Lies and Weddings(113)

“Not so good. The house is a complete war zone at the moment—Bea and Augie are holed up in opposite wings, not talking to each other, and my father’s huddled day and night with his bankers and solicitors in the library. It’s quite a relief to be in London!” Rufus reported.

Martha gave Rufus a wry smile. “Well, I wish I had better news for you on my end. My lawyers have informed me that Luis Felipe wouldn’t even deign to respond to our offer. It’s all or nothing for him.”

“Thought that might be the case,” Rufus said lightly, although it was apparent to both women that he was quite let down by the news. He had called Martha earlier in the week, desperately seeking her advice, and she had surprised him by offering to buy over the entire debt to Luis Felipe if he was willing to accept it in installments over the next twelve months.

“I’m really sorry, Rufus. If I didn’t have to answer to my board and the shareholders, I’d maybe have more wiggle room. But there’s just no way we can raise all the funds by the end of the month. Damn corporate governance rules!”

“No need to apologize. It was incredibly kind of you to offer your help in the first place. I knew raising all that money would be an impossible task,” Rufus said.

“To be honest, I don’t believe the money will help at this point. I think Luis Felipe is hell-bent on punishing your family. He doesn’t want the money—he wants you all kicked out of the house.”

Rufus put his face in his hands in despair. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have hit him. I don’t know what came over me.”

Eden placed a hand on Rufus’s back. “Don’t beat yourself up over this. He bloody had it coming to him—he was being off-the-charts offensive to everyone.”

“Mum was being off-the-charts offensive to you but you didn’t get up and smack her.”

“That’s different.”

“Hmm, not sure about that. You’re just a saint, that’s all. You’ve been putting up with us Greshams for far too long.”

“The world has been putting up with Luis Felipe for far too long!” Martha chimed in. “He’s notorious, that boy, I used to read about him on the gossip sites all the time. He was always trashing hotels, nightclubs, casinos, you name it. I believe he’s banned from Switzerland—apparently, he tried to import plutonium from Russia while he was at boarding school there. He was fourteen and trying to build his own nuclear device! I think the only way he could get his father’s attention was by behaving badly.”

“And with his father gone, I suppose he’s got nowhere to channel all his grief and rage except on us,” Rufus said with a sigh.

“You know, I think maybe I should try talking with him. As offensive as he was the other night, I was mostly spared from his wrath. Maybe I can make an appeal to him,” Eden suggested.

“Don’t waste your time,” Rufus scoffed.

“I think it’s worth a try. There’s a glimmer of humanity somewhere within those reptilian eyes, I’ve seen it.”

“I understand why Rufus adores you now—you always look for the best in everyone. I’m the opposite—I’m a paranoid, jealous little rat,” Martha said.

“I find that hard to believe,” Eden said with a laugh.

“Look, you’re doing it again. Jeez, Rufus, she’s a keeper. You guys can come live with me if you really have no place to live. Where would you prefer to be…Sydney, Venice, Hong Kong, or San Francisco?”

“You have houses in all those places?” Eden asked, wide-eyed.

“Those are the city houses. I might also have a few country houses,” Martha whispered, suddenly looking bashful.

The waiter returned with a tray of dirty martinis. “Just in time. Let’s order some lunch while we discuss where we should live. I’m famished,” Rufus said.





XV


Rutland Gate

KNIGHTSBRIDGE, LONDON ? THAT EVENING




After having been given the grand tour of Cloudline in Los Angeles, it didn’t faze Eden the slightest bit to discover that Luis Felipe’s London abode consisted of four town houses joined together to create one sixty-two-thousand-square-foot monstrosity overlooking Hyde Park. She was let into the embassy-sized foyer by one of his ubiquitous bodyguards, escorted up the grand staircase by another, and ushered by a third into the vast living room flanked by huge Basquiat paintings on each end.

There she found Luis Felipe slouched on the capacious curved sofa, staring blankly as The Sound of Music played on mute against the projection screen hanging from the ceiling. Scattered around him was the detritus of his addictions—empty glasses, wine bottles, and a smorgasbord of illegal substances along with a bowl of half-eaten ramen.

“I had a nanny who would play this movie over and over for me. Every time that horny nun sang ‘Edelweiss,’ she would just cry and cry,” Luis Felipe said as Eden entered the room.

“That’s very sweet.”

“I had her fired. I told my dad she was touching me in my swimsuit area when she wasn’t. He had her deported.”

Eden didn’t react to his story. She simply sat down on one of the club chairs across from him.

“She was the nanny before the one in middle school I paid to ride me reverse cowgirl.”