The Temptress (46 page)

‘Paperwork?’ she frowned as I tugged her along
behind me. ‘I thought there wasn’t going to be any sexual contract for your
playroom.’

‘
Our
playroom,’ I corrected. ‘And no
this is a financial contract.’

‘Financial? I’m even more confused.’

‘Then let me show you and all will become clear.’
I led her into my office and sat her down on the comfortable sectional sofa,
then opened my safe and extracted the item in question. I smiled to see the
black Havershams box on the top shelf. I’d acquired a number of yellow and
white diamonds from them, most of which they held in my own personal safety
deposit box, situated in their vault which was far more secure, given their
value, but I’d had a pair of earrings and bracelet made for her to match her
pendant and they were working on another piece for me as we spoke. I’d surprise
her with breakfast in bed tomorrow with the jewellery box, a gift in exchange
for the priceless one she’d given me today. I returned to sit by her and handed
the paperwork over. She scanned it with a puzzled frown, then gasped and looked
up at me shocked.

‘What is this?’

‘You gave me the idea when we were discussing
how I could protect some of my assets. I wanted to ensure that you and Tristan
would be provided for, if ever I wasn’t around to take care of you. I invested
in diamonds that have been “gifted” to my new girlfriend and a substantial
trust fund for my son, for which you are the trustee. A proportion of the
income will be yours to ensure you always have money to care for him, the other
portion will be reinvested and he will inherit the lump sum on his twenty-first
birthday.’

‘Luc, this is too much,’ she replied, shaking
her head.

‘Non, it is not and I will do the same for each
child we have together. They will never go hungry or homeless, you understand
why this is important to me.’

‘I do,’ she sighed. ‘Then thank you. But I really
don’t need the income, I have my own, alter it to reinvest it for him.’

‘No. It is done, no arguments,’ I warned. She
scowled at me, then jumped as her phone rang and she pulled it from the back
pocket of her jeans.

‘Shit, sorry it’s Mum’s number, I’d better take
it.’

‘I can leave,’ I advised, making to stand up.

‘No, stay,’ she smiled and grabbed my arm,
pulling it around her as she snuggled into my chest and pressed the accept
button.

Lulu

‘Mum is everything ok?’ I asked, filled with
concern. I’d spoken to Tristan a few hours ago and he’d seemed fine.

‘Everything’s perfect, he’s tucked up in bed
and we’re about to have a story, but he wanted to talk to you,’ she advised.

‘Put him on then,’ I agreed, breaking into a
happy smile. I put the call on speakerphone, so Luc could listen in.

‘Mummy?’ he called. I felt my heart flutter, I
never tired of hearing his little voice.

‘I’m here, darling. Is everything ok?’

‘I miss you,’ he moaned.

‘I miss you too, darling. So much.’

‘Are you at home?’

‘No, I told you that I was staying with your
daddy this weekend, he has his own house out in the country.’

‘You’re with Luc?’

‘I am,’ I confirmed.

‘Uncle Dom says his name is Luc Haw He Haw,’ he
giggled.

‘Does he now! Well I’ll be having words with
Uncle Dom as it’s not very nice to tease people.’ I frowned at Luc, who was
laughing. It wasn’t funny, Dom was going to get an arse kicking for this.

‘Will you come home tomorrow?’

‘I’m coming home on Monday, darling. You’re
spending tomorrow with Grandma and Grandpa.’

‘Please come home, I
really
miss you.’ He
sounded so insistent. It wasn’t like him, he always told me he missed me, but
he’d never asked me to return on the first day of being apart. I sighed and pinched
the top of my nose.

‘Go,’ whispered Luc. ‘I’ll take you back, he obviously
needs you.’

‘Are you sure?’ I asked, looking up at him. He
nodded with a half-smile and kissed my forehead.

‘Mummy?’

‘I’m here, darling. Ok, I’ll come home and we
can have chicken dinner.’

‘With Yorkshire puddings,’ came his happy
voice.

‘Yes with Yorkshire puddings,’ I confirmed,
giving Luc a
don’t ask
look.

‘Mummy?’

‘Yes.’

‘Can my daddy come too?’ he asked, making me sit
bolt upright on the sofa and Luc take a shocked gasp of air. I looked around at
him and he nodded, a smile spreading across his face.

