Luck in Love

by Gateroller

Hong Kong triad gang boss Chan Ho Nam has never been lucky in love until he meets band singer Dannie Doyle. For the first time in a long time, Nam believes he might be lucky with Dannie, except she is unwilling to commit- Dannie is torn between her growing feelings for Nam and her love of performing with her band.

LUCKY IN LOVE

by Gateroller

Dannie Doyle sat at the bar waiting to perform with her band, Lucky, in the Comrades' Club, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Tonight would be the band's umpteenth gig and she felt as if every venue was blur. She'd given up studying the details of each place Lucky had played in. They were all beginning to look the same.

Staring down at her drink she could get depressed by it all but never by the band's music. It kept her alive, vivacious, and happy. Dannie had been the band's singer for over two years now and she was as convinced at this moment as she was from the start that Lucky was going places, except maybe tonight. This had to be one of the smallest places they'd ever played and was not even on the usual Hong Kong live music circuit. There would be no agents or record producers here.

Dannie glanced to her left and then to her right. This place had the usual dim lighting, large bar, nondescript tables and chairs and a dark carpet of indiscernible colour. She sighed. What a way to make a living! Except she loved it, loved the music, the energy she gained from it and the buzz of performing. She just loved it. Sometimes she loved it so much it was better than an orgasm…

The club was already filling up with people even though it was still quite early. There was a small flock of worked-at pretty, scantily dressed girls. They were giggling with false excitement and for some reason, they irritated her. Then she figured out why. The girls were cosying up to older leering men who paid the club for the privilege of these girls keeping them company for the evening. She shuddered. The girls were prostitutes, which meant the club acted as pimp.

Dannie was glad the band had already finished running through the sound checks. She hated doing that when there was even half an audience, it always felt like taking a communal shower. She just wanted the band looking and sounding great, not all soapy and naked in a public place.

-o-

Chan Ho Nam, known to his friends as Nam, and co-owner of the Comrades' Club was the Hung Hing triad's branch leader of Causeway Bay though not for much longer. He had already been named the next gang boss of Hung Hing and was waiting for Cheung to formally retire before he took over the role. He had a tough reputation and anyone who was anyone in the triad world knew who he was. He was still relatively young to be a branch leader let alone inheriting the top job but he'd earned it with nearly twenty years of loyal service to the Hung Hing gang.

He stood in the gloom by his office door and watched what was going on. He always had a keen eye for likely trouble, which happened from time to time. Tonight was special though. He'd never had a live band perform in his club before but he'd bent to the pressure. Younger triad members wanted something different from the usual entertainment of televised football matches and pre-recorded music playing with the accompaniment of flashing lights.

While his dark eyes were roaming the club he spotted a girl sitting at the bar, alone. No girl in his place sat alone. If she was, it meant she wasn't earning.

The club was getting busy so Nam approached her.

"Why are you still sitting here?" He raised his eyebrows as if what he'd said was a question. It wasn't. It was purely rhetorical.

-o-

Dannie turned to look at the owner of the quiet and measured voice in her left ear. She blinked at him. "What?"

She watched the man fold his arms in a no-nonsense way. It was a gesture of 'I'm the boss here.'

"I can see you're new," he went on. "My name is Chan Ho Nam and I own this club. You should be out on the floor earning your living. If you haven't got a client yet, speak to KK. She'll arrange it for you."

After a moment, Dannie stared at him. "Really? That's nice of her."

"Just get going. Do it now."

Dannie opened her mouth to say something rude but shut it again. Taking a breath she smiled at him and continued to sip her drink.

Before Nam could say anything else, the crowd of people parted; there was trouble in their midst.

Dannie looked on, pondering if she should beat a hasty retreat but she couldn't. The crowd was between her and where the rest of the band was ensconced in a small room waiting to start the gig. She was stuck exactly where she was. Things were apparently turning ugly with the crowd having split along partisan lines. There was a lot of shouting and posturing going on as well as heated exchanges of insults and threats.

Confidently, Nam strode into the space between the two groups. One group called out in unison, "Brother Nam!" to acknowledge his presence. He spoke to his lieutenant, Pau Pan. "What's going on?"

Pau Pan pointed an accusatory finger at the other group. "They've been passing drugs around. They're here to cause trouble."

By now the whole club had fallen silent and the tension in the air was palpable. Just then another man strolled into the club. A call went up from the other group. "Brother Ho Nam! He was smartly dressed, wore glasses and had a fine scar running the length of his left cheek.

He smiled his acknowledgement but it didn't reach his eyes. Those eyes settled on Nam. "Chan Ho Nam," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "Nice to meet you." He proffered a hand but Nam didn't take it.

"Who are you?" Nam demanded to know.

A smaller, younger man stepped out from behind the stranger. "He's the most outstanding branch leader of the Tung Sing group! This is Szeto Ho Nam."

Nam's gaze was steady and unflinching, his expression icy. Glaring at this interloper, Nam wanted to wipe the smirk off his face and certainly would, given the opportunity. By now the two men were standing only three feet apart. They were side on to Dannie. She was almost sitting between them.

"Now, in Causeway Bay," Szeto Ho Nam went on in a conversational tone, "There are two triad kingpins sharing the same name Ho Nam. I don't know why my dad named me Ho Nam. If you don't believe me I can show you my ID card." He glanced at one of the young men nearest to him in the crowd. "Why are you causing trouble here?"

The young man glared at Pau Pan. "You see that creep? He said I was adding LSD to my girl's drink."

Szeto Ho Nam asked, "Did you do that?"

"Of course not!" The young man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small paper sachet, waving it in Pau Pan's face. "It's juice powder!" he said forcefully.

Szeto Ho Nam addressed himself to Nam. "Chan Ho Nam, you can obviously tell that your fellows are making trouble." He turned to two suited men behind him. "Paul, Simon, being professional lawyers, can you tell me who is right and who is wrong?"

Nam's eyes shifted momentarily from Szeto Ho Nam to the two men and back again. Lawyers didn't frighten him, he had his own.

Nam sighed. "I'm running a business here. This club is named the Comrades' Club. That's for like-minded friends who share the same interest." Then he made his first move. He held up an index finger in front of Szeto Ho Nam's face and said quietly, "We don't welcome creeps."

Dannie watched, fascinated to see two strong men face off against each other. It was like watching a tennis match with testosterone-laden balls and she wasn't thinking about the tennis kind either. She found she couldn't take her eyes off Chan Ho Nam. His feet were spread and firmly planted on the floor, his knees locked and his arms at his sides. He displayed absolutely no defensive gesture of any kind. If she wasn't still mad at him for assuming she was a prostitute, she would have been impressed.

Szeto Ho Nam tried to out-stare Nam but it didn't work. He took a calming breath. "You are something," he growled.

Nam owned it, nodding his agreement. Yes, he was something and if this guy continued the way he was going, Nam was fully prepared to show him what sort of something he was.

Szeto Ho Nam was speaking again. "A fortune teller suggested I should live in Causeway Bay. He said this place would bring me luck. In the past you were the only power found here, but from now on that situation will change." He looked Nam up and down with a derisory glance. "You are facing an opponent here. In Causeway Bay there will only be one Ho Nam." Then he bent forward and spoke quietly in Nam's ear. "That will be me, Szeto Ho Nam. You'll retire soon." The man smiled, the dimples in his cheeks deep set but the smile still never reached his eyes.

At this point, Dannie was sure she was the only other person to hear what was clearly meant to be a threat. She was correct in her assumption that the word 'retire' meant more than living in a rest home, it meant retire from being alive. She looked at Nam for his reaction. What would he do? Would he hit the guy? She almost hoped he would.

Nam smiled and nodded. "I'm famous for three things: Guts, loyalty to friends and numerous fellows. Do you want to retire now?"

Not to be derailed, Szeto Ho Nam continued, "I've got a lot of plans for this area, like opening bars, restaurants, saunas."

Nam smiled again but with an underlying threat to his voice. "Hey, send me an invitation. I'll ask all my buddies to make a visit and enjoy themselves."

Szeto Ho Nam knew he'd been beaten, at least for the moment. He couldn't argue against numbers. He looked around at his supporters. "I don't feel at ease here." Then he stepped forward and put his grinning face right into Nam's. "I am leaving. I'll be waiting!" As he made for the exit, his gang of young men followed suit. The crisis was over for the time being.

Pau Pan waved his hands in the air, declaring, "Okay, let's drink, let's dance. Where's the band?"

Dannie relaxed a little, still trying to process what had happened, when Nam approached her again. He said nothing but just gave her a look.

"I'm going," she smiled and sauntered off into the crowd, waving dismissively at him over her shoulder as she went.

-o-

Nam frowned as he realised something. The girl walking away from him wasn't a 'girl'. She was a woman. All the girls that worked his club were between 18 and 22 years of age and this one wasn't. She was also dressed differently from the customary outfits his girls wore. For a start she was wearing jeans, a red t-shirt and a bright white shirt over it, a very casual look and not what most clients wanted to see. Though her hair was black it was streaked with light mauve. She was very unusual for an escort, he thought.

Anyway, it didn't matter as long as she did what she was supposed to and didn't give him any trouble. Tonight, he wasn't in the mood for trouble of any kind. He'd already had enough from Szeto Ho Nam.

-o-

"Shit!"

Takeshi Nogami, the band's lead guitarist looked up and grinned. Dannie's expletive had entered the small store room doubling as the band's respite space, even before she had.

Putting down his guitar, he asked, "What? What's the matter now?"

Dannie treated her fellow band members to a glare each, and then turned back to Takeshi.

"I've just been taken for a prostitute!" she declared with feeling.

"Can't think why," Kenny To grunted, continuing to tap on his thighs with his drumsticks.

"See what I mean?" Dannie retorted and looked to bassist Tian Zheng for support. He didn't look up.

"It was probably a simple mistake," Takeshi said in a conciliatory tone. "The guy was just being hopeful."

"The guy," Dannie ploughed on, "is the manager or somebody like that. He took me to be one of his 'girls'. Did you know this place is a brothel?"

Takeshi sighed. "It's not a brothel. Any club supplying escorts for men is just accepted, it's the way things are. And it makes no difference to us. We're being paid to play music. That's all. Let's not get into the morals. We just take the money and run." He smoothed Dannie's arm with a comforting hand. "Okay?"

Dannie gritted her teeth and growled. "Okay."

-o-

Nam stood in his usual place at the back of the club next to his office door and watched the band. He couldn't avoid listening either, they were loud, energetic, skilful and talented, and that girl… the one he'd taken as a 'girl' and who obviously wasn't. He felt a pang of guilt. He'd treated her without respect. Not that he treated his girls disrespectfully, they knew him and he knew them. They knew the way he liked to run things; that was efficiently and with no fuss.

This woman, the singer of the band was also very different to the female triad followers he was used to. Nam watched unblinkingly as she moved and gyrated around the small raised space made especially for the band. The musicians were cramped together in front of the huge bay window overlooking the street below.

The woman clearly loved what she was doing and idly, Nam wondered what it would be like to know someone with so much passion for what they did. He grimaced. Tiring probably.

-o-

During the intermission, the band retreated to the store room to relax, drink water and fine tune their instruments.

Dannie wiped her face with a wet cloth and blew out a heavy breath. "We're cookin' tonight, guys," she smiled.

"We cook every night," rhythm guitarist Hui Chen laughed.

"Hmmm," Takeshi said thoughtfully. "I think we need to change the second half set, put in a few more Cantopop numbers and drop the shamisen instrumental."

Dannie turned on him. "Why? What's wrong with the set as it is?"

What she meant was what was wrong with Takeshi's shamisen solo. The shamisen was an ancient Japanese stringed instrument sounding rather like a banjo but classier and Takeshi was a virtuoso performer with it. The band had developed a fusion of traditional shamisen tunes and rock music, which usually went down a storm at their gigs but maybe not tonight.

"I sensed a little bit of frustration from the crowd, that's all. Given how many young men there are in the club we don't want them getting restless. I think we should play on the safe side. Right?" He glanced around at his fellow band members and got nods from all of them. He looked at Dannie. "Well?"

Dannie's eyes narrowed as she returned the look. Then she threw her hands up in defeat. "Oh alright then but only as long as you rewrite the set and when you're done, don't forget to give me the list. Not like last time when I didn't have clue which song was coming next."

Takeshi laughed and said affectionately, "Stop being such a nag or I'll have to punish you!"

Dannie gave him a look that said, 'just try it'.

Takeshi knew she meant it…

Just then there was a knock at the door and without waiting for an invitation to enter, Chan Ho Nam walked in and made a beeline for Dannie.

"I've come to apologise. I think I might have offended you earlier. I didn't mean to."

"Well you did and I don't care whether you meant to or not," Dannie snarled turning her back on him to reach for a bottle of water.

Nam kept his cool and with the dignity a lesser man might have lost already, he closed his hand around her upper arm to turn her back to him. "I'd like to say sorry. Can I take you to dinner?"

Dannie nearly choked on her water. First, she wrenched herself free of his albeit very light grip and second, gave him the fiercest glower she could muster. "I wouldn't eat with you if you were the last man on earth!"

For a moment, Nam pursed his lips and then nodded. He gave Dannie a lingering look and then left.

"Wow!" Hui Chen grinned. "Talk about a giant flea in the ear. You didn't give him a chance."

"He's not worth a chance," Dannie retorted grimly. "Let's get through the second half and then blow this joint."

-o-

Nam leaned his elbows on the bar counter as he looked out into the heart of his club. He was feeling thoroughly chastised and to his way of thinking, unfairly. As the band started up again, he watched Dannie move and sing and move. Much as he wanted to dislike her for her fierce attitude he'd always been attracted to women with a feisty streak.

Every part of her body responded to the music and Nam could read every provocative signal she was broadcasting. He wasn't sure if it was just him, or if the entire male audience could see it too.

He checked out other men to see if they were looking at her as closely as he was.

Okay, so it was just him.

-o-

Five days later, Nam was attending at a banquet for Hung Hing's rascals, those young men who were the foot soldiers of the gang. Nam had been a rascal once but since becoming a branch leader he had to take a more measured and business-like approach to gang affairs. He was no longer directly involved the street fighting he used to be because he could command rascals to do the messy stuff, though if pressed he could still wield a metal bar, a machete or even a gun. He kept himself fit and ready, just in case. Underneath that cool exterior he was a coiled spring; ready for pretty much anything life threw at him.

Dressed in his usual triad black jacket and trousers and, shirt with blue tie, his long black, glossy hair shone under the lights of the banqueting hall. He was unmistakably recognisable as Chan Ho Nam, his style and good looks adding to his reputation as a strong, eye-catching man with a quiet steady presence. As he made his way through the horde of excited young rascals they acknowledged him with a shout of, 'Brother Nam'.

Nam found Tai Fei, branch leader of North Point in the midst of the crowd and shook his hand.

"You've got a good turn out," Nam commented.

"Of course," the ebullient Tai Fei grinned.

"Made a good profit on the ticket sales?"

Tai Fei rolled his eyes. "Nam, please, I've organised this for the good of Hung Hing!"

"Of course you have," Nam grinned back, "and I'm sure you have only compensated yourself a little for your time and effort." He patted Tai Fei reassuringly on the shoulder and moved on to find a table towards the back of the hall.

Seated next to Sister Thirteen, branch leader of Mong Kok and her husband Ben Hon branch leader of Kwai Chung & Tsing Yi districts, Nam studied his surroundings. There were at least thirty large circular tables each seating a dozen people. Red table cloths gave the place a blaze of colour. The centre of the hall was empty of furniture.

There was a proper stage with closed curtains at the opposite end of the hall and just as he was about to ask if there would be a show of some kind, Thirteen leaned into him, her face alight with excitement.

"There's going to be a rock band," she announced. "Hope they're good and loud!"

Nam smiled and wondered if Lucky was going to be the band tonight. It was idle speculation of course, there were lots of bands in Hong Kong and the chances of it being Lucky were pretty slim. He couldn't help hoping though; he'd really like to see the feisty woman with the mauve hair again. If he did, he'd already decided he would approach her for a second time. Chan Ho Nam was known for many qualities, one of which was persistence.

-o-

In the backstage dressing room, Takeshi was strumming his unamplified guitar while, as usual, Kenny To was tapping out a rhythm on his thigh.

Dannie was pacing. "I think it's a conspiracy," she said to no one in particular.

"Conspiracy?" Takeshi asked knowing full well if no one responded Dannie would just keep on until somebody did.

"We're doing another gig for some shady triad gang. It was bad enough the other night with that guy who called me a prostitute."

"He didn't call you a prostitute, he just made a mistake," Takeshi sighed. "You're not going to go on about this all over again are you? Let's just concentrate on the gig and not get all riled up."

"Riled? I'm not riled, I'm just saying, that's all."

"Well don't," Hui Chen muttered. "We don't need you going off on one, not tonight. There's a big crowd and we need to stay focused. Got it?"

Dannie glared at the band's bass player and sat down heavily on a wooden chair. She hated to admit it but Hui Chen was right. Just focus. That's all. Focus.

-o-

The band started with a cover of a Queen song, Another One Bites the Dust. Each time Kenny accented the lyrics on his drums like gun shots, Dannie pretended to shoot a gun at the words 'another one gone' and the crowd cheered enthusiastically.

Lucky had made a great first impression but Dannie felt uncomfortable about her performance. She'd always timed the gun shooting gestures using her thumb and index finger to illustrate the lyrics of the song but this event was different. Half the men in the audience probably illegally owned and used guns. It felt like pandering to gangland violence, making it attractive and acceptable when in reality it was more likely to be bloody and brutal.

Halfway through the number, Dannie spotted a tall, long haired man move up the side of the hall to sit at a table to the side of the stage. It was the guy from the Comrades' Club.

When she noticed him staring at her, she used the gun shooting gestures directly at him and she couldn't help registering that he didn't flinch, didn't move a muscle and the expression on his face remained quite impassive.

She decided she would have to use another tack to annoy him, because annoy him she would. She wanted to get a reaction out of him, just as his implied accusation had with her.

The band's next song was also a Queen cover, this time 'Don't Stop Me Now'. Dannie relished the lyrics 'Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball don't stop me now, If you wanna have a good time just give me a call.' She would use them.

On the line 'just give me a call', Dannie looked Nam in the eyes and sang directly to him, ignoring the audience. Would he get the message? She hoped so then she could have the satisfaction of turning him down again.

-o-

Nam heard the message, he couldn't mistake it; it was directed at him alone. So was she interested or just teasing?

He tried to get into the dressing room during the interval but the door was locked. "Does she want me to give up," he muttered, "Or try again?"

A few minutes later, Nam was in quiet conversation with his long standing Hung Hing brother, Pau Pan. "Get me her phone number if you can."

Pau Pan grinned and nodded. "For you, boss anything." He laughed and weaving his way through the crowd, sought out the manager of the banqueting hall.

-o-

Dannie spent the next two days after the gig relaxing. The band had a three-week respite before going on tour and she wanted to make the most of the warm sunny weather and beachside air. There were still band rehearsals to attend but apart from them, she was free to do what she liked.

Today, Dannie had treated herself to a bus ride from her tiny flat in Eastern Street, Sai Wan, to her favourite coffee place, the Beachside Café at Repulse Bay. Here, she was away from the high density population of central Hong Kong and could indulge herself. She liked to kick back under a large sun umbrella while drinking good coffee and watching the gentle surf roll in on the strip of sandy beach. For her, this was heaven. She always thought that one day, if Lucky became very lucky she could afford to rent a nice place here, where money bought space, luxury and security.

As she lolled with her feet up on a chair, her phone rang.

"Damn," she muttered, "And I thought the world had gone away for a few minutes."

She flipped open her mobile and announced, "Speak to me."

"Hi, you suggested I call you."

Dannie shifted her feet off the chair and sat upright. She didn't recognise the caller's number or his voice. "What? Who is this?"

"My name is Chan Ho Nam and we've met before."

"We have?" She was getting irritated. She hated 'guess who' games.

"I mistook you for an escort girl."

Dannie frowned. "Oh that Chan Ho Nam - the pimp!"

She heard him sigh. "I said I was sorry, and if you give me a chance, I'll say sorry again."

Dannie smiled. So he'd got the message from the Queen song after all.

"How did you get my number?"

"From the manager of the banqueting hall."

"Oh." She was slightly non-plussed by his answer. Somehow she hadn't expected him to be honest about it and now she felt guilty. He had been quiet, and in the main respectful, dignified and nice to her. She'd just behaved like a banshee on speed.

"Well you've got me now. What is it you wanted?"

"To take you to dinner."

She remembered what she'd said to him before about not wanting to eat with him if he was the last man on earth. "Um, no," she replied emphatically.

"But…"

"I said no to dinner but you can buy me coffee if you want."

"Okay, tell me when and where."

"Now, at the Beachside Café, Beach Road, Repulse Bay."

"Now?"

"Your choice, Mr. Chan Ho Nam." Dannie made to sound like she didn't care but that wasn't true. She'd liked the look of the man from the very first time she'd seen him and had been fighting against her response ever since. Even the band had noticed her preoccupation with paying this man back. Whatever the outcome of this date, Dannie was determined to make him pay for offending her previously.

"Call me Nam and I'll be there as soon as I can."

Dannie mentally calculated how long the drive would take from Causeway Bay in the north of the island to Repulse Bay in the south. She reckoned it was about thirty minutes.

"If you can make it in twenty minutes you've got a deal," she said glancing at her watch with a wry smile. It was now 9.48. If he hadn't arrived by five minutes past ten o'clock she wouldn't wait. She thought she was being generous to allow him the extra two minutes.

Dannie flipped closed her mobile. Allowing for even the lightest traffic, twenty minutes was still a tall order but what the heck, it was just coffee right? It didn't matter if he couldn't make it in time because she wouldn't wait. It was nothing serious to get serious about.

-o-

Just under seven minutes later, Chan Ho Nam presented himself at her table carrying two cups of coffee.

Dannie stared at him over the top of her sunglasses and then looked at her watch. Incredulous, she couldn't find anything to say except, "How the hell?"

"I told you I'd be here in time," Nam smiled as he placed the cups on the table with a gentle chinking sound and sat down.

"But how?" Dannie said shaking her head. Was the man jet-propelled?

Once his face had settled into its normal impassive expression he explained. "It took three minutes to queue, two minutes for the coffees to be made and less than a minute to walk from the café to your table."

"But how could you know where to find me? You must have been here already, before I told you where I was." Dannie tried hard to suppress a growing irritation. How was it he could irritate her so easily?

"I have contacts all over Hong Kong. It wasn't difficult to locate you."

Dannie leaned forward and held his gaze. "Do you know just how scary that sounds?"

Nam gave a soft laugh and then his expression cooled. "I would never do anything to harm you."

Dannie felt her stomach lurch. The statement was simple and honest but the look in his eyes when he said it was telling her this man would not say such a thing lightly. Taken aback, she could only focus on the fresh coffee in front of her. It was something she hadn't expected and she wasn't sure how to deal with it or if indeed, she wanted to. If it had been any other man, she would have said the statement was just creepy but not him.

The next few minutes passed in silence. Dannie couldn't speak while she turned over the revelation of Nam's 'contacts' and how they might have found her. Nam, on the other hand, was just content to be. Patience was another of his qualities.

He spoke first. "I enjoyed your performances."

"Thanks, I enjoyed doing them."

"I noticed."

"I noticed something too," Dannie said focusing him with a steady gaze. "You were staring at me during that last gig."

Nam smiled. "If I was staring at you, you must have been looking at me to know it."

Dannie blinked. Damn the man, he was good.

"I always make eye contact with the audience and that happened to include you," she said as calmly as she could. She would never admit that she'd been staring at him and only him.

Nam chose not to respond. Instead he asked, "How long have you been with the band?"

"Two years. I always reckoned we should have called it Heinz 57."

Nam remained silent and waited for Dannie to continue.

Dannie was finding it hard to get the measure of Chan Ho Nam. He seemed to be a man of few words and yet she sensed he was intelligent and articulate. Perhaps he just needed time. They hadn't got off to a very good start and maybe she'd frightened him into silence though she didn't really believe that. He looked the kind of guy who could get his way any time he wanted, and that included saying what was on his mind.

Dannie cleared her throat to continue. "Takeshi is Japanese, Kenny is from Hong Kong. Hui Chen is Taiwanese and Tian Zheng's from Shanghai."

Nam quietly appraised the woman sitting opposite him. "And you?" he prompted.

"I'm Eurasian, my mother from Hong Kong and my father from Ireland. I've lived in England since I was a baby. I came to Hong Kong three years ago and I've been here ever since."

"You speak Cantonese well."

"That's because my mum insisted I learn it," she laughed. "Just don't ask me to read it!"

"So you're bilingual," Nam observed.

"Yeah, but I can swear in at least ten other languages!"

"I thought you might," Nam said dryly.

Dannie felt the flush of hurt in her cheeks.

"Am I really that awful?" She suddenly realised that what Chan Ho Nam thought about her, mattered.

"No, you're not awful at all." Nam wanted to say that she wasn't awful and that he really liked her but he stopped short. Commitment was not an easy thing for him and only a few weeks after Mei Ling had left him he wasn't sure he was ready to jump into the fire again. His three year relationship with Mei Ling had not been easy.

They went quiet again, both looking out at the sea, the beach, people walking along the promenade, someone flying a kite and a knot of children with buckets and spades.

In between those observations, Dannie and Nam glanced at each other frequently. Then Nam sat forward.

"You've changed the colour of your hair."

Absently, Dannie touched it. "You mean the mauve and the blue? It washes out. I often play with the colour of my hair for gigs."

"I saw that at the Rascals Banquet. You had dark blue sparkly streaks."

Dannie smiled at Nam and wondered why he never gave an opinion. He would state facts, ask questions but so far he hadn't actually made a positive or negative comment on anything except that he enjoyed her performances. But, he had noticed the sparkly blue, he'd taken the time to make that observation, Dannie mused.

-o-

Nam watched as Dannie touched her hair and then with her index finger, slowly moving it behind her ear. He recognised the subconscious thought in that gesture. She was signalling she was interested in him. He knew this because of one of Pau Pan's lectures on how to read women. They'd laughed about it at the time but now, Nam was grateful for the information.

-o-

Dannie shifted in her seat. "I need to use the bathroom."

Nam nodded a 'me too'.

Within a few minutes, Dannie was back at the table but there was no sign of Nam. She waited and waited and after ten minutes she couldn't make up her mind whether Nam had fallen ill or he'd just bolted.

She felt the humiliation rise. She was beginning to like Chan Ho Nam and he'd run out on her. Then a hand touched her shoulder and Nam bent to speak close to her right ear. "Sorry I was so long. I've chartered a boat. Want to come for a ride?"

Dannie shivered at Nam's words, not at what he'd said but how he'd said it. He was so close to her ear that his voice felt like a caress.

Blinking, Dannie froze; her brain had momentarily ceased to function.

"Boat? R…ride?" she stammered. "Okay," she said weakly and allowed Nam to usher her forward, his hand gently pressed to the small of her back to point her in the right direction. He nodded towards a motorboat moored at the pier. "The white one."

-o-

It was early afternoon when they took to the water; Nam was very competent in his handling of the vessel. After a windswept trip, Dannie was convinced that although she'd stopped being the banshee she probably looked like one.

Afterwards they walked along the promenade for a while and then stepped down onto the beach.

As they strolled, Nam slipped his hand into Dannie's. She looked at him slightly surprised but pleased nevertheless. This was nice. He didn't acknowledge his gesture, just kept looking straight ahead. They walked together hand in hand for a few moments until Nam released her.

He ran forward to block a stray football from rolling into the sea. Looking up and seeing a child distressed at the potential loss of her ball, Nam smiled, waved at the kid and then kicked the ball back to her.

Dannie waited, her heart warmed by Nam's simple gesture. When he rejoined her, they continued their stroll but he didn't take her hand again.

-o-

By early evening they were back at the same table at the Beachside Café. Nam looked at the menu that had been set out for the evening. "Hungry?"

"That sounds like a dinner invitation," Dannie said.

"Not really. It's just something to eat after a long afternoon."

Dannie thought for a moment. She'd really enjoyed their time together, nearly eight hours in fact but now she felt the need to put some distance between them. She had some thinking to do.

