The Grandmaster’s Legacy: Masters of Love and War (A Taylor Lee HOT Historical Romantic Suspense Collection) (The Grandmaster's Legacy)

by Taylor Lee

  Wyatt dropped his staff and secured his knives. Longwai struggled to get to his knives, careening across the ring. In a fierce display of mastery, Wyatt came at him, the epitome of the fierce grandmaster that he was. It was as though a fury had entered his body, seizing control of his movements. The crowd was silent.

  Gone were Wyatt’s grins, chuckles, and smiles. Longwai’s face was a bloody mash, his eyes almost swollen shut. He was severely disorientated from the blow to his neck. His kicks and punches were futile, his blades useless. Wyatt’s body was a well-oiled brutal machine. Every knee and full force kick connected. Methodically, he struck one body part after another until Longwai was a broken mass writhing on the ground. Wyatt never stopped his ferocious attack.

  He stepped back, allowing Longwai to struggle to his hands and knees. Like a massive bull, the huge man reared to his feet stumbling blindly from side to side. Wyatt went in for the kill. He pushed off from the railing and mimicking Lei’s double leg side kick, he hit Longwai full on his kneecaps. With a primal howl, he drew his jian, raised it high in the air and with a vicious cut, slashed Longwai’s throat. Longwai fell to the ground, his neck an open gash spouting blood. Wyatt dropped his blade. Breathing hard, he walked over and picked up his staff. He strode to the bloodied fighter and kicked him flat on his back. With a spine-chilling cry that echoed through the night, he roared one word – LEI. He raised his staff high above his head and with all his power drove it through the chest of the dying man, impaling him to the ground. The crowd on both sides of the ring was silent.

  Wyatt stood over the body for a long moment, then took off his bandana and wiped off the blood that had splattered on his face, neck, and chest. Taking a deep breath, he walked over and bowed low before Joey, who returned his bow, tears of joy streaming down his face. Wyatt strode across the ring to Wan Chang who was sitting stony faced on his horse at the edge of the fence. Wyatt’s voice was low – almost a whisper, but so fierce his words were heard around the ring. “The child is Lei’s and mine. It is not yours. If you interfere again, I swear to god you will end up like him.” He bowed and thanked him for honoring his dojo with the fight and turned to walk away.

  Wan said, “Wyatt, whether you ever see the child will be up to Lei.”

  Wyatt turned back and walked up close to the fence. “No, Wan, it won’t be. The way we raise our child is a decision Lei and I will make together. You will not be a part of it.”

