He’s a predator through and through.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, modulating my voice so I sound unaffected over the loud pounding of my heart. I have an irrational wish that I’d left my hair down. It would have given my neck a sense of protection.
“Enjoying the party.” His lips twist into a smile. “What, did you think I crashed it?”
I wish. Then Ming Ming’s security could throw him out. But I
know better. With her important uncles and aunts in attendance, there’s no way her men let just anybody in.
“I didn’t realize you knew Ming Ming well enough to be invited to her birthday party,” I say. If I did, I wouldn’t have come.
“You don’t have a monopoly on her. She’s a very friendly girl.”
“She is indeed, but I remember telling you to stay away from me for everyone’s sake.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t go to parties hosted by good friends of mine.”
“It means exactly that if we’re going to run into each other.” The pulse at my neck flutters, and there’s nothing I can do to control it. Nor can I stop his gaze from settling there.
He grins in a friendly way that makes me want to vomit. “What are you gonna do? Beat me up? Sic your dog on me?” He snorts, chilling me to the core. He knows Tolyan’s not here. “I’m not doing anything illegal.”
No, he isn’t. Andy is very careful.
“Don’t even think about getting my parents involved. They can’t be my leash forever. They’re not invulnerable. A little slip and fall down the stairs. Hit and run. A mall shooting.” He leans closer, and I swallow and stand my ground. “Anything could happen to them.”
His breath fans over my bare skin, and I flinch, nausea coiling like a python. How can he speak of his parents’ deaths so casually—almost gleefully—as though the prospect is as exciting as Christmas morning?
“Hope you like my little present, Elizabeth…”
Cold apprehension skitters down my back as full panic constricts my lungs. What present? I think wildly. I don’t want…need anything. I hate presents. I hate Andy. I can’t—
I tighten my grip around my drink, willing my hands to be steady before I have a full-blown panic attack.