Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Only then did I turn back to Robert. His gaze had been politely averted, but sensing mine, he looked back at me. I searched it for a hint of disapproval, but I only saw sadness.
“I’m an adult, Robert,” I said uncomfortably.
“That’s why I didn’t say anything.”
My mother had no such restraint. “Not again, Cami,” she said, giving me a rare frown that pulled at her beautifully preserved features. “You’re not one to repeat mistakes.”
Emma was pressed up against my mother’s side, thrilled to be back with her beloved Gram Gram and Pop Pop. I could tell she wasn’t tracking the conversation, but it bothered me anyway. What if she subconsciously internalized my mother’s words? What if she thought she was the mistake?
“No, I’m not,” I agreed coldly, giving my mother a sharp we’ll-talk-about-this-later look that I’d stolen from Landon.
“We just don’t want you to get hurt again,” Robert murmured, circling the couch to put a comforting hand on Mom’s shoulder.
I didn’t have a sharp response for that. Emma was a gift that had come at a price. Leaving Landon had hurt me. I’d pay it again – and likely would – but there was no way to laugh dismissively and claim it had been easy to walk away the first time. My parents would see right through me.
Robert and Emma made French toast – Robert’s specialty – while my mom updated me on what was going on with their appeal. It didn’t sound promising. The best they could hope to do was delay the day they had to settle up or declare bankruptcy.
“I’m so sorry, Mom.” My lingering resentment from earlier dissolved. I took Emma’s place next to her on the couch and wrapped my arms around her slim shoulders, breathing in the scent of Bleu de Chanel.
“Oh, it’s all right, darling,” she said, surprising me. She glanced over her shoulder at the protection officer, then lowered her voice. “We’re relocating to friendlier territory.”
“You’re what?” I asked, too surprised to lower my own voice.
Robert glanced up from the stove and sent my mother a look I couldn’t read.
She flapped her hand at him dismissively. “Come on, darling. Show me Emma’s room.”
Mom had already seen Emma’s room. Emma had insisted on showing her every little thing as soon as she walked in. But I recognized a ruse when I saw it and followed her back.
Closing the door behind us, I asked, “What do you mean you’re relocating to friendlier territory.”
“Morocco, darling. We’ll go by Mauritius first, of course, to transfer some of our assets.”
I sunk down onto Emma’s bed, my head spinning. “You’re fleeing the country?”
Mom laughed in surprise. “No, of course not. We’re just tired of living in this fishbowl. The media and the threats and, oh, it’s just too much.”
I looked at my mother. She looked as elegant and unruffled as ever in her casual black pantsuit. Her long, glorious hair was pulled back in a loose knot at the base of her neck. Large diamonds sparkled in her earlobes. If the paparazzi took her picture now, the caption would surely contrast this image of understated wealth with the reports about Lavigne Beauty’s financial woes. It would also surely comment on how relaxed and unconcerned she looked. They would wonder if it was an act.
I didn’t think it was.
Unless she’d become a very good actress, my mother really was as unconcerned as she looked. She really didn’t see moving to a country without an extradition treaty as fleeing. I wondered how they’d decided on Morocco – if it was just a coincidence, or if Robert was thinking three steps ahead, as usual. It had to be Robert, I decided. He’d probably formulated this plan before they even went to trial. He’d never let anything touch my mother, not even the law. Not even if it was justified.
“Darling, did you hear me?”
I blinked and realized that I’d been staring at my mother without really seeing her. Without hearing her, either. “No, I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I said that you and Emma should come with us!” She said it like she’d just thought of it, and now I knew she hadn’t been acting earlier because she wasn’t very good at it.
I considered it for a second. If she had proposed this right after the verdict was read, when I realized that the life Emma and I knew was going to be yanked out from underneath us, I probably would have gone. If I’d known there were hidden assets, I wouldn’t have turned to Landon. I’d have gone to Morocco happily.
But now I was fiercely glad I hadn’t. And it wasn’t just because Emma was finally getting the father she’d always deserved – I was getting him, too.
“No,” I shook my head. “We’re staying here with her father.”
Mom’s full mouth turned down in distaste. “Because he’s her father or because he’s your lover again?”