"No, I won't thanks. I really need to get back. I've got stuff to do at home. Sorry." Did she sound as bad a liar as she felt?

Nam blinked several times before responding. It was his way of dealing with disappointment and it bought him some time to regain his equilibrium. He shrugged. "Okay, maybe another time. Can I give you a ride back to Sai Wan?"

Dannie's mouth dropped open. "How the hell do you know that?" She held up her hand to stop Nam from replying. "I know. You have contacts all over Hong Kong Island."

He pressed his lips together and nodded. Dannie also noted the suggestion of a smile playing the corners of his mouth.

"I'm okay with the bus, thanks," she said. The idea of being in the small intimate space of Nam's car was too much to contemplate.

Dannie gave him a quick smile and turned to walk towards the bus stop. She felt his hand on her upper arm, gently turning her to face him. "It's been a good day. Thank you."

"I've enjoyed it too." She wanted to say more, to say how much she had come to like him but she couldn't.

There were some things she already knew about Chan Ho Nam. He was triad so that meant he was a criminal, a member of some shady Chinese underworld mafia. The warning bells were sounding, just a small indistinct ring, but nevertheless, a ring! Would she take note?

-o-

Nam watched Dannie walk away from him. He was beginning to like her very much but he knew he needed to be cautious. The Mei Ling experience was still fresh in his mind and he never wanted to repeat that again. Not that he considered Dannie Doyle had any resemblance to the whining, pushy and crass Mei Ling. There was no comparison but nevertheless, Nam felt that exercising caution was the best thing to do, at least for the time being. Tomorrow he might feel differently.

So much for caution….

-o-

Next morning, Dannie was woken by a phone call. Bleary-eyed she grabbed her mobile and tried to focus on the caller ID. Was it Nam?

"Do you want to meet for coffee?"

Dannie yawned. It was her friend Agnes.

"Coffee? Now? What time is it?"

"It's almost eleven. I'll meet you at the Happy Store in thirty minutes."

Dannie took a quick shower and with her hair still damp, strode down Eastern Street towards the Western Harbour Crossing interchange. Just on the corner of the traffic-choked junction was the little store that served coffee.

Having allowed her eyes to adjust from the bright sunlight outside to the dimmer interior, Dannie spotted her friend already seated.

"How's things?" Agnes enquired as the store owner placed two cups on the table.

Dannie had to think for a moment. "Okay, I suppose."

Agnes raised her eyebrows and then frowned. Her friend seemed rather lack-lustre. "What's the matter?"

Dannie smiled. Agnes always managed to get straight to the point.

"Nothing really," Dannie shrugged. "I'm just a bit tired. The band has been really busy lately and I spent a very long day at Repulse Bay yesterday. I think I had too much sun."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And there's something else. C'mon, Dannie, you forget I know you too well. There's something on your mind, I can tell. Is it a man?"

Dannie laughed. "Okay, you've got me. Yes, it's a man."

Hungry for the details, Agnes wriggled in her seat. "Go on then – spill!"

"There's not much to spill," Dannie said thoughtfully. "I met him at a band gig and then again at another one."

"Is he a groupie?" Agnes laughed.

"No he isn't!" Dannie retorted defensively. Nam might be a lot of things she knew nothing about, but the one thing she was sure of was that he was not a groupie… at least she didn't think so.

"He's a…"

Agnes' smile faded. "What? He's a what?"

"He's, he's a triad." Hearing herself say it, Dannie felt hurt and disappointment. She knew very little about the triad world, only what she'd seen in the newspapers and it did not make for comfortable reading. How could someone like Nam be involved in those kinds of activities?

Agnes grinned. "I thought you were going to say he's a pervert! Honestly, Dannie you should know living in Hong Kong means living with the triads. It's no big deal is it? I mean as long as he doesn't drag you into anything nasty."

"That's not the point. There is a very strong chance he's got a criminal record. He might have even spent time in prison. I don't want to get involved with anyone with that kind of history!" Her voice rose heatedly.

Agnes thought for a moment. "Do you know anything about the triads?"

Dannie shook her head.

"My brother's friend is triad so I can tell you a bit about the subject. Triads have their own rules and rituals. They're like an alternative society and often operate outside of the law. They have a ranking system so that everyone knows their place."

"Like the army?" Dannie said.

"Sort of. They don't have named ranks like captain or colonel; they use numbers, so anyone with the designation 489 is the gang leader or Mountain - Dragon Head."

Dannie sighed. "It all sounds very feudal."

"In a way it is. The first triads were formed in the 1700s. Oh and the triads have male membership only. It's very, very unusual to have a woman with any triad status. Generally, triads are chauvinist organisations. You'd hate it!"

Dannie rolled her eyes and laughed. "You've got that right! How do the triads make their money?"

Agnes sat back in her seat. "They're into drugs, extortion, prostitution and anything else to do with the Sex Industry as well as money laundering and sometimes counterfeiting and not just bank notes. They deal in fake designer labels, handbags, you name it and here's something else you won't like. They also produce counterfeit music CDs."

Dannie frowned. That meant no royalties to the musicians who expended blood, sweat and tears on their work.

"They have legitimate businesses too, making the detangling of their interests and activities quite complex."

Dannie considered what Agnes had told her. Was Nam the kind of man who would deal in drugs? She knew by experience that he employed escorts for his club. She thought about that altercation with the other Ho Lam and his reference to kingpins. Were they the same as branch leaders?

"By the way, Nam is a branch leader. What does that mean?"

"Nam will probably have responsibility for a geographical area and everything that goes on in it."

Dannie nodded. "There was mention of Causeway Bay."

"Oooh," Agnes grinned. "Your Nam really is someone of importance if he manages Causeway Bay. I mean think about it. Causeway Bay is the centre of Hong Kong's economy, with the shops, clubs, bars, restaurants etc etc, plus there's Wanchai as well. That area includes a lot of workshops and offices."

Dannie frowned. "He's not my Nam, and these rules, what are they about?"

"I don't know much detail but my brother told me that his friend had witnessed a punishment ritual and it wasn't very pretty."

Dannie's eyes widened and she grimaced. "Not…not torture?"

"Well you decide. A rascal was found guilty of screwing his brother's girl, and I mean brother as in brotherhood not brother as in…brother. Anyway, this guy was found guilty so in front of the whole triad membership, he was made to kneel, strip to the waist and his boss applied a bundle of large burning incense sticks to his abdomen. Then he was thrown out of the gang."

Dannie put her hand to her mouth in shock. "That's horrible!"

"My brother said with careful management the guy wasn't too badly scarred afterwards and yes, it is horrible."

"I can't get sucked in to any of this stuff! It all sounds so violent, so ugly and very scary!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, Dannie. If you don't want to get involved then what's the problem? You just brush him off and that's that."

Dannie narrowed her eyes. "Yes, well it's not that easy."

Agnes grinned. "And why's that pray tell?"

Sighing, Dannie sat back in her seat. "Because I really like him."

Agnes clapped her hands in delight. "There! The triad thing is just a smokescreen. I knew it! So what's the real problem?"

"Actually the triad thing isn't a smokescreen. I can't ignore his background, Agnes. It's probably made him who he is but there's something else."

"Go on, tell me everything!"

"Agnes, you're just way too interested in my love life."

"Oh come on!" Agnes shrugged, "Your love life has been non-existent for ages. You can't blame a girl for wanting all the gory details when there's some to be had!"

Dannie closed her eyes for a moment. Now was the opportunity to let her confused thoughts coalesce into something that made sense.

"And what's the something else?"

"I really do like him…a lot," Dannie repeated and wondered if Agnes could detect the slight whine in her tone. Did she sound pathetic?

"Okay," Agnes said carefully, "So what is it about him that you really like?"

"He's kind, considerate and he's nice. Not only that, he's drop dead gorgeous and I find him incredibly attractive. He's got beautiful hair and a mouth begging to be kissed."

Agnes threw back her head and laughed heartily. "Oh poor, poor Dannie, you've got it bad!"

"No I haven't. It's not like that. He's not made a move, well only one or two but I don't know if that was just him being him, or whether he was flirting. It's hard to say."

"And what are the downsides of this gorgeous man?"

"I really like him. He's kind and considerate. He's gorgeous and I find him incredibly attractive."

Agnes rolled her eyes and gave a theatrical sigh. "But you just said those were his positive qualities. How can they be negative ones as well?"

"Because they are all the things that I really like in a man but that I can't have."

The sudden silence between the two women was like a drawbridge dropping.

Agnes touched Dannie's hand. Her voice softened. "Hey, what's this? Why can't you have him?"

Dannie sighed. "Look, we've got just over three weeks before the band leaves for Japan. We've got a three month tour lined up and if it's successful and we get a recording contract, we could be there indefinitely. What's the point of getting involved with Nam when I have to leave? I can't string him along and I don't want to fall for him. It would be just too hard to leave him behind."

Agnes thought for a while. "I suppose you're right. There's not much future in a relationship with such a short lifespan. Maybe you should walk away now, give him the heave ho before it's too late."

"I know that's what I should do but it's hard."

Agnes felt for her friend. She looked crestfallen. "Has he said anything to you, y'know about how he feels?"

Dannie gave a bitter laugh. "Said anything? The guy hardly speaks a word and when he does he certainly hasn't given any hints. Maybe it's just me. Perhaps I'm reading things into this that just aren't there."

"If you don't see him again then it doesn't matter either way."

Just then Dannie's phone sounded. She checked the caller ID. It was Nam.

Dannie threw a glance at Agnes and Agnes knew immediately it was the triad man. She gave Dannie a hard look and shook her head. "Don't," she mouthed.

-o-

Nam made sure Dannie was settled comfortably at the table and then took his own seat opposite her. They were at a smart restaurant in Central.

Dannie was quiet, introspective. She was there with Nam despite everything she'd said to Agnes and against her friend's advice but she couldn't help it. Even the thought of not wanting to eat with him if he was the last man on earth had faded into the distance. Nam attracted her, piqued her curiosity about who he was and against her better judgment, what he was.

"Are you alright?" Nam asked. He couldn't work out why she was so quiet. He'd only known her for a few hours but she'd always been lively, feisty and enthusiastic.

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks. Except…"

"Except what?"

"I know nothing about you," Dannie said, very aware just how bald a statement she'd made and so early on in the evening. It could result in a very short dinner.

Nam hesitated for a moment. He knew the question would come at some point. It always did. "What do you want to know?"

Dannie nodded. "Nice sidestep there. Perhaps you've got enough to hide that I shouldn't be asking?"

Nam looked her straight in the eye. "I'm triad; I have been since I was fifteen years old. Does that answer it for you?"

Dannie wanted to throw back a cynical response but checked herself. "And what does that mean exactly, being triad?"

"It means loyalty. It means brotherhood and strength in numbers."

"Does it mean killing?"

Nam took a breath. Of course it meant killing. That was how triads survived. That was how rascals got promoted.

"Sometimes," Nam admitted. He didn't drop his gaze from hers, he wouldn't. He was stating a fact not apologising for it.

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

Nam could see by the expression on Dannie's face that the possibility frightened her. He'd seen that expression four years ago on another woman's face. Yan Yan learned the truth about him and had dumped him. She couldn't accept the kind of life he led and he couldn't change it. It was then he'd realised there was no return, no going back. He was stuck on a course that he couldn't change.

Nam threw out the challenge. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Dannie blinked. Did she? She shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

Was it possible that good men did bad things? Did bad men do good things?

Was Nam a good man or a bad man?

She looked at him. She didn't need to decide, she already knew.

-o-

Nam knew the 'killing' question would come up. He'd expected it, along with the 'who are you and what do you do' inquiries. He had given Dannie the choice. If she'd wanted to know if he'd ever killed anyone he would have answered her truthfully. Yes, he'd killed at least once and probably injured dozens of others during any one of his many youthful street battles. He'd accidentally killed when a man had literally fallen on his machete. He'd also sustained many injuries; he had the scars to prove it.

More than once he had been unjustly accused of killing others and had been framed for the deaths of men he'd liked and respected.

But Dannie had chosen not to know either way. That was fine by him, it was her decision. He just hoped it wouldn't come back to bite him. He would have to depend on her ability to judge who he was by how he was with her. What else could he do?

Nam studied Dannie's features. It was apparent she'd suddenly relaxed, she was even smiling.

He cocked his head to one side, sucked in his lower lip and then smiled back. "What?"

She shook her head slowly. "Nothing."

Nodding, Nam raised his head and lifted his chin to attract the attention of a waiter. "Shall we?" he said glancing at the menu.

-o-

They talked, ate and talked some more, and Nam offered Dannie an interestingly personal reminiscence.

"I was in a band once," he announced and she grinned.

"Really?"

He nodded. "I was the lead guitarist in a band that had some potential."

Dannie nodded knowingly. "All bands think they have potential!"

Nam smiled at her. "I was in my last year of high school. I was sixteen. We played in the school's music competition and the kids really liked us but the head teacher didn't. He stopped us partway through our song and complained we were just making a noise."

"I bet you were upset, weren't you?"

Nam nodded. "I had a heated argument with him and walked out of school. I never went back."

Dannie smiled again. A heated argument? She couldn't imagine him ever being heated! If she'd been in Nam's situation it would have been more than an argument. It would have been a screaming match!

"I thought you said you joined the triad at fifteen. Does that mean you were still at school when you signed up?"

"I'd spent a year or so, on the edge of things. My mother was sick, my father died when I was very young. I don't even remember him. He was a triad member by the way."

Dannie blinked. Her fears about the realities of triad life were true.

"My mum's boyfriend disapproved of me because he thought I was feckless, stubborn and the kind of kid who had no direction. I had a much younger half brother and sister, his children."

Nam paused for a moment and cleared his throat. "When my mum was in hospital dying, she asked to see me but I couldn't make it in time. I was involved in a huge street battle over the control of a construction site. My stepdad never forgave me. He moved away and took my brother and sister with him."

"Do you see them now?"

Nam shook his head. "I don't even know where they are or what they're doing. My real family is Hung Hing."

Dannie detected sadness in Nam's voice. It was obvious to her there were things in his past that he wished he could change.

"What happened to the band?"

"We had a ceremonial burning of our instruments and then became full members of Hung Hing instead," Nam said.

"Any regrets?"

"About not becoming a world famous rock star?" He laughed and shook his head. "No. I try not to think about regrets."

"But you do have them," Dannie observed.

"There are people I have loved and lost. I regret that but it's too late to dwell on those things so I try not to."

Dannie sipped her coffee. "You're a very self-contained man," she said. "Do you ever really open up to anyone?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by self-contained. I believe in righteousness and trust, unless someone betrays me," Nam added darkly.

He saw the look of fear in Dannie's eyes and tried to compensate. Resting his hand over hers he said as gently and reassuringly as he could, "But no one ever has." It was the truth. His friends, his brothers had never betrayed him, except once. Ugly Kwan had framed him and as a result Nam had been kicked out of Hung Hing. Kwan had also killed Nam's mentor, Bee. Not only that, he had murdered Bee's wife and two children.

Kwan didn't live long enough to regret his actions and died because of a bullet fired from a policeman's gun. Nam had set up Ugly Kwan to die, had encouraged the police officer to take action as Kwan had grabbed Pau Pan as a hostage, waving a shotgun around and threatening just about everyone in sight. The death of Kwan had done Hung Hing a big favour. He was not a popular gang leader and Nam's call to the police officer had done the job, without Nam being implicated in the death of his boss; which was the biggest crime a triad member could commit. Nam thought it best not to mention it.

Dannie looked down at Nam's hand on hers, felt his steady warmth against her skin, and then she looked into his eyes. Was this just a comforting gesture or did he genuinely want physical contact with her? Was this the start of something special or just a cosmic joke?

-o-

Nam saw the question on Dannie's face and took his hand away. He really liked this woman and it seemed all he could do was frighten her. Withdrawing his hand was meant to show that he wasn't being predatory, that he was treating her with respect. The trouble was he wasn't sure if she understood. She came from a different culture with different attitudes to sex and relationships. She came from a different part of the world.

Of course, he couldn't deny his baser instincts. What man could? Nam was fascinated by Dannie, by her personality and by her body but he didn't want to push her too fast. He wanted her to trust him, to know he wouldn't hurt her so he'd decided to take things slowly even though his libido was in top gear and ready to fly.

-o-

After they'd finished eating, Nam took Dannie's arm and led her outside to the restaurant's terrace. The night was balmy, the slight breeze refreshing.

Dannie leaned on the metal balustrade and looked out over the bright lights and always busy streets of Hong Kong's Central district, with its expensive shops and glass-fronted high-rise offices.

Nam stood next to her, choosing to lean his elbows on the balustrade, his back to the view. He'd much rather look at Dannie. Hesitantly he reached out and ran his hand down her bare arm. "Are you cold?" he asked.

"Not now you've touched me," Dannie said, her steady gaze indicating that she welcomed his contact.

Nam pushed off the balustrade and turned her towards him. As he pulled her into his embrace, his phone rang.

He let go of her immediately, took a step back and plunged his hand into his jacket pocket. Swinging away from her, Nam apologised and walked a few paces along the terrace.

"Yes?"

-o-

Nam's touch had Dannie almost trembling and when he pulled her into his arms she was sure they would kiss, which her body instinctively longed for. Her lips were already beginning to part in anticipation, her heart beating fast and every nerve in her body aching to be held and kissed until she was breathless.

But it hadn't happened.

Instead, Nam was halfway along the restaurant terrace, an intense look on his face and that damned phone pressed to his ear.

In a few long strides he was back at Dannie's side, his hand gripping her just above the elbow. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

Nam steered her out of the restaurant, literally throwing cash at the waiter as they left. "I'll get you a taxi," he said standing in the road and waving down a red cab.

He practically pushed her into it and he was speaking before she could fully wind down the window. "We can meet tomorrow," he said hurriedly.

As he turned away from her, Dannie called to him. "No, not tomorrow I have band practise."

"Dinner after then," he called back.

"No! I'll be too tired."

Almost dismissively, Nam said, "Okay," and with that he was sprinting down the street to his car.

-o-

"And you said you weren't going to get involved," Agnes said.

Dannie swapped her phone from one ear to the other. "I didn't mean to but I couldn't turn him down either."

"You couldn't say no to a bleating sheep, Dannie Doyle!"

"I meant to tell him. I'd made up my mind to tell him that we shouldn't see each other again. I was going to tell him about Japan but…but he was about to kiss me so what could I do?"

"About to kiss you? About?" Agnes said incredulously. "What happened to my advice? You know, that word I said to you – don't! And what do you do? You go and do it!"

"Except nothing happen."

"No kiss?"

"No. I was on the point of bursting then he got a phone call and rushed off like the end of the world was coming."

"Hmmm, who was it? The triad or a woman?"

Dannie blinked. A woman? She hadn't thought of that. She'd just assumed the call was from his gang.

Agnes could guess what was running through Dannie's mind during the long silence from her friend's end of the conversation. "Are you telling me you hadn't even considered the possibility of another woman? Guys like him have more than one at a time y'know. It's called fooling around."

Dannie refused to believe in the possibility. "No, Nam's not like that. He's…I think he's a genuine guy. I'd like to think I could trust him."

"Don't put all your emotional eggs in one basket, Dannie. You don't know him well enough to do that. In any case, this is a good opportunity to dump him. When he calls again, just don't answer your phone."

Danny took a deep breath and said reluctantly, "I'll think about it."

-o-

Later that day, Dannie made her way to the band's rehearsal studio. Perhaps studio was too good a word for what was a large musty-smelling room, with no outside window and brown paint on the walls. The place was cheap but had all the necessary sound proofing and electric sockets they needed for their equipment and it had a secure lock on the door, so they could store all their stuff safely.

Takeshi gave out some sheet music and a particularly crumpled sheet with lyrics scribbled under the notes for Dannie. He wanted to change their set completely with only original songs in it. He passionately believed that their one chance in Japan was not to perform covers of other bands' work. Everything they toured with from now on had to be theirs and theirs only.

Dannie ran her eye over the song lyrics and glanced at Takeshi. "How many new songs are we doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"At least six," Takeshi answered, plugging his guitar into his amplifier. "We've already got eight of our own songs in the existing set so adding another six means we'll be our own band."

Dannie screwed up her nose. "You do realise we've only got twelve days to get these new songs up to scratch?"

"We'll just have to rehearse more often," Tian Zheng commented cheerily.

"Great," Dannie muttered. Just when things had a chance of hotting up with Nam, her time would be spent in this lousy place, singing. On the other hand, she thought, it might not be such a bad thing. She would have to explain to Nam why she couldn't see him and their fledgling romance would fall from the tree to die a natural, if sad death….

-o-

Nam hovered behind a dumpster at the end of the grim little alley. His contacts had been busy and now he knew exactly where Lucky rehearsed. He even knew what time the band was likely leave the building when they'd finished. He could have just stood outside the doorway and waited in the darkness but he didn't want to frighten Dannie. He'd already done enough of that. He'd catch her as she made her way into the main street. At least the bright street lighting would tell her who the man dressed in triad black was.

Nam was content to stand by the dumpster and wait. He'd decided not to call her but surprise her instead. He'd planned to take her to dinner. It was nearly 7pm so if the information he'd been given was correct, the band should be about to leave.

And leave they did, pretty much on time, except they didn't split up as Nam had expected. Instead, together they made their way to a local bar.

Nam followed at a safe distance and slipped into the crowded bar a few minutes after Dannie and the rest of the band had settled at a table with an array of drinks in front of them.

Nam frowned. It looked like they were set for the rest of the evening. It had never occurred to him that the band would want a rehearsal post-mortem. Before he could decide what to do his phone rang. It was Pau Pan from the Comrades' Club. Trouble was brewing and Nam was needed to lend his presence to diffuse the situation.

He took one last lingering look at Dannie, irritated that he had lost the chance to approach her. Turning his annoyance to the reason for Pau Pan's call, he decided that if anyone thought they could cause trouble at his club tonight, he'd personally beat them to a pulp.

-o-

"I don't understand why you wrote that first song in the wrong key, Takeshi. You know I can't reach those kinds of high notes."

"I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Forgot? I've been singing with you for two years, how could you forget?"

"I was in a rush to write it. You know I wouldn't do it deliberately."

Dannie stared at him for a moment and then broke into a slow wide smile. She knew he'd done it deliberately, even though he denied it. She could have predicted he wanted her angry reaction to fuel their very particular relationship.

Takeshi knew that look, knew what it meant.

She leaned into to him and squeezed his thigh. "I'm sorry," and then she lowered her tone. "Perhaps I can make it up to you later."

-o-

Around 11pm the band members were getting ready to leave the bar. "Don't forget," Takeshi reminded them all, "Rehearsal at two tomorrow. We need to keep up the momentum. We had a really good session today so let's not waste it."

The others nodded and made their way untidily to the exit.

Takeshi held back and grabbed Dannie as she was putting on her jacket. He stood close to her and glanced at the ceiling, grinning. Then he whispered in her ear, "Your place or mine?"

-o-

They walked to Dannie's apartment block on Eastern Street. They hadn't spoken at all. They didn't need to. They knew what they were going to do, they'd done it so often before.

The moment they were in Dannie's flat, Takeshi was already taking off his clothes and turning back the bed covers.

"Hey," Dannie called softly, "Take a shower. It's been a long day."

Takeshi nodded and sidled towards the bathroom stark naked. Dannie laughed. "Takeshi you have no shame!"

After a few minutes, Dannie took her turn under the hot water while Takeshi lay on the bed, slowly stroking his penis. He loved sex with Dannie. With her it was no holds barred. Just the way he liked it, except more recently it wasn't. He'd willingly agreed to be her sex partner, had acquiesced to her request for no emotional investment in their coupling, just a no-strings affair. At the time, it was what he wanted too but that was two years ago. Now things were different. Takeshi liked Dannie and wanted to talk to her about the possibility of a future together.

When Dannie presented her gloriously naked body in front of him, his thoughts melted away and his hormones took over but not before he could ask her a question.

"I thought you were seeing that Ho Nam guy. What happened?"

"Nothing's happened, that's the problem," Dannie said as she got into bed alongside him. "I've been ready to explode for days and he hasn't obliged."

"So that's why you want me?" Takeshi asked.

"You're good, Takeshi and you know it. Besides, we have this very convenient thing going on, which you have to admit suits us both. I want sex and so do you, so let's enjoy it."

Takeshi smiled. "And how do you want it? Fast and hard or slow and teasing?"

"No teasing, Takeshi, not tonight. I just want a really good orgasm and I want it in the next half an hour."

"That's what I like about you," Takeshi laughed, "You always know exactly what you want." He hoped she wouldn't detect his bravado. He wanted her to want him for other things besides sex.

Dannie ran her hand over Takeshi's chest, her fingertips circling his nipples.

"There was something else I was going to say," Takeshi murmured, his concentration beginning to dissolve.

"Can't we talk later?" Dannie whispered and then bent her head to lick at those dark erect points.

Takeshi grunted, unable to form any coherent words. It didn't matter; he'd speak to her some other time. He part rolled onto Dannie's body, his thigh stretched across hers and his mouth kissing her neck. When his lips hovered over hers she turned her head away.

"You know our agreement, no kissing. It's too intimate, too personal."

"Sorry," Takeshi mumbled, "Got carried away," he lied. He'd never kissed her on the lips during all of their two years as sex partners but he wanted to now.

Unaware of Takeshi's thoughts, Dannie lifted her hips to meet his. "Well just get carried away somewhere else," she breathed.

Takeshi didn't need telling twice. Eyeing Dannie's large stiff nipples he sucked one into his mouth, his fingers playing the other. He could feel the rise and fall of her hips getting more insistent under his thigh.

-o-

Dannie took Takeshi's free hand from her breast and guided it to her abdomen, moving it to caress her skin. Then, guiding his hand again, she moved it down to her vagina. Made him cup it. Felt for his middle finger. Encouraged him to slide it up inside her.

She'd already decided she and Nam would never do this but that didn't stop her wishful imaginings. Right now, it wasn't Takeshi touching her, it was Nam and those thoughts further stimulated her excitement. The heat bloomed through her body as Takeshi fingered her, rubbed at her clitoris and brought her close to orgasm.

With a shaking hand Dannie closed her fingers around Takeshi's erection, stroking him. Sliding her arm around his neck, Dannie pulled at him to cover her. She spread her legs.

"C'mon," she muttered. "I need you inside me – now!"

Takeshi rubbed the head of his penis against her clitoris and then pushed inside her.

"Yes!" Dannie growled, "Oh yes!"

Takeshi set up a fast thrusting rhythm, fucking her hard. When he saw her eyelids flutter closed he knew she was close to coming. So was he. Gritting his teeth he moved in short rapid strokes until she yelled, "Now! Now!"

Feeling the contractions in her vagina, Takeshi came, his thrusts eventually stuttering to a halt.

Relaxed and sated, Takeshi rolled off her and onto his back.

"Thank you," Dannie whispered, "I needed that."

As Takeshi drifted between wakefulness and sleep he remembered what he was going to say to Dannie before they had sex. He yawned, the conversation he'd wanted to have now fading into the night as he fell asleep.

-o-

At 4am, Dannie was astride Takeshi, riding his cock and moaning softly. After the first frantic rush of need a few hours before, she had since woken wanting more. It didn't take much for Takeshi to respond and this time their coupling was slow and measured.

Takeshi was gentle with her, and she with him. She was having pleasurable sex with him; he was making love to her.

-o-

Nam waited nearby. It was nine in the morning. He was sure Dannie would come out of her flat sooner or later. He could have phoned but he wanted to use this opportunity to try and surprise her again. Last night had been a wash out so he was hoping for a more positive result this morning. He was going to treat her to breakfast and planned to spend the rest of the day with her. Perhaps they could take a drive to Repulse Bay or Lantau Island. He'd leave the choice to her.

At last he saw the door to Dannie's apartment block open. Nam's anticipation grew as he saw her lithe slim body exit the building…along with Takeshi Nogami.

Nam felt like he'd been slammed in the stomach. Dannie was with another man, the Japanese man from the band. Nam watched as Dannie put her arms around Takeshi's neck, his circling her waist. They embraced then Takeshi went one way and Dannie the other.

