The Affair - Danielle Steel Page 0,23

lived there. The girls had thrown their arms around him as soon as they saw him, and Nadia looked uncomfortable at the exchange. She was afraid of what her mother would say.

“I live here,” he said quietly.

“Really?” Rose responded, as though that was a ridiculous answer. “I think that’s very generous of your wife.” A muscle tightened in his jaw, but he didn’t respond to his mother-in-law. Sylvie and Laure gave their grandmother a last hug and bounded off to their room then.

“I’ll come back later,” Nicolas said directly to his wife, not wanting to engage with her mother, and assuming he’d be welcome.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Nadia said since the girls were out of earshot. He hesitated for a moment, looked at both women and then nodded.

“New rules now that your mother has been here?” he asked, irritated.

“Reality,” Nadia answered.

“I’ll call you, then,” he said tersely, and was about to leave when Rose’s clipped British words stopped him.

“I’m disappointed in you, Nicolas. I thought you were a better man than this. All the gutter nonsense, tabloid press, a young starlet. It reads like a trashy novel, while you trample everyone’s heart in your path.”

He turned to gaze at her full on then. There was no way he could ignore what she had said, or the look in her eyes that went with it.

“I didn’t intend for it to happen this way, or at all actually,” he said facing her. His tone was honest, not aggressive.

“It didn’t ‘happen.’ You did it. You and that girl created this mess, and now everyone is going to pay the price for it, even your children.” He had no answer to that, and he knew she was right, which made it worse. “There are going to be casualties. It’s inevitable. There already are,” she said, glancing at her daughter, who held her breath watching the exchange and hoping it didn’t get worse before it ended. But she didn’t try to stop it and her mother hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true. Rose turned to Nadia then, gave her another hug, and ignored her son-in-law, as though he was no longer worthy of her notice. She would have liked to say much harsher things to him but didn’t want to do it in front of her daughter. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she said to Nadia.

“Thank you again for coming, Mom. It was wonderful,” she said. Rose picked up her bag and walked past Nicolas with a last wilting look, opened the door, and left, as he stood there for a moment, shaken by her words. The contempt in her eyes had tied his stomach in a knot.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she’d still be here. I want to talk to you about the summer.”

“Why didn’t you call me? She’s right. You shouldn’t just show up. Are you planning to stay here tonight?” He shook his head. He had thought of it, but he didn’t want to now. And Nadia was looking at him differently than she had before her mother had been there. “Maybe it’s time for you to get an apartment,” Nadia said in a low voice so the girls didn’t hear her. She and Nicolas were still standing in the entrance hall, and she didn’t seem as though she wanted him to come in.

“You won’t be in town. I can stay here if I need to while you’re at the château. And I hope to have things worked out, or at least some kind of plan, by the end of the summer.” Nadia didn’t comment. She didn’t want to argue with him. The baby was due in October. And her mother had almost convinced her to see a lawyer, just to get some advice. “I’m not coming to the château for the first two weeks in July. I’m going to visit friends in the South of France. That will give you some time alone with the girls.” He said it as though he were doing her a favor, and she could guess where he would be, and with whom. The paparazzi all over the Riviera would out them quickly anyway. There were no secrets in that part of the world, not for people as recognizable and well known as he and Pascale were. They were everybody’s prime prey now, and favorite topic of conversation.

“Why don’t we take turns at the château this summer? That makes more sense than our being there together,” Nadia said coldly. She