Boxed Set: At the Billionaire’s Command – Vol. 1-3 (15 page)

"Aren't you going to answer?" my father asks, surprised.

"No, I don't recognise it. Probably a wrong number."

"I see...."

My father looks doubtful.

"You seem a bit strange since you came back," he inquires.

"Strange?"

"A little... absent-minded... worried... I don't know."

"Don't worry, dad, everything's fine," I say, trying to muster my most natural and reassuring tone. "I'm just a little disconnected, I need some time to readjust, that's all. Don't stress, daddy," I say as I go to kiss him. "I'm going up to shower now. That smells delicious!" I call out as I climb up the stairs.

During lunch, my phone, which I keep in my pant pocket, gets a message. I say I urgently need the bathroom so that I can read it in peace.

[
Saturday 28 July 1:10 pm
Julia, I tried to call you. Why didn't you pick up? Don't be silly.]

More sweet nothings... No danger of me replying!

In the afternoon, while I'm sitting in the small garden behind our house, a new SMS interrupts me while I'm reading some magazines.

[
Saturday 28 July 4:06 pm
Julia, I need to speak with you. Give me a sign.]

That's better. But not good enough.

A little later, I'm in my room putting my things away. Daniel sends me a new message.

[Saturday 28 July 5:11 pm
I know you're hurt, but please don't leave me hanging.]

Finally, some recognition... But it's still a bit flimsy! You'll have to do better than that, Mr Fire!

And then another:

[
Saturday 28 July 5:54 pm
Julia, don't you understand that I'm sorry about what happened, that I need to talk with you? If you insist on maintaining your silence, I will come to your parent's house myself and carry you off.]

This time, I have to reply, he's quite capable of showing up at the front door...

[
Saturday 28 July 5:55 pm
Don't! I'm all right. I need to be alone.]

As soon as I hit the 'Send' button, I hear... someone ringing at the front door! My heart is thumping like a jack hammer and I begin to shake.

No, it can't be? He didn't?!

I admit I'd be more angry than stunned if he actually carried out his threat.

"Julia? Dear? Someone for you. Are you coming down?"

Oh my God! What a mess! The shit's about to hit the fan. I don't have a choice. I have to go.

"Yes, coming, mum!"

At the middle of the stairs, I see my mother standing in the passage, holding the door wide open, and in the doorway, I make out the tall figure of....

"Tom!"

"
Hey, Julia!
"

I hurtle down the stairs and leap into his arms.

"
Tom! What you are doing here?
"

"
I'm meeting some friends in the South of France, so I said to myself, why not pass through Tours to pay my Julia a visit?
"

"
I'm so happy to see you, Tom!
"

"Don't you kids want to come inside?" my mum suggests, still holding the door open.

"Of course, mum.
Come in, Tom.
"

Intrigued, my father has joined us in the passage.

"Mum, dad, meet Tom, my friend from New York.
Tom, this is my parents, Sylvie and Jacques.
"

Tom comes forward to shake hands with my parents.

"
"Bonjour, madame. Bonjour, monsieur."

"But you speak French!" my mum exclaims.

"
No, no, I'm sorry.
I understand a little, speak very bad."

"Not at all, not at all, you speak very well! Right, let's not stay out here all day. Come on in to the living room."

I take Tom by the arm.

"Julia, ask your friend if he'd like something to drink."

"
Do you want to drink something? Wait...
Dad, do you still have some champagne left?"

"But of course! Jacques, go get us a bottle, why don't you," my mother hastens to command, all excited at Tom's visit.

"Julia has told us so much about you, Tom. You'll stay and have dinner with us, won't you? And you can also stay the night, there's no need for you to book into a hotel. You're welcome to stay here."

My mother's speaking so fast that Tom doesn't quite catch everything. He looks at me inquiringly.

"My mother says that they heard a lot about you and they are delighted to see you. They want you stay for dinner, for the night and for all the time that you want. Welcome to the Belmont family!"