Nam felt sick. Clearly, they'd spent the night together. How had he never considered the possibility that Dannie might already have a boyfriend? He turned but his feet and legs refused to take that first step. Stunned, he could only stand there rooted to the spot, his back to her, not knowing what to do or where to go, and even how to breathe.

Why had he never thought about the likelihood that Dannie would have another man? She was attractive, so of course Nam wouldn't be the only one interested in her. How could he have ever presumed to have exclusive access to her? He couldn't believe how naïve he'd been.

As the knot in his stomach tightened he was unaware that Dannie was standing behind him.

"Nam?"

It was like her voice had released the paralysis and plastering a smile on his lips he turned to face her.

"I'd like to buy you breakfast."

She laughed. "Okay, that would be good. Where shall we go? The Happy Store is just here on the corner, we could go there."

"I was thinking of the Lotus Tea Garden."

"The Lotus Tea…? That's really expensive."

"I can afford it."

Dannie giggled. "Well if you're buying let's go!"

-o-

They chose a table outside in the garden and Nam ordered up a typical Cantonese breakfast of congee with sliced salty lean pork, stir-fried noodles and steamed rice rolls.

When they'd finished, coffee was brought to their table.

"This was a lovely surprise, thank you," Dannie said raising her cup in a toast.

"My pleasure," Nam replied.

Dannie noted how Nam's eyelids fluttered when he said that. She was beginning to learn that when he did that there was something bothering him. She put her cup down and leaned towards him.

"What's the matter?" she enquired.

Nam took a breath. "I saw you with Takeshi Nogami this morning."

Dannie blinked. "Oh."

"Did he spend the night with you?"

Dannie gave a nervous laugh. "Well you're nothing if not direct, Mr. Chan Ho Nam."

"Did he?"

She frowned. "Actually, I don't think it's any of your business, but since you asked, yes. We spent the night together and had great sex." She was really thinking I had sex with another man because I couldn't have it with you.

Swallowing hard, Nam continued. "So he's your boyfriend?"

Dannie laughed some more. "Boyfriend? Takeshi? Of course not."

"Then…"

"Listen, Nam. I need to get one thing straight. Takeshi and I have an 'arrangement'. You have to understand that the band is busy, we move from place to place for gigs. Sometimes we might only spend six or seven hours in any one town. It's hardly conducive to establishing long lasting, meaningful relationships, so Takeshi and I have a convenient partnership with no emotional ties. It works for both of us."

Nam thought for a moment. "So if you had a meaningful relationship, this arrangement that you have with Nogami would cease to exist?"

"Of course. I like sex but I'm not that greedy!" Dannie grinned. "Don't for one minute think I have no feelings on the subject. I like Takeshi. He's a very talented musician. I respect his abilities but we have absolutely no other commitment to each other. If I ever met a man that I truly loved, then all my being would be concentrated on him and him alone."

The notion that Dannie would exclusively concentrate her whole being on the man she loved made Nam's mouth go dry. "Have you ever met a man like that?" He was hopeful.

Dannie hesitated. How could she tell Nam that she thought he might be the one? She and the band would be leaving for Japan very, very soon and she liked him too much to hurt him. She had to get out of this and do it now.

"I don't have time to meet a man like that. He would be too high maintenance in my current situation. He'd need too much time and effort and I can't give that kind of commitment right now. I want Lucky to succeed and that means working hard to make it happen. The kinds of lives we lead just don't make it possible to have serious relationships. Think about it. In eleven days time we'll be off to Japan for a three month tour and a chance of getting signed to a recording contract. We could be in Japan for years if that happens. There's no point in getting into relationships that have no future."

Nam looked at Dannie for a long moment. She was telling him not to get involved with her, to keep his distance, to let her go.

-o-

Nine days. Only nine days left. Nam stared into his bathroom mirror and sighed. He and Dannie had had a very short day. Hung Hing business had called him back to Causeway Bay and he'd been forced to leave her at the roadside.

Now at 3.15am, Chan Ho Nam, gang boss designate was alone and struggling with a dilemma. He was at the top of his triad game but in his heart he was in so much turmoil, it hurt. He knew he wanted Dannie Doyle, knew she was the one for him but from her point of view, that just didn't seem to be a possibility.

What could he do? She wouldn't be persuaded to change her plans. He wasn't even going to try. Nam wanted her and couldn't have her. It made him want her all the more.

He ran his fingers through his long black hair shifting it out of his eyes. He sighed again. He should walk away from what was likely to turn into a train wreck. He should stay away from her.

-o-

Agnes sank gingerly into Dannie's one and only creaky armchair and looked at her friend. She could see Dannie was unhappy.

"So did you tell him? About Japan?"

Dannie, sitting cross-legged on her bed, nodded. "Yes I told him."

"And he got the message?"

"I suppose so."

"And what does that mean?"

"I didn't exactly spell it out. I just told him I didn't get into relationships because of the band."

"So you didn't tell him to his face that you weren't interested in him?"

"Not exactly."

Agnes sighed loudly. "Oh for goodness sake, Dannie! Put him out of his misery and be honest with him. I don't understand why you just can't do that."

"Because….because I'm…"

"In love with him?"

"Shit! I don't know, Agnes. I just know I like him a lot. He doesn't deserve all the crap and it's my fault. I should have stopped this well before now."

"Could've, should've," Agnes muttered. "Is there any way you could keep this thing going once you're in Japan?"

Dannie glared at Agnes, tears pricking her eyes. "How can I? It would make no sense at all. It couldn't go anywhere." She buried her head in her hands and began to cry.

Agnes leaped out of the creaky armchair to sit beside her friend, her arm around Dannie's shoulder. "Oh kiddo, I'm so sorry."

-o-

Dannie and the band rehearsed every day for the next four days and she was feeling exhausted. Her throat was sore and she had a headache. Takeshi was great at what he did but he was also a slave driver. He was a perfectionist and right now, she hated him for it.

Slumped in the creaky armchair, Dannie stared at her phone. There were no text messages, no voice mails. Nothing from Nam. Nothing at all over the last four days. She was just concluding that he'd got the hint and had vanished off her horizon when it rang. Startled, she dropped it and had to fumble in the folds of her shirt to retrieve it.

"Hi, it's me. I've got a favour to ask."

-o-

"Nam?"

"Um, the favour, yes, I have something I need your help with."

Dannie took the phone from her ear and stared at it as though she was face to face with him. Nam was speaking as if nothing had happened since the last time they'd met, that he hadn't left her at the roadside to find herself a taxi, that he hadn't contacted her for four long days.

Slapping the phone back to her ear, she took a breath. "What is it?"

-o-

"Agnes! I need help!" Dannie said the desperation clear in her voice.

"Okaaaay," Agnes replied warily. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Well, everything actually. Nam has asked me to be his guest at some big do and I need a dress."

"Come over to the workshop and we'll talk about it."

-o-

It took Dannie nearly an hour to get to the Garment District in Star Street, Wanchai. The traffic was really heavy and the bus seemed to take forever. Breathlessly, Dannie made her way up the steep narrow street, a high rise apartment block at the top throwing out long shadows towards her. There were small fashion houses, tailoring shops and garment wholesalers nestling side-by-side all along the street. Luckily for Dannie, Agnes was a small-time designer and dressmaker.

When Dannie made it to Agnes' workshop she felt dizzy and hot. Agnes made her sit down and then plied her with tea.

"Where's the fire?" Agnes asked folding her arms. "I bet this has to do with Chan Ho Nam."

"It does," Dannie nodded, "And it's not what you think," she added quickly. "He just wants my help. He needs me to hang on his arm at some big event. I think he said it was at the British Embassy."

Agnes sucked in a breath. "Oh golly gosh! You mean the Embassy Business Bash. I think its formal title is the Annual Hong Kong Ball. It's basically a very exclusive dinner and dance for all the top businessmen in the region. It's where deals are made, contacts garnered and the rich and powerful rub shoulders."

Dannie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Oh God! It sounds awful."

"So you need to borrow a dress, am I right?" Agnes grinned.

Dannie nodded. "I can't possibly afford to buy anything decent and in any case, I would never wear it again. I don't possess a dress, Agnes, of any kind. I don't do frocks!"

Agnes couldn't help laughing. Dannie had her own fashion style and it would never come up to the exacting standards of an Embassy event. Hers was less formal, more colourful and slightly strange. The last time Agnes had seen Dannie on stage she was wearing bleached patched jeans, an almost see-through orange blouse and a yellow sequined jacket. Agnes tried to remember another detail. Oh yes, Dannie's hair had been short, spiky and green.

Agnes took a long look at her friend and wondered how best to dress her. Fortunately her hair wasn't green any more and it had grown well past her shoulders. It was a decent length that could be styled. At least Agnes had something to work with.

"You know you only have forty eight hours to get ready for this event?" Agnes grinned as she pulled a tape measure from the belt at her waist.

-o-

On the evening of the ball, Nam had promised Dannie a car would collect her from Agnes' workshop. There were just ten minutes to go before it arrived with little time left for any last adjustments to Dannie's outfit.

Agnes stood back to admire her work. Dannie looked wonderful in the midnight blue, full length dress tucked away in her stockroom. The dress was decorated with tiny glittering rhinestones, plenty at the hem of the dress and reducing in number upwards until on the bodice, there was only a handful. It looked like Dannie was rising out of a pool of diamonds at her feet. The straps of the dress were as thin as it was possible to make them.

She and Dannie had had a discussion the day before about Dannie not wearing a bra. The dress was backless almost to the waist and a bra was not an option.

"What about nipples?" Dannie had whispered. "They'll show if it's cold!"

Agnes smiled. "It won't be cold inside the Embassy and the dress fabric is quite heavy. Your nipples won't show, I promise!"

"They'd better not," Dannie had growled.

Now, with just moments left, Agnes took one last appraising look at her creation. The dress hung beautifully, the dark blue velvet court shoes peaking out from just under the hem. Dannie's hair was up in a simple French roll and Agnes had conceded to Dannie's request to leave her fringe and shorter side lengths to frame her oval face. Dannie's make up was subtle and understated, the shades enhancing her flawless skin. The small matching bag in her hand had just a sprinkling of rhinestones. All that was left was for Dannie to put on a fine silver chain with a single diamante stone around her neck with earrings to match. She looked perfect.

Agnes noted the frown marring Dannie's face and hoped it would soon disappear.

"Relax," she said encouragingly. "You shall go to the ball, Cinderella and you'll knock 'em dead!"

"I don't want bodies everywhere; I just want to blend into the background. You know this isn't me."

"C'mon, you might actually enjoy yourself!"

-o-

Nam waited at the entrance to the British Embassy. As the new head of Hung Hing in all but name, this event was important. That's why he'd asked Dannie to be his partner. He needed a woman on his arm. Hong Kong might be in the twenty first century like the rest of the world, but Chinese attitudes to single men of his age without a heterosexual partner in a social situation, was vulnerable to wrongly placed judgments.

Besides all of that, this was the perfect opportunity to be with Dannie. He knew that she would be leaving Hong Kong in two days and so for him this was a self-imposed consolation prize. He was the runner up in a competition where he'd never stood a chance.

He glanced nervously at his watch. She was late, not by much just five minutes but that didn't alleviate his anxiety. Just then a black saloon swept up to the entrance. The smartly dressed driver got out and opened the car door to allow his passenger to alight.

Nam saw a beautiful woman step from the vehicle and for a moment he didn't recognise her as Dannie. The transformation from rock chick to elegant sophisticate left him momentarily speechless. She was stunning.

Recovering from his shock, Nam offered his arm and she took it graciously. He looked at her and smiled appreciatively. "You look amazing," he whispered and she grinned. Cinderella and Prince Charming – what a match!

-o-

"If you can," he'd explained in that phone call, "Just be quiet, gentle."

"You mean submissive and dutiful," Dannie had said not even bothering to disguise the edge to her voice.

"I know I'm asking a lot but I'm…"

"You're getting desperate to find a woman to go with you. Yes, I get that but just remember I'm doing this as a friend, that's all."

Her words had been like darts to his heart.

"This is an important event for Hung Hing. I've got the chance to promote its legitimate businesses."

"Yes, yes, I know," Dannie had replied in irritation. She didn't give a fig for Hung Hing or its businesses. She was just doing a good man a favour. "And don't forget, me being a submissive decoration will just be an act. Don't get used to it, okay?"

-o-

After the dinner the real event began, with some of the men separating from their wives to gather in huddles, drink brandy and smoke cigars. Others had female escorts and young women dubbed 'nieces' or 'goddaughters' to look after them.

Nam left Dannie at their table to wheel and deal for a few minutes. She'd accepted he would do this but after a while he asked her to bring him a drink, to wait on him like the dutiful women he'd asked her to be. She played her part well, sitting close to him, keeping his glass full. She even took his cigar and lit it for him. At one point she wondered whether she could complete the picture by rolling the tobacco on her bare thigh before wrapping it!

Dannie watched the other women for tips. Some draped themselves around their men's necks or placed their hands on thighs or shoulders. She thought that was taking things a bit too far. She took no notice of the conversations between the men. She wasn't interested though she did note how focused Nam was, how he kept his body still, his mind centred.

After an hour or so, Dannie returned to their table to sit alone. She was soon bored out of her mind. Nam would come back to her every now and again to see if she wanted anything. Cynically, she wondered if he was just making sure she hadn't left.

The worst thing for Dannie was running the gauntlet of a gaggle of older women as she made her way from the Ladies Cloakroom back to her table. They quizzed her about her relationship with Nam.

"So, Chan Ho Nam has a new wife?" one woman speculated.

"How long have you been engaged?" clucked another.

"What do you do, my dear? You look like a model or an actress."

To Dannie's surprise, she quite liked the last comment, even though it was against her feminist nature.

She did her best to be polite and non-committal but the enquiries were annoying and they just kept coming. Even as she sat at the table by herself, one woman after another would ask the same set of questions.

At last, Nam returned.

"Business concluded?" Dannie asked hopefully.

Nam nodded. "Yes and very successfully."

"Good. Can we go now?"

"How about a nightcap?"

"Maybe, but not here."

Nam smiled. He'd take her to the Comrades' Club. He wanted to show her off, not that he'd admit that to Dannie. He could imagine the kind of response he'd get if he did.

Just as they were leaving the function room, a few of the women who had harassed Dannie arrayed themselves like a barrier at the exit.

"Well," said a plump woman with iron grey hair, "You make a lovely couple and look so sweet together."

Nam smiled and nodded but Dannie had had enough. She beckoned the women towards her and when they were gathered, doting on Nam and his new wife/fiancé/model/actress, Dannie launched her parting shot.

"Actually, ladies, Nam and I are not married, we're not even dating. I'm just with him for the sex!"

With that, Dannie swept elegantly from their midst followed by a confused and perplexed Nam. She had left a group of shocked women gasping in her wake.

-o-

"What you said back there," Nam began as they waited for his car to arrive.

"The bit about us not dating, or the bit about us having sex?" Dannie asked imperiously.

"Both," Nam said.

Dannie couldn't help the slight tone of resentment in her voice. "Well we know the bit about the sex isn't true but the rest of it is."

"I don't think you understand that when the word gets around I'm going to lose face with just about everyone."

"No you won't. The men will be jealous and or impressed because they think you have a woman who is with you just because you're so good in bed, and the women will be queuing up to find out if it's true."

Nam laughed and then shook his head still grinning. "Perhaps I should hire you as my personal assistant."

"Assistant maybe but there'd be nothing personal in it."

Nam blinked, his good mood gone in an instant. He already knew the score, knew she wasn't serious about him. He knew that! At least he thought he knew. She didn't have to remind him by plunging a knife into his heart and then twisting it.

They got into the car and Nam turned to look at Dannie, his eyes hard and his lips just a tense thin line. "Forget the nightcap. Thank you for being my guest tonight and for making the effort to look so good. I think it's time to say goodbye, don't you?"

Dannie tried to suppress a gasp. "I deserved that didn't I? I'm sorry for what I said. It was uncalled for."

Nam studied her, the light and shadow sweeping across her face as they travelled under the street lights. "Why are you punishing me? What have I done wrong?"

"I'm not punishing you, Nam, I'm punishing me."

"But why?"

Dannie ignored his question. How could she tell him she was punishing herself because she had fallen for him and against everything she'd promised herself not to do?

"You're right about saying goodbye," she said. "We leave for Japan the day after tomorrow. I won't be seeing you again but it's been a good couple of weeks. Thank you."

They went the rest of the way to Eastern Street in silence. When they arrived, Nam got out and walked around to open the car door for her. He offered his hand to help her out and she took it.

Nam watched as Dannie disappeared through the door to her apartment block. He had a defeated look in his eyes and sadness in his heart. He wanted to weep.

-o-

"I've done something terrible," Dannie gasped.

"What have you done now?" Agnes replied looking at her bedside clock. It was well after midnight but Dannie was obviously distressed enough to call her this late.

"I was really horrible to Nam and I did it deliberately."

"Did what?"

"I made it clear I had no feelings for him."

"That's what you wanted isn't it? You said you had to finish it before Japan."

"Yes, but not like this. I behaved like I was poking a wounded animal with a sharp stick and I think I really upset him."

"I'm not surprised!" Agnes said. "You can hardly blame him." She paused and then grinned. "So what did you say?"

"I more or less told him I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole."

"Oh God, Dannie! The poor guy's probably licking his wounds and wondering what the hell he did to deserve them."

"Whose side are you on?"

"Yours of course but you know, sometimes you can be a bit..."

Dannie spoke over Agnes' voice. "Horrible, yes I know I can be a bit fierce. I was doing it for the best but now it just feels horrible. I'm horrible!"

"Dannie, you're not horrible!"

The conversation subsided for a few moments as both women mulled over the situation.

Agnes spoke first. "Look, the bottom line is this. You leave Hong Kong in less than two days. You'll probably never see him again so you can both recover from this quickly and easily and it's just a very small blip in the grand scheme of things, so why don't you try to get some sleep and look forward to Japan and the rest of your life."

As usual, Agnes was making perfect sense. Dannie would take her advice this time.

"Okay, Agnes and thanks. You've been a good friend."

"Hey! I still am. Have a good trip and don't forget to write!"

-o-

The night before the band's departure Takeshi and Dannie were sharing Dannie's bed. They'd already had sex and were relaxing in the after-glow.

Takeshi propped himself up on one elbow and studied Dannie's features. Though her eyes were closed he could tell there was something on her mind. Her mouth had that downturned shape and she was frowning.

"What's up?" he asked.

With her eyes still closed, she quirked a little smile. "Um, up until a couple of minutes ago, I think it was you!"

He rolled his eyes. "Very funny. But seriously, I can see you're thinking about something a lot. Care to share?"

"Not really."

"It's that Chan Ho Nam guy isn't it." Takeshi tried to smile, make light of his observation but he knew that Dannie's preoccupation with the man had made her unhappy, and sadly he, Takeshi seemed unable to fully compensate for it.

Dannie sighed. "Oh I don't know. I just feel there's unfinished business and I'm doing my best to stay away from it."

Again Takeshi attempted to smile again. "You love him, don't you?"

She turned her head to glare up at him. "Of course not! Whatever made you think that?"

"Because even the thought of him distracts you. Do you think the rest of us haven't noticed?"

"It's just a passing phase," Dannie said dismissively. "And in any case, even if I was just a little bit distracted by him it won't matter after tomorrow. We'll be gone."

Takeshi lay down again, rested his head on his arms and stared at the ceiling. "You know what I think? I think it's gone past the not mattering stage. I think you've reached the point of no return. In fact, you've passed it; I think you've already fallen for him."

"You're talking complete nonsense. Just leave it alone."

Drawing a finger slowly across her breasts, Takeshi noted the sheen of perspiration on her skin and idly, he swiped his tongue over one of her nipples.

Dannie gave out a soft moan. Takeshi took heart. She might have some feelings for the triad guy but right now it was Takeshi Nogami in her bed, not Chan Ho Nam.

-o-

Nam looked at his Rolex and did some calculations. It was now 2.30am. Dannie's plane would leave Hong Kong in exactly twelve hours. It would take an hour to get to the airport from her place plus she'd have to check in at least two hours before the flight. That meant there were only nine hours left. Nine hours for Nam to see her just once more.

He'd already said goodbye to her after the Embassy Ball but it had left him unsatisfied and unhappy.

Nam needed to see Dannie, needed to say goodbye properly.

-o-

Dannie sat down in the creaky armchair and blew out a breath of fatigue. She'd cleared the fridge, done the laundry, unplugged all the appliances and packed her bags. It was 10.30 in the morning and she had an hour left before the rest of the band would swing by to pick her up for the airport.

Thinking about her time in Hong Kong she concluded she'd had three very good years but the best and most special time had been during the last few weeks of knowing Chan Ho Nam. They'd talked about regrets. Did she regret ever meeting him? Would it have been better if she'd never known him? Was it a case of what she didn't know she wouldn't miss?

But she had met him, did know him and she would certainly miss him.

There was a sharp bang on the outer metal security door and the sound made Dannie jump. Could it be the rest of the guys? If it was, they were an hour too early.

She swung open the inner and outer doors to find Nam standing there. She didn't move aside to let him in but stood her ground.

"What do you want, Nam? We've already said our goodbyes."

Nam looked at her steadily. "I have a question for you."

"I thought we'd said everything there was to say the other night."

"Not quite. Please, let me in. I promise I won't stay long. I just need to ask my question then I'll go."

Sighing, Dannie nodded and allowed him entry to her flat. Squeezing past her luggage crowding the doorway Nam moved into the one large room that was the living and sleeping space. It reminded him of the flat in Tze Wan Shan where he'd spent his youth.

Dannie folded her arms and waited. "Well? You'd better ask what you came for." Her posture was one of defence. It was saying: don't come any closer. If my heart betrays me, I won't be able to protect myself from you.

Nam blinked and took a deep breath. "I want to know if you have any feelings for me at all."

Dannie's mouth dropped open in shock. She'd never expected this. She saw his eyebrows rise in the expectation of an answer and her stomach did an involuntary flip. She had to think carefully before replying.

"Like I told you before, the band is busy, we travel around a lot. There's never the opportunity to develop relationships so they don't happen."

Nam nodded. "That's the answer to another question. You still haven't answered mine. Do you have any feelings for me?"

They looked at each other in silence and then Dannie dropped her gaze. She couldn't bear to see the searching expression in Nam's eyes.

Eventually looking up again, she tried to hold his look. "I'm not going to answer that."

"Why not?"

"Because I said I'm not going to."

Nam stepped forward and gripped her upper arms tightly. He shook her just once. "Because you can't or you won't?"

Dannie's composure began to crack. She could feel the heat in her cheeks, the tears prick her eyes.

"Because I can't afford to! Don't you understand just how painful this is? I am not going to answer your question because I can't, not now."

Nam heard her voice break, watched her tears fall, saw the pain mar her beautiful face and quickly, he pulled her into his arms, holding her tight in an attempt to comfort her, and himself if he was honest.

After a few moments he released her and stepped away. "Sorry," he whispered.

When she opened her eyes, Nam was gone and all she heard was the gentle click of the closing door.

-o-

Eleven months later

As head of Hung Hing, Nam sat in a plush air-conditioned office, his eyes narrowing against the light reflecting off the surface of his expensive wooden desk.

At the age of thirty five he was at the top of the triad tree but instead of thinking about how far he'd come, he could only think of how much he'd left behind on his rise to fame and fortune. He was well known within triad circles, and also by a large percentage of the Hong Kong population in general. His exploits had been extensively featured in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. He was becoming known as a legitimate businessman and high-flyer but where had it got him really?

At the end of a working day he went back to an empty apartment. There was no one there to greet him, no one to hear about his day and no one in his bed to give him comfort and solace. Nam felt truly alone. He had no one to love or cherish in his life.

Gone were those early days of brotherhood and friendship. Along the way, three of his friends had died performing their triad duties. Only Chicken and Pau Pan remained from his original group of friends who had burned their instruments on the day they had all walked away from high school. Increasingly, Nam found himself missing those times. He remembered being happy then. He'd had no responsibilities except to his friends and his pledge to Hung Hing.

His triad career had been chequered though and as a result Smartie, the woman he believed to be his one true love had been brutally murdered in front of him. Crow had beaten him and then had his men restrain him, holding him down on his knees until he thought he would scream in frustration, pain and fear. He'd tried to save Smartie, to protect her but he'd failed.

Nam didn't want to relive it but the memories came back to haunt him again and again. He envisioned Smartie's lifeless body riddled with bullets and how Crow had laughed as he repeatedly shot her. It was a nightmare that never left his heart and mind.

He shuddered. Reliving that event in his mind had been the thing that had kept him from committing to Mei Ling. Throughout his three year relationship with her, Nam had constantly dreamt of Smartie's death, his failure to save her and the fact that she had taken Crow's bullets and in doing so, had effectively saved his life. Nightmare after nightmare had disturbed his rest. He'd never really recovered from the loss of Smartie and though Mei Ling had been in his bed to comfort him when he woke sweating and trembling, she was not Smartie.

Nam got up from his desk and looked out of the window. He was on the eighteenth floor of a high-rise and the view across Hong Kong was spectacular.

He thought about Mei Ling and her constant requests for him to marry her. Nam had always sidestepped the issue until eventually it had driven her to leave him. He wondered if he was just unlucky in love. He had always lost his women, either through death or them dumping him. Perhaps he was destined to be alone but then just a few weeks after Mei Ling, he'd met Dannie Doyle. She'd turned his world upside down and then she was gone. She was gone as surely as Smartie, Yan Yan and Mei Ling were gone.

Nam shook his head and left his office. It was late afternoon and he needed to retreat to where he felt most comfortable.

He strode past Willi, his administrator and legal advisor murmuring, "Comrades' Club."

-o-

There were times since Dannie had left… Nam always wanted to add him to the end of that thought, since Dannie had left him, when he'd spent a lot of time sitting at the bar of the Comrades' Club. Sometimes he would get intoxicated and at other times he'd remain icily sober.

Tonight he just wanted to get blind drunk.

Pau Pan stepped up to greet Nam as he entered the club, his usual wide grin lighting up his round face. He'd got into the habit of trying to gauge Nam's mood before Nam took his seat at the bar.

Pau Pan glanced at the barman and shook his head. Subtly, he flexed his wrists and waved his hands up and down to indicate that he should take note of the 'slowly' code. In other words, Pau Pan wanted the barman to limit the quantity and speed of Nam's alcohol consumption tonight.

Nam was unaware of the signal Pau Pan had sent the barman. Nam was just bent on achieving oblivion. In his present mood, if anyone wanted to cause trouble in his club, Nam wouldn't bother beating them to a pulp. He'd just kill them.

-o-

By his fourth brandy, Nam had failed to notice that he was only being served half measures. He looked up as a small group of rascals headed for the bar. He knew them of course, not all of them by name but certainly by familiarity. They frequented his bar regularly.

One of the young men, Kei, sidled over to Nam. "Hey, boss," he said cheerfully, "Guess who I saw the other day?"

Nam eyed Kei and tried to be polite though he wasn't feeling in the least bit sociable. "Who?"

"Well I was with my cousin Jerky when we went fishing at Repulse Bay…"

Nam had already lost concentration. He wasn't interested in Kei's fishing trip with his cousin Jerky. He couldn't care less.

"…so I said to Jerky, she's that girl in the band. I can't remember what they were called."

"Lucky," Nam grunted. His answer was automatic. Any mention of the word 'band' and for him, it was always associated with the name Lucky.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Anyway, we didn't catch any fish so we came in early. I told Jerky it would be a waste of time."

Kei could see Nam wasn't listening so nodding respectfully he went back to his friends on the other side of the bar.

Nam lifted his chin to signal he wanted another drink. The bar tender didn't serve him immediately choosing to turn away to see to some other customers first. Nam didn't notice. He'd looked up from his empty glass and was frowning. His brain was trying to process what Kei had just said. 'She's that girl in the band'.

She's that girl in the band!

Nam almost fell off his barstool in his haste to talk to Kei.

"Brother Nam," the small group of rascals acknowledged.

"Brother Kei, that girl in the band," Nam began carefully. "Where did you see her?"

"Repulse Bay, boss."

Nam let his irritation show. "Yes, but where in Repulse Bay?"