  He went over and pulled his staff from the dead man’s chest, picked up his jian blade, and walked across the yard to Joey’s.

  ~~~

  Lei sat by the floor length window overlooking the city of Denver. In the distance, she could see the Rocky Mountains, their majesty and beauty one of the few calming features of herself imposed prison. Her father had wanted her to come to his California complex. Lei refused. The idea of going back to the home where she lived her isolated, lonely childhood was anathema to her.

  She admitted her decision to stay in Denver was all about Wyatt. Even though she never expected to see him again, she couldn’t bear to be as far away as California. Her decision to stay at the Brown Palace Hotel was made for one reason — to hurt Wyatt as much as she could. She hoped he would find her and be furious. He would know why she chose it. That he would know where she was, but not be able to reach her made the Hotel the perfect prison.

  And it worked. He found her. And he insisted that he see her as she hoped he would. But she hadn’t thought things through as well as she should have. She was certain he had hurt her as much as he could. She didn’t think she had available pain centers that he hadn’t struck. But when he insisted he see her she realized it was not because of her. It was because she had something that belonged to him. And he wanted it. His child.

  Convinced that he came to her for the child, not for her, was the only way she resisted him. When she heard his voice and saw his face she fought the urge to go to him. To beg him to hold her and never let her go. She knew she missed him, but his physical presence was like a jolt of energy so strong and so powerful she thought it might blow her apart. She saw in his eyes that he wanted to touch her. He always wanted that. God knows she craved his touch. But then she remembered why he came. Just as her father had not cared enough to make her mother stay, she was sure Wyatt’s goal was to take her child and leave her behind.

  The door opened. Ri entered. The fight was the day before. She braced herself for the news.

  “Lei, are you awake?”

  “Yes. What happened?”

  “He killed him.”

  “Who?”

  “Wyatt killed Longwai.”

  As though flood gates opened her tears of relief flowed. She allowed herself to cry. Ri stood helplessly by for what seemed like hours. She lay on the floor crying bitterly. She pressed against the glass of the eighth story window as if she would roll out if she could. She was certain Ri was afraid that the repeated bouts of crying might be verging into hysteria and did her best to stop crying.

  Ri stood by her. His face was pale, his eyes filled with tears. “How can I help you, Lei? I thought you would be glad that Wyatt wasn’t killed.”

  She sat up, her tear streaked face clouded with emotions she knew he didn’t understand.

  “Of course I’m glad he didn’t get killed. For God sakes, Ri, don’t you know anything?” She lashed out at him because he was there.

  “Don’t you see,” she continued, “This is all about them. The two of them. Circling each other, one round after the other. Wyatt won the first round when I fell in love with him and got pregnant. Father one-upped him by keeping me here and trying to kill him. Now Wyatt won this one. On it goes.”

  She burst into tears again. Ri sunk down on the floor beside her his back against the window, tears streaming down his face.

  Lei wailed. “At least before it was about me. I hated that, but now it’s about the baby. They were fighting over me. Now they’re fighting over the baby.

  Struggling to control her sobs, Lei stared at her brother, her voice anguished. “But really, it’s not about either one of us. Not me, not the child. It’s about them. Two fucking men who don’t care who they hurt or who they kill as long as they win. Don’t you see it, Ri? You’ve lived it all your life as I have. Tell me this. Why did I fall in love with Wyatt? A man who has hurt me, even more than our father has? Why, Ri? Why?”

  She sobbed again, a bitter, disconsolate sound. Ri pulled her up beside him. They sat against the window, leaning into each other as they had many times when they were children. But then it had been Lei always comforting Ri, her younger brother.

  Ri lifted her chin swiping at her tears. His voice broke. He whispered, “I… I am sorry, Lei. I do not know how to comfort you.”

  Lei gave him a watery smile. “Don’t feel bad, Ri. No one can.”

  They sat together for a while longer, then Lei managed to stand and turned to go to her bedroom. She looked back and said, “At least if he had been killed it would have ended this. Now it will go on as long as they are both alive.”

  Ri took a deep breath. “Lei, Wyatt asked me to give you this note. He wants to see you. He’s down in the lobby.” He held out a note. Her name in Wyatt’s handwriting was on the front.

  She laughed a mirthless laugh. “I’ll bet he does. He wants to crow over his victory. Tell me what I am to do next now that he has won this round. Does he want me to pluck out the baby? Give it to him now? Or is he willing to wait until it’s born to come and take it?”

  She glared at Ri’s pale, helpless face. Her eyes flashed with anger. “Ri, tell him to go to hell. No on second thought that’s where I am. Sure enough I will run into him. Tell him I never want to see him again. And give him back his fucking note.”

  She stalked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

  ~~~

  Ri came down to the lobby bar where Joey and Wyatt were sitting drinking bourbon. When they saw the tears on Ri’s face, both Wyatt and Joey jumped up in concern.
>
  “What’s wrong, Ri? Has something happened to Lei?” Wyatt asked.

  Looking down, Ri said, “She won’t see you, Wyatt. She asked you to go and not contact her again.”

  “I don’t understand. Did you give her my note?”

  “Here, she wouldn’t open it.” He handed Wyatt the unopened note.

  “Look, Ri, this is unacceptable. You are my only connection to her that your father doesn’t control. I need to see her. Don’t you understand? I need your help.”

