Black Lies(81)
“That was it. I’ve been on that medication for almost two decades. Haven’t had a blackout since.” I lean back and look up at him. His mouth is tight, eyes distracted. Working out the problem before him.
I lead his horse to water. “So… you believe that? Or do you think that she’s been lying to you? Hiding blackouts from you?”
He drops his eyes to me and I see the pain in the lines around his eyes, the tightening of his jaw when he swallows. “She’s… been like a mother to me. I’ve depended on her for so long. I can’t imagine—I don’t know why she’d do that.”
Bullshit. He knew exactly why she’d do that. But I wasn’t going to insult his intelligence by spelling it out. Knowing him he probably had half of a Venn diagram already completed in his head.
“There’s another issue.” He looks away, sighs, readjusting me on his lap. “Jillian says she’s had me declared incompetent, with herself appointed as my conservator.”
“Conservator? Meaning she’d be in control of your business, your finances?” I frown. “Can she do that?”
“The question of my competency could certainly be challenged. I can see a valid argument for the possibility that another one of my personalities was making choices that negatively affected my life, and that that decision-making ability should be removed from my person all together.”
“But… you’re brilliant. You’ve been in control of your decisions for twenty years!”
“And did I ever risk what I had? Did you ever see me take actions as Lee that might have endangered myself or our lifestyle?” He turns me in his lap so that we have direct eye contact. Eye contact that I avoid as I think through the last two years.
Lee: seeing multiple women. Endangering our relationship, his possible exposure to STDs. Lee: drunk, in fights, bloody and bruised. A liability nightmare as well as danger to himself and others. Lee: a heavy drinker, prone to tempers and driving under the influence. More liability. More risk.
“Did I?” Brant pushes the question, his hand pulling my face back to him.
“In ways,” I answer carefully. “Lee is a loose cannon. He doesn’t have your level of control, nor intelligence. Doesn’t think things through, but acts first. But he also isn’t going to walk into your bank and withdraw your money. He has no idea that he is you; he isn’t going to mess with your business or finances. The risk he posed to you was more one of liability. That he might do something that Brant Sharp is then sued for. He is not a dangerous man by intent, he is just a reckless one.”
Brant groans, dropping his head back. “That sounds disastrous.”
“When is this happening? The competency thing.”
“My days are a little confused due to the medication, but I believe it’s happening this morning.”
Behind us, the sliding door moves, Anna’s head tentatively sticking out. “Mr. Sharp? Ms. Fairmont? The doctor is here whenever you’re ready.”
“Thank you.” I smile at her, waiting for the door to close behind her, then I meet his eyes. “Let me call my family’s attorney. Have him stop Jillian. I don’t want to trust BSX legal—”
“I don’t either,” he interrupts. “I agree. Use an outside attorney. Your father’s will work until we can find permanent counsel.”
“You should call your parents.”
He frowns. “I know. It’s not a conversation I’m looking forward to having.”
“Do you think they’ll side with Jillian?”
He shakes his head slightly, his gaze fixed unseeing on the water. “I don’t know,” he says slowly. “We’ve all let her run things for so long, without question. I don’t know if I would have believed it had she not chained me to a bed.”
I watch his hands tighten, the first hint I’ve seen at anger. I curl into his chest. “I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you too, Lana. Thank you… for sticking with me through this.”
I grin. “Thanks for not giving up when I turned down your other proposals.”
He tugs at my hand, running his fingers over the bare digits. “The ring is at the office. Let’s get it today. I don’t want to go another night without seeing it on your finger.”
“Deal.” I untangle from his lap and stand. “Ready to see the doc?”
“Absolutely.”