by Taylor Lee
After they left, a pained silence settled over the table. Chief got up and walked over to Lei, who was staring at the table, her face pale and strained. To her surprise, and against her protests, he pulled her up out of her chair. He put his arms around her and held her tightly in his arms. He rubbed her face and back, murmuring comforting words to her the way that Wyatt did. To Wan’s and Joey’s surprise, she let him hold her. After a long moment, she burst into tears.
After she had cried for several minutes with the Chief holding her close, she sobbed, “I wish Wyatt was here.”
“I do too. Lei. He would know what to do to make you feel better.”
She nodded.
“Lei, when you and Wyatt have a chance to be alone and discuss all the awful things that have happened, you are going to be able to work things out. No one in the world could love you more than Wyatt does. I know how much you love him. You need to find a way to make it through these next few weeks until you are able to be alone together. I am a poor substitute, but if Wyatt was here now he would be holding you like this, and wouldn’t let you go. You know that, don’t you?”
She nodded again, with tears running down her face. The sobs that she had buried deep inside rose to the surface, shaking her body.
Chief held her closer. “In the meantime, I am going to tell you some things that I know Wyatt would tell you if he was here. First, you are one of the most beautiful, desirable women that has ever walked this earth. There isn’t a man alive who wouldn’t give everything he had if he thought he could be loved by you. That includes me. You know I love you. If I was twenty years younger, Wyatt wouldn’t have a chance!” he added with a grin.
“In addition to being breathtakingly beautiful and alluring, you are so goddamn smart it is scary. Perhaps most important you are an honorable woman. No one who knows you would ever think differently.
“Now that is the best “Wyatt” I can do for now. You will have to wait for the real thing to get all the comfort you need. But know that every word I said to you is the god’s honest truth. As Wyatt would say, ‘You got that, honey?’”
Lei looked up through her tears and smiled a watery smile. With a little grin, she said, “You do a pretty good Wyatt impersonation, Chief.”
“I should. I have been listening to him lecturing me since he was a ten year old boy.”
Wan sat at the end of the table with his head in his hands.
Lei walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry about last night, Father. I know the things I said about you hurt you. I meant them and I’m not sorry I said them. They are things I have wanted to say for a long time. I regret that I said them in front of Joey and Chief. I should have waited until we were alone. I apologize.”
Wan stood up and nodded to her, his face a stony mask. He said, “I am going to the dojo to practice with the children. What time do we need to leave for Cheyenne?”
Chief said, “Tom wants us there in time for dinner, so that we can have the evening for a strategy session. We need to leave no later than two o’clock.”
Wan nodded and left the room
Lei sighed and shook her head at her father’s distress.
“I’m going to pack. The children and I will be ready to leave at two o’clock.”
She gave both Joey and Chief a quick kiss on the cheek and then went to her room.
~~~
That afternoon, Lei managed to corral the children long enough to make sure that everyone had packed the things they needed for the next five days. Everyone was on their horses ready to go at precisely two o’clock. Somehow, she had been able to keep up a good front with the children. She was determined that neither she nor Wyatt use the children in any way in this crisis. She knew how much Wyatt loved the children and how much they loved him. She had decided after she had some time to think about what Wyatt had done that she would not involve them. She did not want to do anything to imply that their father was less than the wonderful man they knew him to be. It was harder for her to keep up the pretense after what happened with Alono. She was devastated by what she had done. It was difficult not to show her pain. She submerged it as much as she could and tried to be the caring loving mother they knew.
~~~
Tom Caldwell met the group in the lobby of the hotel. He nodded to Chief and Joey and bowed in respect to Wan. He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow at Wan’s hard-eyed entourage. Their presence left little to the imagination. Christ, he thought to himself, any other fucking man besides Wyatt might think twice before he stepped out on the daughter of this man. But then Wyatt wasn’t any other man.