"At the café. She was wearing headphones and she had a big notebook spread out in front of her on the table, and there were pencils and pens everywhere." Kei shook his head. "No guitar though."

"Was she with anyone?"

"Nah, she was on her own."

"And what time was this?"

Kei blew out a pensive breath. "Let me think. Jerky and me took the boat out just after sunrise, that would have been about five in the morning. We fished for a couple of hours, didn't catch anything and came back in about nine. Boss?"

Nam had already walked away. Swinging closed the door of his small Comrades' Club office, he wanted privacy as he reached for his phone. "Willi? Find Dannie Doyle."

-o-

House-sitting in Repulse Bay wasn't quite the same as actually being able to afford to live in such an expensive area, but Dannie was happy to be there. She still had her little flat in Sai Wan but for two whole weeks by the sea, she was happy to abandon it.

She took off her headphones for a moment and closed her eyes. She could hear the sounds of the surf, the gulls squawking overhead and the clinking sound of coffee cups.

She sighed. She remembered another time when coffee cups had clinked on the table. Chan Ho Nam had delivered them personally to this same table before she'd left for Japan. She thought of him. Idly, she wondered what he was doing now, where he was, how he was. She thought about him often. She thought of contacting him too but what was the point? He would have moved on by now, got himself a girl and forgotten all about Dannie Doyle. But that didn't stop her thinking about him.

How was Nam? She smiled as she recalled his good looks, his long shiny black hair, his begging to be kissed lips. Shaking her head, she blew out an appreciative breath. The man was so attractive that he should have been issued with a health warning!

Then her train of thoughts suddenly crashed to a halt. Clink? Coffee cups? She sensed someone standing by the table. Opening her eyes slowly, she expected to see the café owner but instead she saw Nam.

"Nam? Nam!"

Sitting upright and flustered, she stared hard at him. Was she hallucinating? Was it really him?

Nam slid into the chair opposite. He was wearing his impassive expression but he did at least give her a small nod of greeting.

"Nam!" she grinned. "It's you!"

He didn't reply but continued to look at her.

"Nam?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were back in Hong Kong?"

"It's nice to see you too," Dannie said sarcastically.

"Well?"

"What's with the inquisition?"

"I just want to know why you didn't tell me."

Dannie sucked in a calming breath and sat forward. "I didn't know I had to check in with you, Nam."

Nam held up his hand. He wanted to stop the conversation spiralling downwards. "Surely you knew I'd want to see you."

"Given how things were last time, I didn't think you'd want to see me ever again."

Dannie had rejected him, had refused to answer his question, that question. Why would he want to see her again? She'd pretty much cut him off at the knees.

Nam's lips thinned and his expression hardened. "Don't you think that was my choice?"

Dannie's gaze faltered. "Yes, of course it was your choice but…"

"But what?"

"But I thought it was best to stay out of your way."

"Why? Did you think I'd want to kill you if I saw you again?"

Damn it! He'd done it again! Nam saw that flash of fear in Dannie's eyes and suddenly realised that perhaps she had never really trusted him.

"Sorry," he conceded. "Why don't we start again? You say what you want to say first."

Dannie sat back in her chair and smiled. "Ever the diplomat, Nam." She wanted to say something rude, something cutting to pay him back for his abrupt questioning. He hadn't even asked her how she'd been but instead had just launched into his own agenda.

"How have you been, Nam? Are you well?"

"I'm fine," he smiled and nearly choked on his own lie. He wasn't fine, hadn't been since Dannie had left Hong Kong.

"And are you still with Hung Hing?"

He nodded.

Dannie's eyes narrowed. Getting anything out of Nam was like pulling teeth, painful and best avoided.

"And you?" he asked.

"The same."

The silence between them hung like an impenetrable barrier. They both had things they wanted to say but neither was prepared to open up.

The silence stretched out until Dannie began to pack up her notebook, pens and pencils. She clipped her iPod to the waistband of her jeans, jamming the phones onto her head and over her ears. "Nice chatting with you," she said and began to walk away. There was no music to fill the silence; she hadn't even switched it on.

When she felt Nam's grip on her arm she resisted his attempt to turn her. Fighting back the tears she stood stock still with her back to him. She could just make out his muffled voice. She took off the headphones to listen.

"Sorry," Nam said again. "It's my fault. Things haven't been so good and I've been stupid enough to blame you." He pulled at her arm, gently testing whether she would resist him again. She didn't.

"Why haven't things been so good, Nam?"

"I've missed you. I never wanted you to go to Japan and then when I found out you were back but hadn't contacted me, I was angry and jealous. I'm sorry….I'm…sorry."

Dannie stared at him. He looked and sounded like he was going to break down and cry. She couldn't believe it. He was supposed to be the strong tough triad man, the man that no one in their right minds would ever mess with.

"Jealous? Jealous of what?"

"The band, Japan, Takeshi Nogami." He waved his hand as though dismissing an annoying fly. Shaking his head he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm fine."

"Let's sit down. I'll order more coffee," Dannie said with concern.

Nam ran his fingers roughly through his hair and realised that the emotions he'd bottled up for nearly a year were now surfacing to embarrass him.

Dannie came back with more coffee and put the cups down gently.

"Are you okay?" she asked studying his face.

Nam nodded and saw Dannie smile at him. How he'd missed that smile. He gulped the coffee, found it helped and began to relax. "When did you get back to Hong Kong?"

"Five months ago."

Stunned, Nam sprang forward and stared at her. "What?"

"Yes, I know," Dannie nodded. "I've been back five months and I didn't contact you. I'm sorry."

"So, what happened in Japan?"

Dannie gave a hollow laugh. "How long have you got?"

"As long as it takes," Nam replied surreptitiously slipping his hand into his jacket pocket and switching off his mobile phone.

"The tour started well. We'd done twelve gigs in four weeks and the new material we were still rehearsing when we left Hong Kong was really beginning to gel. People liked it. When we added in a couple of solos for Takeshi's shamisen, the tour really took off.

Two months in and we were hopeful of getting signed. We even did a guest spot on local radio. We were cookin'!"

-o-

Nam smiled when he recognised the enthusiasm and excitement that had first attracted him to Dannie. Then he remembered how, during the last week or so before she went to Japan, Dannie hadn't shown any of that energy or vivacity at all. Had he done that to her? Had he drained her of what made her Dannie Doyle?

"Shamisen?" Nam queried.

"It's Takeshi's specialist instrument. It's an ancient Japanese instrument with three strings and no frets. It's very hard to play well but trust me, Takeshi is a virtuoso."

Nam recalled the tense conversation he'd had with Dannie over her so-called 'convenient' arrangement with the Japanese man and from where Nam's jealousy and resentment had stemmed. Was Nogami a virtuoso in bed too?

Nam had to ask. "So you and Takeshi? Did you still have your 'arrangement' with him?"

Believing honesty was the best policy, Dannie decided to be truthful with Nam. "Yes and no. We became a couple almost the minute we arrived in Japan. We'd talked on the plane getting there. He told me that he wanted an emotional element to our arrangement. He told me he wanted us to move on and commit to each other."

Nam's stomach tightened. Was Dannie going to tell him she and Nogami were married, had an established relationship where there was no room for him?

"We were a couple for a while but it didn't last."

Mentally, Nam breathed out a sigh of relief. It hadn't lasted.

"Anyway, the tour was going great guns and we had plenty of offers of more gigs. We could have extended the tour by another six months at least! And then one night, after a gig in Yokohama the band retired to a bar and that's where we met a Japanese group by the name of Richi. They'd heard us and liked our music. It turned out that Richi not only had a small recording studio, but it was its own label too."

Nam frowned trying to understand. "Label?"

"You've heard of Motown, Decca, Parlophone, BMG? They're all record labels."

Nodding, Nam recognised the names from his youth, when his fledgling band would gather to listen to those old records.

"So Richi had its own label. They were so well organised to not only have recording facilities but they were also into producing as well."

Nam smiled. "So what happened?"

"The group clearly loved Takeshi's shamisen music and invited him to spend some time with them in their recording studio. It was lucky for him, but very unlucky for Lucky. The rest of us went along thinking that our band would make some recordings but how naïve we were!

The Japanese were only interested in Takeshi and for three solid days, they played together and at the end of it, had produced a new album, a kind of rock-shamisen fusion that was way more sophisticated than the kind of music Lucky could make. It turned out that the rest of us, me, Tian Zheng and Hui Chen were just innocent bystanders. We didn't contribute a single note on any of the recordings."

"What about your drummer?"

"Well, Kenny's a great drummer so he participated in the sessions. Unlike the rest of us," Dannie added resentfully. "While we were away on the second part of our tour, Richi released the album. By the time we got back to Yokohama ten days later, it had reached number forty-eight in the mainstream charts." She looked at Nam with intense eyes. "Forty-eight in just ten? Do you know what that means?"

Nam shook his head. He hadn't a clue what that meant but from Dannie's expression he knew the numbers were significant.

Dannie made a tiny shake of her head. "What that meant for us was that Takeshi's music was hitting the big time. He decided to leave Lucky and form another band, one that could play the kind of music that would compliment his talent with the shamisen." Dannie dropped her head and said quietly, "We had to cancel the rest of the tour."

Nam was appalled. He knew Dannie had set so much store in the Japan trip. "Cancel it? Why did you have to cancel the tour? Couldn't you have carried on without him?"

Dannie laughed. "You're joking! Takeshi was the driving force, the mainstay, the reason why Lucky was so good. Losing him was like losing a vital organ. Not only that, Kenny had decided to jump ship as well. He and Takeshi wanted to work together so one day Lucky was on its way up, the next it was gone."

Nam didn't know what to say. He could imagine just how devastating the break up of Lucky was for Dannie. She had been so committed to it, loved it so much and the man who had literally screwed her, had actually screwed her by leaving it.

"I stayed with Takeshi for a while. Went to the studio with him, listened to his music, supported his efforts but I was always the onlooker. I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. After a few weeks it was obvious we didn't have enough of a relationship to weather the storm of his creativity." She gave a bitter laugh. "Our so-called committed relationship was supposed to be as much of an emotional arrangement as it had been a physical one. It didn't work out like that. He spent more and more time on his music and I spent more and more time on my own, so there wasn't even the sex to keep us together. At that point I split."

"You left him?" Nam tried hard to suppress his excitement at the news. At last, he could see that Takeshi Nogami was out of her life.

"I was short on cash so I had to find work."

"Didn't Takeshi give you anything?"

"No and I didn't ask."

"You could have called me. I would have sent you money, or a plane ticket back to Hong Kong."

Dannie shook her head. "I like my independence so I had to get on with it. It wasn't easy. I don't speak the language so it was a real challenge to find paid work. Luckily, with speaking English and Cantonese I got into tour guiding. The trouble was I was really bad at it. Instead of talking to the tour groups about the Tokyo landmarks I just sang them the information. They were not impressed!"

"So tour guiding wasn't a success."

"No it wasn't. I missed the band, missed Takeshi, missed Hong Kong and most of all, missed…" Her voice trailed off.

Nam sat forward. "What? What else did you miss?"

Dannie sighed and gave Nam a lingering look. "And most of all, I missed you."

Nam reached across the table and took her hand. "I missed you too."

Dannie sniffed but went on. She needed to get it all out. "Anyhow, the tour guiding was a disaster and just as I got to the point of desperation I got a call from Takeshi."

Dannie looked down then at Nam's hand on hers. She'd felt his grip tighten at the mention of Takeshi's name.

"He asked me to design a couple of album covers for some new releases Richi was planning. At the time he admitted he was doing me a favour, had guessed I was in dire financial straits. I don't think he really believed I had any talent for illustration but he was throwing me a bone and I took it."

So, the damned Takeshi Nogami wasn't really out of her life after all. Nam bit back his jealousy once more.

"I made a good job of the commissions and picked up more work. It's the kind of thing I could do anywhere. I didn't need to be in Japan to produce the designs. Thanks to the Internet I could be anywhere in the world and still do the work so I scraped together what money I had and came back to Hong Kong."

Dannie indicated the notebook and pens on the table. "That's what I was doing when you got here. I was listening to a new album, trying to get a feel for the music and thinking through the album design."

She showed him the notebook and Nam could see sketches, annotations, and draft designs.

"And you're living here, in Repulse Bay?"

"No, I couldn't afford to live here. I'm house-sitting. I get free board and lodging in exchange for looking after the place and making sure it's secure. It means I get to have short holidays for free! I take sittings from an agency. It doesn't pay much but it helps and I've still got my place in Sai Wan so at the moment, I have the perfect arrangement."

It seemed to Nam as though Dannie had come back to Hong Kong and landed on her feet. She certainly didn't sound like she needed his help for anything and yet she'd admitted that she'd missed him. Apart from touching her hand and making the same admission about her, he'd let the moment slip away. Apparently Dannie needed to tell him what had happened to her and he was content to listen. Now she'd come to the end of her story, his thoughts were turning to what next.

-o-

"Let's go for a walk," Nam suggested getting to his feet.

"Okay, just hang on a minute." She grabbed up her design stuff and headed for the café. She and the owner were on good terms so it wasn't a problem for her to leave her bag with him.

Running back to him, she smiled at Nam and they turned to walk down the short flight of steps to the beach.

Dannie remembered the last time she and Nam had done this. He'd taken her hand for a just few moments.

They walked for a minute or so and then Dannie made a decision. If Nam wasn't going to take the lead, then she would.

She put her hand in his and continued walking. Nam didn't react except to raise his chin and show the very slightest softening around his eyes and mouth.

They strolled along the sand for a long time in silence. They were both processing a world of new possibilities.

-o-

As the sun began to set, they sat down in the sand to watch the sky display its spectacular colours.

Dannie couldn't help thinking about Nam's triad background. It had been something that bothered her even before she went to Japan and it bothered her now too.

"Are you still in charge of Causeway Bay, Nam?"

"Not any more. I got promoted to gang boss."

"You mean the gang boss?"

Nam nodded.

"Is it dangerous being the boss?"

"No, it's the safest job I've ever had."

Nam thought about his recent trip to Taiwan, where Mei Ling had walked out on him and where his closest friend, Chicken was at risk of being killed by a ruthless and ambitious man bent on eliminating him. Nam had faced a gun barrel thrust just inches from his face when he'd cornered the man for Chicken. Being a triad boss wasn't as safe as he'd led Dannie to believe but then he'd challenged the man because he was Chan Ho Nam, not because he was the leader of Hung Hing.

Dannie smiled. "Well that's good then isn't it? I mean keeping safe in your line of work is pretty important."

"Being safe is just the bonus." Nam thought for a moment. "Does it bother you? That I'm still triad?"

"If it means being safe is a bonus and not a normal part of your daily life, then yes, it bothers me. It would be nice if you could stay alive for the foreseeable future."

"Your future?"

Dannie laughed. "I didn't say that so don't put words into my mouth!"

He grinned, he couldn't help it.

"Um, I know I'm changing the subject but do you know if there's a difference between gangs here and gangs in Japan? I ask because of the Yakuza groups I heard about while I was there. I saw some pictures of the tattoos they have. I've got a commission for an album cover for a Japanese band so I'm interested in using a tattoo-style design. Do Chinese triad members have the same tattoos?"

Nam shook his head. "No. The Yakuza can have every inch of their bodies tattooed, with a lot of colours."

Dannie shuddered and then shook her head.

"You don't like tattoos?" Nam asked.

"No, not really," she said. "I don't like the idea of permanently disfiguring the skin. I think they're just pointless and ugly."

Nam nodded and wondered if his own tattoo would prove to be a real barrier to any future physical intimacy with her. His brain switched to the thought of making love to Dannie and standing, he held out his hands to help her to her feet. He pulled her up and allowing her momentum to bring her upright, drew her hands around his waist to the small of his back and held them firmly with his own. She was now pressed against his chest.

He gave a little tug on her hands, rocking himself forward to meet her lips. He could feel her struggle against his grip but he didn't let her go, instead he kissed her.

He'd held her captive in order to kiss her. When she didn't respond immediately he drew away from her mouth and looked at her, his eyebrows rising in an unspoken question – are you going to kiss me back?

-o-

As Nam helped her up, Dannie noted his strength but when he pulled her hands behind his back and held them firmly, she was shocked by what he had done. She just hadn't expected it. She was even more shocked when he'd kissed her. His soft pliant lips were gentle on hers, something else she hadn't expected. She just thought given the position she was now being held in, he would impose his strength on her and overwhelm her ability to resist – not that she really wanted to resist of course.

Suddenly she was aware of how stimulated she felt; how being held made her susceptible to whatever Nam wanted to do to her. She was excited by her present situation.

When Nam drew back, she saw the question in his eyes and knew he was asking her to kiss him back.

She reached for his mouth. As she did, Nam let go of her hands and circled her waist with his arms. She flung hers around his neck and kissed him hard.

-o-

They walked back to the café to eat and when they got there, Dannie grinned broadly at the strings of coloured lights decorating the frontage.

"I love fairy lights," she smiled. "They're great!"

Nam revelled in the excitement of her voice. She impressed him with her delight in something so simple.

They ate well and between them, enjoyed a bottle of wine.

At last, Nam checked his Rolex. "I should get back. It's time to leave."

Dannie studied him. "Why don't you stay here tonight? You look tired and you've consumed rather a lot of alcohol. The place I'm looking after is huge; there are plenty of bedrooms to choose from."

She was right. He was tired. He was tired of being alone, tired of wondering where she was, what she was doing and who she was doing it with. All the while Dannie had been away, Nam felt like he'd been holding his breath and fighting against the tide. Now relaxed, he felt drained. Annoyed with himself, he thought he should have been ecstatic that he'd found her again. He was, but in a tired kind of way. Perhaps he just needed a little time to regain his strength and emotional equilibrium.

Not only that, he'd been drinking and usually, he wouldn't drive. Though he belonged to the triad underworld where being interviewed by the police was standard procedure, he liked to avoid getting flagged down and breathalysed. There was no point in inviting the police to arrest him for something so stupid.

"The house is only up the hill. It's not far. Think about it," Dannie said gently running her hand up and down his arm. "Please?"

-o-

Nam made the sensible decision and left his car where it was to climb the slope to the place where Dannie was house-sitting. During the walk he couldn't help thinking about what would happen when they got there. Their kiss on the beach was just a pre-cursor to any number of possibilities, one of which was to take it no further, at least not for the moment. Nam wasn't sure what he should do. He knew what he'd like to do but he just couldn't tell how willing Dannie would be.

She'd invited him to spend the night but had also mentioned there were plenty of bedrooms to choose from. She hadn't suggested he share hers.

-o-

Dannie walked alongside Nam but said very little. She was thinking about what the night might bring, if anything. She'd tried to make her invitation to spend the night as neutral as possible. She didn't want to put Nam under pressure; the choice to seduce her would have to be his. Just because she wanted him to seduce her didn't mean he would.

"This way," Dannie said taking a left into a wide driveway. At the end was a very large, very expensive, very imposing mansion. Even Nam had to admit it looked impressive and he'd been in some incredibly exclusive places in his time like the place owned by the old San Luen triad leader Lui Kung in Macau.

When they got inside, Nam blew out a long appreciative breath. The floor was made of shiny pink marble and the walls displayed large mirrors interspersed with oil paintings. Beautiful crystal chandeliers hung from the tall ceiling at regular intervals.

"Have you got to clean this place as well?" he enquired.

"No, there's a team of cleaners for that. Come on, through here."

Dannie led Nam to one of the three living rooms. She indicated an expansive sofa set in front of a giant TV screen and tossed him the remote control. Grinning she said, "Make yourself comfortable while I brew some coffee."

If Nam chose to, he could cream off some of Hung Hing's very substantial profits and get himself a place just like this but his working class roots would never allow him to do that. His current apartment with an outside terrace overlooking Happy Valley served him perfectly well.

After an hour or so, Dannie glanced at Nam from her roomy armchair. He hadn't moved and she could detect a glazed look to his eyes. Quietly, she swung her legs off the seat and padded over to him. Leaning over the back of the sofa she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and leaned her cheek against his. "Why don't you go to bed? That's where I'm going."

Nam sighed and nodded. "Okay."

He got up off the sofa and Dannie took his hand, leading him up the wide staircase to a bedroom. She opened the door and stood back for him to enter.

"There's a bathroom through there with a shower," she said. "I'll get you some towels."

Nam had hardly taken in his surroundings when Dannie was back, thrusting a pile of fluffy white towels into his arms. "I've found something for you to sleep in. I didn't want to go through the owner's private stuff so I just grabbed some clothes that don't matter too much so I hope that's okay. By the way, I'm just over there," she smiled pointing to a door opposite his. "Just shout if you need anything." She looked into his eyes for a long moment before bidding him goodnight.

-o-

Nam sat down on the edge of the bed, pondering. He looked down at the towels he was still holding and tried to gauge Dannie's mood and especially her receptiveness to any approach he might make.

He couldn't understand why he was failing to read her. He nodded, of course he couldn't read her; he'd never really been able to read her. Dannie had conducted her side of their relationship at arm's length. She'd avoided any real closeness with him and he wasn't thinking about physical contact but about an emotional connection. Nam didn't know whether it was because she didn't trust herself or didn't trust him.

He knew she'd wanted to keep her distance; Japan had beckoned on her horizon so he understood her reasons but somehow, even that rationale felt at odds with her behaviour today.

Today – that was something else. Nam wondered if they were on a 'first date' or if they had picked up from before she'd left Hong Kong. Nam sighed yet again. If today really was a first date then perhaps he was making huge assumptions about the likelihood of Dannie allowing him into her bed tonight.

Shaking his head he felt like he'd come up against a brick wall, not from Dannie's attitude, she'd been really nice to him all day but because of his own inadequacy to come to any meaningful conclusions.

Nam got to his feet and headed for the shower.

-o-

Dannie had already showered and was now sitting at the large dressing table blow-drying her hair. She stared at herself in the mirror and wondered if Nam would knock on her bedroom door tonight. She wanted him to. She really wanted him…to.

She'd already decided that the choice was his but then she frowned. "Why does the choice have to be his? Why have I decided that for him? Why am I expecting him to do all the running? I know why, it's because I don't believe he likes me enough to make the first move and I'm just waiting for the rejection. I'm sure I like him more than he likes me and I just can't face the humiliation of taking the initiative to be told I'm making a mistake."

Dannie felt her hair, it was still damp. It was long enough now to take a while to dry but she couldn't concentrate. Switching off the dryer, her shoulders slumped and she sighed loudly.

"Why does it have to be his choice alone? Huh? Why can't I find out for myself if he really likes me? Have you got the guts to find out? Answer me that, Dannie Doyle!"

She tiptoed to her bedroom door and pulled it opened a couple of inches, just wide enough for a certain someone who chose to, to see her, then smiling she went back to the dressing table.

-o-

Showered and naked, Nam was now inspecting the pair of beach shorts and cotton shirt Dannie had given him. He always slept in the nude but perhaps wearing something tonight would be a good idea. After all, he was in someone else's house and then there was Dannie. If he needed to roam the house for a drink it would be better that he was dressed.

He switched off the light and got into bed. Turning onto his side he knew that Dannie was just a few feet away, probably in her bed and asleep by now. He wanted to go to her but he wouldn't make assumptions or devalue the feelings of respect he had for her. It was a real dilemma. His mind was telling him one thing but his body was telling him another.

He turned over again to face his bedroom door and noticed a rectangle of light emanating from underneath it. He stared at it, tracing the hard lines of its shape. He propped himself up on one elbow and continued to study it. If the hall light was on then this brightness would have silhouetted the door in its entirety but the light was only shining under the tiny gap between door and floor and a little way up the sides. Then he saw the light dim and flash bright again. Someone was moving about and had been caught in the light.

Nam switched position to lie on his back, and thinking, turned his head to look at the light again. He just couldn't make out where it was coming from and he was suspicious of who might be outside his door. Too many years in the triad underworld meant self preservation was always high on his agenda. He would have to get up and investigate, it was annoying him.

Silently, Nam opened his bedroom door and peered out into the hallway. That's when he noticed Dannie's door was ajar, which was the obvious source of the light. Frowning, Nam took the couple of steps to her door. Should he close it for her or leave it open? Perhaps Dannie didn't like closed doors, or perhaps she'd just forgotten to close it. Had it been her moving about and disturbing the beam of light that he'd seen under his bedroom door?

Feeling he should check, he peeked through the gap and his eyes widened.

He saw Dannie sitting at a wide dressing table, her figure softened by the diffused golden glow of a pair of bedside lights. The towel she had used to dry herself from her shower was on the seat around her hips. The cleft of her buttocks was visible above the level of the towel. Facing a very large mirror, she was brushing her hair. She'd gathered the long tresses to lie over one shoulder.

Nam had stopped breathing. He could see her naked back facing him, could see the suggested reflection of her breasts in the mirror, one covered by her hair, the other obscured by her arm across it as she held the hairbrush. She was beautiful.

Dannie saw Nam looking at her reflection. She continued to brush her hair and looking at him in the mirror, said softly, "Do you want something, Nam?"

He didn't answer.

Dannie smiled and prompted him. "Do you want me?"

His eyes were steady and unflinching as he held her reflected gaze. "Yes," he said quietly.

-o-

Dannie gathered her towel around her and under her arms to hold it against her breast bone. She didn't want to face Nam completely naked, she wanted to preserve some allure and dignity. After all, he was still clothed and without the towel wrapped around her, she was naked. She didn't want him to have the advantage – not yet.

She turned and watched Nam cross the few feet to where she was standing. Dannie could see the longing and desire in his eyes. She knew the signs, had seen it often enough with Takeshi. This time it was different though. She wanted an emotional connection with Nam; in fact her relationship with him depended on it.

She felt Nam grab her by the shoulders and pull her into his arms, holding her tight with no hint of letting her go. They kissed tenderly; it was a renewal of their contact on the beach.

Then smiling into the crook of his neck, Dannie rounded her back just enough to gain a little space between them. She gave a shimmy and let her towel pool on the floor around her feet. She looked into his dark eyes and slowly unfastened the buttons of his shirt, her fingers brushing his chest as she worked her way down. She ran her hands to the waistband of those beach shorts. Hooking her thumbs into it she edged them down over his hips. He responded just enough to let them to fall to the floor, deftly kicking them away.

Dannie revelled in the touch of Nam's naked body against hers. The sensation made her take a deep breath.

-o-

When Nam saw Dannie holding her towel tightly around her body, he couldn't resist her a moment longer. She had beautiful shoulders, wonderful hair, a perfect face. He'd wanted this for so long, in fact pretty much from the moment he'd been assailed by her fierceness in the storeroom of the Comrades' Club nearly a year ago.

He reached out and pulled her to him, the strength and speed of his action reflecting his feelings for her, his kisses confirmation of them.

When she let her towel drop to the floor he gasped softly.

When she unbuttoned his shirt and touched his chest he quivered with lust and desire.

When she stripped him of his shorts he thought he would explode with the feel of her body against his, her breasts pressing against his chest, her groin against his.

-o-

Dannie struggled to draw back from Nam's embrace, at least just enough to be able to focus on his face, to look him in the eye. This was the first time at leisure she'd had the chance to take in every detail of his face, his eyes, his lips. Tentatively, she raised her hands and rested them against his cheeks. With a thumb, she gently traced the cupid bow shape of his lips and then kissed them again.

Dannie felt Nam relax and smiling at him, wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him yet again. She felt him give himself up to the exploration of her lips as she kissed his forehead, eyelids, cheeks and finally his mouth again, her lips soft and teasing.

-o-

Nam, in turn, explored Dannie's mouth penetrating her partly separated lips with the tip of his tongue, withdrawing it and then pushing deeper, each time. Slowly, he caressed her shoulders and ran his hands gently down her arms to her hands, feeling the silky smoothness of her skin. He moved her arms from his neck and lifted her wrists to his lips keeping his eyes on hers, running his tongue over her pulse points. He heard Dannie gasp at the sensation he was creating and saw her eyelids flutter. He smiled.

With their lips in full contact again, Nam carefully manoeuvred Dannie until the back of her knees touched the edge of the bed. She got the hint and he let go of her just long enough for her to lay down, her arms held up to him, inviting him to come to her.

Kissing her neck, Nam moved his hand to her breasts, squeezing a nipple between his fingers. He smiled as she let out a moan. Her nipple was already hard and erect as he closed his mouth around it, sucking and then stroking with his tongue.

