Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss - Season 2

Ch. 28: Settling In

"So, what," Martina continues, "now you're going to spend all day trying to build a criminal law department and handling cases, and then go home and spend all night as a caregiver? I repeat, are you out of your mind? And I can't believe he had the nerve to ask you to do this."

"No," I tell her, "it's not like that. And it was my idea, not his."

"At the risk of continually repeating myself . . . " Martina says.

"I am not out of my mind," I assure her.

"Hadley, didn't you tell me you never even met your grandmother before? And your grandfather ignored you all those years. Why do you suddenly care?"

"It's hard to explain." My mind drifts back to that time in the garden when my grandmother asked Laura where the baby was, and called me by name. I'm no longer certain that I've never met my grandmother before.

"Yeah? Well, why don't you try to explain. Because this really sounds crazy to me."

I take a deep breath and lower my voice. I'm not sure why. Who would be listening? Plus, the bedroom door is shut, and my grandparents are downstairs with Olivia, who will soon be leaving for the day.

"So," I say, "the thing is, I look pretty much exactly like my mother did around my age."

"Okay," Martina says. "I still don't see what that has to do with . . . Wait. Are you saying your grandmother thinks you are your mother?"

"She does. He wasn't sure it would work, but just being with me calms her down. She's living in the past and having me here - thinking I'm Laura - allows her to do that."

"Whoa, back up. What did you mean, he wasn't sure it would work? Who? Your grandfather?"

"Yes. He saw a photo of me at some awards ceremony in Philly and apparently the idea just hit him. That's when he reached out to me about joining the law firm."

"And he told you his real reason?"

I shift uncomfortably on the little desk chair where I imagine my mom doing her homework, a long time ago. "No, he didn't tell me until after I got here."

I hear her quick intake of breath.

"What a fucking asshole," Martina says. Her righteous indignation on my behalf sizzles through the phone.

"So after a lifetime of completely ignoring you, he suddenly sees a photo and decides why don't I bring my estranged granddaughter here, offer her a fancy job, and make her pose as my dead daughter so my crazy wife will calm down."

"No, I mean, yes, but it's more complicated than that."

"I bet."

"It is."

I find myself bristling at her referring to my grandmother as Andrew's "crazy wife." Why? She's not my mother. I don't know her, really, at all. So why am I having these feelings of tenderness and even love when I spend time with her? When she looks at me with eyes that seem to be full of love and longing for her lost daughter.

"Well," Martina says. "what it looks like to me is a conniving old man who already has a reputation as a ruthless lawyer, taking advantage of your kind heart and compassion in order to get what he wants, and make his own life easier."

"If he just wanted to make his own life easier he'd put my grandmother in one of those long-term care facilities, and visit her once a week," I snap, surprising myself with my automatic impulse to defend the man I've spent most of my life hating.

"Okay, take it easy," Martina says. "I'm not trying to make you mad."

I sigh. "No, it's just me overreacting. I don't know. It's so strange being here, especially being around my grandmother who looks at me and sees her daughter. Sometimes I feel like I've stepped through some kind of a time portal and I really am in the past.