He was troubled by Lei’s fragile appearance and once again struck by her beauty. Even pale and thinner, she was the most exotically beautiful woman he had ever seen. He gave her a reassuring smile and a quick kiss.
“How did you manage to get this group here on time, Lei? You are amazing. Who else could get them all here and only two of them have dirty faces,” he said laughing and pointing to the chocolate on Nicolas Deshi’s face and, surprisingly, on Alex’s.
He turned to the children. “I know you are excited to see your father. He is meeting with some newspaper people and won’t be done for an hour. I want to show you the nice rooms we have arranged for you. We won’t tell your mother and father, but I think you might find some candy and toys in your room.”
He led the group up the staircase, with the children laughing and shouting—running ahead of him—eager to see their room and the presents Tom implied were there. Like everyone who saw Nicolas Deshi, Tom marveled at the child.
“My god, Lei. He has to be the most beautiful child I have ever seen. This is what he looks like at two almost three years old? Talk about taking the most handsome man I know and throwing him together with the most beautiful woman who has walked the earth. I guess what you get is a child who looks like Nicolas Deshi.”
“Thanks, Tom. He is a beautiful child. For better or worse, in addition to getting our physical characteristics, Deshi also got some of our personality traits as well. I used to think that was a good thing. Now I’m not so sure,” she added with a tinge of bitterness in her voice.
Tom ignored the implication of her words and went on to describe the arrangements he had made.
“Lei, I arranged a suite for the children with an alcove for Millie, so that they will have someone with them at all times. You and Wyatt will need to be in meetings. I wanted to be sure that they had a full time chaperone, including at night.”
He want on as though nothing had changed and pointed to her room.
“This is yours and Wyatt’s room. It is right next door to the children’s. Chief’s and Joey’s rooms are down the hallway. I am next door to you and Wyatt. I know that your father’s men have made all of his arrangements. My understanding is that they have taken over the floor above us.
“You look tired, Lei. Why don’t you take advantage of all these people available to help with the children and rest for awhile? I want to meet with you and Wyatt before dinner. I know he wants to spend time with the children. This will be a perfect opportunity for you to rest. Who knows if you’ll have a chance in the next couple of days? We are going to be busy. Plus, we have some issues and I need your good strategic thinking.”
“Thanks, Tom, for everything. I appreciate it. I appreciate your suggestion. I think more than anything I would like to get into a hot bath and then lay down for a while.”
“That’s a great idea. From the sound of the shrieks from your children next door, Wyatt must have arrived. I have arranged for food to be brought up to their room. The children will be well taken care of. You get some rest. I’ll call up and let you know when and where we are going to meet.”
He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. He closed the door behind him and went down the hallway, smiling at the childish yells and chatter coming from the children’s room. He could hear Wyatt’s wonderful laugh and the children’s joyful responses. God, he though
t to himself, Lei and Wyatt are amazing parents. To be able to create some sort of normalcy in the midst of this chaos was nothing short of a miracle.
~~~
Tom was a man on a mission. He needed to do his job. There were details he didn’t know about Lei and Alono and he needed to find them out before he met with Wyatt and Lei. He went down the hallway and knocked on Chief’s door.
“I thought I would find you both here,” he said, nodding to Chief and Joey. “I see you found the well-stocked bar and cigars I arranged for you.”
“Thanks, Tom,” Chief said. “How are things going? How is Wyatt? Give me an update on the campaign in general and then we can talk about what happened Monday night. “
“Christ, Chief, I came in here to throw a bunch of questions at you. I guess the three of us have the same goal. Somehow, we want to keep these people we love and admire from imploding. I will answer your general campaign questions first. You have seen him, Chief. Wyatt is the most accomplished candidate–and man—I have ever worked with. That is saying something. He is a natural politician. Not in the usual unctuous way of the Grant Forresters and the others we know too well. He is so real and just so goddamned smart. He sizes people up in thirty seconds. He knows precisely who is worth impressing and who he would as soon shoot as look at. And god, do people like him. Not just the women. It’s the same as when you were with us, Chief. If anything, the crowds are more positive. We could stay at every rally and meeting for five hours after we are done. That’s how many people want to shake his hand, tell him their story. Goddamn, they just want to touch him.
