HIS GUILTY PLEASURE

CHAPTER FOUR

Lee was plagued by an array of childhood trauma. My father wasn’t the best father in the world and, given Lee’s background, she was sort of an outcast in her time, especially since she had no mother. And then I came along. At first, I didn’t notice it, but Lee made sure I didn’t have even a taste of what she went through both in school and at home.

Lee cared for me like a sister and when my mother passed on, she cared for me like a mother. Even though I'm working, not a month passed without her sending me some money and even dropping off presents for me occasionally. My sister was my life, the only family I had.

So, when Camilla asked to be tucked in by her parents, it became like nature for Lee to agree without a second thought. Nico had his suit off, his tie loose and his first three buttons unfastened and sitting by her bedside. Lee knelt by her bedside, her arms resting on the bed just in front of Nico. How sexy, he thought, but this wasn’t the time nor the place to imagine such. He threw those dirty thoughts out as soon as they came.

‘Go to sleep Cami’, Lee whispered as she stroked her hair.

‘I want to have breakfast together tomorrow’, she said as she stared at her father.

He looked over at Lee, her eyes threatening him not to say anything stupid. ‘Sure’, he smiled at her, ‘now go to sleep’.

‘And I want to go to bed together tomorrow’, Camilla added.

‘Anything you want’, Lee said immediately before Nico had the chance to say anything stupid.

‘Pinky promise?’ Camilla asked drowsily.

‘Sure’, Lee smiled.

Soon enough, Camilla was out cold. Lee tapped Nico and pointed as if to say, ‘you. Me. Outside. Now’. When they had sneakily escaped Camilla’s room and were out of earshot, Lee turned sharply, catching Nico off guard. He took a few steps backward. Was she going to give him an earful about him invading her private space?

‘You are aware that Camilla was waiting for you all night so she could eat’

‘No’, he lied coldly. Then I wondered why exactly he was lying. Surely he wasn’t scared of his wife’s temper, he tried to convince himself.

‘The mere fact that you are unaware is bad parenting. 'We need to set some ground rules in this house’, Lee said with determination. Nothing in the contract obliged her to be a mother to Camilla, but she was all in for it. It made Nico feel uneasy though.

‘Like?’

‘First, curfew. Anyone of us that comes in later than ten has a strike’.

He rolled his eyes and walked past her down the stairs, ‘and what next, the guillotine?’.

‘Oh, how did you know’, Lee said, his voice coated with sarcasm.

‘I'm not doing this’, he answered when he turned to her, ‘Let’s end this on good terms.’

‘You’re not doing what? Raising our daughter?!’, then the words reached Lee's brain as soon as she spoke them. She just suggested that Camilla was ‘our’ daughter. It felt funny in her ears, but his expression on Nico’s face was pure, unadulterated anger.

‘I didn’t mention this in the contract because I knew Camilla was picky anyway, but as someone temporarily in Camilla’s life, it's best you remain as far as possible from her’, he said calmly. He was angry, but he knew better than to get into an argument with her. He knew very well what kind of person his wife was. But he saw the fear in her eyes as soon as he said that. He wished he could take it back, but it was already too late. ‘Good night’, he told her, turned on his heel and left.

***

The last night’s experience had left Lee beyond shocked; she hadn’t hoped to see that side of Nico. Now it was as though she feared him. They ate breakfast together, but quietly, even Camilla could notice the tension.

She arrived at the company and b***h-walked all the way to her office together with Riley. Yes, at least she had won that battle with Nico, or at least he let her win. When she swung the door to her office open, there was an elegant woman sitting on the couch. She wore a black gown and had a black coat draped over the shoulders.

Nico’s mother-Diane Moretti. She had only seen Diane during the wedding and not once since then. Lee just assumed that the woman wasn’t so nosy-she swallowed her words.

‘I hope you don’t mind’, Diane said as she rose what appeared to be a cup of coffee, ‘I made myself something’.

Lee turned to Riley, who signaled she had not a single idea what was going on. Lee nodded to dismiss her, ‘A pleasant surprise to see you again, Mrs. Moretti’

‘Oh please’, she dropped her cup, ‘call me Diane.’

‘What brings you by?’, she said.

‘Oh, I happened to visit the company today and I had to check out my old office. I worked here, before you know, when Nico was still a little boy. But as time went on, I was too sick to go on. When I heard you take over the weight of this office, I felt really sorry, you know.’

‘It’s fine. I asked Nicholas if I could work here. I’d rather be busy.’

‘I understand’, Diane chuckled, ‘reach out to me if anything gets hard. Handling legal matters requires some sort of wisdom of experience.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t dare to bother you. Besides, you’re running your own hotel.’

‘I’m barely doing anything around there. It makes me feel even sadder that we couldn’t meet before the wedding. When Nico told me he was getting married, I was so-‘, she paused and sighed, ‘I never imagined such a day would ever come’, she smiled.

Here’s the deal: Only Lee, Nicholas and his father were aware of the contract. Nico made sure to include in the prenup that Diane and everyone else were never to find out about the contract. They were just two people in love. I knew, of course. But to the press, it was the wedding of the century, between the political princess and the business mogul- a prince in their eyes. Truthfully, I could understand their craze over the guy-he was hot.

‘Oh its fine. I understand’

‘Forgive my boy, he can be dense sometimes.’

Dense had a different meaning to Lee. ‘Tell me about it’, she paused abruptly and covered her mouth. Her senses seemed to be escaping her, ‘that’s not what I mean-‘

‘It’s fine’, Diane chuckled, ‘you can rant to me. I know my son can be a real pain in the ass. How about dinner sometime, when you’re free, that is.’

‘Sure’, Lee agreed, ‘dinner will be perfect’, she chuckled nervously.

‘That’s good’, Diane picked up her bag, ‘I seemed to have overstayed’. She looked at her bodyguard by the door, ‘I’ll see you soon then’.

Lee nodded as she saw Diane off. But you see, the problem with secrets is that it puts you in a tough spot and Lee was about to figure that out the hard way.