Unfinished (Historical Fiction) - By Harper Alibeck Page 0,6
mouth.
Blooming anger that began in her pelvis boiled up into her mouth and spilled over. “Besides, Father, you were able to keep what happened at McLean quiet once. Even a billionaire cannot hide what they did to me twice. Your money and connections aren't that strong. Even God himself cannot hide from the muckrakers.”
Stone acted as if he'd heard nothing, though a simple nostril flare told her he'd caught the implicit threat. He motioned for Reed to talk. Reed shuffled through a thick packet of notes and said, “Committing Miss Stone to McLean will not dissolve the trust. She will simply inherit it at the age of twenty-five, as usual. Even if she were your legal ward at that time, you have no right to the money. Your wife's father, Mr. Weston, was clear. In the event of Miss Stone's mental incapacitation, the money goes to the Canadian government.”
Stone leaped to his feet, a crimson fury seeping from every pore. “What?”
Lilith's laugh captured the room, filling it with a mirth and delight she hadn't felt in years. Looking up toward a heaven she didn't believe in, she melodramatically gestured and said, “Oh, Grandfather, thank you for having the presence of mind to know how to outwit him.” She caught James suppressing a grin behind one beefy fist and he winked.
Jack Reed seemed to wish a sinkhole would open up and swallow him entire. His attention returned to his thumb's cuticle as Stone inhaled a through his nose, nostrils flaring as a warning sign for the bellow to come.
He did not disappoint.
“You!” he shouted and pointed at Reed. “You imbecile! Surely you can find a way to control her? Her mental state is addled. Surely you know that! I have proof. What normal woman reaches the age of twenty-four and chooses not to marry! And,” his voice lowered as he glanced around the room, as if gossips hid between the books, “last night she let a partygoer take her...innocence. Right beneath my balcony, in my own garden! The wanton promiscuity and lack of reason is enough to have her placed in a convalescent home to calm her nerves, yes?”
Reed's face paled to a shade of white that contained more green than Lilith thought possible in nature. Her lips twitched and she saw James' right eyebrow arch as he scribbled notes.
“My innocence? You want to send me to McLean again and you have the gall to discuss my 'innocence'?”
Stone ignored her again, stood slowly, and sighed. “Mr. Reed? Have you nothing to say for yourself?”
Lilith began to feel sorry for Jack. She'd picked him out of a motley group of professionals who fed off the Boston blue bloods. They'd known each other since they were children, and his father was every bit the ambitious sycophant Jack was.. It wasn't his fault that she'd compromised him. Then again, he had been an eager party in the moment, hot and bothered and all fingers and mouth, ready to take as much as she gave.
It also wasn't his fault that, as a lover, he was far worse than her friends had led her to believe could be found. A breeze swept through the room and sent a faint whiff of shaving soap her way, mixed with a musky scent of pomade and skin, a scent that stirred a small whirlpool of arousal. With great effort he held herself back from looking at James, sure her eyes would betray her body's response.
“I...I...sir, the law is quite clear on the matter.” Reed straightened his spine and licked his lips. “My associates looked through the trust with me. It has been reviewed by no fewer than six lawyers. Miss Stone's grandfather was extremely careful to make the provisions clear. Her...behavior notwithstanding, you can do nothing at this point to control her money. She will inherit at twenty-five as long as she does not marry. If she dies or becomes mentally incapacitated before reaching twenty-five years of age, the money reverts to the government. It is final.”
Reed bowed slightly and Stone slammed a palm against his desk, tipping an ink pot. In three large strides he was across the room, opening the door and slamming it. His secretary shrieked from behind the closed door.
Lilith, Jack and James sat in silence. She expected something, anything, from Jack, a flicker of recognition or empathy or camaraderie. Tears threatened to fill her eyes as she realized he would give nothing. This meeting, for him, was about pure social and professional survival. Lilith