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“The rich kid?”

“The one who started Enough Is Enough?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Well, there was a commotion in Dallas, where he was thrown out of a hotel.”

“Why?”

“For harassing Dr. Sam Mueller.”

“Why would he harass him?”

“I don’t know. I’m just giving you a tip. This guy’s name has been coming up more frequently. Have you seen a picture of him?”

“No.”

“I’ll send you one. He’s handsome, like a movie star.”

“Really?”

“If you saw him, you would stare.”

“That’s funny. A handsome terrorist. You don’t see that very often.”

“I’ve never seen it. The closest was Timothy McVeigh and he was ugly.”

“Who?”

“You don’t remember the Oklahoma guy?”

“No.”

“Well, look it up. This guy’s ten times better-looking.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Shen Li had lived his whole life without falling in love, and now he couldn’t stop thinking about Laura Markum. They had been almost inseparable since they met at the barbecue, and it was altering his life. He thought he had enough going on, being the most important force in health care change in the United States, but love was a whole different ball game. He hadn’t realized the parts of him that were in hiding until they started demanding his attention.

Before Laura, Shen woke up each day and all he thought about was work. He was making great strides and the people of Los Angeles took to him like to a pied piper. Of course, he had an advantage. Anyone taking over from the army was going to look like Mother Teresa, but Li really did know what he was doing and it showed. He thought that his job alone would sustain him, which it did—until he met her. Now when he awoke, the first thing he thought about was calling Laura—that is, if she wasn’t lying next to him.

He had been so nervous when they first made love. After all, Shen Li was a world-class nerd. He did have sex in high school, but he was the last boy known for his prowess. When he became one of the richest men in China, the ladies followed the money, and many of them told him he was a wonderful lover. He used to joke with a friend of his, “Isn’t everyone good in bed if they have a hundred million dollars?”

But with Laura it was different from the first kiss. And the first time they made love, they really did make love. She thought he was the brightest man she’d ever met and she admitted to having an “Asian thing.” She’d once had a professor at Yale who was from Taiwan and he was so brilliant, and she had had a mad crush on him, too. Laura loved smart. Cute wasn’t bad, either, but with every ten points a man’s IQ rose, she thought he was that much better-looking. And besides, Shen was always considered just fine in the looks department. He would neither stop traffic nor start it, but whenever he spoke he looked to her like a movie star.

As if falling in love with this woman wasn’t enough, Shen fell in love with her father, also. It was mutual. Senator Markum obviously loved power and so did Li. The three of them had many dinners together and Li and the senator would talk nonstop for hours. Markum had been in favor of partnering with China in order to save his home state, and he thought they should partner up in all the other places in the U.S. that were deteriorating, too.

During one of their many nights out, when he was alone with his daughter for a moment, Markum said, “That is the best man you have ever dated. I’m crazy about him.”

“I am, too.”

“So don’t waste any more time. Marry him, have children. He can go all the way and so can you.”

“He hasn’t asked me.”

“Laura, the man would be your slave. He would sell his soul to marry you. Just make it easy. And do it quickly. Don’t waste time like with that first one.”

Laura left that particular dinner early, leaving her father and Li talking about steel prices and copper futures. When she walked into her house later that night the message center was lit up. She watched the screen as she got herself a glass of orange juice. It was Shen. “Sorry you left early. I love your father. I love you. I want you to marry me. I