-o-

Every touch, every caress of Nam's fingers set Dannie's skin on fire. She couldn't believe just how excited she was, how effectively Nam was stoking that fire, the flames licking her breasts as he touched them.

She ran her fingers through his long black hair, from his temples back. Raising his head off her nipple she kissed him and then pushed him onto his back. She'd not had a chance to actually look at his body.

"Wait," she breathed, "I want to look at you."

There was a tense pause.

"Oh my! You've got a really big…"

-o-

Dannie's mouth formed a perfect 'O' as she took in Nam's tattoo. "You've got a really big tattoo," she said, staring at his chest. "It's really…"

Nam frowned and interrupted her. "A turnoff?"

Her comment about wanting to look at his body was making him nervous. He remembered the conversation they'd had earlier about her dislike of tattoos. She couldn't fail to notice his and now he waited for her reaction. He watched for her response when he saw her eyes widen. This was it – make or break time.

Dannie was still staring. "It's…it's…"

Nam's anxiety levels climbed. Somehow, the sight of his dragon tattoo had rendered Dannie speechless. He conjectured this was probably not a good thing.

"Do you hate it?"

Suddenly she broke into a wide grin. "This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

Visibly relaxing, Nam grinned too. "It's a dragon. I had it done when I was nineteen. It seems a long time ago now," he said thinking back to the pain he'd gone through in that murky backstreet tattoo parlour.

"Can I touch it?" Dannie asked, "I mean it's permanent right?"

Nam nodded. "Yes and yes."

Dannie traced the figure of the dragon tattoo with her index finger. It was exquisite. Every scale of the dragon was marked and only part-filled in with a few strokes of blue ink shading. The design was both complex and conversely simple. The dark blue ink made the tattoo almost leap off Nam's chest. It was nothing like the Yakuza tattoos at all. The design was so good the dragon appeared to be racing across Nam's chest, its long tail whipping out behind to coil around his bicep, his arm holding it back, anchoring it to stop it escaping.

"It's stunning," Dannie remarked, her concentration solely on the tattoo. She'd almost forgotten what had motivated her to look at Nam's body in the first place. "It would make a great illustration for an album cover." She went to get out of bed. "I should take photos," she murmured.

-o-

Nam could never have predicted the kind of enthusiastic response Dannie had given to his dragon tattoo. He had been genuinely worried that their relationship was going to crash and burn at that point but it hadn't. She really liked it and he was more relieved than he could possibly say.

He smiled as she studied it. It was like seeing a kid with a new picture book and he loved her childlike attitude to things that excited her. She'd shown the same attitude when she'd seen the strings of coloured lights at the café.

At least this part of his triad life had met with her approval. Not all triad members had tattoos though most did. He was no different, except that his tattoo was absolutely unique. It was the last the tattooist had designed and completed before he retired. The dragon had always added to the mystique that was Chan Ho Nam.

Though her fingers on his chest had Nam wanting more contact, it seemed Dannie had become completely distracted and was now about to spring out of bed to look for her camera.

Nam grasped her wrist. "Hey, photographs can wait," he said pulling her back to him.

-o-

He stared at Dannie's beautifully full and rounded breasts as she moved, the large dark areas still punctuated by erect nipples. His eyes roamed over her abdomen to her groin, his desire for her increasing with every second.

For Dannie, the dilemma of looking at Nam's chest or looking at the rest of him couldn't have been more pleasurable. "What a choice," she murmured voicing her thoughts aloud.

Nam looked at her questioningly.

Shaking her head, she smiled. "You are such a feast to look at I just don't know where to begin."

-o-

Nam gave her a stunning, heart-stopping smile. She was doing his ego the world of good. "I can help," he said guiding her fingers to his chest. "Just follow my hand."

He encouraged her to watch as their hands moved over his body. It didn't take long for Dannie to take the lead and Nam removed his hand from hers. He lay acquiescent under her touch, every nerve ending responding to her contact, his excitement climbing as she followed her fingers with her lips to plant a trail of kisses over his body.

He lifted his hips to meet her as she neared his thickening cock.

-o-

Dannie couldn't get enough of Nam's body but she wasn't going to touch him there just yet. She wanted to stretch out their enjoyment for as long as possible. This was their first time and she wanted to memorise every moment of it. Time and again she returned to Nam's chest and the dragon tattoo. It was such a turn on she thought she would orgasm at the sight of it.

She couldn't understand why she had such a strong and compelling response to it, not that she wanted to bother analysing it just then.

She had already noted Nam's muscular body. She smiled appreciatively, he obviously worked out. There was something unusual about a patch of skin on his abdomen. It was slightly bumpy under her touch. It felt like scar tissue, though there were no marks to be seen save a couple of tiny darker specks on the surface of his skin.

Dannie felt the insistent rise and fall of Nam's hips and eventually took pity on him. Slowly wrapping her fingers around his length, she stroked him to full hardness. She watched his eyes flutter closed and his jaw slacken then she took him in her mouth and ran her flattened tongue over the head of his cock. She felt his penis twitch and smiled at his responsiveness then remembered he was a man, and that's what men did except this man mattered so much to her that she wanted him to experience everything she could give him.

-o-

Nam felt his breath quicken and his body tingle. At last, Dannie was stroking him, setting him on fire. When she put her lips around his aching cock he grabbed handfuls of bed sheet and groaned with pleasure.

It was hard to concentrate, difficult to think straight, he was in freefall but working hard to gather his wits, Nam lifted her head from his cock. "I'll lose control," he panted.

"That's the whole idea," she told him.

"But not yet," he sighed, "Just not yet."

Nam ran his hand over Dannie's body until he reached his goal. Resting his palm over her pubic mound, he stroked a fingertip at the entrance to her vagina. Dipping his finger into her, he withdrew it and rubbed her clitoris.

-o-

"Oh God!" she exclaimed. "Fuck! Not yet, please. I'm so close and I want it to last longer."

Nam rolled on to her and using his knees spread her legs to allow him to position himself. He took the majority of his weight on his forearm, and with his free hand reached down between their bodies to his cock, stroking it to gain as much hardness as possible.

"Why don't we both let go now and enjoy a slower version later?" he said.

Dannie placed her hands behind her knees and raised her legs, opening herself to him. "Yes, yes," she panted, "Slower, later…" Her voice trailed off as she felt the head of Nam's cock rest against her entrance.

"Are you sure you want this?" he asked, his voice strong and emphatic, so much so that Dannie blinked and for a moment, suspended her desire.

"You really mean it, don't you?" she said.

"I want you to be sure," Nam nodded.

"I'm sure. I want you," Dannie said.

Nam rocked his hips forward, penetrating her deeply.

For the first time in twelve months they were united. Nam set up a slow thrusting rhythm to begin with but increased his movements quickly. He was fast getting to the point of no return. Balancing himself on one arm he sought out Dannie's clitoris. Each time he pushed into her, his fingers rubbed against the small hard nub, eliciting yells of encouragement and delight from her.

As her body stiffened she grabbed Nam's hand to keep it pressed against her as she came, her orgasm making her quiver with pleasure.

As soon as she was finished, Nam pulled his hand away and hooked both arms up under Dannie's shoulders to grip her as he pumped his hips fast, his own completion just a few hard thrusts away. With a grunt and release of breath, Nam let his orgasm flow and his heart fly.

-o-

It was as the sun was rising when Dannie stirred awake. Nam was spooned up against her back, his arm draped over her hip, his hand languidly stroking her abdomen. She could feel his semi-hard erection against her buttocks. She lay still and just smiled. Nam was true to his word. He'd said slower and later and that was exactly what was happening.

This time their lovemaking was silent, the challenge of remaining quiet the stimulus for their increasing excitement. Nam had entered her from behind. He moved slowly, caressing her inside and out, loving her body with his own,

-o-

By mid-morning they were making love again, this time while they showered.

Now sitting at the breakfast table in the kitchen, Nam gave Dannie an apologetic quirk of his lips. Holding up his mobile phone he said, "I've had it switched off since nearly this time yesterday."

Dannie bit into her toast. She understood the significance of Nam's remark because he'd given her his full attention right from the beginning. She poured him freshly made coffee as he checked his messages. There were seven texts and as many voice messages.

Nam touched the speed dial on his phone display. "Willi."

"Brother Nam," Willi replied giving the usual greeting, "I've been trying to contact you."

"What's the matter?" Nam asked not bothering to give an explanation for his unavailability.

"Tung Sing has been causing trouble. They've been making a mess in two of our territories."

"Which ones?"

"North Point and Mong Kok."

Nam sighed. "Tell Tai Fei and Thirteen to meet me at the Comrades' Club. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Dannie put down her half eaten toast. "Thirteen? What kind of name is that?" she asked.

"It's the name Thirteen's father gave her on the night she was born," Nam said as he hurriedly put on his jacket. "He won thirteen Mahjong games in a row and bagged himself a very large payout."

Dannie was familiar with the Chinese habit of gambling, particularly with Mahjong.

"So, your phone call. Problems?"

"Nothing you need to know about," Nam said, almost dismissively.

"Hey!" Dannie bit back. "Don't patronise me. I don't want to know about your triad business but if there's something bothering you, I'd like to know. If you tell me then at least we can avoid misunderstandings."

Nam glared at her for a moment and then his expression softened. "Sorry. There's a few problems with another triad. I'll deal with it."

"Good, because I don't want you getting involved in World War Three."

"And what if I did?"

"Then it's nothing I need to know about," Dannie retorted.

"I have to go. I'll come back when I can."

"No, it's okay. I've got things to do. I'll swing by the Comrades' Club later tonight."

Nam nodded.

Dannie smiled, stood up to wrap her arms around his neck, and kissed him. "Take care. I'll see you later."

Nam gave her a long lingering kiss in return. He was leaving her reluctantly but Hung Hing business called and he must obey. He just hoped any difficulties with Tung Sing were not going to escalate. He was not in the mood for trouble.

-o-

Nam arrived at the Comrades' Club in twenty five minutes to see Sister Thirteen and Tai Fei already sitting at the bar. He lifted his chin in greeting. "Tell me what happened."

Tai Fei told Nam how his magazine publishing offices had been ransacked. "There were a lot of men, Nam. They broke up the printing press and destroyed the paper stocks. They knew exactly what to hit and how. This wasn't just a gang of rascals with something to prove. It was a planned operation."

Thirteen nodded. "I had the same. A lot of men turned up but there were just too many to stop. Eighteen of my girls and twenty clients were intimidated, robbed and beaten up. They raped three girls and put two of my clients in the hospital. After that they wrecked the place."

Nam frowned. "It seems like they're working their way towards Causeway Bay. They hit Mong Kok and North Point last night, maybe it'll be Wanchai tonight. And who are they?"

Tai Fei spoke. "Definitely Tung Sing," he said confirming Willi's information.

Nam rolled his eyes. "Yes but who in Tung Sing?"

"Word on the street says Szeto Ho Nam," Thirteen said angrily.

Tai Fei shifted in his seat and adjusted his glasses. "The police arrested large numbers on both sides last night."

"Willi," Nam said, "Make sure our men are bailed."

"Already done," Willi nodded, "But Tung Sing still has a lot of men behind bars

"Either Szeto Ho Nam doesn't look after his men, or he can't afford to bail them out," Thirteen said.

"Or he's got another plan," Nam said ominously.

-o-

When Dannie entered the Comrades' Club just before closing time, she was taken aback at the number of young men crowding the place. Here and there she noticed the flash of metal. Many of them were carrying machetes or knives.

She stopped dead. Frightened, she didn't know what to do. Should she stay and find Nam or just leave as quickly as possible. As the men began to close in around her, she knew her second option wouldn't work. She couldn't even see the exit let alone get to it.

Then suddenly, silence fell and the men parted like the Red Sea to reveal a clear path between her and Nam. Relieved to see him, Dannie wanted to run to him, fling her arms around his neck but subconsciously she knew she couldn't do that. She had to give him face.

Dannie's mother had explained about the Chinese concept of 'giving face' though she'd never really understood its complexities. Right now, all she knew was that she had to show Nam respect in front of his men.

Slowly, she walked the path and stopped three feet in front of him, gave him a small smile and waited. She wasn't going to drop her gaze in a submissive attitude; that would have been too much for her to concede. As he took her arm, the crowd of men closed the gap and the hubbub of voices filled the club again.

Nam ushered Dannie to a barstool next to his.

Looking across the club she leaned close to him. "What's going on? There are an awful lot of men here and they don't look dressed for a party."

Nam glanced in the same direction. "Triad business," was all he would say.

"Perhaps I shouldn't be here." It hurt Dannie to say it. All she wanted was to feel Nam in her arms, preferably in a big bed with plenty of time to explore his gorgeous body some more. It was hard to believe they'd only last had sex fourteen hours previously but the contrast in their latest situation made it seem like a life time ago.

Nam flicked a glance at two of his men, Pau Pan and Big Head. "Take her home and make sure you see her to her door. Don't leave her in the street. You know what to do."

"Yes, boss," both men said and stood back for Dannie to get to her feet.

Dannie whispered in Nam's ear and tried to sound as conciliatory as possible. Now was not the time to get resentful. "I wasn't expecting you to take me literally but I can see you have things on your mind. Call me when you have the time."

Nam watched Dannie go, flanked by his most trusted and competent lieutenants. His stomach tightened as he thought about tonight's missed opportunity with her. He'd much rather have been making love to her but Hung Hing business had to take priority.

-o-

Pau Pan held open the car door for Dannie to get in. It was a black saloon with tinted windows. Big Head got behind the wheel and drove her away from Nam and the Comrades' Club.

Pau Pan was sitting in the back next to Dannie. Neither man spoke. After a while, Big Head turned off from the road to Eastern Street.

"Hey!" Dannie exclaimed, "You're going the wrong way!"

"Just treat it as the scenic route," Pau Pan said cryptically.

"But…" Dannie began and then stopped herself. There was no point in debating the issue. She wasn't in control of the car.

She noticed Big Head making frequent glances in the rear view mirror and Pau Pan did the same in Big Head's wing mirror. Frowning, Dannie looked over her shoulder to the back window. All she could see was a stream of traffic following, very much like the stream of traffic in front of them. There was a motorcycle directly behind them but when Big Head slowed the car enough for the bike to overtake, it didn't.

Pau Pan saw the look Big Head gave him in the mirror and he reached across Dannie to pull out her safety belt. "Put it on," he said curtly and she did as she was told. She sensed something was wrong and anxious, lowered herself in the seat a little. Then the bike turned off and Big Head put his foot down on the accelerator, establishing a long gap between them and the traffic behind. Within minutes, the car was cruising slowly down Eastern Street, gliding to a halt outside Dannie's apartment block.

Dannie made to get out but Pau Pan touched her arm. "Stay here with Big Head." She tried to blink back her fear. He closed the car door and she heard the click of the central locking system.

Pau Pan was back in a couple of minutes and Big Head released the door locks. "The stairs are clear," Pau Pan reported.

He led the way up the stairs to the first floor, Dannie sandwiched between him and Big Head. "Give me your key," Pau Pan said and when Dannie handed it over, he unlocked the door of her flat and went in first, scanning the interior carefully.

"It's okay," he said, "The flat is clear."

Dannie saw Big Head surreptitiously slip his handgun back into his jacket pocket. Now she really was frightened.

As Big Head and Pau Pan stepped outside into the hallway, Pau Pan smiled. "Just make sure you lock the doors and windows."

While checking the window, Dannie looked down to the street below to see Pau Pan and Big Head standing by the car. Pau Pan was talking into his mobile phone. She wondered if he was speaking to Nam.

Dannie hardly slept that night. It was exactly the kind of issue she had feared when she and Nam talked about the downside of triad life. She'd just never expected to be effected by it directly.

-o-

By early afternoon, Dannie was feeling a little better. Daylight and sunshine had lifted her spirits and after a quick shower, she left her apartment block to meet Agnes at the Happy Store.

Having walked just a few yards she became aware that someone was following her. A man, dressed in triad black was watching her.

Nervously, Dannie looked over her shoulder. The man in black smiled and waved at her.

Feeling confused, she continued the short walk to the Happy Store.

-o-

"See the guy over there? The one sitting next to the door? I think he's my bodyguard," Dannie whispered to Agnes.

Agnes glanced over at the man in black and then looked at Dannie. "What the hell has happened that you need a bodyguard?"

"I don't know. All I do know is there's a problem with some triad called Tung Sing."

Agnes' eyes widened. "Oh. Tung Sing. Hmmm."

Dannie grabbed Agnes' arm. "What? What!"

"My brother was only saying this morning that Tung Sing is making a move on Hung Hing territories. He also said Tung Sing is recruiting additional men from all over Hong Kong."

"You mean like a turf war?"

Agnes nodded. "'Fraid so. It happens."

"I wonder if Nam knows what Tung Sing is doing, I mean pulling in extra men."

"He probably does."

"I should tell him."

"Dannie, I just said he probably knows already!"

"But if he doesn't and I don't tell him this situation could get a lot worse."

"He won't thank you for interfering. Triad men are all happy chauvinists and Nam is no exception. He might look good and dress well but underneath that fashionable exterior he's as old fashioned as the rest of them."

"How do you know what he looks like?"

"I've seen his picture in the newspapers. He was plastered all over the front pages last year when he was falsely accused of fraud. It was just after you left for Japan, I think."

Dannie glowered at Agnes. "Forget the newspapers. He's not a chauvinist, it's just not true!" she said defensively.

"Has he told you to butt out of triad business?"

"Well…" Dannie had to think hard and then she remembered his comment about her not needing to know anything. "He did say something about it."

"See! I warned you!" Agnes said.

"He's just got a lot on his plate at the moment."

Agnes sat back in her seat and considered Dannie's situation. Deciding to change the subject to something less sensitive, she leaned forward in a conspiratorial way. "So," she said quietly, "Chan Ho Nam. Spill, Dannie, I want all the details."

"Well the day before yesterday I was at Repulse Bay minding my own business when Nam showed up."

"How did he know you were back? How did he know where you were?"

"Don't ask," Dannie said shaking her head. "He's got ways and means."

Agnes grinned. "I bet he has!"

"Anyway, we had a nice talk and things were going swimmingly then yesterday morning he checked in with his sidekick Willi and rushed off for an emergency meeting. When I saw him at the Comrades' Club last night the place was so full of machete-toting rascals it was scary!"

Agnes frowned. "Hang on a minute. You said yesterday morning. Morning! Did you get it together? Did he spend the night? Huh?"

Dannie couldn't help but laugh at Agnes' questions and at the look of delight in her eyes. "Alright, yes he did."

"Oooh! And?"

Dannie rolled her eyes. "And what?"

"And was it worth the wait? Was he worth the wait?"

Dannie couldn't suppress a broad grin. "Stop it, Agnes! I'm not telling."

"You don't have to. Your face gives it away. Was he that good?"

Shaking her head, Dannie started giggling.

"Soooo, he was that good!" By now, Agnes was giggling too. They were like a couple of teenaged girls talking about how far they'd gone from one to ten.

Agnes tried to stop laughing but couldn't. "Does this mean you can throw away your old vibrator now?"

Dannie gave her a scandalised look. "Agnes!" Then she burst out laughing too. "Seriously though, he's gorgeous," she breathed. "He's…he's everything," she added, her voice suddenly serious.

"Is he the one?"

"I didn't say that," Dannie said, sounding affronted. "I never said that."

"Hey, you've suddenly changed direction. One minute you're saying he's everything and the next you're denying it." Agnes gave Dannie a hard look. "Which is it?"

Before Dannie could answer or even think about what kind of answer to give, Agnes sucked in an audible breath.

Dannie gave her a questioning look and lowered her voice. "What?"

"Is that your Nam?"

"He's not my Nam," and then Agnes' question fully filtered into her brain. "Why?"

"Because he's standing in the doorway," Agnes whispered.

Dannie turned around immediately and indeed it was Nam. The man in black gave him a nod and disappeared out into the street.

Nam just stood there, feet apart his hands by his sides. Behind him, the daylight gave a halo affect to his figure and all Dannie could do was stare.

Agnes took in the image as well. "Jesus," she breathed, fascinated by his look, style and stance.

"I was thinking the same thing," Dannie said, "Except he's far from being the Son of God," she murmured.

It was obvious that Nam had no intention of entering the shop; he was waiting for Dannie to join him. It was that giving face thing again. Dannie understood.

"I'll call you later," she muttered to Agnes who just nodded silently, her mouth having dropped open in awe.

-o-

Dannie sat beside Nam as he drove. She didn't bother to ask where they were going or why. She was just glad to be with him.

They drove to a part of the city that Dannie had never seen before. It was run down and she saw plenty of poor, elderly or dispossessed people on the streets.

Nam took her hand and walked towards the market area. Stalls of every kind were jammed together in a jumble of colours, smells and wares. Nam kept walking, not looking at the stalls or what was for sale, whereas Dannie only caught brief glimpses of beautiful fabrics, jewellery and fruit. She would love to stop and shop but Nam appeared to be on a mission so she fought back her temptation to browse.

Eventually, Nam found what he wanted and sitting waited for Dannie to settle next to him. They were under a large umbrella at a small rickety wooden table. Dannie now understood why they were there. It was a busy food stall. Nearby she saw two men working, flames from the roaring, burning gas underneath fiercely licking up the sides and over the tops of the large heavy metal woks in their hands. Another was using a cleaver, his adept rapid movements preparing ingredients for the other two to cook.

Nam ordered and within minutes, dishes of steaming hot food were being served up on the table.

Dannie tucked in, thoroughly enjoying her meal. Her immediate hunger sated, she slowed down and took her time finishing. As she ate she wondered why Nam had brought her to this particular place. He'd explained nothing about his choice of location or food stall. It wasn't the kind of place she would have associated with Nam and then the thought struck her. What if no one else knew about his knowledge of this locality either? Would it mean he was safe from attack?

"Did you assign me a bodyguard? Because if you did you could have said. That guy this morning frightened me."

"Sorry. I should have told you he's my man."

Dannie held Nam with a steady gaze. "Is there a reason why you think I need a bodyguard?"

"I'm just taking precautions." He blinked several times. "I want to keep you safe."

Dannie heard the hesitation, saw the look in his eyes. It told her Chan Ho Nam had strong feelings for her but she couldn't bring herself to consider the implications of that. Not yet.

"I understand that but I'm nothing to do with any triad so why would I be at risk?"

"You're everything to do with me as gang boss of Hung Hing," Nam answered. "I don't want what happened to Smartie to happen to you."

"Smartie? Who's Smartie?"

Nam didn't talk much about Smartie to anyone but now he'd mentioned her name he felt that Dannie deserved an explanation. It might also explain to her why he had been taking such extreme precautions to ensure Dannie's wellbeing in the face of increasing trouble from Tung Sing.

"I was with Smartie for two years. She was kidnapped and shot to death in front of me by a rival triad member who wanted me to suffer, who wanted me to pay for being me. The triad was Tung Sing. I was there but I couldn't do anything to protect her, to save her. I tried but I couldn't do a thing. I don't ever want to go through that again."

Dannie noted the roughness in Nam's tone, his voice very close to breaking point. "How long ago did this happen?" she asked gently.

"Just over three years ago. I still have nightmares, though not as bad or as often as I used to. I'll never forget what happened to her, I just can't."

Nam looked away, trying to hold back his emotions. He knew by giving Dannie even this summarised version he would be affected by it but she should know, should understand why he was being so careful with her safety. He was determined that nothing would happen to her. He cared for her too much to lose her.

Dannie touched Nam's hand. "Thank you for telling me. You didn't have to but I'm glad you did. It explains a lot."

-o-

After they'd finished eating, they went back to the car and moved on.

As he drove, Nam couldn't help glancing at Dannie's legs. He'd already noticed the short skirt she was wearing and now it had ridden up a little when she'd got into the car. He noted the curve of her inner thighs and did his best to return his attention to the road.

Nam knew he should be directing his concentration on driving but when he saw Dannie cross her legs and expose more flesh than any man deserved to see in one go, he reacted.

Slowing the car a little, Nam reached across and stroked his knuckles against Dannie's thigh.

-o-

Dannie giggled and looked at him. "You are such a pushover, Chan Ho Nam."

"Can you blame me?" he said. "You think you've got me right where you want me, don't you. You think you just have to dangle the prospect of sex in front of me and I'll respond."

"Well you just did! And I have to say in a classic Pavlovian response as well."

"I don't know what that means," Nam said quietly, "But if you're implying I'm some kind of dog jumping at the sight of a bone then you're wrong. I just don't fall for any woman who shows me her body."

Dannie pursed her lips. "So you're telling me you're fussy?"

"I'm telling you that having sex with a woman is not the same as making love to her."

-o-

Dannie knew what Nam was implying but she wasn't ready, wasn't able to give herself fully. She was unsure of her feelings for Nam, not about him the man necessarily but about everything else that went with him – the guns, the knives, the need for a black-suited bodyguard, and having her flat checked for intruders. She was not used to it. That's why she'd not responded to Nam's statement.

Instead, she said smiling, "Two hands on the wheel, Nam!"

"Alright," he conceded and withdrew his contact.

"Of course," Dannie added, "I don't need any hands on the wheel," and with that she rested her hand against Nam's inner thigh and squeezed.

She saw him gather his concentration to keep the car on the road. She ignored his efforts. She knew he wouldn't let anything happen to them so, without any conscience regarding Nam's increasing discomfiture, Dannie continued to stroke his thigh.

She liked the feel of his relaxed muscle; the slight give of his flesh under her hand as she massaged it. She touched him in long slow sweeping caresses, each time pressing the side of her hand against the crease between his leg and groin.

-o-

Taking a steep narrow road off the main drag, Nam drove them up a hillside towards an apartment complex. However, when he parked the car in the underground garage, he didn't get out but stared at her instead.

Dannie frowned. "What?"

"You've teased me for the last twenty minutes. Now I think it's my turn to play," Nam said sliding back his seat as far as it would go.

Dannie smiled broadly. Car sex! She hadn't done that for a long time. Kicking off her sandals she pulled down her panties and dropped them into the foot well. Swinging her leg over she placed her knees either side of Nam's thighs, straddling his hips.

The fact that they were about to have sex in a public place didn't bother her. The car had tinted windows; no one would be able to see in.

Dannie and Nam kissed passionately, she running her fingers through his hair and he peeling off her t-shirt. Nam felt for the clasp of her bra, and having successfully unfastened it, pulled it away from her to fling it onto the dashboard.

He revelled in the heat of her breasts and worked to get her nipples hard and erect.

Dannie raised herself a little so that they were in line with Nam's lips and he took first one and then the other into his mouth, sucking them.

She unbuttoned Nam's shirt, then raked her hands over his chest and down to his firm abdomen. She tried to get her fingers inside the waistband of his trousers but his sitting position made it too difficult. Not to be defeated, Dannie went to pop open the button and unzip him but found an additional barrier to her goal. It was a heavy silver chain threaded through the belt loops. It had a figure eight clasp. As she struggled with it, Nam pushed her hands out of the way and with a deft quick movement, released the clasp.

Dannie had no idea that the chain Nam always kept at his waist was his backup weapon. He could expertly whip the chain around and fell an opponent when required to do so.

He lifted his hips off the seat and yanked down his trousers just far enough past his hips for Dannie to grip his erection.

Nam pushed up her skirt to her waist and slipped his hand between her upper thighs. He could feel the heat radiating from her. She was open to his touch, stretched and available as she straddled him.

He played her clitoris with a light rapid finger making her cry out with pleasure. Sensing she didn't need or want preparation he flipped a lever and his seat back lowered to the horizontal.

Holding his penis upright he pulled at Dannie's hip with his free hand.

She knew what he wanted and she wanted it too. She positioned herself over Nam's cock and slowly lowered herself onto it.

Nam gasped. She was tight. The sensation went straight to his balls.

He placed his hands on her buttocks to support her weight as she began to move up and down. He captured a nipple and moved his tongue across it fast and hard.

Dannie moaned loudly. "Now!" she gasped, her body quivering as she orgasmed.

Nam came quickly too. He'd been on the edge for most of their drive. A fast completion had been inevitable.

-o-

They remained in the car for a while to recover. When they eventually got out, Dannie found that her legs were wobbly and her thigh muscles ached.