‘Of course he can, darling. Shall I ask him to
bring the zoo set so you can play together?’

‘Yes please,’ he squealed and Luc and I laughed
as we heard him clapping down the phone.

‘O darling, I do love you. Be a good boy for
Grandma and we’ll see you tomorrow. Can you put her back on for me?’

‘Ok,’ he replied.

‘Your dad will be upset, he had a whole day
planned out with him,’ she warned as she took over the call.

‘I’ll make it up to him, I promise. I can’t
believe he just asked for Luc to come too. What prompted that?’

‘Tristan, Grandma is just going to the toilet,
I’ll be back to read to you in a little while, ok?’

‘Ok,’ he agreed and I heard her footsteps on
the wooden floorboards.

‘Sorry Lulu, I can talk now. He’s been playing
with your dad and Dominic today and was asking lots of questions, confused how
his grandpa could be yours and Dominic’s dad too. Then started asking more
about Luc and they told him that they’d met him and how great he was. I think
it’s piqued his curiosity.’

‘Thank God, I just hope he doesn’t change his
mind tomorrow.’

‘Don’t let him, you and Luc should be there
when we drop him off, children are resilient, I’m sure he’ll soon fall in love
with him.’

‘He’s an easy guy to fall in love with,’ I
replied, turning to give him a smile and I could have sworn his face flushed a
little as he squeezed my hand.

‘Love? Lulu McQueen, did I just hear you use
the word love about a man?’ Mum gasped.

‘You did,’ I laughed. ‘About time at the age of
thirty, eh?’

‘O darling, I’m so happy for you. I’m going to
keep everything crossed for you for tomorrow. Shall we bring him back for about
midday?’

‘Perfect,’ I confirmed.

‘I’d better go, he’s calling me for his story.’

‘Will you do something for me when you’re
done?’

‘Of course.’

‘Give Dom a lecture on not teaching my son
stereotypical insults and warn him I’ll be kicking his arse next time I see
him?’

‘I’m not getting involved,’ she laughed. ‘Bye,
darling, love you.’

‘You too, Mum, see you tomorrow.’ I hung up and
bit my lip, trying to contain my excitement as I looked at Luc.

‘Tomorrow. I will meet him tomorrow? For real?’
he whispered, his face full of unspoken hope.

‘Come hell or high water,’ I grinned, then
burst out laughing as he leapt up, dragged me off the sofa into his arms and
spun me around planting kisses all over my face.

‘Today is the best day of my whole life,’ he
uttered.

‘Mine too,’ I agreed, as I clasped his face and
kissed him. I was so happy. He’d never had love and now he had it from me and
the beginnings of a relationship with his son. I wrapped my arms tightly around
him, never wanting to let him go.

‘Tomorrow may be even better. I can’t wait.’

Luc

I paced the floor of her lounge, I was beyond
nervous, I had never felt like this in my entire life. It felt as if I was
awaiting the results for some life threatening disease, the next few minutes
would change my life forever, yes I was already a father, but only in name.
Being a father was something I knew nothing of. I’d had no role models growing
up, no one to look up to or admire, no one from whom I could take reference so
that I could be what Tristan needed. I ran my hands through my hair again and
looked over at Lulu, busy preparing lunch. She flashed me a reassuring smile.
We had talked at length last night, with me explaining my concerns that I may
fail, that he may not like me. She’d told me that children were more giving of
love and affection than adults, at this age they had not yet learned to
discriminate, to understand the complexities of the human race. She’d told me
that all I had to offer was my time, support, protection, love and affection,
that any child that received these things would form a close bond with the provider.
These were things I could offer, I was certain of it. Time was going to be the
hardest factor with me working in Paris. Even flying back Tuesday morning and
returning Thursday evening was two nights away, two nights too many.

Maybe I needed to reconsider my options,
relocate to London permanently and fly to Paris when required, returning the
same day. From my Paris office to the private airport, then back to central
London was about a two hour commute, people did more than this on a daily
basis, without an hour of that on a comfortable plane to relax in. I could do
more teleconference meetings with existing clients with whom I had well
established relationships and maybe group appointments for annual holding
reviews. Lulu was grooming Violet to take on more responsibility at Sweet
Temptation, I should do the same, let my PA Jean Paul take over more of the
management of the business, so I could focus on the portfolio decisions and my
family. I swallowed hard as those words hit home,
my family.
For the first
time in my life I had a family, and not just a girlfriend and child. An
extended family with her parents, brother Dominic and best friend Coco, all of
whom had welcomed me into her life. Dominic was quick witted and fiercely loyal
of his sister. I’d never really had a best friend, but he’d invited me out for
drinks later in the week and I had a feeling we were going to get along
famously. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when the doorbell rang and I
checked my watch, it was nearly midday, it must be them.

