“What are you talking about?”
He studied my eyes for a long moment, his expression so intimidating I felt as though I’d just fallen into some sort of street thug movie. He was the deadly drug dealer, and I was the lost society dame. My heart was in my throat, and my stomach was somewhere around my knees.
“Lucien’s insulin pump malfunctioned tonight. He’s fighting for his life in the emergency room right now. You wouldn’t know something about that, would you?”
I’d seen Lucien have a low once. It wasn’t a pretty sight. That big, strong man made weak by his body’s malfunctioning pancreas. I’d been brought to tears. That was three years ago. The night of the first fight Jacob and I had in our short married life. The first of many.
I shook my head. “I… Jacob would never do something like that to Lucien.”
“He did. He left him lying there on the floor of his house, waiting to die.”
“No,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks. “Jacob—”
“He did, lady. The security guard saw him come and go just moments before Adrienne found Lucien half dead. And the doctors are telling her that his blood sugar fell so low that chances are real good he won’t recover. He’ll wake up one of those vegetables they’re always crying over in those made-for-TV movies.”
“No.”
But I knew it was possible. And, suddenly, it all began to make sense. Everything Jacob was doing, everything he’d told me. What it would do to Lucien. He’d gotten angry when I’d asked if Lucien would be able to recover from all this. He got mad when I said it was cruel. He said… Why didn’t I see it?
Jacob hated Lucien. I saw it, but I didn’t want to see it.
“He’s trying to steal the patents from the company. He’s selling them to this company out of Europe. Everything. He tricked Lucien into signing a power of attorney.”
“What about the company? Won’t Jacob be responsible for the fallout?”
“He signed everything over to Lucien. Told him it was to protect them both with the loans they had to take out to cover operating costs. It’ll all fall on Lucien’s head. I thought he was leaving him with the patent to the artificial pancreas, but now I think that’s the main thing the other company wanted. He was going to ruin Lucien.”
“So why hack his insulin pump?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I…I didn’t think Jacob was capable…”
Chapter 41
Lucien
My mouth was dry. It felt like I hadn’t had a thing to drink in days. And my muscles hurt. Everywhere. I felt like I needed to move, but it was such an effort just to lift a finger.
I opened my eyes, but the room was too bright. I closed them again, trying to lick my lips, but it was like trying to moisten the desert with the water in a mug of beer. My tongue felt like sandpaper that was covered in a gummy film.
“Don’t try to move too much.”
It was my mother’s voice. It was always my mother’s voice when I woke in the hospital.
“How long?” I croaked.
“Three days.”
I tried to nod, but any little movement seemed like too much effort. I lay still for a moment even as I felt a soft hand touch the back of mine. A wet washrag brushed my lips. It felt like heaven.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Anytime,” a new voice said.
And it all just came rushing back on me. A bar. A beautiful woman. A kiss like heaven. A hotel room, a missing shirt. Beautiful eyes staring into mine. A woman like none I’d ever known before.
“Adrienne?”
“I’m here,” she said close to my ear, her voice cracking on the last syllable.
I opened my eyes again. This time the room wasn’t too bright. This time I could focus. And what I saw was like a Rembrandt to an art enthusiast. It was like a lily to Monet. It was love to a broken heart.
“Adrienne,” I whispered, reaching up to touch the side of her face.
Tears rolled slowly down her cheeks.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she whispered.
“I promise.”
Epilogue
Adrienne
Lynn told my dad everything.
Jacob had hated Lucien since the day his father asked Lucien’s mother to marry him. His hatred only grew over the years, pushed over the top when his father forced Jacob to invite Lucien into his business, unbeknownst to Lucien. So when he saw an opportunity to not only make a lot of money, but to ruin Lucien in the process, he snatched it.