Nam grinned at her. "Was it worth it?"

Dannie nodded. "Oh yessss!"

They walked through the underground car park and Nam led Dannie to the lift.

Dannie saw Nam's floor selection. It was at the top of a row of buttons, running from ground to five. He pressed the top one, which simply read 'Penthouse'.

The lift door swished open and when Dannie alighted she saw two black suited men standing either side of the one and only door on that floor. Dannie didn't ask. She knew they were Nam's men.

-o-

When Dannie entered Nam's place she blew out a low whistle. "Wow! This place is something else," she grinned.

"You like it?" Nam asked dropping his keys into a glass dish placed on a small side table against the wall by the door.

Dannie took in the huge living room with its wall of sliding glass doors. "It's amazing."

Nam opened the doors and walked her out onto a large terrace.

"You can see the sea!" Dannie enthused, "And trees and the city and everything!"

Nam smiled. Dannie seemed childlike in her enthusiasm. "I'll get you some tea then I have to make a few phone calls."

"Okay," Dannie said absently, her concentration on the vista below. Nam's apartment was high up and built into the side of a hill. She tried to calculate how much it was worth but gave up. It didn't matter.

Dannie's mind took flight thinking about what it would be like to live with Nam. She shook herself; she'd gone into fantasy-land. He would never ask her to do such a thing and she wasn't sure if she'd want to anyway. Though she knew very little about Nam, she sensed he was a very private man and for him, sharing every aspect of his life with another was not what he did.

While Nam made his phone calls, Dannie wandered around his apartment, marvelling at its size, simple decoration and airy environment. Eventually she chose to sit on the terrace for a while and admire the beautiful tranquil views. It was hard to believe she was still in a city.

Hong Kong was almost unique. It was an island city and a crowded one. It had hundreds of skyscrapers and if one were wealthy enough one could buy the kind of view that Dannie was looking at right then.

Nam was a long time. Dannie went to the door of the apartment intending to ask the men standing outside if they wanted a drink but as she reached for the door handle, Nam pulled her back, his phone still to his ear.

He didn't stop his conversation but just ushered her away from the door with a hand to her back and a shake of his head.

Dannie was about to question Nam's actions when he finished his call. "Don't do that," he muttered.

"But…"

"You don't know who's out there."

"Well, I assume the two men in black suits on guard in the hallway are your guys, otherwise we're both in trouble," she grumbled.

Nam gave her a look and went back to making yet another phone call. His attention was taken by whatever the Tung Sing crisis was about.

She gave a heavy sigh. She was getting bored and she just wanted to leave. This wasn't the kind of 'second date' she'd had in mind and she wasn't enjoying it.

Besides that, she had someone special to meet later that evening and she was running out of time so she escaped to Nam's bathroom and took a shower. She needed to wash away the scent of sex before she went out again.

-o-

Eventually, Nam completed his business. "I have an appointment tonight that I must keep. I'll give you a ride back to Sai Wan."

Dannie hesitated before asking, "You make this thing tonight sound really important. Is it?"

"It's important to Hung Hing, yes."

"And what about you? Is it important to you, Nam?"

"Everything to do with Hung Hing is important to me."

Dannie's eyes narrowed. Nam was being evasive. He must know she was concerned for him but he wasn't giving anything away about his own situation.

She chose not to make any further comment. She was beginning to recognise that Nam would not be pushed when it came to sharing triad business with her. "Why don't we meet up at the Comrades' Club later? I'll buy you a drink," he smiled.

Dannie felt like she was being offered compensation for keeping quiet. "Okay, if I can make it. I have stuff to do so let's go," she said and tried very hard to keep her irritation to a minimum.

Nam saw Dannie's annoyance but chose to ignore it. If she'd been a triad woman he might have explained what his appointment was about. A triad woman would understand but he didn't think Dannie would. Sometimes, it was better not to say anything at all.

-o-

Nam dropped Dannie outside her apartment block. There was no need for the precautions he'd put in place earlier. His appointment tonight would resolve the issue once and for all.

He didn't pull away immediately. He was still thinking about Dannie. She was back in his life but what did that mean? She questioned him and showed her irritation if he didn't answer or was evasive. She was also spirited, enthusiastic and kind. She was attractive with a great body and all these things combined made her more desirable than he could have possibly imagined. Nam sighed. Was she back in his life permanently, or was she just passing through it?

He thought about his earlier comment, about the difference between having sex and making love and couldn't help wondering if Dannie was treating him as a 'convenient' arrangement, like she had with Takeshi Nogami. Was she having sex with Nam or was she making love to him? He knew which it was for him; he'd hoped his comment would have told her how he felt but somehow, he didn't believe that it had.

Idly, Nam wondered what the 'stuff' was that Dannie said she had to do. Dipping his head for a moment and then raising it again he blew out a breath. Glancing in his rear view mirror he started to pull away then he noticed a woman walking up the street behind him. It was Dannie and she was speaking on her mobile phone.

Nam blinked and stopped the car, keeping his eyes on the mirror. Dannie was walking with purpose. She'd changed her clothes to jeans and a long cotton shirt. Where was she going and who was she talking to?

He'd assumed that her 'stuff' was something to do with her illustration work, something she would have to do in her flat. Obviously he'd got it wrong.

Trying to control the stirrings of his green-eyed monster, he told himself he should just drive away and rely on Dannie telling him where she'd gone when he saw her later at the club. He had no hold over her, had no right to question what she did when she wasn't with him but he needed to know. He needed to know if she had any feelings for him at all….

-o-

Dannie made her way to the main street and caught a bus to Central. She was feeling excited and nervous all at the same time. She was going for an audition. She hadn't told Nam, she couldn't really see the point unless there was actually something to tell him. She was hopeful about tonight but she would be singing with a band she didn't know. She was going in cold.

When she got to the venue she knocked loudly on the locked door. The club wasn't open yet, it was still being decorated.

Eventually, when the door opened she saw a tall faired haired man grinning at her. "Dannie! How the f'ck are ya?"

"All the better for seeing you, Steve. Gimme a hug!"

Dannie and the man, Steve embraced enthusiastically, he kissing her cheek several times.

He led her inside and closed the door again.

-o-

Nam had decided to follow Dannie, even sticking close behind her bus to make sure he didn't miss her getting off.

He was now trying to negotiate the busy night-time traffic in the Central district. The bus was travelling along the bus-lane, which Nam couldn't use, so he was forced to speed up as irate drivers behind him honked their horns impatiently, indicating he should drive at the accepted pace. He wanted to drive beside the bus, but had no choice than to pull ahead of it and the further he went the less he was able to see through his rear view mirror.

Nam took a gamble and swung the car around to make a U-turn, driving back on the other side of the road in order to take another look at the bus. It had stopped and people were getting off, including Dannie. She was walking in the direction he'd just come from.

Again, Nam took his life in his hands and made another U-turn to the chorus of hooting horns, yells and shouts. This time he took a chance and drove into the bus-lane, slowing as the bus began to pull away again. He saw Dannie ahead of him. She walked a few yards further on and then stopped outside an empty shop front. He couldn't see any lights through the window, just some ladders and dust sheets in the shadows.

He jammed his foot down hard on the brake when he saw a man open the door and take Dannie in his arms. She looked very pleased to receive his attentions. Nam was not.

Gasping, Nam drove as fast as the traffic would allow him. He was angry at his own naivety. He should have known Dannie was not taking him seriously, should have guessed she didn't feel the same way about him as he felt about her.

In his youth he would have shrugged off this kind of event and moved on to someone else. But this situation was different. He liked Dannie so much that his emotions bubbled just under the surface.

Nam pulled his mobile phone from his top pocket. "Willi, find out what you can about the Little Britain Club on Queen's Road."

He didn't want to but now he was feeling mean and aggressive. He laughed bitterly at the irony. He should thank Dannie for his present mood because in a few hours he would use it to deal with Szeto Ho Nam.

-o-

"What do you think?" Steve asked as he ushered Dannie through the unfinished foyer of the club.

"Little Britain is a great name," she smiled, "But why?"

"I want this club to offer nothing but music in the English language. I think there are enough ex-pats who would go for it and plenty of younger Chinese who want to broaden their musical palette."

"And the band?"

"Ah," Steve said rubbing his hands. "Where The Heart Is."

Dannie laughed. "Back in Blighty I assume!"

"I've given them a three month contract to perform as the house band."

"And what happened to their singer?"

"He ran off with a Bulgarian boy."

"Ah," Dannie nodded, "And they're specifically looking for a female singer this time around?"

"Not necessarily. They just want someone who fits the bill."

"Which is?"

"Heart is a rock band, Dannie. They play the kind of music you really like. Let's go and meet them and you can hear for yourself."

Steve led Dannie to a small raised dais where the band was running through a sound check.

"Hey, guys, this is Dannie Doyle. I told you about her."

The bass guitarist looked her up and down and commented, "You're not even English. You're bloody Chinese!"

"Love your one world ethic," Dannie remarked sarcastically. "And no, I'm not English thank God. I'm from County Donegal so what're gonna do about it?"

She'd put on her best broad Irish accent learned from her dad and with her hands on her hips, challenged the bastard to make something of it.

"That's Kelly Smith. You'll like him once you get to know him," Steve intervened with a nervous grin.

"The hell I will," Dannie growled. She was already beginning to wonder if this audition was a mistake.

Steve carried on with the introductions. "This is Mike Desmond on guitar, Joss Simpson known as Simmo on rhythm and Martin Hughes on keyboards." There was a loud drum roll. "Oh, and that's Kevin Blakely," he said nodding at the band's drummer.

Dannie smiled an acknowledgement while Steve showed her to a seat. There were two men at the same table and she guessed they were also there for the audition.

Next to her was a tall good looking man with brown hair and designer stubble. She noted his keen blue eyes. The other guy looked Chinese.

"Hi," Dannie said.

"Hi," the blue eyed man said, leaning forward and oozing charm. Dannie disliked him immediately. "My name is Damien Jones," he said as smooth as polished glass and with as much genuine warmth. "Pleased to meet you," he said quirking his eyebrows in a 'how about it' kind of way.

Dannie just wanted to throw up.

The other guy stood up and bowed to her. She'd expected nothing less. He was Chinese after all.

"I am Jackie Chan."

Damien guffawed and Dannie wanted to hit him, as well as throw up! Glaring at him she hissed in a quietly cutting but still audible voice, "Actually Jackie and Chan are very common names in Hong Kong like Damien and Jones are in Britain. So don't show your racist ignorance here."

Steve coughed and clapped his hands by way of diffusing the situation. "Right, well shall we get on then?" He held out three drinking straws and announced, "The shortest straw is on first."

-o-

Dannie was feeling rather pleased with herself. She'd drawn the longest one, Damien the shortest. Now she could get the measure of the competition, not that it would necessarily change her approach to her singing but it was good to know who she was up against.

The band, known between the members as Heart, asked Damien to choose a song and if they knew it and could play it, they would. The man chose Blur's Song 2. Not exactly rock but Dannie wasn't sure quite what Heart was looking for.

They asked him to sing a second song, this time he settled on Deep Purple's Black Night. Quite a contrast from Blur but Dannie had to give him his due. He was actually quite good.

Next up was Jackie. He elected to sing a middle of the road version of a Cantopop song but in English. The band struggled to play it and had to stop after the first couple of bars.

"Sorry," Mike said, "Try a western song, something we're actually likely to know."

Jackie nervously swiped his tongue over his lips, looking like a scared rabbit in the headlights. "Um, what about To Be Left Outside Alone by Anastacia?"

The band members smiled at each other. Actually, it wasn't a bad choice at all. At least it sounded vaguely like rock music.

Dannie knew the recording and had always thought Anastacia's voice very reminiscent of Tina Turner's, which Jackie's certainly wasn't. His voice wasn't round enough, loud enough or strong enough.

He and the band finished the song and Mike shook his head. "Sorry, mate but you haven't got the sound we're looking for. Thanks for trying though."

Dannie was next and she was feeling reasonably confident. She chose to sing Queen's Another One Bites the Dust. She smiled as she thought about her selection. It felt like hers and Nam's song.

She executed the song well. She was beginning to enjoy the process. It had been a long while since she'd performed and now she was remembering what she'd been missing. Instead of allowing her to choose her own second song, Mike gave her a song sheet. "This is one of ours. We'll play it and then you sing it on our second time through. Think you can do that?"

Dannie blew out a breath and looked at him. "Well, okay, I'll give it a go."

The tune was pretty straight forward and the lyrics not too challenging. She thought it was a really good song though and managed to get through it without too many glaring errors.

Mike nodded his approval. "You did pretty well considering," he said. "Wanna try it again?"

"Sure," she said warming to absolutely everything and everybody.

Damien wasn't. "Hey!" he called out as they were about to start. "I want the same chance as her. Give me something else of yours to sing."

The band came together in a huddle and had a discussion. Mike broke away. "Okay."

Damien studied the song sheet and then sang. He made a good attempt much to Dannie's annoyance.

Mike beckoned to Dannie. "I want you and Damien to sing the first song together. I want to hear harmonies as well as good strong rock voices and don't try to out-sing each other. Got it?"

Dannie and Damien had to share a microphone. Because he was so much taller than her, she had to really stretch to reach it and get herself heard.

The band called a halt after yet another repeat of the song and Dannie went back to her seat. She noticed Damien was talking with the band. By his body language he was behaving as though he'd just finished a tour with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Ingratiating bastard, she thought.

Dannie growled into her glass of water. It was obvious to her that the band would pick Damien as its singer. She couldn't blame them she supposed. Damien had the looks, the charm and the voice to get away with it.

Fed up, Dannie wandered off to look for the bathroom. When she came back she was ready to leave. She walked towards the now seated band members. "Thanks for your time, guys. Good luck, you deserve it."

As she turned around to say her goodbyes to Steve, Mike called her back. "Do you think you could work with Damien, here?"

Dannie couldn't disguise the tone of disdain in her voice. "I'd rather work with you," she said honestly.

"We're thinking of changing the focus of the band slightly. We liked the two of you singing together. You've got good harmonies and that's without any rehearsal. We'd like you to both join the band. What do you think?"

Dannie sighed. "Can I let you know?" she said.

Mike nodded. "Sure but don't wait too long. Damien's already agreed to it."

"He would," Dannie muttered and turned to leave the main part of the club. She got as far as the foyer and turned back. She was standing in front of Mike in less than thirty seconds. "Okay, I accept," she smiled.

-o-

Dannie was excited. She was going to be performing again and couldn't wait, except she had to because Mike didn't need her to go back to the club for four days. He said that the rest of the band needed to work on their arrangements so that they could accommodate Dannie's key preference.

She was on such a high that she just wanted to get to the Comrades' Club as soon as possible. It wasn't far so she jumped in a taxi.

It was late but not that late so she was surprised when she went inside Nam's club to find the place deserted. There was a guy behind the bar cleaning up and she could see three figures on bar stools in the semi-dark.

Pau Pan got up to meet her.

"Where's Nam?" she asked hardly able to contain herself. She wanted to tell him her news as soon as possible.

"At the bar," Pau Pan said and led her to where Nam was sitting.

She clapped her hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh my God! What the hell happened to you?"

Nam's face was red and bruised. He had a cut lip and grazes on his forehead.

Horrified, Dannie looked at his hands. The knuckles of one were swollen and almost purple. She could see small oozing abrasions. He'd wrapped a white handkerchief around the other one, which was stained with blood. She couldn't even guess what other injuries his clothes were hiding.

"Nam?"

Just then, before Dannie could elicit anything from him, Sister Thirteen, her husband Ben Hon and Tai Fai sauntered into the club.

"Brother Nam!" they called in unison and stiffly as though in pain, Nam got up to greet them.

Dannie was dumbfounded. Nam had walked away from her without giving any explanation about what had happened to him. Desperate, she fixed Pau Pan with narrowed eyes.

"Tell me," she demanded.

"We've had a lot of trouble with Hung Hing."

"Yes, yes I know that much already," Dannie snapped in exasperation.

"A lot of fellows were getting hurt on both sides and the situation was escalating badly."

Dannie bit back her anger. "And?"

"And Nam challenged Szeto Ho Nam to a fight."

Incredulous, Dannie laughed. "A fight? What the hell is this? Playground politics?"

By now, Pau Pan had taken a step back. He could see just how upset Dannie was and how likely she was to fly at anyone who didn't give her the whole truth.

"Um," he went on, "Nam's the best fighter in Hong Kong. He thought it was the fairest thing to do, challenge Szeto Ho Nam to a one-on-one contest. Hung Hing and Tung Sing gathered at the docks to watch."

Dannie's mouth was opening and closing but no sound was coming out. She was literally speechless.

"The winner would get control of Wanchai and Causeway Bay."

"And the loser?" she spluttered.

"He would have to leave Hong Kong."

Blinking at Pau Pan, Dannie's blood ran cold. "And…and is Nam staying or leaving?"

Pau Pan gave her a broad toothy grin. "I don't know what Nam's doing but I do know Szeto Ho Nam left tonight! I told you, Nam is the best fighter in Hong Kong. Szeto Ho Nam is the second best fighter. The two of them are matchless. You do know Nam trains, right? He runs, uses weights and boxes. He takes his job very seriously."

Dannie shook her head. Of course she didn't know, Nam had never told her. She should have known though because his body was so well-honed. Alright, she was pretty sure he used weights, the developed muscles on his torso and thighs had told her that much already.

"So if Nam won the fight, what sort of state is the other man in?"

Pau Pan wheezed with laughter. "Does pulp and bloody give you a clue?"

-o-

Still in pain, Nam sat down carefully to talk to Thirteen and the others at a table. He was avoiding Dannie. He thought it best to let Pau Pan do the explaining. He'd weather her storm when he felt more able.

"Will he definitely leave Hong Kong?" Ben Hon asked.

"He said he would," Nam answered.

"I wouldn't trust his word if it was chiselled in stone," Thirteen scoffed.

"I've got men on it," Nam said cryptically and the others knew exactly what that meant. He'd instructed some of his fellows to track Szeto Ho Nam's movements. They'd report back immediately if the disgraced Tung Sing man didn't leave.

Thirteen folded her arms and stuck out her chin. "He'd better not come back otherwise I'll deal with him!"

Ben glanced at his 5' 2" wife and sighed. "She would too."

-o-

When the others had left, Dannie joined Nam where he was still sitting at the table.

"Pau Pan told me everything," she said gently. "So it was World War Three after all."

Nam rolled his eyes. He really didn't need Dannie scolding him right now.

"And don't do that," she said. "Have you seen a doctor yet?"

"I don't need a doctor," Nam murmured feeling dog tired and aching all over.

"Really," Dannie said and got to her feet. "Give me your car keys, I'm driving."

Nam looked at her askance. "I don't think so. No one drives my car but me. Anyway, you're not insured."

"I'm sure Willi can fix that," she said, the irritation growing in her voice. "Well, take a taxi then. You're in no fit state to drive."

Nam nodded. "Alright," and with effort got to his feet.

Dannie stood out in the street and waved down a red cab. As Nam carefully got in, Dannie whispered directions to the driver. "Nearest Accident and Emergency please."

It wasn't until the taxi swept up to the hospital entrance that Nam realised where they were. On the journey he'd closed his eyes, concentrating on blocking out the pain in his chest. He knew he probably had a cracked rib at best, broken at worst.

As Dannie helped Nam out of the cab, she growled at him. "No arguments. Just see a doctor, okay?"

Nam felt too unwell to argue. Leaning on Dannie's shoulder they made their way slowly to the waiting room.

Two hours later, they left the hospital, Dannie carrying a large paper bag of painkillers, antibiotics, sleeping pills and ointment. Nam was clasping his ribcage. He found breathing painful. The x-rays had confirmed two cracked ribs. The nurse had wrapped his chest in wide bandages from his armpits to his waist.

"We can go to my place," Dannie said. "It's a lot closer than yours."

-o-

"Who were you with tonight?" Nam asked in the back of the taxi to Eastern Street.

Dannie frowned at him. "What?"

"Who was he?"

"I have a feeling we've been here before," she said. "First it's none of your business, second the man is my cousin Steve Langer, third it's his club, fourth I was there for a band audition and fifth how did you know?"

"I followed you."

Dannie shook her head. "Great, now you're a bloody stalker. I can't believe you did that, Nam."

"I hadn't planned to. I saw you leave your place just after I dropped you and I wanted to know what you were doing."

"I told you I had stuff to do," Dannie threw back.

"And you think I know what 'stuff' is?"

"Forget it, Nam. I don't want to fight with you."

"Just as well. I've already had one of those, thanks," Nam muttered.

They sat in resentful silence for a while until Nam looked at her. "Did you get it?"

Dannie returned his look. "Get what?"

"Did you get the audition?"

She nodded and despite the atmosphere between them, gave Nam a great big smile.

-o-

Dannie made Nam get into her bed, gave him a glass of water and some painkillers plus the antibiotics and a sleeping pill, treated his cuts and abrasions with the medicated ointment and pulled up the bedcovers. "Sleep if you can. Call me if you need anything at all."

Nam fell asleep quickly. The sleeping pill had done its job.

Dannie wrapped herself in a blanket and settled down in the creaky armchair. She'd decided at the very outset that she wouldn't sleep with Nam. He needed undisturbed rest and that meant not having someone else next to him tossing and turning, snoring or hiccupping.

Dannie was content to watch Nam sleep for quite a long time. Her mind was active, her imagination running away with her. She couldn't sleep even if she'd wanted to.

What if Nam had died?

What if Nam had been permanently injured?

What if Nam had been forced to leave Hong Kong?

What if she'd lost him?

Hard as she tried, she just couldn't get the thoughts out of her head.

-o-

"I've never seen anyone with so many cuts and bruises."

Agnes nodded sympathetically.

"I tried to stop him but he absolutely insisted on going back to his place this morning," Dannie explained blinking back the tears.

"Well you know how it is. If you feel like crap it's always better to feel like crap in your own place," Agnes replied sagely.

"Yes, I know but I'm really worried for him. He doesn't say much but I know he's still in a lot of pain. He can hardly breathe, Agnes!"

Agnes patted Dannie's hand as the Happy Store owner brought another round of coffees to the table.

"You've looked after him for two days already. Give the guy a break!"

"Are you suggesting my nursing skills are wanting?"

Agnes laughed. "I used to be a nurse, I know what kind of skills you need and nagging isn't one of them. I bet you've spent the last 48 hours biting your tongue not to tell him off for having this fight in the first place."

Dannie rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright it was hard but I didn't say a word about it."

Raising her eyebrows, Agnes gave her a look.

"I didn't! Honestly! But I think he's been traumatised by it all."

"Hey, this kind of thing happens all the time. I bet this isn't the first fight Nam's had."

"But this is different," Dannie pondered. "There was so much at stake for him. There was the future of Hung Hing and its reputation and Nam's own future and reputation. He could have lost everything. Don't you see? He could have lost his life over some stupid principle."

"It's not stupid to him, Dannie. Don't belittle what he believes in."

"Okay, I'm sorry, you're right. I should try to be more understanding, be more supportive but he never tells me anything!"

Agnes could see Dannie was getting upset and angry. "Take it easy. You just need to talk to him, get him to open up a little."

"He opens up a little, sometimes, when we have sex," Dannie said.

"You mean pillow talk?" Agnes grinned, the light of curiosity gleaming in her eyes.

"Not exactly pillow talk, no. But he's always ready for sex."

"Is he pushy? I mean does he make you do it?" Agnes couldn't help asking. She'd always had the impression that triad men screwed their women when they wanted to, whether the woman was receptive or not.

Dannie was taken aback by Agnes' question. Not because of the personal nature of it, she and Agnes had always shared the 'gory details' as Agnes liked to call it.

"Actually, it's me who's done the running so far. D'you know, I hadn't thought about it until now but he's never come on to me, not really. It's always been me who's done the initiating."

"Is he…" Agnes said and frowned, "Is he errr, does he um… You know," she went on hinting like mad without actually saying the words.

"You mean is he slow off the mark, semi-impotent, lacking oomph, a bit meagre in certain departments?"

Both women laughed. They knew exactly what the other meant.

"Certainly not!" Dannie stated at last. "He's a sexual being that's for sure but he doesn't impose his sexuality. He has a way of allowing me to express mine." She blinked at the realisation.

Agnes raised her chin and rolled her eyes. "Hmmm, he's either a very clever man who just has to, what did you say, not impose himself, and every woman and her dog is queuing up for him, or he just doesn't know what a gold mine he's got in his pants."

Dannie opened her mouth in a scandalised pose, putting a hand to her cheek to complete the picture. "Agnes! Your mind spends more time in the gutter than mine does!"

"So which of my two theories is correct then?"

"It's just who he is. He doesn't impose himself on me and I feel liberated because of it. He never questions what I want or how I want it, he just responds with all his heart."

"And all of his body?"

"Oh my God, yes!"

"Just think, when he's recovered you could persuade him to take a break, have a holiday, go somewhere nice away from Hong Kong and enjoy testing out your theory."

Dannie laughed. "I can't imagine Nam ever taking a holiday."

-o-

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," Nam said.

"Are you eating? Are you sleeping?"

Nam took a shallow breath. "I'm fine. Stop fussing. Come and see me after your rehearsal. I'll get Willi to organise a ride for you. Just call him when you're ready to leave."

"Okay, shall I bring anything?"

Nam thought for a moment. "Wanton noodles. I'd really like wanton noodles!"

"Okay." Dannie flipped closed her phone and got on the bus to Queen's Road for her first rehearsal with Heart and the dreaded Damien.

-o-

Five hours later flushed and pleased, Dannie was sitting in the Happy Store with Agnes. She had an hour before she'd promised Nam his wanton noodles.

"How did it go? Well, by the look on your face."

"It did. To be honest I was a bit surprised. I expected Damien to hog the microphone and strut."

Agnes nearly choked on her coffee. "Strut? I can't tell you what kind of image is going on in my head right now."

"It's best you don't have any image of Damien at all. It would give you nightmares."

The women laughed some more. Inwardly, Agnes was glad for Dannie. She seemed to be back on track as far as her music was concerned and perhaps now her relationship with Nam would settle into a comfortable and loving rhythm. Agnes smiled. Dannie deserved it.

"What about Nam? Is he recovering okay?"

"He's still in pain, Agnes, he just doesn't say much about it. I wish there was something I could do to make him feel better. You used to be a nurse, any suggestions?"

Agnes tried to draw on her distant memories. "Cracked ribs you say? Did the hospital tell you if it was one rib or more?"

Dannie blinked. "Um, two ribs I think. He had some x-rays done and a test for blood oxygen levels."

"What was the result for the blood oxygen?"

"I can't remember. Normal I think."

"Okay, that's good." Agnes smiled when she saw the relief on Dannie's face. "Have they strapped him up?"

Dannie nodded.

"He's got a choice about that," Agnes went on. "If he sticks with the bandaging or some other form of support, he will have less pain but conversely he won't be able to breathe deeply which means he could be at risk of developing pneumonia. It's his choice really.

From what you've said before, he sounds like he keeps himself fit; he's young and healthy so he will probably be fine with the bandaging for a while. Just keep an eye on him, if he develops a cough he will be in a great deal of pain without the strapping but the cough will be more difficult to cure if he still uses the strapping."

Frowning, Dannie was beginning to realise that rib damage wasn't a straight forward thing; just strapping and waiting for the pain to ease wasn't going to be the only measures Nam needed to aid his recovery.

"And how long do you think it will take before Nam is back to normal?"

"That's difficult to say. It depends on the individual and the injury but work on six to ten weeks."

"Six to ten weeks?" Dannie was horrified. "Six to ten weeks?"

"Did you think this was just a broken fingernail, Dannie? Nam's got a serious injury. He was lucky not to sustain damage to internal organs."

"I…I never realised," Dannie said in a small voice. "I didn't know."

"Well you do now, so cheer up. Your Nam is fit and healthy. He'll be fine. He just needs some time to heal."

Dannie shook her head. "Six to ten weeks, that means no…"

Agnes laughed. "Absolutely not! He should not exert himself, so yes, sex it out for the time being."

"Damn," Dannie breathed, "And we were just getting it on."

"Think of it as a test. Without the sex you'll just have to find other things to do, other things to talk about."

