Chương 13
Leo began to cry.
Julian's panic was immediate.
"What do I do?"
"Change him."
"I tried."
"You opened the diaper."
"That was the first mistake."
I took Leo before I could stop myself.
The familiar weight settled against my forearm.
He stopped crying within seconds.
Julian looked personally betrayed.
"How did you do that?"
"I've had three more days of practice."
My mother pointed toward the changing pad on the dining table.
"You're still changing him."
Julian looked at me.
I almost said no.
Instead I carried Leo over and laid him down.
Julian followed.
I stood beside him while he worked the snaps on the sleeper.
His fingers were clumsy.
He opened the clean diaper backward.
My mother made a noise.
"Mom."
"I'm silent."
"You made a noise."
"A silent noise."
Julian looked at me.
"Was she always like this?"
"Yes."
"Marriage explained a lot."
The joke landed before either of us was ready.
For a second, we both almost smiled.
Then the house remembered what had happened inside it.
His face closed.
I handed him a wipe.
"Front to back doesn't matter with boys the way it does with girls, but don't just smear everything around."
"Thank you for the confidence."
"You brought relatives to confiscate newborns yesterday."
"You don't get confidence."
His hand stopped.
My mother disappeared into the kitchen without being asked.
Julian looked down at Leo.
"I shouldn't have done that."
I stared at him.
He kept his eyes on the baby.
"The family coming."
"The hospital."
"Sienna."
"All of it."
The apology was so incomplete that anger moved before sympathy could.
"You mean you shouldn't have made it public."
"No."
"You mean you shouldn't have embarrassed yourself."
"No."
"Then what do you mean?"
Leo kicked one leg free of the half-fastened diaper.
Julian fixed it before answering.
"I mean I shouldn't have treated you like an obstacle."
I swallowed.
That sentence was closer.
Not enough.
Closer.
"You treated me like a document problem."
"I know."
"You tried to buy me away from my sons."
"I know."
"You don't get to say that like knowing is the same as repairing it."
"I didn't say it was."
His voice stayed low.
That made it harder to fight him.
He fastened the clean diaper correctly this time.
Then he looked at me.
"I thought you were going to destroy me."
The admission startled me.
"Why?"
He laughed without humor.
"Because I was cheating on my pregnant wife."
"That's usually a bad starting point."
"I know."
"Stop saying that."
His mouth closed.
I lifted Leo and snapped the clean sleeper.
Julian leaned against the table.
"When you stopped asking where I was, I knew something had changed."
I looked at him.
"You noticed?"
"Of course I noticed."
"You didn't stop."
"No."
"Why?"
He stared at the floor.
"I don't have an answer that makes me look decent."
"I didn't ask for one."
His jaw shifted.
"Sienna made me feel like I wasn't failing all the time."
The ugliness of the sentence was almost refreshing.
"What were you failing at?"
"Everything."
He spread his hands.
"The business."
"My father."
"You."
"The pregnancy."
"The house."
"Every time I walked into a room, somebody needed something from me."
I stared at him.
"You were having an affair because people needed things?"
"No."
"That's what you just said."
"I'm saying I liked being somewhere nobody knew I was disappointing them yet."
The word yet hung there.
I looked down at Leo.
He had closed his eyes again.
"Did you love her?"
Julian went still.
I had not intended to ask.
The question escaped because exhaustion had burned through whatever pride usually stopped me.
He answered carefully.
"I thought I did."
That hurt.
I nodded once.
He looked at me.
"Do you want me to lie?"
"No."
"Then don't look at me like that."
I almost laughed.
"You don't get to manage my face."
"I know."
I glared at him.
He caught himself.
"Right."
My phone buzzed inside the guest room.
The sound cut through us.
I set Leo in the bassinet and picked up the phone.
Naomi.
I answered.
"Marcus called you?"
"Yes."
"What did he tell you?"
"That someone tried to remove me as an authorized signatory using Julian's credentials."
Julian looked up sharply.
I closed my eyes.
Too late.
Naomi went silent.
"Claire."
"I know."
"What?" Julian said.
I held up one finger.
Naomi's voice hardened.
"You are not supposed to discuss that with him yet."
"I didn't mean to."
"Well, now he knows."
Julian stepped closer.
"Knows what?"
I turned away.
"Naomi, what do we do?"
"First, you do not give him your phone."
"Second, you do not access the account."
"Third, he needs independent counsel immediately."
Julian heard enough.
"Put her on speaker."
"No."
"Claire."
"No."
His face tightened.
For a moment, the Julian from the hospital returned.
Then he stopped himself.
He took one step back.
"Fine."
That mattered too.
Naomi said, "I'm sending someone from my office to collect copies of the anonymous messages and the photographs."
"Today?"
"Yes."
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The authorization paperwork is three years old."
"I know."
"Marcus called me."
I looked at Julian.
He was watching me now.
"Martin and Richard witnessed it."
Julian's expression changed.
"What did you say?"
Naomi heard him.
"Claire, go somewhere private."
I walked into the guest room again.
This time Julian did not follow.
I shut the door.
Naomi said, "The bank has more than the signature page."
"What else?"
"Corporate resolutions."
"Beneficial ownership disclosures."
"Tax identification paperwork."
The words made my stomach tighten.
"What am I listed as?"
"We don't know yet."
"I thought Marcus said signatory."
"Signatory is one role."
"Your name may appear elsewhere."
I sat on the bed.
"Why would Richard do that?"
"We don't know that he did."
"His signature is on it."
"As a witness."
"That doesn't mean he created it."
I rubbed my forehead.
"What would make my name useful?"
"Possibilities aren't facts."
"Naomi."
May you like
She exhaled.
"Marriage can make spouses useful in all kinds of financial structures."
