Falling For His Unlikely Cinderella (Escape To Provence 2)

He drove ten minutes, then lowered the anchor. Once he’d pulled some drinks from the mini fridge, he walked over to the sculptured couch that ran the length of one side of the room to join her. He handed her a can of soda and sat on a chair opposite her.

“Thank you for coming with me. I wanted you to hear the whole truth from me in case something comes up during the days ahead that could worry you while you’re on vacation.”

Cami couldn’t stand it any longer. “Was it hard telling your father?” Heavens—how could it not be? Her heart ached for him. Though he and his parent had never gotten along, there had to be love deep down.

“Your compassion is extraordinary, but the truth is, I’ve wanted to break with my father since my preteens.”

She winced. “You’re serious.”

“Afraid so. I fought his demands for as long as I can remember. There’s no flexibility in him, no room for another avenue of thought. He was a virtual taskmaster who expected total obedience.

“When I was ten, he did something I couldn’t forgive. I kept a hamster in my bedroom. Jerome secretly bought it for me and taught me how to take care of it. My father didn’t allow animals of any kind. One day after school I found it dead and asked the maid what she knew about it. She was on my side and said my father had been in there earlier. From that day on I made preparations to run away from home.”

Cami couldn’t prevent tears trickling out of her eyes. His father’s cruelty shook her to the foundations. “Where did you go?”

“I borrowed a friend’s sleeping bag and stashed a lot of food on the top floor of the Tour de l’Est.”

She leaned forward. “What is that?”

“A massive round tower on the property I’ve been wanting to show you. Alain would love it. The land itself was deeded to our family and contains battlements from the fifteenth century.

“Years ago someone cleared out the old weapons and munitions from the east tower. Now its eight-foot-thick walls with rooms on four floors are used to store wine. During those days I was in hiding, I’d fill my thermos with water from the main floor sink when the guard did rounds outside.”

“I can’t believe it. How long were you gone?”

“Ten days.”

“Oh, Raoul. Your parents must have been terrified something horrible had happened to you.”

“They called the police who looked for me, but they didn’t find me. It was Jerome who figured out where I might be hiding. He was the one who’d shown me around the Tour when I was younger. Sure enough he came one night when the guard was patrolling the perimeter and called out to me. He talked me into going back to the château with him. Of course, it wasn’t hard to coax me.”

She smiled. “You ran out of food, right?”

He chuckled. “That, plus I admit I was happy to see him. He was always kind and told me I had to let my parents know I was safe. He backed me up and talked my father out of punishing me. Jerome knew what had happened to the hamster and understood how I felt. He counseled me that when I turned eighteen, I could go away legally if that was what I wanted.”

Cami stirred in place. “Why didn’t you take his advice?”

“I wanted to. In fact I would have joined Dominic in Paris. He broke with his father when he turned eighteen. I was a year younger and would have gone to Paris after my eighteenth birthday. But by then Jerome was diagnosed with lung cancer.”

“Oh, no—”

“He swore me to secrecy and didn’t even tell his wife. Because he was a scientist, he handled his health care in his own way and turned to alternative medicine.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What did he do exactly?”

“Jerome used holistic interventions of supplements, herbs, enzymes. He changed his diet and he prayed. Knowing he would eventually die, I couldn’t leave him because I loved him too much. Unfortunately I couldn’t even tell Dominic until the other day when we went shopping.”

She let out a moan. “So you’re saying your cousin had struggles with his father too. How heartbreaking.”

Raoul nodded. “Our fathers are clones of each other and pretty impossible. The reason Dominic took off to Paris was because his relationship with his father was so toxic. He worked at different jobs and put himself through college. Afterward he got in with a prestigious investment firm and became wealthy in his own right.”

“That’s incredible. You and your cousin are both alike.”

“Hardly. He stayed in Paris until last year.”

“That long?”

“Yes. Of course he came home for major events and vacations, but never to live. Then my aunt begged him to return because my uncle was ill with pneumonia and they thought he might die. So Dominic took over the funds department in the family until my uncle recovered and was made vice president of the company. I begged Dominic to stay on, which he did.”