-o-

"Stop walking around, Nam. Just sit down." Dannie was unpacking the wanton noodles and other food as Nam tried to pace the kitchen. She saw how he was holding his chest, bent over slightly like an old man, walking slowly and carefully. It upset her to see him. She was used to a vital, strong and upright Nam, and now he was so vulnerable and weak.

Nam saw the look of concern on Dannie's face and holding up his hand gave in to her request to sit. He was glad she was there with him. He'd spent a lonely and painful 12 hours waiting for her to show up but now he felt better. She was with him again and it was at that point that Nam realised he missed her presence when she wasn't with him.

"You know, I think I should stay with you," Dannie was saying as she lined up her chopsticks for her first mouthful of noodles.

Nam rolled his eyes. "I don't need looking after. This isn't the first time I've had a cracked rib. I can take care of myself."

Dannie lowered her chopsticks. "I'm sure you can but why would you want to go to all the effort? Why not let someone else take the load?"

"If you stayed at my place I could look after you as well as get to rehearsals."

Nam shook his head. "I want to be here," he said. "Your place is…well it's…"

"I know," Dannie nodded. "It's small, cramped, and uncomfortable when it's hot. It's noisy sometimes, and the Happy Store isn't exactly the Lotus Tea Garden."

Nam put his hand over Dannie's. "Sorry but it's not."

"I know. As Agnes keeps telling me, if you're going to feel like crap it's better to feel like crap in your own place. I understand, really I do."

"But you'll come and see me?"

"Of course I'll come and see you. My life wouldn't be the same without our bickering, arguments and great sex!"

Nam laughed and then held his chest. Dannie made to stand up. He raised a hand to signal he was fine really. Dannie's humour was worth the pain.

"Great sex?" he grinned.

"Oh Nam, for goodness' sake. You men are all the same. Your bodies can be broken as long as your egos stay intact!"

Nam wasn't going to bother arguing with that. He knew she was right.

-o-

Later that evening, they were in the bathroom. Dannie wanted to fix Nam's bandage again and she thought that if he could hold on to the towel rail he would have some support while he stood.

Carefully, Dannie took it off and re-rolled it, ready to encircle Nam's chest again. She took one end of the bandage and laid it over his right shoulder to dangle past his shoulder blade then she began wrapping him. It was a delicate balance between too loose and too tight.

Nam peered down to watch her. She was gentle with him and yet focused and firm with the bandage. She laid her fingers tenderly on his skin as she unravelled the long length of crepe.

They were silent as she worked, she concentrating, he just enjoying her ministrations.

Dannie stood back to admire her work. "How's that?" she asked.

Nam glanced at himself in the full length mirror and smiled. "I look like a rice dumpling!"

-o-

For the next few weeks, Dannie and Nam's lives slipped into a comfortable routine. When she wasn't gigging at Little Britain she was with Nam at his place. Little by little, some of her personal belongings had migrated from Eastern Street to Nam's apartment in Happy Valley including her music CDs, computer and illustration sketch books.

Nam didn't mind at all. It was almost like they were living together and he wondered if he should broach the subject of her being with him at the apartment permanently.

Early on he'd insisted that Dannie take full advantage of a Hung Hing car and driver. He knew the commute must be tiring for her and he wanted to make her life as easy as possible. Besides that, he felt happier knowing that the driver was also a martial arts expert. Even though Nam had received reports of Szeto Ho Nam leaving Hong Kong, he'd never fully trusted the man's word that he would stay away. Sooner or later, Nam expected him to return.

-o-

Just a week after the fight, Dannie was leaning over Nam to adjust his pillows. Her cleavage was right in front of his eyes. He grabbed her arm and gently held her back.

"Dannie," he'd said, "You're driving me mad with your low-cut tops."

Dannie gasped, slapping her hand across her chest and doing her best to cover up. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I'll go and change."

Still holding her, Nam laughed. "I'm joking! I'd be really happy if you weren't wearing any clothes at all."

"Dream on, cowboy!"

-o-

Nine days after the fight, Dannie snuggled up to Nam in his very large bed. She kissed him on the cheek but he turned his head quickly and sought out her mouth, kissing her fully and with passion. His ribs might have been damaged but the rest of him was in full working order.

"Hey," she said, "Take it easy. Don't get too excited, you know you're not supposed to take rigorous exercise just yet."

"Who's talking about me taking exercise? What about your hand? That could use some exercise."

Dannie laughed softly against his neck. "Nam! Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Read it any way you like, Dannie Doyle. I'm open to offers."

Dannie reached down to Nam's cock and began stroking. She kissed him, ran her hand down his arm and across his lower abdomen, the part not covered by the bandaging. When he was good and hard, Dannie took him in her mouth and sucked.

Nam panted through the discomfort in his chest and came.

Dannie had sucked him dry.

-o-

Four weeks after the fight, Nam was recovered enough to spend a little time each day on Hung Hing business. He was able to get about without the need for painkillers and as long as he didn't over exert himself, he was fine.

-o-

Seven weeks after the fight, and in all that time, he and Dannie had not had full on sex. He'd not been able to make love to her but recently he'd really wanted to…badly, and decided the only way to find out if his chest was up to it, was to do it.

-o-

One night, eight weeks after the fight, Nam pulled Dannie into his arms and held her tight.

"This is nice," she murmured into his shoulder.

They were cuddled together in Nam's bed. The curtains were open and the moonlight crept across the wood floor. All was quiet and Nam felt at peace with the world.

He sighed.

Dannie looked up at him. "Penny for them?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Are we living together?"

She raised her head to look him fully in the eyes. "What?"

"I just wondered," Nam said. "You've got a lot of your stuff here and I wanted to know if you'd moved in with me."

"Of course I've got a lot of my stuff here. I've been looking after you so it's made sense to bring some bits and pieces with me."

"Bits and pieces?" That morning he'd opened his wardrobe to get a shirt only to find all the spare capacity had been taken up by Dannie's clothes.

"Perhaps it's time I cleared my things out. You really don't need me now."

Nam sat up and stared at her. "Of course I need you."

"No, you're fine now. Nurse Dannie will sign out tomorrow."

"I don't want you to go back to Eastern Street. I want you to stay here so we can be together properly."

"Nam, I…"

Nam's eyes glittered as he held her gaze. "You're my woman, Dannie. I want you with me."

-o-

"Just explain to me why so many of Nam's men refer to me as sister-in-law?"

Agnes smiled. "I've explained the brotherhood thing, right? Well Nam is everyone's brother, and all the men in the triad are his brothers, so his woman is their sister-in-law. Get it?"

Dannie nodded slowly, trying to process what Agnes had told her. "And what's with this 'you are my woman' thing? I mean I would expect to be called a girlfriend but woman? There's something very possessive about it, like I'm Nam's car or his apartment or his club."

"In a way you are a possession, his possession but by the same token he's yours."

Dannie frowned. "Well I don't like it. I'm not a thing to be owned. I'm a human being who has the right to self-determination."

Agnes shook her head. "No, no, you don't get it. It's not about owning in that sense; it's about status and all that goes with it. If you are Nam's woman then he's made a commitment to you, treats you as his one and only partner and everyone else knows that. In other words, you are not to be messed with."

"I don't know how everyone else knows this because he's never said anything in public, to his men."

"Really?"

"No."

"Has he said it to you?"

Dannie nodded. "Yes, and he wants me to move in with him."

Agnes grinned. "Oooh! Are you going to?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't know. It feels like a step too far."

"Be honest, Dannie. Do you love him?"

"No and yes."

Agnes slapped her hand down on the table in frustration. "Make up your mind, Dannie! It's either one or the other, it can't be both!"

Dannie's face crumpled. "God, Agnes! I love him so much it hurts. I'm scared I could just consume him because of it. I've held him at arm's length all this time because I'm frightened of my own feelings for him. How stupid is that?" she said and began to cry.

"Hey," Agnes said soothingly.

"He's in such a dangerous business. What if something happened to him? What if he got killed? I couldn't bear it!"

"And what if he doesn't get killed? What if he lives a long and healthy life? The worst that could happen is that he doesn't have you."

Dannie sniffed and wiped her eyes with a paper table napkin. "I…I hadn't thought about it like that."

"You've just been focusing on all the negative things, all the reasons why it would be too difficult to commit to him because you couldn't bear to lose him. Commitment can't be conditional, Dannie, you know that."

Dannie raised her head and blinked at Agnes. She took a deep breath. "You're right. Love isn't conditional."

"Then tell him."

-o-

That evening, Dannie arrived at Little Britain early. She wanted to run through a new song with the dreaded Damian. As she entered the club she froze. The place looked like a war zone. In the centre of the mayhem was a bruised and battered Steve and standing over him a tall bespectacled man with deep set dimples in his cheeks. He was smiling but the sentiment didn't reach his eyes.

"What's going on?" Dannie said as she ran to Steve's side.

Steve wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and without looking at Dannie muttered, "Demands with menaces."

"What?"

Steve nodded at the man with the dimples. "He wants protection money."

Taking a quick glance at the chaos of chairs, upturned tables and broken bar glasses, Dannie felt the sudden rush of anger. Squaring up to the much taller man she fixed him with a glare. "What's this about? You know what you're doing is against the law!"

Idly twisting a ring on his finger, Szeto Ho Nam looked down at Dannie with complete disdain. He waved his arm expansively. "Can't you see? This man needs protection. Look at what's happened without it."

Without realising it, he'd just lit Dannie's blue touch paper. "You can't get away with this. I won't let you get away with this!"

Szeto Ho Nam raised the back of his hand to Dannie and struck her hard across the face, spinning her away from him. She staggered and then fell to the floor.

Steve went to her immediately and helping her up, turned to her assailant with a fierce and resentful look.

Szeto Ho Nam slipped his hands into his pockets. "Don't forget. You need protection." With that he sidled out of the club, his fellows following along behind him.

Dannie held her hand to her cheek bone. Her eye socket throbbed and she could feel her skin tightening and swelling around a stinging cut where Szeto Ho Nam's ring had caught her.

"We have to do something, Steve," she gasped. "Go to the police."

"It won't help. They'll find other ways of extorting money from the club. It's probably better to pay up and have done with it."

"You're joking! You can't possibly believe that. Once it starts it won't stop."

Steve stroked her hair. "I have two choices, Dannie, either pay up or close down."

-o-

Later, Dannie made her way to the Comrades' Club. She stopped off on the way to buy some sunglasses. Her face looked a mess and she wanted to disguise it as best she could. The fact that it was night time didn't matter. She just imagined she looked like the Bridget Lin character in the film, Chunking Express.

When she got to Nam's club she could hardly see where she was going but kept the shades on just the same.

Nam's smile at seeing her evaporated when he saw the sunglasses. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Why are you wearing those?" he asked.

Dannie just shook her head. She didn't want to discuss it.

"Hey," Nam said softly, and went to remove them.

Dannie jerked her head away but Nam persisted, reaching around to take them off anyway. When he saw the red cut, the purpling skin around it and its swollen state he just stared at her.

By now, Nam had been joined by Pau Pan and Big Head. They reflected the look of concern spreading over Nam's face.

"What happened? Who hit you?"

Dannie shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'll deal with it."

Nam tightened his grip on her shoulders. "You haven't answered my question. Who did this?"

Dannie hesitated. She knew the likely implication of naming her attacker. "There was a problem at Little Britain. Someone had turned over the place demanding protection money."

Nam nodded. "Just answer the question. Who?"

"Oh God, Nam, you're not going to like it."

"Just tell me!"

"I think his name is Szeto Ho Nam."

Pau Pan and Big Head exchanged glances and then both looked at Nam.

Nam's expression hardened, his lips thinning. "Why did he hit you?"

Dannie gave him a sheepish look. "I challenged him. I told him he wouldn't get away with it. I told him I wouldn't let him get away with it."

"And he hit you."

"Yes."

Nam took a steadying breath. "Brave but stupid," he muttered.

"Hey! I was angry at what his men had done to Steve's club."

"It doesn't matter. Steve should have acted like a man and protected you."

"Steve is a man!" Dannie retorted, "And I'm his cousin. He deserved my support."

"And you were stupid enough to stand up to the plate."

The tears ran freely down her face. "I'm not stupid! How dare you say that!"

Nam ignored her distress for a moment. "And now you've made yourself known to him you'll be a target."

Through her sobs, Dannie continued to rail against Nam. "He doesn't know who I am. I'm of no interest to him."

"You told him you wouldn't let him get away with it. That's like telling him you're going to take action against him."

"Well yes. And I will!"

"How will you do that? Are you going to firebomb a few of his clubs and bars? What about rounding up some rascals to take him on? I know, why don't you challenge him to a fight then you can settle it between the two of you!"

Nam was angry now but not really at Dannie. He was angry at Szeto Ho Nam, first for hitting Dannie, second for being back in Hong Kong when he said he would leave permanently and third because he was now causing trouble to which Nam and Hung Hing would have to respond.

-o-

Nam flipped open his phone. "Willi, call all the branch leaders to a meeting tomorrow morning."

"Yes, boss. The Comrades' Club?"

"No, the board room and I don't expect any absences."

Nam cut the call and took Dannie by the arm. "I'm taking you home."

"Wait," Dannie said resisting his touch. "I need to use the loo."

Nam threw a glance at Pau Pan. "Go with her."

Annoyed, Dannie stared resentfully at Pau Pan. When he entered the Ladies toilets in front of her and banged open every cubicle door, she was even more annoyed. When Pau Pan didn't withdraw she was ready to hit him but instead just glared at him pointedly.

Touching his forelock several times, Pau Pan backed out but remained on guard outside the door to the bathroom. He had his orders and he was going to carry them out even in the face of a very irate woman – after all she was the boss's very irate woman.

-o-

As soon as he could, Nam bundled Dannie into his car and drove to Happy Valley. He was silent for most of the way. He was thinking through various strategies to deal with Szeto Ho Nam once and for all. He just knew that bastard would reappear but why did it have to be within reach of Dannie?

Dannie sat nursing the pain in her face.

Just as he turned off onto the steep hillside road to his apartment, Nam glanced at Dannie. "How does it feel?"

"Like shit," Dannie mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Nam said but the words and sentiment were lost on her.

"Just tell me something, Nam. Do all men go to special classes on how to hit women? I mean do they specialise in learning how to explode eye sockets? Huh?"

Nam gave a little shake of his head. "Not all men take those classes," he said. "I didn't."

Dannie began to cry again, softly, quietly. "I know. I trust you, Nam. I know you'd never hurt me."

Dannie's words made Nam even more determined to deal with Szeto Ho Nam. He was resolute; no one, but no one would ever touch Dannie again even if he had to die trying.

-o-

The next morning, Nam made Dannie stay put in his apartment. He'd posted four of his men outside the door and another two on the terrace.

"It's not necessary, Nam. I don't need babysitting!"

Nam sighed. "They're just there to protect Szeto Ho Nam if he turns up. I know you'd beat him to a pulp given half the chance." He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "It's just precautions. Let it be, Dannie. It's what I want."

She nodded. "Alright but don't scold me if I offer them all a drink, okay?"

Nam smiled and waved her goodbye.

Bored, Dannie just didn't know what to do with herself. She guessed Nam was holding a war council and it was all because of her. If she'd kept her mouth shut in Little Britain, Szeto Ho Nam wouldn't have hit her and none of this mess would be about to happen.

She decided to sort through her stuff and move it all back to her place. She sat down to look through her CDs. It was a real eclectic mix. When Nam had asked her to move in with him, she'd declined citing she liked her independence. Since then and after her talk with Agnes, Dannie hadn't had a chance to broach the subject of feelings with Nam.

It was probably better that she stayed out of his way so going back to Sai Wan was her decision for now.

Perhaps when things had calmed down again, she would talk to him about their relationship and where it was going…or not.

-o-

Nam dealt with the Szeto Ho Nam threat very quickly. He despatched an army of rascals to protect the Little Britain club at no charge of course.

Next he approached the gang boss of Tung Sing. He'd already spent some time investing in bridge building and now he was calling in the favours. It turned out that Szeto Ho Nam was no longer a Tung Sing senior. He was now considered to be a maverick and had apparently started his own gang, known as Black Dragon. With Szeto Ho Nam breaking away from Tung Sing it meant that Tung Sing could save face and be confident in its distance from the wrong-doer.

This left Hung Hing carrying the responsibility of dealing with Szeto Ho Nam as Tung Sing would have nothing to do with him.

Nam worked hard over the next few days to close in on Szeto Ho Nam, either through Hung Hing directly or with the help of other minor triad gang bosses Nam had contacted. Soon the transgressor would be cornered and this time Nam was going to make sure he had no way out. It was generally accepted that the ultimate fate of any triad member, no matter their exulted status, was either likely to be to hell or to jail. Nam knew where he would send Szeto Ho Nam if he got the chance.

-o-

Dannie moved herself and her stuff back to Eastern Street despite Nam's protests for her safety. She guessed she might have been better off to stay in his apartment but she had her own life outside of Hung Hing's troubles and she wasn't about to give it up.

She continued to perform at Little Britain and slowly began to dislike the dreaded Damien less. She would never admit to actually liking him but she had got to the tolerating stage in their singing partnership.

During the breaks in their gigs Mike and Simmo talked about the possibility of going back to Britain. They were hopeful that Heart might get a tour. Dannie didn't participate in these discussions; she wasn't sure how she'd feel about going on the road again. The thought of leaving Nam again was not a prospect she wanted to think about even though only a short time ago her career meant everything to her and a tour would have been her dream.

The discussions became more prevalent as the band's three month contract with Steve was coming to an end. They could stay at Little Britain, Steve had made the offer to renew the arrangement but all it did was galvanise the band into seeking gigs in the UK.

It seemed Dannie would have to make a decision and soon.

-o-

"Dannie, we've been through this before," an exasperated Agnes said.

Dannie sipped her Happy Store coffee. "Yes but things are different now."

Agnes fixed Dannie with a hard stare. "How?"

"Nam."

"Well go figure!" Agnes said, rolling her eyes and throwing her hands in the air.

"The band had confirmation through last night. There's a twelve-gig tour on offer," Dannie said trying her very best not to whine. She was beginning to like the idea of touring again but she also liked being with Nam.

"It's a chance to go back to the UK and you haven't seen your parents in nearly four years."

"The tour's not in the UK. It's in Germany and Holland."

"But it's not far from Holland to London."

"No, I know that."

"So where's the problem?"

"Nam."

Agnes sighed loudly. "For Pete's sake, Dannie! When are you going to come off the fence and make your mind up about him?"

Dannie closed her eyes and shook her head. "I know, I know!"

"How long's the tour?"

"Two months but there's always the chance of extending it if more gigs come along. It's the way things happen. Most times, the duration of a tour can really only be calculated on the basis of a minimum timescale not a maximum."

"So you could be away a lot longer than two months?"

"Mmmm."

"Have you told Nam?"

"Not yet."

Agnes shook her head again. "And when does the band ship out?"

"Next week."

"My God, Dannie, you're not giving yourself or Nam much time!" There was an unfamiliar edge to Agnes' voice and Dannie noticed.

"I have to be absolutely sure about Nam. I can't just jump off the edge into things I'm unsure about."

"Dannie, you're not even close to the edge let alone about to jump! You're ten bloody miles from the edge!"

Shocked at Agnes' words, Dannie sat back in her seat. "Agnes?"

"I've been your sounding board about Nam, about bands, about what you should cook for tea for years now and to be honest, Dannie I'm getting fed up with hearing the same old, same old. When are you going to grow up and commit!"

"It's not Nam, it's about the triads. It's a dangerous world, Agnes."

"Being a miner or an astronaut is dangerous, Dannie. How is Nam's job any more dangerous? Huh?"

Dannie felt cornered and her tears began to well up. "There's something else," she choked.

"Go on, tell me," Agnes sighed impatiently.

"I'm pregnant."

Agnes sprang back in her seat as if an electric bolt had shot right through her. "What? No! Are you sure?"

"Yes. I did a test a few days ago. It was positive. It was positive the second and the third time I did the tests. I'm definitely pregnant."

For the first time during their heated conversation, Agnes was lost for words.

"And before you ask, Nam doesn't know. I haven't told him."

"Why the hell not?"

"It's complicated. What if he feels obliged to marry me? What if he walks away from me? Either way I'm screwed."

"I think that's already happened," Agnes grinned. "How do you feel about it?"

"I'm still in shock. It was my fault. My doctor advised me to take a break from the pill; I've been on it for so long he said I should give my body a rest. I just thought there might have been a cumulative contraceptive effect."

"You've heard of condoms I assume?"

"Well we had unplanned sex, Agnes. It just happened."

"How far gone are you?"

"Fourteen weeks."

"There might be just enough time to change your situation if you want to but you'd have to arrange it really quickly."

"You mean get an abortion? I thought about it but…"

"But what?"

"It's Nam's child. I can't get rid of it, it's…it's Nam's." Dannie broke down in tears. "It's Nam's."

Agnes shoved a table napkin at her. "Christ, Dannie, you have to tell him!"

-o-

Meanwhile, no matter what strategies Nam had put in place, Szeto Ho Nam was like the invisible man. No one had seen him, heard from him or knew of his present whereabouts. The man had apparently completely disappeared.

Nam increased his precautions regarding Dannie's safety. His men were so good at what they did that Dannie was mostly unaware that she was being shadowed wherever she went. Nam had also recruited some women to act as Dannie's anonymous guardians. Ringing the changes at random intervals was how remaining undetected worked.

-o-

Two days after Dannie's conversation with Agnes, Nam turned up at Little Britain. He wanted to take her home himself. He had a question for her.

He arrived towards the end of the band's performance. Avidly, he watched Dannie but she seemed different to how he remembered her with Lucky. She wasn't centre stage; she was singing backing vocals to Damien. Nam speculated on whether this was really what Dannie wanted though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that seemed different about her. She looked softer, rounder…different.

Then, she swapped places with Damien and became the lead singer. This was more like it, Nam thought. He could see how she suddenly lit up.

The final song had Damien and Dannie singing together. The power of their voices and their close harmony sent tingles down Nam's spine. This band was so good it had to be destined for a career in the UK. It got Nam thinking. What if the band left Hong Kong and Dannie left with it? What if she left him…again?

-o-

Dannie made coffee while Nam tried to get comfortable in her creaky armchair. With two mugs in her hands, Dannie stood and looked at him.

He could see she had something on her mind, so he waited.

"Nam, I've got something to tell you."

"What is it?" Nam worked hard to maintain an even tone. Was she about to dump him?

"The band's got a tour coming up."

Nam cocked his head to one side. "Where?" He could hardly breathe. He knew it! It was as he'd thought earlier. She was going to leave him…again.

"Germany and Holland."

"When?"

"Next week."

Nam nodded. He couldn't speak. It was like Japan all over again. He stood up, took the coffee mugs from her hands and put them down on the table.

"I have a question for you."

He paused for a long moment, his gaze steady. "I want to know if you have any feelings for me."

Dannie dropped her head and stared at her shoes. She could feel her breathing rate increase, her heart begin to pound. She looked up at him and saw Chan Ho Nam, handsome, quietly strong and, right at that moment, vulnerable. Behind that steady gaze she could see searching eyes.

"The minute I told you about the band tour I knew you'd ask me that question again," she said.

"And if you knew I'd ask it, you must have already thought about your answer."

Dannie closed her eyes involuntarily. This was it. Time to come off the fence.

"I'd like to go with the band…"

She could see Nam about to step forward and challenge her. It was written all over his face, in his body language. She held up a hand to stop him.

"But there's someone in my heart I'd rather be with… I have so much in the way of feelings for you, Nam I could burst. I love you, am in love with you. Does that answer your question?"

Nam pulled her roughly into his arms and held her as tight as he could.

She whispered against his neck, "Do you have feelings for me, Nam?"

All he could say was, "Yes."

It was enough for Dannie. Deep down she'd always known he loved her. It was telegraphed in his very being. She'd just spent her time denying her own feelings but not anymore. Not now. She would love him exclusively, with everything she was. At last, she accepted that in loving Chan Ho Nam she was also committing herself to his triad, to his world and if she had to, she would die for him.

To her surprise, Dannie could feel Nam's silent tears against her cheek.

She pushed at his chest just far enough to look at him. She brushed away his tears then kissed him. How she loved him.

-o-

They spent the night together in Dannie's bed. They spoke in whispers, touched each other tenderly, kissed, made love and held one another until they fell asleep.

The next morning, Nam had to leave. Hung Hing business called.

"I'll phone you," he said. "We'll have dinner somewhere good."

"And somewhere expensive!" Dannie smiled.

-o-

That evening, Nam took Dannie to the most exclusive restaurant in Hong Kong.

"How come you could get a table at such short notice? I've heard this place is booked for months in advance."

"I have contacts," Nam said.

"Of course you do!"

"This place is a Hung Hing business," he added.

"Of course it is!"

They ate well and when coffee arrived they both sat back with full stomachs.

"Dannie," Nam began, "There's something I want to give you," and with that he brought out a small blue velvet-covered box from his pocket.

Nam had thought about this moment over and over again for a very long time. If fact, he'd brought the box with him the day Dannie had left for Japan. He'd been through this once before with Smartie and had considered not doing it again but he truly loved Dannie and couldn't deny what he wanted most.

"Nam? What's this?" Dannie smiled.

Opening up the box, Nam showed Dannie a plain gold ring. "Marry me."

Dannie bit her lip. "There's something I need to tell you. You might change your mind after."

Nam smiled. "I'll never change my mind."

"You might and it'll be okay if you do. I'll understand."

Nam let out an impatient breath. "What is it? Tell me?"

Dannie hesitated and Nam took her hand. "Nothing's as bad as you think it is. Just tell me."

"I'm pregnant."

Nam blinked. He was stunned. This was something he could never have predicted. "You are?" he said carefully.

"You can back out of your proposal now," Dannie said blinking the tears away.

"You're pregnant," he repeated and then smiled at her. "That was quick. We only made love last night."

"Nam! Don't be such an idiot!"

"Soooo, you're pregnant." Nam wanted to keep saying it. He was warming to it very quickly. "When do you think it happened?"

"In your car."

"That makes it…" Nam tried to count back.

"Three and a half months."

Nam peered over the table to look at Dannie's abdomen.

"I'm just beginning to show but you'll notice a big difference in a couple of weeks."

Nam grinned. "You're pregnant."

Laughing, Dannie nodded.

Nam's expression became serious. He picked up the box with the ring in it, took it out and offered it to her again. "Marry me."

-o-

Agnes was grinning so much her face was aching. "So, it's really going to happen. You and Nam are actually going to get married and have a baby. I can't believe it!"

Dannie couldn't help laughing either. Suddenly life was rich and exciting. "Will you help me? I don't have anyone else."

"Of course I'll help. What kind of timescale are we working to?"

"Nam wants to get married as soon as possible."

Agnes nodded. "Not surprised. Maybe he thinks you'll bolt or go on tour with the band."

"I just think he wants to be married."

"Have you fixed a date?"

"Three weeks tomorrow."

"Wow! That is fast! Okay, let's make a list," Agnes said grabbing a Happy Store table napkin and foraging in her bag for a pen. "First there's the dress. Are you going for Western or Traditional?"

"Errr, I don't know," Dannie said sheepishly. "Well I don't! Does it matter?"

"Have you checked with Nam?"

Dannie shook her head. "He just gave me the date, his credit card and told me to do whatever I wanted."

Agnes shook her head. "Generous but naïve I'd say."

"I don't want to spend a fortune, Agnes. Just the basics."

"Oh come on, you only do this once, well with luck you only do this once. At least indulge yourself with a really nice dress."

Dannie remembered the look on Nam's face when he gave her his credit card. It was his usual impassive expression but there was definitely a twinkle in his eye. He'd made no conditions, except to say, "Spend."

Agnes was still talking. "So if you're going for traditional then the dress has to be red and gold. Will Nam wear red too?"

"No idea. Does he have to?"

"It's tradition."

"He may just want to wear triad black."

"Okay, check what he wants but we can just go for a red sash if he really doesn't want to go for all over red."

"The sash sounds good. Let's stick with that."

"What about the wedding banquet? Have you got anywhere?"