  “She doesn’t want to see either one of you again. I don’t either. We want you to leave us alone.” He blinked furiously to keep the tears flooding his eyes from falling. He didn’t look back when Wyatt called out to him.

  “Goddamn it, Joey. I don’t understand. Why? Why, won’t she see me? Why the hell don’t Ri and Lei want to see you. Christ, you have been on their side from the beginning.”

  Joey shook his head. “I’m not who they’re talking about, Wyatt. They don’t want to see either you or Wan. I’m afraid you’ve become one and the same to Lei. Poor Ri has always been terrified of his father.”

  “Joey, please try to see her. Tell her what I asked her in this note. I want her to come back to the ranch. Let us share these last couple of months of her pregnancy. Christ, Joey, all I want to do is hold her, spoil her, and try to make up for these last five months. Will you please get to her somehow and tell her that?”

  “Wyatt, look at that staircase over there. They’ve got the whole goddamn Sing Leon army here. We can’t get in and Lei can’t get out. I’m sorry, Wyatt. The only thing I can suggest is to keep trying. She is hurt. I’m telling you I’ll never forget the day she left the ranch. She was crushed. She was in grief. And, Wyatt, she was angry. The only person I’ve seen with anger that intense is you.”

  Wyatt and Joey had taken the train from Cheyenne to Denver because it cut their trip to half a day. They assumed they would bring Lei back with them. At almost seven months pregnant, Wyatt didn’t want her to ride three days on horseback.

  The only thing worse than coming back without her was seeing Alex and Elena and Chief at the train station, eagerly waiting for them. They had been unable to reach Chief. Once again Wyatt was going to have to tell the children that Lei wasn’t with him.

  Chapter 28

  Wyatt lounged in a chair in the gazebo smoking a cigarette. Jesse was lying on the floor naked, still trembling from her orgasm. She had grown accustomed to Wyatt pulling away after he fucked her. He was distant, impersonal, and he wasn’t funny the way he used to be. She didn’t want to push him. She was afraid he wouldn’t come back.

  Taking a deep breath, she said, “I never see you naked, Wyatt. Why don’t you take off your clothes and be naked like me? You know you have an incredible body.”

  He looked at her with a half-smile. “Honey, I never want to show my little whores too much; they might talk among themselves. It wouldn’t be safe for me to walk down the streets of Cheyenne if everyone knew what I have under here.”

  She sat up shocked. “Wyatt, that is not funny. Is that the way you think of me? One of your whores, like those women in the saloons in Cheyenne?”

  “Hey, don’t put them down. Some of those women are as good a fuck as you can get for the money. Hell, they’re willing to do it with any poor asshole as long as he can pay. Course it’s a little different with me. Lots of times, I have to force ‘em to take my money. They’d do it for free if I promised to come back. But, hell, I always pay. They earn every cent they get.”

  He looked at her with a lazy grin. “C’mon, honey, you know you love being my whore. Why else would you let me do anything I want to you on my schedule, with you begging for more? Not that I don’t return the favor. Christ, now all you want is for me to spank your ass to get you started. That’s fine with me if that’s what turns you on.”

  He took a drag on his cigarette and added, “You know I’ve been thinking, honey, you and Martin may have more in common than you realized.”

  Jesse sat up and grabbed her shirt from the floor, covering herself. “Why are you trying to hurt me, Wyatt? You know I don’t want to go back with Martin… unless I have to.”

  “Why the hell would you have to?”

  “Frank says I can live here, but I can’t if Martin is anywhere near.”

  “Why do you need Martin for Christ sakes? Get a manger for the ranch. Frank will cover all your expenses.” Wyatt knew Frank had agreed to take care of Jesse because Wyatt made it a condition of their land deal. Frank agreed as long as Jesse left Martin.

  “I don’t know, Wyatt. I’ve… I’ve been married for twelve years. I don’t know if I’m prepared not to be married.”