“Yeah, Wyatt - on the surface - is doing great. Below the surface, he is deeply troubled by what has happened. He is appropriately embarrassed by his own behavior and angry with Lei. And whatever the hell this is about Lei and Alono has thrown another huge wrench in our plans. All of these things are tearing at him. No one but me, and of course you two, would know that.
“That is a quick update. Now I need some information from you. I need to know what happened between Alono and Lei and what the hell happened with Wyatt. We barely spoke yesterday and today. Frankly, I think we are at the go/no go point in the campaign. I have serious questions as to whether we can continue. We may have hit one personal crisis too many. I am going to meet with Wyatt and Lei before dinner and before our group strategy session. I need to ask them both if they are going forward. I wouldn’t blame either one of them - especially Lei - if they want to drop out. But if they are or if she is going to leave, as crass as it sounds, I need to know so that I can plan a strategic retreat.”
“I will be surprised if Lei says she wants to quit,” Chief said, and Joey nodded in agreement. “She has amazing strength and I know she believes in him. She also knows better than any of us the depth of Grant’s evil. We are talking about Chinese girls, after all. And don’t forget whose feet she grew up at. Lei has probably seen more violence and outright evil than any of us, including Wyatt and me. She is not one to run from a fight. But this incident with Alono has thrown her badly. It has shattered her confidence in a way I never anticipated.”
“Lay it on me, Chief. I assume that Alono took advantage of her anger and grief. Not that I blame him. I know he is in love with her. But then, who isn’t?”
“Well, Tom, you are right about that. He is a hell of lot more in love with her than even I realized.”
To an astonished Tom, Chief and Joey told him the whole story, including the fact that Wyatt knew the truth when he attacked Alono.
Chief pulled no punches about how angry he was that Wyatt had attacked Alono the way he did.
“The only way I can figure it out is that Wyatt didn’t believe Lei. Or more likely, just the thought of anyone being close enough to her to have the opportunity to fuck her would have enraged him. Ironic isn’t it? He is so goddamn smart and rational. Except when it comes to Lei. He can’t understand why she is upset about him participating in an orgy, but is enraged that Alono got to see her beautiful breasts. It’s unreasonable, irrational, and so is Wyatt. But if you had seen Alono’s face two hours before Joey and I got it put back together, you would understand the depth of Wyatt’s anger. In some twisted way, I also think that Wyatt was angry that Alono hurt her feelings when he turned her down, if that makes any sense at all. Don’t forget, under all that bravado Wyatt is sick with regret that he was unfaithful to Lei.”
“Goddamn. I am almost speechless. I don’t know who I feel worse for – Alono, poor bastard, or Lei or, Christ, maybe even Wyatt. We all know how much Lei loves Wyatt. How angry she must have been. Why she might want to try to punish him with someone else. But are you telling me she really thinks that the reason Alono refused her is because she isn’t appealing enough?”
“Something like that. She is shattered by what she did to Alono. I think more than anything, she is distraught. She is right at the edge. Hell, we all are. She is a proud woman, Tom. She’s been badly wounded by Wyatt. Then to throw herself at another man and be refused… I think in her current state that it was too much all at once.”
Tom kept shaking his head, trying to make sense of the situation. “Christ, how did that stony faced bastard - as Wyatt calls him - take all of this. Now he is what I call one scary son of a bitch.”
“In fairness to Wan, Lei is more precious to him than anything or anyone. And I know both Joey and I have been surprised at how he has taken to being a grandfather. He is devoted to Deshi, and to Alex and Elena. He loves all three of them. As for how he is responding to all of this - he got a sucker punch last night when Lei took him on about the women in his life. The only man I know who has fucked more women over the years than Wyatt is Wan. My understanding is that he has a penchant for more than one filly at a time. I’m sure many of those trysts were in plain sight of Lei.