Dannie put her head in her hands and growled, "I don't know!" She was only now realising what a lot of things had to be thought about and organised. She was beginning to wish she and Nam could just slope off to a quiet civil ceremony with a couple of witnesses and a take away dinner afterwards.

"Hey," Agnes said pulling Dannie's hands away from her face. "You know what? I think we need to go and see Willi. We'll give him a list of things to do and I bet he'll deliver just like that!" she said snapping her fingers.

Dannie smiled. "I'll have to check with Nam, but that sounds like a really good idea. Thanks, Agnes, you're a star!"

They spent the next few hours working on three separate lists, one for Agnes with the dress, flowers and possible venues, one for Willi – that was the longest, and one for Dannie. She'd written a heading in large letters on hers. Things to ask Nam.

When they were done, Dannie phoned him.

"Yes to Willi, no to all red but yes to the sash and yes I promise I will write a guest list by the end of the day. How about Repulse Bay for the ceremony and a hotel suite there as well? Use the Bay View. Mention my name; it's a Hung Hing business."

Dannie grinned at Agnes. "That's what I love about Nam," she said, "He is so decisive."

"Hmmm," Agnes replied, "I know a certain woman who could take a few lessons from him."

-o-

On the appointed day, Agnes was putting the finishing touches to Dannie's hair. Dannie thought Repulse Bay was the perfect place to be. This was where she and Nam had first got to know each other.

"What time will Nam be calling?"

"Three o'clock."

"And the ceremony's at three thirty, right?"

Dannie nodded.

"It's always good luck to marry on the half hour then your marriage begins on the upward swing. It's like going forward rather than getting married on the hour and having a downturn."

"I'm glad you explained that less than forty-five minutes before I'm due to be married. I wondered why Nam was so insistent on it being half past something, not something o'clock."

"Okay," Agnes said, "Let's take one last look."

She stood next to Dannie and they both stared into the large full length mirror.

The sunlight through the window reflected off the gold thread on Dannie's dress making it sparkle as she moved. Agnes had designed and made it in record time. Dannie wanted a Pre-Raphaelite look but made with traditional red Chinese wedding fabric. She was wearing a wreath of red roses in her hair. She wore it down to show off the pair of long red ribbons streaming from the back of her circlet of flowers.

Lifting the hem of her dress slightly, both women looked at Dannie's red slippers embroidered with gold thread.

Just then they heard a knock on the door. "This is it," Agnes smiled and went to open it.

Nam stood in the doorway grinning and flanked by his closest brothers.

"You can't come in and take your bride without paying. You have to compensate the family, in this case me," Agnes said and Nam handed her a red pocket of money.

Dannie nodded at Agnes. "Yes I know; it's a Chinese thing."

Nam offered his arm and Dannie took it, both of them walking out into the bright August sunshine where people had already gathered to see the couple and to wish them luck.

Behind them walked Pau Pan, Big Head, Tai Fei, Thirteen and Ben Hon, and a man Dannie didn't recognise. With them walked Agnes. Together they set out for the short distance to a stone pavilion overlooking the sea where the marriage ceremony would take place followed by the reception.

Nam beckoned Chicken to meet Dannie.

"This is Chicken, my sworn brother. He's come from Taiwan to be here for us."

"I've heard about you," Dannie said. "You are Nam's closest friend."

Chicken nodded and looking at Nam, placed his hand over his heart. "Brothers."

As they walked, Nam drew Chicken to one side. "Where's your wife?"

"With her father in Tokyo."

"How is the old man?"

Chicken shook his head. "Ailing."

"Will you take over his gang?"

"I made a promise to do that and I will."

-o-

After the ceremony was over and enthusiastic congratulations were exchanged, the small group of friends left Nam and Dannie alone for a few moments.

Embracing each other, they kissed.

"You're my wife now," Nam said, "And I'm your husband. And there's something else. You are the mother of my child. I'm the luckiest man alive to have met you and to know that you love me." Gently, he rested his hand over Dannie's womb. "Are you both alright?"

"We're fine. You are the father of my child, Nam and you will be the best father a child ever had. I just know it."

Nam looked out at the ocean. "We've taken a long time to get to this point."

"Only three weeks."

"No, it's been eighteen months since I first fell in love with you, Dannie Doyle."

Dannie sighed with contentment. "Oh Nam, I love you so much. I'll always love you no matter what."

-o-

From his usual place on the edge of proceedings, Nam watched his new wife. She was the centre of attention, with his friends making a big fuss over her. He loved her so much he thought he would die.

Chicken stood alongside him, where they had been since childhood. Where Chicken had been when Smartie had died. Where Nam had been whenever Chicken had been under threat. Where they had both been through thick and thin.

"Are you happy, Nam?"

"More than I can say and more than I deserve. I could never imagine any of this."

Chicken smiled. "And a father? You're going to be a father. How does it feel?"

"I'm still getting used to it and I think I like it very much. And you? When will you be a father?"

Chicken shrugged. "Not yet." He looked at Nam with concern. "What about the other matter?"

"Szeto Ho Nam has disappeared. My men can't find him and his gang has been dormant. I'm beginning to think he hasn't actually got a gang."

"He's playing with your mind, Nam."

"Whatever," Nam said flatly, "But I'll kill him when I find him."

Chicken nodded. He knew this was no idle threat. Nam would do what he needed to protect Hung Hing's interests and now he had a new set of interests to protect as well. His wife and child.

-o-

"I can't believe I've actually persuaded you to leave Hong Kong," Dannie smiled as she and Nam strolled through the narrow streets of Peng Chau's one and only village.

The place only had a population of five thousand. The tiny island was situated off Lantau Island and Nam and Dannie had taken the fast ferry from Hong was October and the weather was warm and pleasant. The region was just coming to the end of the typhoon season and Nam had been especially careful to choose a day when the sea would be calm to make the ferry crossing.

Dannie and Nam were on the second day of their four day honeymoon and enjoying every minute of it.

Nam had his arm around Dannie's now thickening waist. "Let's sit," he said steering her to a bench overlooking Peng Chau's harbour. "Are you both alright?"

Dannie smiled and nodded. She loved the way Nam always included the baby in his enquiries. It made her feel very special.

Nam looked out over the sea. "I've been to other places," he said quietly, "And none of them are as good as Hong Kong." He fell silent, thinking about all those other trips. None of them had been lucky for him.

Dannie interrupted his thoughts. "What do you want, a girl or a boy?"

Nam thought about it. A boy might surely follow him into Hung Hing. He didn't think Dannie would approve of that. A girl would need looking after, protecting from lusty Hung Hing rascals.

"I don't know," he said after a while. "As long as the baby's healthy I don't mind what it is. I want it to have your voice, your fierceness and your beauty."

"The baby will have your strength and good looks, be righteous and grow up to be gorgeous!"

They laughed and hugged and then Nam sighed contentedly. Even if he died tomorrow he would do so knowing he'd been lucky enough to have achieved perfect happiness today.

-o-

Four months later, Chicken was visiting Hong Kong on triad business and naturally he and Nam were spending a lot of time together.

Chicken lounged under a large umbrella and intrigued, watched Nam water the pots of plants on his apartment terrace.

"I would never have imagined the rascal who threw a brazier full of hot coals at Crow and watched him turn into a human torch or the branch leader who beat a man to a pulp for killing Yee could be here now, watering the garden!"

Nam looked up. "A few months ago I would never have imagined I'd have a wife and a child on the way." He shook his head. "Fate has its own plans for us and we're always the last to discover what they are."

"Would it be better to know?" Chicken asked sipping his drink.

Nam blinked. "Probably not."

Nam sat down next to Chicken and took a long draught of his iced tea. As he put down the glass he glanced at his Rolex. "I'd better wake Dannie. We've got to go to the hospital for her ante-natal appointment."

Chicken grinned. It was like he'd met a different Nam for the first time, a domesticated Nam with a range of responsibilities that Chicken had never expected him to have.

-o-

Nam touched Dannie gently on the shoulder and squeezed. Using the preferred Chinese term between husband and wife, he called gently to her. "Honey. Honey? Time to wake up."

Dannie had fallen asleep on the sofa. At over eight months pregnant she tired easily. Waking to Nam's voice, she sat up slowly. "Is Chicken here?"

"Yes, outside on the terrace."

"Don't forget to ask after his wife," Dannie murmured as she allowed Nam to help her to her feet. "After the baby's born we'll take a trip to Taipei to meet her."

"I've already met her," Nam said.

"Yes, I know but I haven't," Dannie laughed. "I'm surprised he didn't bring her with him this time."

"Her father is sick again, so she wanted to stay with him."

"Okay," Dannie said and walked slowly to the bathroom.

Half an hour later, she was ready to leave for her hospital appointment.

Nam called goodbye to Chicken and ushered Dannie to the car.

-o-

The weather was unseasonably hot and as Nam negotiated heavy traffic, Dannie wound down the window.

"You don't need to do that," Nam said, "I've got the air conditioning running."

"Yes I know and it's making me feel cold. I'm fine with the window open."

"Okay," Nam said. "I've been thinking, shouldn't we be buying baby clothes, a cot, and a stroller, and getting the nursery ready?"

"There's plenty of time for that," Dannie smiled.

"What about the room across from ours? If we leave the door open we'll be able to hear the baby if it cries. What colour do you want it decorated? You should choose because, well you should."

-o-

Dannie stared out of the car window. Nam's voice was just a deep rumble in the background. She couldn't really hear him as he'd pulled up at temporary traffic lights and the car was now stuck next to noisy road works. A nerve-grating, ear shattering pneumatic drill now drowned out Nam's voice completely. Dannie glanced at him. He didn't seem to realise that she couldn't hear him but he was quite happily talking about baby plans and she didn't like to stop him. She'd never known him to say so much at any one time.

A shadow fell over her and she looked out of the window again. A motorcyclist was revving his engine and it just added to the din of the road repairs. There was a pillion on the back of the bike. Both were wearing tinted visors and black leather jackets.

Just as the pillion reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun with a long silencer attached, aiming it at Nam, Dannie leaned forward to take a closer look at the colourful design on the bike's petrol tank.

Nam didn't hear the muffled thwack of a bullet. He wasn't aware that the man on the back of the motorbike had pointed a gun at him and discharged it. He just kept talking.

He glanced at Dannie as he spoke, noted she'd closed her eyes and was leaning back on the headrest but continued his dialogue on fatherhood for a while. He smiled at her. He must have bored her to sleep.

-o-

As he pulled away he expected Dannie to wake with the movement of the car but she didn't. Nam looked at her and saw how her head lolled from side to side as he took a bend in the road.

"Dannie," he said. "Dannie? Dannie!"

He stood on the brakes and the car slewed to a halt. Ignoring the clamour of irate drivers behind him, Nam grabbed her and shook her. "Dannie?"

She was unresponsive. Nam was confused and gripped by fear. Then he saw a dribble of blood on her forehead. His eyes tracked up its length and stopped at a small, dark red, perfectly formed circular mark. He recognised it for what it was – a bullet hole. Dannie had been shot.

Nam looked around but could see no one with a gun. As cold anger filled his mind and body, he hit the car throttle and drove like a man possessed, just a few hundred yards to the hospital entrance.

He screeched to a halt and threw himself out of the car, tearing open Dannie's door and gathering her to him. He half-staggered, half-ran into the hospital, Dannie's limp body swinging and jerking in his arms.

-o-

Nam waited outside the surgical theatre for hours. He'd been joined by Pau Pan, Big Head and Chicken. Willi hovered nearby, talking quietly into his mobile phone.

Gradually, the small group was joined by others from Hung Hing, including Tai Fei, Thirteen, and Ben Hon and, of course, Agnes.

They all stood around silent and grim-faced.

At last a doctor emerged from the operating theatre and pulled down his white face mask. Everyone took a step forward to hear what he had to say but the man only addressed himself to Nam.

"Mr. Chan, your wife is in a critical condition. We've done the best we can but her prognosis is yet to be determined."

Chicken spoke up, his anger and frustration surfacing. "What does that mean exactly? Can't you just explain it in plain words we can all understand?"

"Mrs. Chan's brain has been extensively damaged by the bullet. She may not survive."

Nam looked up and in a voice that even the doctor had to strain to hear, asked, "What about the baby?"

"The baby is alive and we're doing everything we can to keep it that way."

"I want to see them," Nam whispered getting to his feet.

"She's still in post-op but you can see your wife later when she's been transferred to ICU."

Nam narrowed his eyes and glared at the doctor. "I want to see them!"

Chicken, Tai Fei, Pau Pan and Big Head squared up to the surgeon. He didn't have any choice but to let Nam through to the post-op room.

Dannie lay on a gurney, tubes attached to her body, the bleeping sounds of medical equipment filling the room. Nam looked at her bandaged head and the rounded shape of her womb under the covers.

Taking her hand and squeezing it he hoped his contact would revive her, would wake her up to smile at him. She remained unresponsive and Nam looked to the doctor for help. Any help would do. Perhaps they had missed something, had failed to give her treatment that would bring her back to him.

"What's wrong with her?"

"The bullet has irreparably damaged the brain."

"What does that mean?"

"Technically, she's already dead. The machines are keeping your baby alive through her body. I'm sorry. We need to get her to ICU, Mr. Chan. You may accompany her there if you wish," the doctor said.

Nam didn't want to. He sat down again outside and put his head in his hands. A nurse came and stood in front of him. He didn't look up.

She cleared her throat before saying, "Mr. Chan, I have your wife's jewellery. I thought it best for you to take these now."

Nam held out his hand and looked at what the nurse had placed in it. There were two objects, Dannie's wedding ring and a jade pendant that Nam had given her just last week. Dumbly, he just stared at them.

Chicken bent over him, his hand open for Nam to pass them over. He threaded the ring onto the chain holding the pendant and then hung the chain around Nam's neck, fastening it at the back.

The others looked on as they witnessed Nam's pain. There was nothing they could do except get the man responsible for it.

-o-

Chicken stepped into Nam's shoes to identify the offender. He'd galvanised every triad in Hong Kong and beyond to find the bastard. Chicken was well known and well respected in the gang world and he expected no resistance to his call for information.

In between taking calls, meeting people and trying to formulate a plan, Chicken was with Nam, sitting silently next to him as Nam held Dannie's hand. For two days, Nam didn't leave her. He was unspeaking, indifferent to others, he was unmoved and immovable.

He would only acknowledged Chicken's presence and then in a flat monosyllabic tone.

Chicken could see the devastation in Nam's mind and body. He was in so much pain that even Chicken could find no words of solace except to say, "We know who it is."

"Szeto Ho Nam," Nam said.

"You knew?"

"Who else would it be?"

"We'll get him, Nam."

"No. I'll get him."

Chicken nodded. He knew Nam would want to do it. His plan depended on it.

-o-

That night, Chicken, Nam, Pau Pan, Big Head, Tai Fei and Ben Hon, accompanied by a small group of Hung Hing rascals gathered down the street from a cheap boarding house near the Causeway Bay docks. The building had pealing paint where there was any, moth eaten curtains where there were any and a distinctly rundown air about it.

Nam was with them, his face set with an icily impassive expression. He patted his jacket pocket, reassured by the weight and solidity of the gun he carried there.

Chicken despatched the rascals to cover every entrance and exit, while others gained positions on the adjacent rooftops. As far as he knew, just Szeto Ho Nam and two other men were holed up in a room on the second floor.

As the smaller group moved silently up the staircase, Tai Fei and Ben Hon broke off to cover it. Pau Pan and Big Head stationed themselves either side of Szeto Ho Nam's room door and waited.

Chicken lit a smoke bomb and placed it on the floor so that the smoke would seep under the door.

After a minute or so, Pau Pan, wearing his usual irrepressible grin, called out, "Fire! Fire! Get out quick!"

Within moments the door flew open and two confused men exited at a run. They didn't get very far. Pau Pan whipped a rope around the neck of one, while Big Head lassoed the other. They pulled the ropes chokingly tight while slapping a hand each over their captives' mouths to silence them.

When a third man emerged he stopped dead when he saw Chicken.

"Going somewhere?" Chicken drawled. "Where's the fire?"

Szeto Ho Nam blinked at him and then smiled. "I know who you are and you don't frighten me. You won't stop me leaving because I have this to clear the way," he sneered drawing his gun.

"I don't have one of those," Chicken replied, "But he does." He stepped away to reveal Nam who had been standing behind him in the gloom of the hallway.

"Chan Ho Nam," Szeto Ho Nam laughed. "We meet again."

"For the last time," Nam said and raised his gun.

Szeto Ho Nam scoffed. "It should have been you but your stupid wife got in the way. Hope she's dead by the way."

He gave Nam that dimpled smile, the one that never reached his eyes.

Nam noted the smile, pulled the trigger and blew it away.

-o-

The next morning, Nam was in his usual seat next to Dannie's bed. The machines were still winking and bleeping, the ventilator moving up and down like a pair of bellows.

Nam placed his hand on her womb, feeling his baby kick inside her. He sat there for a long time, his hand resting on his wife and his baby while the clock ticked away the hours.

A nurse came in and out of Dannie's room several times. She left some tea for Nam each time but before he would drink he offered it to Dannie…just in case. Deep down he knew she would never take it but while there was still an ounce of a chance, he would try.

Chicken turned up in the afternoon, a bunch of flowers in his hand for Dannie. He looked at Nam and frowned. Chicken's best friend and closest brother sighed but remained silent.

"Are there any plans?" Chicken asked indicating Dannie.

"She's had a lot of drugs. They want to take the baby out."

Chicken sucked in a breath. "When?"

"Now."

Chicken understood the likely implications of this procedure. Once the baby was born there would be no reason to keep Dannie's body alive. Nam would be faced with the decision of when not if to turn off the machines.

A doctor appeared at the door of Dannie's room. "We're ready now, Mr. Chan. Do you want to be present at the birth?"

Nam shook his head but Chicken intervened. "Give us a minute, doctor."

The medic stepped out of the room and closed the door.

"Nam, you should be at your child's birth. It's what Dannie would want."

Nam flung a glance at Chicken and Chicken could see the anger in his eyes turning to remorse.

"It should have been me," Nam gasped. "She took a bullet for me, just like Smartie."

Chicken shook his head. "Smartie knew what was likely to happen, she was prepared for it. She understood to hell or to jail. She was triad. Dannie was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You should be with her now, Nam. She needs you to take care of her baby."

Nam dropped his head for a moment and then nodded. "Walk with me."

-o-

Dressed in a green gown, cap and face mask, Nam stood at Dannie's head, his hands on her unresponsive face, while the medical staff gathered at her feet. They were about to perform a caesarean section. All Nam could see was a green cloth between him and them, put there as a screen. They were protecting him against seeing his wife's body being cut open.

Nam shifted his position to stand at Dannie's side, concentrating on her face, searching it for the slightest movement. He was still hoping she would recover even though he knew it was impossible.

Nam became aware of activity beyond the screen. He could just see the heads of doctors and nurses and could hear them talking. Then he heard a baby cry. Still the activity continued and the baby fell silent.

He took an anxious step forward towards where the sound had come from but a nurse blocked his path. She was carrying a blanket bundle with something pink and glistening inside it.

She held it up to him. "You have a son, Mr. Chan." Nam stared at the bundle and automatically put out his arms to take it as she handed it over. "He is six pounds six ounces."

Nam was astounded. He was holding his child, his and Dannie's child, their child. It was a new being that a few minutes previously had not been breathing, or seeing or hearing and now it was its own being and he was holding it.

He turned to Dannie. "Look, honey, you've got a son." Nam bent and placed the baby onto Dannie's chest and shoulder, the child's head against Dannie's cheek. "See, honey? He knows you're his mummy and he loves you like I do. We both love you."

"Mr. Chan?" The nurse took the baby back.

"Where are you taking him? He's alright isn't he?"

"We are going to take him to the Baby Unit on the second floor. We'll check him over thoroughly but right now, he seems fine. You can take him home later."

-o-

"Chicken, I need help."

Chicken was waiting outside the operating theatre for news. He slapped Nam on the back. "I know you need help, brother. We all knew that a long time ago. So the baby, what is it, how is it and what have you done with it?"

"It's a boy and they've taken him to the Baby Unit for observation."

"And your wife?"

"She's pleased."

Chicken hesitated trying to find the right words but he wasn't known for his diplomacy so he just said what was on his mind. "When will they switch off the machines?"

Nam did his best to hold back. "Soon."

-o-

Agnes arrived as did a lot of others, all wanting to know about the baby. Nam didn't want to deal with them so as before, Chicken stepped in to field the questions giving everyone the same message.

"Nam thanks you for your enquiry. He and Dannie have a son. There's nothing more to tell you so please go."

Agnes didn't leave, she wanted to see Dannie.

"I don't mean to disturb you, Nam, I just wanted to say my farewells to Dannie."

Nam nodded but didn't get out of his seat next to Dannie's bed. He was feeling exhausted, depressed and already very alone.

Agnes gave an anxious glance at Nam, decided he wasn't going anywhere so addressed herself directly to Dannie as though he wasn't there.

"Dannie, I have always loved you as a friend. Your enthusiasm for life sometimes left me breathless and I know you would have applied that same enthusiasm to your marriage and to your child. I'm going to miss you lots and lots and rest assured - I won't ever forget you."

With one last look at Dannie's pale face, Agnes turned away from her friend and lightly touched Nam's shoulder as she made for the door.

"Thank you," Nam whispered and then took hold of Agnes' hand. "Take the baby. Look after him."

A little surprised, Agnes gave Nam a steady look. "No, I won't do that. That's your job."

Nam glanced at Dannie and then back at Agnes. "I don't know how."

"No parent comes perfectly formed. It's something you have to learn as you go along." She could see the appeal in Nam's eyes. "Why don't you leave the baby in the Baby Unit for a few days, given the circumstances I think they'll be okay with that. It will give you time to… to say goodbye to Dannie. Do you have everything ready at home?"

Nam shook his head. "Dannie was going to deal with it but she never got around to it before she…"

Agnes nodded her understanding. Dannie was shot before she'd had the chance to prepare for the birth of her child. "Do two things for me," she said, "Lend me your credit card and give me Willi for a day. I'll get things organised for you."

Nam plunged his hand into his inside pocket, pulled out his wallet and slapped a credit card into Agnes' hand. "Thank you," he breathed.

-o-

"If you look at the CT scans you will see that your wife's brain has sustained severe and widespread damage. She is technically brain dead. She won't ever revive."

Nam and Chicken listened to the doctor's diagnosis and prognosis. It was what they already knew but now it had been formally confirmed.

"There is absolutely no gain in prolonging your wife's life, Mr. Chan." The doctor indicated the only electric plug in a row of four sockets on the wall behind Dannie's head. "The decision you have to make is whether you want to switch off your wife's life support yourself or whether you want me to do it. We can remove all the tubes and monitors beforehand and give you time to consider what you want to do."

Nam took in a shaky breath and looked at Chicken. Chicken nodded and Nam nodded too. "Alright," he said, "But I want to do it."

Nam and Chicken waited outside Dannie's room while the nurse removed all the medical paraphernalia.

"Do you want me to stay?" Chicken asked, "Because you know I will if you want me to." He placed his right hand over his heart and nodded. It was their gesture of brotherhood and solidarity.

-o-

Nam held Dannie's hand and studied her face. Absently he fingered the jade pendant and her wedding ring, still on the chain around his neck. He took the ring from the chain and sliding it onto Dannie's finger, kissed the back of her hand, leaned over and then kissed her lips.

"I love you, honey," he whispered and reaching up, pulled the plug from its socket. The ventilator, already at its apex, sunk down to rest at its lowest point with a quiet click. Within seconds, Dannie Doyle, Mrs. Chan Ho Nam was dead in every sense of the word.

His head bowed, Nam wept. It was the first and last time he would shed tears for Dannie's loss.

-o-

A few days later, Nam and Chicken were sitting at the bar in the Comrades' Club. Nam's son was in the care of Agnes for the evening.

"Have you named your son?" Chicken asked.

"I'm calling him Bao Jian (寶劍)."

Chicken thought about it. "Precious Sword. It's a good name."

"It also means double-edged sword. I think that's how Dannie always saw me. Being triad was something she could do nothing about. She was never really happy about it, she was always afraid of the danger. Calling our son Bao Jian means there are always choices in life, the difficulty is making the right ones. He needs to grow up to understand that life is a double-edge sword."

"You'll see him right, Nam."

The two men, lifelong sworn brothers, embraced.

"Will you be alright?" Chicken asked.

Nam nodded. "Yes," he said holding his head high. "I believe in destiny. When it comes, you can't resist it. When it leaves, you can't make it stay."

-o-

Epilogue

Two months after Dannie's death, Nam had managed to get his domestic life in order. He employed a live-in carer for Sword while he continued his work as boss of Hung Hing. He spent as much time with his son as he could but also maintained a life beyond his child's.

One evening, Nam was going through Dannie's things. When she'd moved out of her flat in Eastern Street, he was surprised to find she had brought very little with her. All that was left for Nam to deal with now were Dannie's illustration notebooks, paints etc and her music CDs.

Sitting on the floor, his back against the sofa, Nam placed her notebooks and other illustration tools in a box. He would keep them for Sword to look at when he was older.

There were several piles of CDs, all in transparent plastic cases. Nam picked up a handful and leafed through them, looking at the album title and artwork on the cover, putting it to the back and looking at the next. It was like going through a pack of playing cards, except each time he placed a case at the back, it made a crisp clicking sound.

Most of Dannie's collection was made up of Western rock music. Nam smiled as he remembered her insisting that he listen to her favourite rock bands. He'd always thought the music sounded like a lot of noise but he had grown to quite like some of them and had laughed when she had danced to the music, her hands clasping her womb as she carried Sword inside her. It didn't stop her enthusiastic response to the music.

Idly, Nam wondered if Sword already knew the music.

-o-

He stopped sorting through the cases when he saw one that didn't have an album cover. There was a piece of paper placed inside the case with Dannie's handwriting on it. It was in English of course, she'd never learned to read or write Cantonese.

It said: Nam, this is for you. When I told you Lucky hadn't recorded anything in Japan, I lied. One night, when Takeshi, Richi and the others were taking a break from their shamisen recordings, I snuck into the studio with my acoustic guitar to make this.

Nam took out the disc and put it into the CD player. He heard a loud click and then some muffled sounds. He could only guess it was Dannie moving about, or sitting down or something like that. Then he heard her voice.

Clearing her throat, she said, "Okay, it's three thirty five in the morning and I'm in Richi's recording studio in Yokohama, Japan. I'm going to sing a song for you, Nam, not that I expect you'll ever hear it. You're in Hong Kong and I'm in Japan and we won't meet again.

When you asked me if I had any feelings for you and I couldn't answer you, it wasn't because I didn't know the answer. Actually I did, I do!"

Nam could hear the rawness in her voice; her emotions were spilling out of the speakers of his CD player.

"It's because I'm too pathetic and too frightened to believe that you could possibly be interested in me. Anyway I'm here now and I'm going to sing this song. This is dedicated to you, Chan Ho Nam and it explains how I feel about you. It's by Daniel Bedingfield."

watch?v=p3bFOT1e-AU

If you're not the one then why does my soul feel glad today?
If you're not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way?
If you are not mine then why does your heart return my call
If you are not mine would I have the strength to stand at all

I'll never know what the future brings
But I know you're here with me now
We'll make it through
And I hope you are the one I share my life with

I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

If I don't need you then why am I crying on my bed?
If I don't need you then why does your name resound in my head?
If you're not for me then why does this distance maim my life?
If you're not for me then why do I dream of you in my life?

I don't know why you're so far away
But I know that this much is true
We'll make it through
And I hope you are the one I share my life with
And I wish that you could be the one I die with
And I pray you're the one I build my home with
I hope I love you all my life

I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

'Cause I miss you, body and soul so strong that it takes my breath away
And I breathe you into my heart and pray for the strength to stand today
'Cause I love you, whether it's wrong or right
And though I can't be with you tonight
You know my heart is by your side

I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am
Is there any way that I could stay in your arms

-o-

When Dannie had finished singing, Nam heard her say one more thing, her voice quiet but full of passion.

"I love you, Chan Ho Nam."

Nam smiled. He hoped that Dannie had been lucky in love. He'd always thought that perhaps he wasn't but now, he knew that he was…lucky.

-o-

The End