Chapter forty
MICHAEL
As soon as the plane landed, I had to deal with the situation with the inspector that Caleb and Margaret had sent to keep an eye on us. And I soon confirmed that Camila was absolutely right in her suspicion that the woman was there, too, to make sure that our relationship was real.
I made sure to give Camila some very hot kisses in front of her eyes so that she would pass it on to her bosses.
When we got to my mansion, I showed them around and asked my staff to take their bags, setting Alanis and Alice up in a room on the first floor.
First, so the nanny wouldn't have to keep going up and down the stairs with the baby in her arms, and second, because I intended to keep my promise to make Camila scream a lot that night, so I wanted them to be as far away as possible so they wouldn't hear.
Of course I did this to protect my daughter. For all I cared, Alanis could hear absolutely everything and then pass on every moaned word in her report to her bosses.
That she would tell them that Michael Turner was not only actually engaged, but had a very active sex life with his future wife.
Suddenly, mentally referring to Camila like that no longer caused me the distress it had in the beginning. It was as if our initial lie had already, naturally, become a reality, although I still avoided thinking about the subject.
After we were all settled in, Camila and I decided to spend that first day walking around the property. Alanis accompanied us, carrying Alice in her arms.
I didn't usually go to Aspen outside of the winter months. The weather was mild, although it was much cooler than we were used to in California. So, Alice was bundled up, and Camila had also changed into pants, boots, and a coat.
We reached the lower part of the site where, during the snowy months, a ski resort operated. During the rest of the year, however, the cable cars remained in operation, taking us to a higher part of the mountain, which had a spectacular view.
“You can wait for us here if you prefer,” I told Alanis, approaching to pick up my daughter.
She took a step back, reacting, “Mrs. Margaret and Mr. Caleb gave orders that I should not stray far from Alice.”
Beside me, Camila was furious at the warning. “He's her father, and we're a couple. There's only room for three people in each car.”
“You can go alone, I'll wait here with Alice,” Alanis replied.
“Michael didn't go on a trip with his daughter to deprive her of going on outings with him.”
Alanis looked at her with disdain. “Excuse me, but I follow orders from my employers, and they are Alice's grandparents. Only they can decide what she can and cannot do, not someone who is not related to her.”
“I’m her father,” I said. “And Camila is my fiancée and will soon be her stepmother. I have a court order that allows me to spend the next few days with my daughter, and during that time I will be responsible for her, and by extension, my fiancée. We allowed you to come with us so that Margaret and Caleb would be calmer and complain less, but you’re not the one who will decide what my daughter can or cannot do.
And I won’t allow you to talk to Camila like that either. ”
She looked at me with pure hatred in her eyes, but visibly understanding the message. I held out my arms once more and, even though she was reluctant, she handed my daughter to me.
I walked with her in my arms and Camila by my side towards the cable car. The woman, however, followed us at some distance, making it clear that she would be in a separate car.
“Thank you...” Camila said. “For defending me like that.”
“I'm fed up with this nanny thing. I don't know if I'll want one when I finally have custody of Alice.”
Beside me, Camila laughed.
“Believe me, you will. As much as you want to be a super dad, you will have your commitments to the office and someone will have to take care of her.”
“But it will be different. I'm the one who will raise my daughter. I know the Harrises don't pay any attention to her. They just pay nannies to do all the work.”
“And yet they still don't want her to be with you...”
“The issue is much more about revenge than about love for their granddaughter.”
Camila seemed confused by what I said, but she waited until we entered the cabin, and the cable car started to go up, before asking, “Why revenge?”
I sighed. It wasn't a story I was proud of.
“Leah was not at all what they, with their frivolity, would consider a 'golden girl'. She was as crazy and irresponsible as I was, so much so that we always ran into each other at parties.”
“Did you two ever start dating seriously?”
'Dating seriously' wasn't something I was used to doing.
“No. Neither she nor I were into that. But we had a few relationships, without any commitment.
On one of those occasions, she ended up getting pregnant, but she didn't tell me anything.
After all, I didn't see her at any events anymore. I only heard from her a year later, when she sent me an email telling me about Alice.”
Camila nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but I could tell she still seemed curious about it.
We stood in silence, looking through the glass of the cabin at the houses and people that already seemed tiny below. Alice laughed, clapping her hands together, seeming to enjoy the feeling of seeing things from that height.
After a few moments, I spoke again, “Leah told me a few things in her email. Apparently, her parents didn’t handle her pregnancy well.
They thought it ruined the promising future their daughter had and blamed me for it.
At the same time, they made her life a living hell.
They didn’t want her to tell me about our baby, and when they found out she had contacted me, they made a fuss and threw her out of the house. ”
“What a horrible thing...” Camila seemed truly horrified.
“Leah actually texted me as she was leaving her parents’ house, briefly explaining what had happened and saying she was going to a friend’s house.
I remember telling her not to do anything rash, but I don’t know if she read my reply.
She was on her way to her friend’s house when she had the accident. Alice was with her.”
“Oh my God...” Camila brought her hand to her mouth, and her eyes shifted to Alice, with concern.
“Luckily, Alice was in a safety seat. But Leah didn't have the same concern for herself. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt and ended up not surviving.”
“And they accuse you of destroying their daughter's promising future? They destroyed her chance of having any future at all.”
“Yeah, I agree with that.”
“They themselves threw Alice, along with her mother, out of their house. Why don't they let her stay with you now?”
“Because they are two sons of bitches.”
“Michael!” Camila scolded me, using both hands to cover Alice's ears. That made me laugh. “Don't say bad words in front of her!”
“I think I still have a lot to learn about being a father. Including controlling my vocabulary in her presence. I don't want my daughter repeating 'bad words'.”
“Then don't say them in front of her, come on.”
Alice laughed, as if she understood the discussion. Camila and I laughed together and I commented, “I think she likes to see you scolding me, what a thing...”
“You know that daddy did something wrong, don't you, baby? You can rest assured that Aunt Camila will scold him whenever he does that.”
“So 'Aunt Camila' will have to fight with daddy a lot, Alice. Because he does a lot of wrong things. But he's trying to get better, to be the father you deserve.”
“You know what? I think you already are.”
I lifted my face to look at Camila again and met her eyes with mine. We remained there locked in that exchange of glances for a while, until I surprised her by quickly approaching and stealing a kiss from her. She laughed and at that moment the cable car stopped.
A member of staff opened the door for us, and we walked out, hand in hand, while I held Alice with my free arm. We walked to the wall where we had an incredible view of the mountains.
“It's so beautiful,” Camila said.
“And it's even more so when everything is covered in snow.”
As it would be on the date set for our wedding.
For the fake wedding...
I shook my head slightly, not wanting to think about it. I let go of Camila's hand, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and bringing her closer to me. And so, the three of us stood there together, looking at that incredible view.
However, at one point I looked back and saw that Alanis had also gone up the cable car and, some distance away, was talking on her cell phone, while keeping her eyes fixed on us. I deduced that she was counting our every step to her bosses.
I kissed Camila again just to give her something else to talk about.