  “God, honey, doesn’t it matter who you’re married to? Don’t you realize that Martin is not only likely to go to prison but is literally the butt of every joke from Washington to Boston to Wyoming? Not only that, but after the courts are finished with him he is going to have to figure out a way to repay his partners the half million dollars they lost. They aren’t likely to forget whose fault it was. And you might want to remember that he also lost nearly four hundred thousand dollars of his own money and his brother’s and cousin’s. Jesus Christ, Jesse, what does it take for you to decide you might not want to stay with the guy?”

  “I know all of that, Wyatt. It makes me sick. I saw that cartoon like everyone else did. I don’t know how I am going to face my friends in Boston. But, Wyatt, we have three children. They all want to stay in Boston. Plus, Martin’s parents are pushing me hard. They think it will be easier for Martin to get back into society if it looks like I haven’t abandoned him. They are telling the children that I can come back if I want to.”

  “Honey, how are you gonna feel about being married to a guy in prison?”

  “Peter—Martin’s father, says that won’t happen. We have good lawyers. They’re getting some Congressmen involved. The man from the land office may end up in prison, but its unlikely Martin or the others will. They may have to pay a fine and they won’t get the money back they put down.”

  “You’re probably right about that. The ones who deserve it most always seem to buy their way out of prison the way they do everything else. I guess that’s a special kind of justice. Hit ‘em where it hurts the most — in their wallet. Christ, Jesse, is that all that matters? Doesn’t it bother you that Martin was willing to steal from everyone in the state? Not only did he do something illegal as hell, but he was willing to steal a million dollars from Frank, his eighty-two year old grand uncle. Damn, honey, if none of that bothers you how do you fell about him winding up in a national cartoon buck naked with his ass in the air?”

  Jesse looked away, her voice was resigned. “It’s easier for you, Wyatt. You’re wealthy. You don’t have to worry about money.”

  “Easier for me not to be a thief? Honey, who the hell do you think is the Indian, me or Martin? Who grew up on a reservation without a goddamn cent and who was born with a family fortune sitting in the bank?”

  “You don’t understand, Wyatt.”

  “Hmm, I thought that was my line.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing. I just realized how empty those words sound. Especially to someone who understands better than you’ll ever know.”

  “Wyatt?”

  “Yeah, Jesse?”

  “I could stay if I thought there was a reason—maybe down the road…”

  “Honey, let me give you a little advice from someone who could have used it. You need to choose. The future or the past. The past may seem safer and the future uncertain as hell, especially if you have any idea that I might be in yours. But you do need to choose, Jesse. And the choice you make says a hell of a lot to the people around you. Goes to the heart of who you are.”

  He stood up and shook his head at her naked body. No question that she was beautiful. He felt a rush of anger at her unwillingness to face the truth about Martin or about herself. It felt too god dammed familiar – too close to home.
It made him angry.

  Wyatt knew Alono was waiting for him on the porch and went out to the side of the gazebo and called to him. He stood in the doorway of the gazebo smoking his cigarette. When Alono approached, Wyatt said, “Alono, come back and have a drink with us.”

  Wyatt quirked a brow at Alono’s surprise. His invitation was the Caballero code, inviting Alono in for sex three way or four or whatever way they wanted. He and Alono had shared many a woman, but always with whores in the familiar setting of a brothel. Alono stared at Wyatt, his face a question mark.

  Wyatt said, “Come on in, Alono, you know Jesse.”

  Jesse grabbed her shirt and held it next to her naked body. She looked as shocked as Alono at Wyatt’s invitation.

  Wyatt took a drag on his cigarette. “How about it, baby? We both know you’ve always wanted to do it with more than one guy. You’ll never get the chance with anyone as close to perfect as Alono is—except me, of course.”

  Jesse face was bright red as she looked from Wyatt to Alono. For a moment, she looked like she might cry then a different emotion took over. She looked from Wyatt’s body to Alono’s and her eyes sparkled. A flash of excitement crossed her face. Without hesitation, she nodded yes.