‘I have been in talks with her partner, Rizal…We have worked out a compromise…They will get a loan to start a restaurant in the new Mansions…Now, Mann…Please do it.’

‘Really? And is Lilly involved in these negotiations?’

Victoria opened her eyes and looked at him curiously. ‘She could be…’ The minute she said it she froze. ‘I mean…’

‘You set me up.’ Mann threw her off. ‘You could never mean anything to me. Yes, we might both be hollow, damaged; we might be thrill seekers but that doesn’t mean I want to share my life with someone like me. Now get out.’

Chapter 98

‘Rizal?’

Michelle had been expecting the old woman down the hall, who was coming to pick up the twins whilst Nina got on with the cooking. She made the mistake of opening the door before she stopped to think. Rizal pushed her straight back into the flat.

‘Get out,’ she screamed at him.

‘You changed the locks, you bitch. Did you think that was the last you’d see of me? Did you think you could just shut me out? I live here.’

‘Not any more. Go and live with one of your other women.’

‘You don’t tell me what to do.’ He jabbed her in the chest with his finger.

‘You’re drunk. I’m busy. I have to cook. I am expecting the kids back at any time now. Ring me. I’ll meet you. We’ll talk later.’

Rizal stood swaying. ‘There’s nothing to talk about. I am the man in this house. If anyone has to leave it’s you. Where’s Lilly?’

‘You’re not coming near her again. I’ll kill you if you do, and believe me I can do it.’

Rizal picked up the ornaments from the dresser and hurled them at Michelle.

‘Get out,’ she screamed. She went to push Rizal out of the apartment. She felt the sting of his hand on her cheek and she lost her balance. Her head cracked against the side of the sofa. She wriggled backwards. She knew Rizal well enough to know that would not be the last blow and she tried to crawl to the bedroom as fast as she could. As drunk as he was he didn’t have far to make it round the sofa. He stamped on her to stop her and knelt on her as he held her by the throat. She scratched at his face trying to find his eyes. He moved his head out of reach. She felt the world around her going dark.

She didn’t know how long she was passed out for. She came to to a sensation of being shaken and the sound of screaming. Lilly was hysterical. She was knelt over her, shaking her, crying.

‘I’m all right, Lilly, my love. I’m all right. Good girl. Where’s Rizal?’

Lilly didn’t answer. She started to sob. She held on to Michelle and sank onto the floor. ‘I thought he’d killed you. I thought you were dead. You weren’t breathing.’

‘Lilly!’ Rizal stood in the middle of the room. ‘Come with me.’

Lilly stood and looked at him.

‘No, Lilly, don’t.’ Michelle’s voice came out broken, painful.

Lilly walked into the bedroom and came out seconds later carrying the urumi. She let its coils unfurl. Her hand was shaking violently.

Rizal watched it, terrified. ‘Come with me, Lilly,’ he repeated, still staring at the three strips of razor-sharp metal that Lilly had now lifted in her hand. Rizal looked incredulously at her. ‘We can both get away now.’

‘Get out,’ Lilly screamed. She flipped the whip above her head and crashed it down on the top of the sofa, inches from where Rizal stood.

He jumped. ‘Jesus. You’re as mad as your mother.’

‘Get out, Rizal. Leave my mother alone. Leave all of us alone. We don’t want you here. We don’t need you.’

‘You will regret that decision, Lilly. You forget, little girl – I know a lot of your secrets. I know where you go at night. I know what you do.’

‘Shut up…’ Lilly gathered the whip back and lifted it again, ready to strike.

Rizal didn’t need to be told again. He started backing out of the door. Michelle looked at Lilly, at the whip in her hand. Now she was shaking so violently that Michelle was frightened for her.

‘Come here, my little girl.’ Lilly dropped the urumi and Michelle hugged her as they wept in one another’s arms. ‘We are starting again, Lilly. Right here, right now. This is a new start for us. It won’t be easy but we will do it. We don’t need anyone else. We’re in this together. You ready for that?’

Lilly couldn’t answer she was crying too hard. She was looking at the door at Mahmud who stood there waiting for her.

Chapter 99

Ng took the lift to the top floor of the Leung Corporation building and padded out onto the plush carpet, into the dark leather of the penthouse office suite. The PA greeted him with a low bow. Ng walked past him and into CK’s office.

The room was icy. CK sat behind his desk. He looked up as Ng approached, placed his pen carefully down on the writing block and sat back in his chair. In the corner of the room a young Chinese girl sat motionless in a straight-backed chair. At first Ng thought she was not real. She sat like a wax works manikin. Her face was white except for rouged cheeks. But then he saw her eyes follow him across the floor.

‘I am glad to see we remain old friends,’ CK greeted him.

‘I am no friend of yours. I have come to ask you what it is you want from Johnny Mann.’

CK lowered his chin, pressed his fingertips together. ‘You have shown your cards too early, Sergeant. Friends are hard to come by in this world and they make you vulnerable. We were friends once.’

‘I was doing my job. I made mistakes. I was young. I learnt that I was not strong enough to resist the lure of Triad money. I never took the promotion I earned through the undercover work. I always regretted it.’

‘Yes, I was disappointed to see that you did not rise up the ranks as others have done. But, as you know the account is never closed, sometimes it is dormant, other times it is ticking along but it can be fully operational again immediately. Is that what you desire?’

Ng sat in the same chair that Mann had done days before but he did not feel as comfortable, nor cradled. He felt suffocated by it. ‘I have come to ask for a favour.’

‘What favour is that?’

‘Let Johnny Mann be. Leave him alone. Give him time to decide his own fate.’

‘Ah…I am afraid I cannot do that, not even for an old friend. Johnny Mann has things that I need. I feel my time running out. His father was clever; he invested in things that, at the time, seemed worthless. Now, they are worth millions and I feel the years creeping up on me. I want everything now.’

‘Your daughter, Victoria. Is she the reason for all this?’

CK thought for a moment. ‘My daughter is another piece in the jigsaw of my life. She has her place in it, as do others. She will never be all of it. I recognize her failings. They are the same ones I had in my youth. She is greedy, she is hasty. She will learn a valuable lesson soon. She is also, unlike many other women of her type, ruled by the heartbeat between her legs. My daughter would make a good whore.’

CK leant back in his chair and touched his fingertips together in the air; they turned white at their tip. ‘My daughter is impatient. She has been planning this for a long time. She sees that the time is right to strike. With her new army of young Outcasts she intends to teach the world a lesson. She is still learning. She is ambitious.’

‘She is a murderer.’

CK looked momentarily astonished and then his eyes narrowed and a rare sound came out of his mouth, a peal of high-pitched laughter. ‘Yes…yes…perhaps.’ He placed his palms on the desk and leaned towards Ng. ‘My daughter is capable of anything.’ CK’s eyes shone clear green and glassy. He turned back to Ng. ‘I will grant you your request. But my deal is a favour in return for a favour.’

Chapter 100

Mann held his head in hands. He could still smell her scent on his fingers; feel her presence in the room. He was angry with himself. Despite knowing exactly what she was like he couldn’t help but find her attractive.