Page 11 of Be My Traitor

Lucas’s face softened. “Look, we’ve both done things we regret,” he said. “How about we draw a line underneath the past and try to do better moving forward?”

“Okay.” I nodded, smiling a little.

“Now if you tell me where I can find my daughter, I’ll go and have a word with her.”

“Her bedroom’s upstairs, first on the left,” I told him. “But I warn you – Amber can be very stubborn. I promise you that I tried to persuade her to be nice to you, but she didn’t want to know. It might be better to leave it for today and try again some other time.”

“I’m here now,” Lucas said. “You might as well let me try to work my magic on her. I can be very charming when I want, you know.”

Oh yes. I know.

He turned and went upstairs to find Amber. I waited a moment, then tiptoed up after him. My room was next to Amber’s and I hid behind the door where I could hear their conversation.

“Hey, Amber,” Lucas said. “How you doing?”

Silence.

“My name’s Lucas.” Lucas didn’t seem perturbed by Amber ignoring him. “Do you know who I am?”

“Mummy says you’re my daddy, but I don’t believe her.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t have a daddy. Only Mummy. And she’s the best Mummy in the whole wide world.”

“I bet she is,” Lucas said. “I’ve always thought your Mummy was a very special person.”

I smiled when I heard him say that. Maybe he didn’t mean it and was just saying it to get Amber on side, but it still felt good to hear Lucas compliment me.

“So, you won’t try to take me away from her?”

I could have cried when I heard Amber say that. Sothat’swhy she was so angry at the thought of meeting Lucas. She was worried he was going to make her leave me.

“Of course not.” Lucas sounded shocked. “I wouldneverwant to take you away from your Mummy. I know how much you love her. Can I let you into a little secret?”

“Uh-huh.”

Lucas lowered his voice to a whisper. “I love her too.”

My heart skipped a beat. Lucaslovedme?

“You do?”

“Of course! I love her because you love her. Anyone who is important to you is important to me.”

I was surprised by how disappointed I felt when Lucas said that. I’d always thought I felt more strongly about Lucas than he did about me, but hearing him admit that he was only telling Amber what she wanted to hear hurt more than I’d have expected. I guessed those feelings I thought were long since gone weren’t quite dead and buried after all.

“Now,” Lucas went on. “I’ve got someone downstairs who really wants to meet you.”

“Who?”

“His name is Tyrone,” Lucas said. “And he’s very excited about seeing you. Do you want to come and say hello?”

“Okay.” I heard Amber scramble off the bed and thump her way downstairs, her running sounding more like a herd of elephants than a small child in her excitement to see this mysterious Tyrone.

I stayed where I was for a moment, wanting to give Lucas and Amber a few more minutes to connect. It seemed like Lucas had managed to work his way into Amber’s affections, just like he did with every woman he met.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. If Amber hadn’t liked Lucas, it would give me a strong argument to stop him seeing her again. But if the pair of them were bonding already, I couldn’t exactly stand between the two of them. It wouldn’t be fair to Amber.

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