"
Thank you! Thank you, it's much kind from you.
It'd be great to stay here tonight."

"Excellent!"

"When do you have to leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, at the latest. I wanted to see you, and I also had something to tell you. Something odd and rather important."

"What are you two talking about?"

"Um... Tom has to leave tomorrow... he's very happy to see us and to meet you...."

"About what," Tom asks me in English again.

"D. W. I discovered some things I need to share with you...."

I'm so eager to be alone with Tom that I feel like dinner is dragging on. My mother can't stop singing my praises to Tom, as if she were determined to marry me off on the spot (no matter how many times I tell her, she can't get it into her head that he's just a friend), and pesters him with questions. But since she doesn't speak a word of English and Tom can't keep track of her infernal streaming monologue, I end up interpreting for them... in my own way. I don't relate everything my mother says and I adjust Tom's answers. It's a little tiring, but, I must say, mostly quite fun. It's a bit like watching a movie out of sync.
My impatience doesn't prevent me from enjoying this relaxed and happy moment. My parents are being friendly and are completely won over by Tom, who is charming as always. I'm so happy to see him again.

After dinner, which lasted for over two hours, my parents finally decide to go to bed.

"All right, kids, we'll leave you two be. I've made the spare bedroom and put fresh towels on the edge of the bath. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Good night!"
I repeat to Tom what my mother just said.

"Thank you very much, madame.
Good night.
"

"Thanks, mum. Good night!" I say with a kiss to my parents.

Tom and I make ourselves comfortable in the living room and wait for my parents to close their bedroom door before we begin talking.
Tom asks me if I remember Daniel Wietermann having given orders not to say anything about him should a person by the name of Camille Wietermann show up.

Of course I remember! I can still see Daniel scowling and hear him issuing his instructions in an icy and haughty tone.

Well, on the day I left, this Camille Wietermann character came to the reception and asked Tom if he knew Daniel. At first, Tom replied that on no account could he discuss the hotel's guests, and that anyway he didn't know any Daniel Wietermann. But Camille insisted. He said that he knew Daniel always stayed at that hotel when he was in New York and that he had stayed there over the past few days.

If he's so sure of his facts, why question the hotel staff?
Camille apologised for his clumsy approach. The truth was that he needed help.

Needed help? How so?
Yes, Camille explained that Daniel was his son and that he knew he had just left the hotel because he had been watching him from a distance. He hadn't dared go towards him, which he now regretted bitterly. He absolutely had to speak with his son and was scared he had missed his chance. Moved by the old man's evident distress, Tom said that he understood, but was sorry there was nothing he could do. But Camille replied that actually, there was. He could pass a message along to Daniel through his girlfriend, the girl he worked with, whom he had seen leave several times with his son.

Not wanting to bring me any trouble, or at least put me in an embarrassing situation, Tom asked Camille why he didn't approach his son directly if he wanted to speak with him so badly. But Daniel wouldn't listen to Camille, he had refused to see him for years. He had to get hold of him by roundabout means.

Maybe there was a good reason for that?
No, according to Camille, Daniel was wrong about his father. Until now, he had never really done anything to change the situation, but today, things were different, he was ill and he didn't want to leave this world without having seen and spoken to his son again.

Was he really ill?
Tom would have liked to believe so. In any case, he sensed that the man was sincere and he felt for him. To convince Tom, Camille suggested that they have a drink together after his shift had ended, so that he could tell him his story. Tom could thus judge for himself in all good conscience whether he would agree to help him or not. Tom met with Camille, and this is what the old man told him:

"
I married a woman I loved.
Our early years together were wonderful. I painted, she posed. We travelled a lot, we had fun, we were free and madly in love. Our life had none of the hardness experienced by those star-crossed, penniless artists. Diane was from the Tercari family, and I came from a line of successful artists. Our passion gave rise to two children, seven years apart: Agathe and Daniel. I loved those kids so much. I would spend a lot of time with them.
But things began to change when Diane had to take over the family jewellery firm. We settled in Paris and she dedicated herself entirely to her business. Solitude and idleness soon began to weigh on me, and I became a fickle and pleasure-seeking husband. Despite our differences, Diane and I still loved one another, but it wasn't enough. I would sometimes disappear for days at a time to live it up all over the world, but I always came back.
As the years went by, Diane could no longer put up with my antics. Not so much for the pain they caused her in private as for the harm they could have caused her in public. Nothing worried her more than the image of her family and her business. And she went to great lengths to keep a lid on my misdemeanours, to keep me out of the tabloids.
One day, I don't remember how or from whom, I learned that Diane had a lover. Even if I had cheated on her many times, I had never kept a mistress, I never slept with the same woman twice. I shirked the life we had, but I loved Diane. However, I was hardly in a position to point the finger at her.... So, I kept quiet.
But it was eating away at me, slowly but surely tearing me apart. I became less and less capable of showing affection to the children, I went out more and more often for longer periods of time and when I came back, I couldn't stand the sight of them. I was sure they weren't mine....
My relationship with Diane became unbearable. And then, things finally came to a head. I confessed that I knew she had a lover and that I suspected him of being the children's father. She didn't deny it. I left, never to return.
However, doubt continued to plague me. I had so loved those kids.... For all those years, I kept up with their progress as best as I could, watching them from behind the scenes.
A few months ago, I learned that I didn't have long left to live. I couldn't leave without getting clarity. With the help of friends who had stayed in touch with Diane, I found out that Agathe and Daniel were indeed my children. I don't have the time to hold a grudge against Diane any more, I'll probably never know why she did that. Maybe because I gave her the perfect excuse to chase me out of their lives.
You understand, don't you, why I need to speak with my son? Would you be kind enough to help me and speak to your girlfriend?
"

Camille's story leaves me speechless.

"
Are you still in touch with Daniel?
"

"
Now and then…
"

Now it's my turn to tell Tom about all that's happened since I left New York.

He doesn't know what advice to give me. On the one hand, Camille moved him and he'd like to right a wrong, to help father and son find each other again; but on the other hand, he has doubts based on what I told him about the mother. After all, it's a family matter, everyone has their own issues and it's not up to us to interfere. Who knows if Camille wasn't lying? Tom can't be sure. Let them sort it out! Besides, he thinks I'd be better off staying away from this strange family; he's afraid I'm going to bring needless trouble and misery upon myself; he's worried about me.

But I can't force myself to be immune and aloof, everything I've just heard has deeply affected me. It's like the pieces of a puzzle slowly coming together. I can't abandon it halfway, I want to uncover the full picture. Is it out of love, or out of a taste for adventure? A bit of both. Where Tom sees trouble and danger, I see Daniel in a new and positive light. Tom can see that I won't sit and do nothing. So he advises me to be cautious, to send Daniel a message telling him his father wants to speak with him, nothing more.

No, I have to tell him in person....

I go back to my room after having said good night to Tom. In the midst of the alarm and excitement his arrival had caused, I had forgotten to take my phone with when I went down to greet him. A missed call from Sarah with no voicemail, and a long SMS...

[
Saturday 28 July 8:30 pm
Julia, you came back for me. I had hoped you would and you did. Your illness, my mother, your running away… everything went wrong, I didn't know what to do and it's driving me crazy, as you can imagine. I want you with me, for myself. And I am sure you feel the same way. Let's not waste any time making excuses or sulking. What's done is done. I will be in Paris tomorrow, come meet me there.]

[
Saturday 28 July 11:56 pm
All right.]

I'll just have to find an excuse to go to Paris tomorrow....

"What a drama! Tom's right, stay on your guard and don't let yourself get sucked into this family, they sound a bit unhealthy. I know you, you're a big softy! But I get you at the same time; if I were you, I'd also go meet Daniel to clear all this up and... because you're hooked! When are you leaving for Paris?"