‘Take a deep breath, you look about to pass
out. You can’t break him and he won’t eat you alive,’ Lulu advised, as she
walked over and gave me a kiss. I nodded as I swallowed hard and sat on the
wide arm of her brown leather sofa as she went to get him. I held my breath as
the door opened and she came back in, wheeling a small blue suitcase in the
shape of an elephant in one hand and Tristan balanced on her hip, clinging to
her tightly. He had his head on her shoulder, so I couldn’t really see his face
properly. My heart felt like it was about to explode, it was beating so loudly
I was sure they could hear it. She left the suitcase at the door and walked
over, planting a kiss on his head. ‘Tristan, look who’s here?’ she coaxed. She
had shown him photographs of me over the last week, to try to get him
acclimatised to recognising me.

‘Hello, Tristan, I am so pleased to meet you,’
I managed to utter. He wriggled against her and sat up, looking straight at me,
our scarily similar eyes locking as he assessed me. Mon Dieu, he was the
spitting image of me, but for those touches of Lulu’s beautiful amber eyes in
his, I could have been looking in a mirror as a young child. A paternity test
was definitely not required. I swallowed hard as I fought against the
overwhelming urge to cry as we just looked at each other.

‘Do you like chicken?’ he asked, making Lulu
laugh.

‘I
love
chicken,’ I nodded.

‘Mummy said we’re having chicken for lunch.
It’s my favourite.’

‘Mine too, but it’s not the same unless you
have it with Yorkshire puddings,’ I nodded solemnly, my heart aching as he
broke into a big smile. ‘I have a present for you, would you like to see it?’

‘Yes, please,’ he nodded, a look of excitement
all over his face. I walked over to sit on the large soft rug by the living
flame fire and pulled the wrapped zoo set from behind one of the armchairs.
Lulu set him down and he stood for a moment, as he looked from the present, to
me, then up to Lulu.

‘It’s ok, you can go and play, I’ll just be
over here getting lunch ready,’ she smiled, running her fingers through his
thick dark hair. He came and sat next to me, so close I could reach out and
touch him. It was torture not being able to embrace him, but until he came to
me voluntarily I didn’t want to scare him. Not clasping him against my chest was
the hardest thing I’d ever had to do in my life and I’d known more hardship
than most.

‘Here you are, Tristan. This is for you,’ I
held out the gift and he reached for it with a big grin.

‘What do you say?’ Lulu warned.

‘Thank you very much,’ he sang.

‘You’re welcome,’ I nodded. Lulu smiled and
went over to the kitchen to finish lunch and I watched him excitedly ripping
off the paper. He screamed so loudly as he saw what was inside, that I jumped
out of my skin, before laughing.

‘I love it, I love it, I love it,’ he shouted.
‘Mummy look, the zoo set, with elephants.’ He held it in the air excitedly.

‘O darling, that’s wonderful. Why don’t you and
Luc open it and have a play, lunch won’t be long,’ she called. He opened it and
quickly tipped it all on the floor, rummaging in the pile for his treasured
elephant, which he kissed.

‘You really love elephants then?’ I asked.

‘Yeah,’ he nodded as he started to sort the
Lego into piles of matching colours. I smiled, he was organised, just like me.

‘Which is your favourite one?’

‘Eric then Max.’

‘Who are Eric and Max?’

‘Eric’s my elephant,’ he said, scrambling to
his feet. A second later he was gone, racing across the lounge back towards the
hall.

‘What did I say?’ I gasped, horrified as I
looked over at Lulu.

‘Nothing,’ she laughed. ‘He’s gone to fetch
Eric from his suitcase to show you. If he lets you touch him, you’re very
honoured.’

‘Thank God,’ I uttered as I waited. He came
back over with a grey elephant under his arms, hints of pink on his nose, ears
and feet. ‘This is Eric?’

