“Is everything okay?” Natalie asked nervously.
“Everything is fine.” I patted the couch next to me. “Sit.”
She shook her head and sat on the arm of a nearby easy chair. “It’s been a rough night,” she said.
“What happened?” I asked.
She sighed, shaking her head. “Just stuff with my mom.”
I grinned wickedly. “Want me to take care of her? I can make her disappear, you know.”
Her whole face suddenly drained of color. “No. Oh my god, Lucas, don’t say that.”
I held up my hands. “I’m just kidding, Nat. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” she said again.
I stood up and moved toward her, but she quickly walked away from me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked again. “I can help.”
“I saw something,” she said slowly, “and I’m not sure I can tell you.”
“You can trust me,” I said, and I knew that I meant it. “We’re already so deep in this together, I’m surprised you even question it.”
“It’s about your father.”
“That’s okay. You can tell me anything.”
“I saw my mom having sex with one of the staff.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “What?”
The story came spilling out of her then. She told me about how she went for a walk and stumbled in on her mom and the driver, Franklin. I knew who she was talking about; he was relatively new to the compound but a pretty reliable worker.
“She said all this stuff about him,” she continued, “like how he speaks Russian and a bunch of other languages and how nice he is. I think she’s in love with him.”
I cocked my head at her. “You really think so?”
“I don’t know with her, honestly. She’s been in love a million times and it has never once lasted.”
I grinned. “So you’re saying she’s not really in love with Arturo?”
She sighed, exasperated. “I don’t know, Lucas. I really don’t know.”
This was interesting. I had no clue how Arturo would react if he found out about Camille’s indiscretions. He’d likely have the driver killed at the very least, probably divorce Camille, maybe even destroy her career.
Obviously I couldn’t let that happen. I liked having Natalie around and didn’t want to risk any harm coming to her. I knew I should be more loyal to my father, but what did the old fool expect? He had married a notorious reality television star. Did he think she was really going to stay faithful?
Maybe he already knew and didn’t care. Maybe they had some sort of arrangement, though that didn’t seem likely.
“This could be dangerous,” I said.
“I know, Lucas,” she agreed. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be scared,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward me. “I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
She wrapped her arms around me, burying her head in my shoulder. “How can you say that? He’s your father.”
“He’s an old fool,” I said softly, “but he isn’t stupid. He knew what he was buying into with your mother. And I’m growing fond of you.”
“I’m fond of you too,” she said.
I laughed. “We shouldn’t let your mother acting like a whore cause anything.”
I felt her stiffen suddenly and pull herself away. “Excuse me?”
“I’m just saying, your mother being loose shouldn’t get between the two of us.”
“You called her a whore,” Natalie said.
I narrowed my eyes. “Because she’s acting like one.”
“My mom isn’t a whore.”
I could tell this was about to spiral out of control. I wanted to pull it back, fix it, but I wasn’t about to take what I had said back. Camille was acting like a whore. She was sleeping with another man in her husband’s house after less than a month of marriage. If that wasn’t loose behavior, I didn’t know what was.
“It’s the truth,” I said. “Your mother is acting like a whore. That doesn’t need to affect us, though.”
Her face set into a neutral expression. “I think you should go, Lucas.”
I laughed again, shaking my head. “Come on, Natalie, I’m on your side.”
“And yet you’re calling my mother a whore. I think you should go.”
I shook my head and turned away from her. “Whatever you say, wife.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Good night.”
I walked away, pulling the door open and heading out into the hall.
I balled my fists and headed back to my own rooms. I didn’t understand her, had no clue why she had gotten so upset. She was the first to admit that her mother was a party girl and was an awful mom. And yet if I spoke the truth, suddenly she was going to get angry with me?