Page 46 of Meet Me at Sunset

‘That’s enough, Lucas,’ Camille interjected. ‘Nicolas saved your life. He donated his blood for you.’

It was possible to hear a pin drop in the silence that followed Camille’s announcement; the sense of astonishment in the room was palpable.

‘Let’s talk about this later. In private ,’ she added pointedly, looking around at everyone else. ‘There’s a lot to discuss.’

Lucas set his jaw, but didn’t argue. He felt as though he’d been hit by a bulldozer, and knew it would take time to process everything he’d been told today.

‘There’s one thing I don’t understand,’ Camille frowned, addressing Paulo. ‘How did you know? That Nicolas was Andre’s father?’

There was a long pause, and Paulo merely smirked, saying nothing. Then an unexpected voice spoke up.

‘It was me,’ Isobel said quietly, as everyone’s head whipped round to look at her.

‘I’m so sorry, Camille. I bumped into Paulo the other night in Palma.

We were drinking, and indiscreet and …’ Isobel lowered her gaze, a blush suffusing her cheeks, as the others filled in the blanks of what had likely happened between them.

‘I was furious with you for … well, the reasons we discussed earlier,’ Isobel went on.

‘There were always rumours, you know, when I worked at Camille Andre. Andre’s indiscretions were well known, but there was office gossip that you had been unfaithful too, a couple of months before you announced your pregnancy.

It was all based on hearsay – some unnamed employee had seen or heard something years ago – but the whispers had never quite gone away, recirculating on nights out and passed down to new staff members.

‘A couple of years ago now, I went through Stuart’s medical records,’ Isobel admitted, looking ashamed. ‘I found Lucas’s file. It was stupid, and I never should have done it, but at the time I felt so powerless and I … I was curious, really, but I found something I hadn’t been expecting.’

‘About the transfusion?’ Camille asked, as Isobel nodded.

‘All of the notes from the accident were there. They outlined that Lucas’s blood group was rare, and that an M. Martin had been found who was able to donate. It didn’t take a maths genius to add two and two together …’

‘And then I had everything I needed,’ Paulo said gleefully.

Camille regarded him for a long moment, narrowing her eyes. ‘Why do you hate me and my family so much? We’ve been nothing but welcoming to you. We took you on family holidays, Lucas gave you a role in his business …’

‘Can’t you hear how patronizing you sound, Camille?

That’s all you’ve done for years – treated me like the poor kid, made me feel I should be grateful for the crumbs from your table.

You made it clear from the start that I was never good enough to be friends with your precious son.

And you wanted to control everything – Lucas, the restaurant …

Why should I bow down to you and do everything you tell me?

Because you have more money than me? I worked my ass off trying to keep up and then I thought, why the hell should I?

You owe me, Camille. And you can afford it.

I’ve been keeping your secrets all these years – that Lucas was the one driving, that he killed Andre – and you never appreciated it.

Not to mention saving your son’s life by calling the ambulance after the crash.

‘So now it’s time for me to get what I’m due. It’s your choice, Camille – pay me the money and you’ll never see me again. If not, there are a dozen journalists out there who’d be very interested in the conversation we’ve just had.’

‘Wait!’ Lucas said sharply. ‘There is something else that I remember, just before the crash.’ He rounded on Paulo. ‘You pushed us off the road.’

Paulo’s eyes flashed with anger, ‘Liar!’

‘It’s not a lie, I remember very well now, you pushed us off the road and then you left us there to die.’

‘You deserved it!’ Paulo seethed. ‘You and that precious father of yours thought that you were better than everyone else, you were a spoilt little rich boy then and you are a spoilt little rich boy now. I’m not sorry I drove you off the road, I’m just sorry you pulled through.’

The two men squared up to each other, but before their fists could meet, there was a sharp bang on the door, and everyone turned as it flew open and half a dozen police officers surged in.

‘Paulo Torres,’ one of them said, as they spotted him. ‘We’ve had our eye on you for some time now. Dealing, fraud, embezzlement … I reckon we’ve got enough to put you away for a very long time.’

Two of the policemen grabbed his arms to restrain him, pinning them behind his back as they handcuffed him. Paulo kicked and yelled as he was dragged from the room, and Camille had the distant thought that she hoped no VIPs or journalists would witness the commotion.

Lucas looked broken as he sank down onto a chair, and Stephanie put her arms around him.

Camille glanced across at Nicolas. She longed to do the same – to fall into his embrace and be comforted by him, to have him fix everything as he always did.

But she feared that, this time, the situation might be broken beyond repair.

Camille’s shoulders sagged and she felt utterly drained. She wanted to go back to her room and sleep for a week, hoping that when she woke up again, today would all have been some terrible dream. But as she turned to look for Nicolas, a female police officer approached her.

‘Senora Fontaine? I’m afraid we’re going to need to ask you some questions.’

Camille nodded wearily. ‘Yes, I understand. I’ll make a full statement.’