‘No, Eric,’ he said seriously. I suppressed a
laugh, my accent was throwing him.

‘Eric,’ I repeated, trying my hardest to soften
my r’s.

‘Er.ic,’ he mouthed slowly. ‘You talk funny.’

‘Mais oui, Je suis français.’

‘Bonjour,’ he smiled. ‘Je m’appelle Tristan,
J’ai cinq ans.’

‘Bonjour, tu parles très bien le français.’ I
nodded, he understood me telling him I was French and managed to tell me his
name and age as well. I was impressed.

‘Oui,’ he nodded, with a proud smile, a hint of
cockiness in it. Yes he was definitely my boy.

‘Where is Max? Is he in your suitcase too?’

‘No, silly. He’s a real elephant at the zoo.’

‘A
real
elephant, wow I bet he’s big.’

‘He is but he’s not the daddy, he’s one of the
babies. Mummy, when are we going to see Max?’ he yelled.

‘Not this weekend, but the weekend after,’ she
called. ‘Maybe we could ask Luc to come with us, to meet Max too?’ she
suggested.

‘Maybe,’ he shrugged, as he plonked himself
down. I tried not to show my disappointment. I was aware that this was a
monthly ritual with his mother, I was still a stranger, these things took time.
The fact I was even sitting here, playing with him, was a good start. I had to
be patient. I smiled as he asked me to help sort his Lego and looked over at
Lulu who was blowing her nose, with happy tears on her cheeks as she watched
us.

Lulu

Luc waited downstairs while I gave Tristan his
bath and got him changed into his pyjamas. It had gone far better than I’d
hoped, he’d played with him all afternoon, occasionally making me come and sit
with them both and give my approval on their progress. I was so emotional, to
see them both sitting on the floor together plucked at my heartstrings. I could
see how hard it was for Luc still. To be so close to him and not to be able to
pick him up and give him a cuddle. But this was an excellent start. The more
time Luc spent with the two of us, the more Tristan would accept him.

‘Ok, bedtime, let’s go and say goodnight shall
we? Then we can have a chapter or two of Elmer.’ He nodded, so I carried him
downstairs and Luc leapt up off the sofa. I walked up to him and kissed him,
taking him by surprise. We had to be natural around each other. Tristan
giggled, he’d never seen me kiss anyone on the lips before. ‘Say goodnight,
darling.’

‘Bonne nuit,’ he offered with a smile, putting
the biggest one on Luc’s.

‘Bonne nuit, Tristan, I have enjoyed playing
with you today.’

‘Me too,’ he nodded, then put his head on my
shoulder looking shy all of a sudden. I hesitated, wondering if I should ask
him to give Luc a kiss and a hug, but decided against it. He was a loving
little boy, it would come in time.

‘I won’t be long, why don’t you pour us another
glass of wine?’ I suggested, as Luc looked at him longingly. I couldn’t imagine
how hard this must be for both of them. He nodded and headed over to the
kitchen, leaving us to make our way upstairs. I got him tucked up and pulled
out his book.

‘Mummy?’

‘Yes, darling?’

‘Can Luc come and play again?’

‘Of course he can, would you like him to come
tomorrow night?’ I waited for his answer with baited breath as he thought about
it for a while and then nodded. Luc was going to be so happy to hear that,
I
was so happy to hear that. ‘Then I’ll ask him when I go downstairs, I’m sure
he’d love to come and play. Shall we have some Elmer?’

‘Yes, please,’ he beamed.

I kissed his forehead when we were done, turned
out the light and carefully pulled his door shut then made my way downstairs.

‘So?’ I asked, as I carefully sat on Luc’s lap
and put my arms around his neck.

‘He is adorable, you have done an excellent job
with him.’

‘Thank you,’ I blushed. ‘You were amazing with
him, I can tell he likes you. He’s asked if you can come and play tomorrow
night too.’

‘Really?’ he asked, his dimples coming out full
force as a smile lit up his face.

‘Really,’ I confirmed, laying a gentle kiss on
his lips. ‘Now if you’re not too worn out, I’d like to have some playtime with
you.’

‘I’m never too tired for playtime with you, ma
belle,’ he whispered seductively, as he drew me down to kiss me so passionately
I saw stars.