Red Phoenix. Kylie Chan

you.’

      I glared suspiciously at him. ‘Not another priceless antique weapon.’

      ‘No. Something for you.’ He gestured with his head. ‘Come and see.’

      I pushed myself away from my desk. ‘Oh, all right. But I need to finish this tonight.’

      ‘Don’t worry, it won’t take long.’ He opened the door for me. ‘It’s downstairs.’

      He couldn’t control his expression as we went down in the lift together. I had never seen him looking quite so smug.

      ‘What have you bought?’ I said.

      ‘You’ll see.’

      We went out of the ground-floor lift lobby and into the car park that surrounded the building.

      He raised one hand towards the mid-size black Mercedes parked next to his.

      ‘That’s for you.’

      I stopped dead, then spun to face him and pointed at it. ‘I don’t want this. Why didn’t you ask me first? This is totally unsuitable.’

      He was taken aback. ‘What’s wrong with it? Is it too small?’

      I sighed with exasperation and dropped my hand. ‘No, John, it’s much too big. I’d really prefer something much smaller, that’s easy to drive around and park. And black is too hot, a nice light blue would be much better. And not a Mercedes, that’s too much of a target. A cheap little Japanese hatchback would have been much better.’

      ‘You want a small, blue, cheap car?’

      ‘That would be perfect, yes. If it’s small enough, Leo won’t fit in it to drive it. And if it’s not black and luxurious, you wouldn’t be caught dead in it. I’d have it all to myself.’

      He grinned broadly. ‘You’re quite correct.’ He eyed me sideways with delight. ‘You are very evil sometimes, Emma.’

      I bowed slightly. ‘Thank you, Dark Lord.’ I gestured towards the car. ‘So can you swap this monstrosity for something more suitable?’

      ‘If you really want me to, I will. But Leo will be sharing it with you. Both of you will go to the Academy to teach, and to the school to watch Simone. Will you really force him to squeeze into such a tiny car?’

      I sighed. ‘Okay. I’ll put up with this monster if I have to. But please don’t make me drive the other one; it’s enormous.’

      ‘Very well, my Lady, I thank you.’ He handed me the keys, very careful not to touch me. ‘Go up and find your Australian driver’s licence, and take it out for a run. Once you’ve had a drive in it, you may find you like it.’

      ‘I can drive with that licence?’

      ‘Yes. You just need to sign a statutory declaration to apply for your Hong Kong licence. Gold can organise that.’

      ‘Do you own the Mercedes dealership or something? Why only Mercedes?’

      ‘One: it’s the most common luxury car in Hong Kong and therefore less of a target, despite what you said. Two: I may not own the dealership, but I am very good friends with the Tai Pan of the company that does.’

      ‘Okay, whatever you say. Want to come with me?’

      His face went expressionless.

      ‘Oh my God, you are such a typical male sometimes. Bad driver, and worse passenger.’

      ‘I have been driving automobiles for nearly seventy years,’ he said stiffly. ‘During the 1930s the Tiger and I took European form and raced each other on the Grand Prix circuit. He kept winning because it was easier for him to stay white. I had to concentrate to keep the shape, and it ruined my performance. We only stopped because the competition became too professional. I am not a bad driver.’

      I turned away. ‘Leo has a completely different opinion on that.’ I wondered what he looked like as a European. Probably not nearly as attractive.

      ‘Leo thinks that everybody else in the world is a bad driver,’ he called as I walked to the car. ‘He will never let you drive him anywhere.’

      Simone jumped up and down with excitement as we waited at the arrivals hall for Charlie. She fell over and I helped her up.

      ‘Try to stay on your feet, Simone.’

      ‘There she is!’ Simone squealed, and raced to Charlie who stopped, crouched and threw her arms out to catch her.

      Charlie rose with Simone held tightly in her arms and smiled over the top of the little girl’s head. She hadn’t changed at all; her cheerful soft face was still rosy, round and smiling. Her greying light-brown hair had come out of its bun but she didn’t seem to care. She rocked Simone in her arms. ‘I missed you, Princess.’

      Charlie lowered Simone and pushed her trolley as I led her towards the car park. ‘I love this new airport.’ She bent to speak conspiratorially to Simone. ‘Have you been on the little train inside yet?’

      Simone shook her head, eyes wide. ‘We’re not allowed in there. We have to take the silly small plane.’

      Charlie laughed. ‘I missed you, darling.’ She patted my shoulder. ‘I missed you too, Emma.’

      ‘Let me take your trolley.’

      ‘No, Leo can do that.’ She looked around. ‘That’s not like Leo to leave you alone, Emma. Where is he?’

      ‘Leo’s teaching at the Academy.’

      ‘What Academy?’

      ‘Oh, dear Lord, John hasn’t told you anything, has he?’

      ‘John?’ She continued without waiting for an answer. ‘All Mr Chen said was to come to Hong Kong, help look after Simone, and brush up on my cooking while I was here. That’s all, Emma.’

      ‘It’s Lady Emma now,’ Simone said with relish.

      ‘No it isn’t, Simone, not for Charlie.’ I saw Charlie’s face. ‘Don’t worry about it, Charlie.’ I paid the parking ticket and guided Charlie to the car. ‘We need to talk. But we should wait until we have you settled in.’

      When we reached the car Charlie stopped.

      ‘Daddy bought it for Emma,’ Simone said proudly.

      Charlie glanced sharply at me.

      ‘I needed it,’ I said. ‘Simone starts school soon, and I’ll be taking her. I’ll be sharing it with Leo.’

      Charlie nodded, but she was obviously unhappy. We put her bags into the boot and she sat in the back of the car with Simone. ‘How are you, my little Princess? You’ve grown so much. Starting school soon, eh? You’re a big girl already.’

      ‘I’m really good, Charlie. I’m learning energy work with Emma. Emma’s teaching the Disciples. She’s really good too. She’ll be in charge.’

      ‘Don’t worry about that, Simone,’ I said, not wanting to take the conversation in a difficult direction. ‘We’ll talk about that later.’

      Charlie appeared very uncomfortable.

      ‘Charlie, I’ll tell you all about it when we’re back at the Peak. In private,’ I said pointedly, and she nodded. But I could see she was concerned.

      When we arrived at the Peak I took Charlie into one of the student rooms behind the training room. ‘Is this okay? If it’s not good enough, you can go in with Simone, or you can have my room. I don’t mind.’

      ‘You can’t do that, Emma,’ Simone squeaked. ‘You can’t give Charlie your room, it’s not fitting.’

      Charlie didn’t miss that. ‘This will be fine, Emma, I’ve had this room before.’ She put her bag down and folded her