questions now.
‘He’ll be staying here indefinitely,’ her father said quietly, as if reading her mind, and the utter silence that had followed had been clouded withan emotion that to this day Jasmine couldn’t quite define. Maybe it had been despair.
‘Did they take Meng Kai’s mother too?’ she’d asked, and her hushed voice had rippled across that silence and made the boy flinch.
‘Something like that,’ her father had offered gruffly – her father didn’t like to talk about what had happened to her mother, Jasmine knew that, but household staff gossiped and Jasmine had big ears and silent feet and she knew full well what had happened to her mother. She knew what loss felt like. And so too – it seemed – did this Kai, who still hadn’t spoken and whose eyes skittered away from hers every time she looked at him.
‘It’s okay,’ she said and stepped hesitantly forward, first one step and then another until she reached his side. She slipped her hand inside Kai’s and frowned when Kai tensed and sent her father a panicked look. Her father looked tense too, but he said nothing, so Jasmine filled the gap. ‘They can’t get us here. We just have to stay away from the windows and not go outside without permission and do exactly what the guards say. You’re safe here. No monsters can get at us here.’
Kai had looked down at her and there’d been a world of pain in his beautiful black eyes as he’d replied, ‘I know.’
‘Kai’s a bodyguard,’ her father had said finally. ‘He’ll see to your protection.’
There had been bodyguards on the grounds and in the house for weeks – at least half a dozen of them at any one time. Jasmine didn’t know why they would need any more, or why her father would choose a bodyguard so young.
She did know – instinctively – that Meng Kai was special. ‘Are you like Bruce Lee?’
‘No one’s like Bruce Lee,’ Meng Kai said.
‘Jackie Chan?’
‘No.’
Jasmine eyed him speculatively. ‘Maybe if you smiled.’
But Kai hadn’t smiled. Not during those first few months. Not for a very long time, and then only rarely.
Meng Kai had moved into the apartment above the garage, he’d had free rein of the house. It hadn’t been long before the housekeeper and the gardener and Jasmine’s tutors all answered to him. Jasmine had answered to him too – such a timid little thing she’d once been. No thought of disobedience – if Kai or her father told her to do something, Jasmine did it. So eager to please. So damn lonely, only Kai hadn’t wanted to be friends with her. Not at first.
And then the levee had given way and all of a sudden Kai had unbent – though only with her – and Jasmine had taken full advantage of his change of heart. Kai become her confidante, her sounding board, the big brother she’d never had. Kai was comfort, he was protection, and most of all he was
hers
.
To all intents they’d been family, Jasmine thought grimly, returning to the now just long enough to place new toiletries in the guest bathroom. Father, older brother, younger sister.
And then Jasmine had turned sixteen and Kai twenty-four, and Kai had fought hard for Jasmine to have more freedom, more friends. ‘She’s too sheltered,’ Kai had said bluntly, during one of his rare arguments with her father. ‘You have to give her room to grow. You
can’t
make her world this small.’
‘She has everything money can buy,’ her father had countered.
‘She needs
freedom
. We both do. She can’t continue to look to me for all those things you don’t allow her to experience any other way. Send her to school. Let her make friends. Widen her focus.’
Part of her had applauded Kai’s words. Part of her had been fearful. To this day, Jasmine didn’tknow which emotion would have won out, because her father had been immovable.
Jasmine’s home-schooling would continue as usual. Her strictly regulated social outings would continue, as usual.
And no matter what Kai
‘He’ll be staying here indefinitely,’ her father said quietly, as if reading her mind, and the utter silence that had followed had been clouded withan emotion that to this day Jasmine couldn’t quite define. Maybe it had been despair.
‘Did they take Meng Kai’s mother too?’ she’d asked, and her hushed voice had rippled across that silence and made the boy flinch.
‘Something like that,’ her father had offered gruffly – her father didn’t like to talk about what had happened to her mother, Jasmine knew that, but household staff gossiped and Jasmine had big ears and silent feet and she knew full well what had happened to her mother. She knew what loss felt like. And so too – it seemed – did this Kai, who still hadn’t spoken and whose eyes skittered away from hers every time she looked at him.
‘It’s okay,’ she said and stepped hesitantly forward, first one step and then another until she reached his side. She slipped her hand inside Kai’s and frowned when Kai tensed and sent her father a panicked look. Her father looked tense too, but he said nothing, so Jasmine filled the gap. ‘They can’t get us here. We just have to stay away from the windows and not go outside without permission and do exactly what the guards say. You’re safe here. No monsters can get at us here.’
Kai had looked down at her and there’d been a world of pain in his beautiful black eyes as he’d replied, ‘I know.’
‘Kai’s a bodyguard,’ her father had said finally. ‘He’ll see to your protection.’
There had been bodyguards on the grounds and in the house for weeks – at least half a dozen of them at any one time. Jasmine didn’t know why they would need any more, or why her father would choose a bodyguard so young.
She did know – instinctively – that Meng Kai was special. ‘Are you like Bruce Lee?’
‘No one’s like Bruce Lee,’ Meng Kai said.
‘Jackie Chan?’
‘No.’
Jasmine eyed him speculatively. ‘Maybe if you smiled.’
But Kai hadn’t smiled. Not during those first few months. Not for a very long time, and then only rarely.
Meng Kai had moved into the apartment above the garage, he’d had free rein of the house. It hadn’t been long before the housekeeper and the gardener and Jasmine’s tutors all answered to him. Jasmine had answered to him too – such a timid little thing she’d once been. No thought of disobedience – if Kai or her father told her to do something, Jasmine did it. So eager to please. So damn lonely, only Kai hadn’t wanted to be friends with her. Not at first.
And then the levee had given way and all of a sudden Kai had unbent – though only with her – and Jasmine had taken full advantage of his change of heart. Kai become her confidante, her sounding board, the big brother she’d never had. Kai was comfort, he was protection, and most of all he was
hers
.
To all intents they’d been family, Jasmine thought grimly, returning to the now just long enough to place new toiletries in the guest bathroom. Father, older brother, younger sister.
And then Jasmine had turned sixteen and Kai twenty-four, and Kai had fought hard for Jasmine to have more freedom, more friends. ‘She’s too sheltered,’ Kai had said bluntly, during one of his rare arguments with her father. ‘You have to give her room to grow. You
can’t
make her world this small.’
‘She has everything money can buy,’ her father had countered.
‘She needs
freedom
. We both do. She can’t continue to look to me for all those things you don’t allow her to experience any other way. Send her to school. Let her make friends. Widen her focus.’
Part of her had applauded Kai’s words. Part of her had been fearful. To this day, Jasmine didn’tknow which emotion would have won out, because her father had been immovable.
Jasmine’s home-schooling would continue as usual. Her strictly regulated social outings would continue, as usual.
And no matter what Kai
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