“I hadn’t thought about it as much as I should have. After what I saw last night, I think one of the main reasons Lei wouldn’t marry Wyatt is because she watched what happened to her mother. Forget the bare handed killings and rampant violence she observed as a young girl. Add in multiple women all falling at the feet - and cock - of your father after he had run your mother off. I can see why she might be reluctant to marry someone who is as handsome and sexually promiscuous as her father. Last night, Lei drew the parallel between the two of them. I know it hit Wan in the gut.”
“Jesus, Chief. Are we crazy to think all this is going to work out? Whatever that means?”
“I think you will know after you talk with Lei and Wyatt. You have some distance from the two of them that Joey and I don’t have. I think you will know if this candidacy is worth pursuing. If it is, I presume we will move on to our strategy session. If it isn’t, I may do something that I haven’t done in forty years and that is to get stinking drunk.”
Joey smiled. “I think you will have good company, Chief. In fact I may get stinking drunk no matter what happens tonight.”
Tom nodded to them both. With a sigh, he got up to go and meet with Lei and Wyatt. His usual pleasant mask-like persona showed some cracks. He not only looked concerned, he looked sad.
Chapter 26
When Lei walked in to the meeting Tom had called with her and Wyatt, Tom sat at the side of a rectangular table with a large portfolio in front of him. Wyatt was sitting at the end, with his feet up on the table, a cigar in his hand. Except for the tightness around his eyes and mouth, he seemed like his usual pleasant, arrogant self. Nothing like the man she had seen two nights before, white with rage. Rage directed at her. In fact, she thought with a flip of her heart, he looked as handsome as he ever did. She realized when he looked at her with half closed eyes and a slight smile, that no matter what happened, she would go to her grave passionately loving this man. The realization saddened her.
Tom saw again how pale and fragile she looked. How beautiful she was. Her hair was swept up in a sophisticated twist with a simple silver comb holding it in place. The style only accented her exotic beauty. Tom had to take a breath to find his usual
contained, conversational tone. It didn’t help that she smelled like an angel from a distant land. He wondered how normal people talked to her without staring and stuttering.
He smiled at her and nodded to the chair across from him. “My god, Lei, how can you make a plain white shirt and grey skirt look like the most exotic sexy looking outfit imaginable? I am at your mercy!”
“Thank you, Tom. You have shown why you are a good campaign manager. With one sentence you have managed to make me feel more comfortable - even a little relaxed - in a difficult situation.”
“Yeah, he is good at easing tension,” Wyatt said in an equivocal tone that implied what Tom did could be either good or bad.
Ignoring Wyatt, Lei continued, “As for my clothes, don’t underestimate the power money has to make the simplest clothing attractive no matter who is wearing them. I grew up with a father who wanted his only daughter to reflect well on him. At least as far as my appearance goes I seem to have succeeded. It was important to him that all the men around him understand how powerful he must be to have someone like me at his beck and call.”
Wyatt leaned back in his chair and looked at Lei with a smile that almost reached his eyes. “Touché, darlin’.”
Turning to Tom he said, “She’s really something, isn’t she, Tom?”
“Yes, Wyatt, she is. You both are.
“Okay. I know I am working with two people who are both in my league. Let’s not pull any punches. I brought the two of you here to ask you if you are going to go forward with the campaign. I want to hear from you both.
“I am playing the role Wyatt usually plays. Wyatt, you are just going to have to go along with me, even though I am the one who is taking charge here. You might hear a little of yourself in me. As well as some of me in me.
“We all know a good campaign chair knows every goddamn thing the opposing candidate does; where, how, and when he takes a shit. Likewise, he knows his own candidate as well. Wyatt knows this, Lei, but I want you to know. There is nothing that has happened with either one of you that I don’t know. Trust me on that.