Lex and Lu(83)

Strolling through Caroline’s door a few minutes later, he made himself comfortable at her dining room table. He needed formality for this conversation.

“Well, this is certainly a surprise,” she remarked as he took the bottle of water she offered. Since it didn’t warrant a response, he didn’t offer one. “You had an amazing game tonight. Hal called to say that it seems like you’re back.”

Lex tilted his head. “Where had I been?”

“Lex, you know you haven’t had the season that everyone anticipated, based on your performance last year,” she explained, as if he were five and she were explaining why he needed to go to bed at a certain time. Taking a sip of her drink, vodka tonic, she continued. “It was fabulous timing as we’d had a pretty intense conversation this afternoon.” She took another sip, eyeing Lex speculatively.

“Did the conversation include Malcolm Helms?” Lex inquired innocently.

Caroline almost spit out the sip she had taken.

Lex loved that she’d underestimated him. He looked at her, eyebrow raised, his face asking the question again. She really should know better, he thought.

“Lex, it’s no secret that Hal’s been disappointed with your performance. The conversation this afternoon was another in a string of conversations regarding everything you’ve been through over the last couple of months.”

“So whose idea was it for me to talk to someone?” Lex saw Caroline reach into her bag of tricks and pull out the mask of innocence.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m calling bullshit, Caroline. What I want to know is why you didn’t tell me that Hal was reaching out to people to get me to talk to a therapist.” Lex saw her accept that he was calling her out.

“What’s the big deal, Lex? They send players to psychologists all the time.”

“Perhaps. But they don’t have a parent-teacher conference without the student present. What the fuck, Caroline? If you all were discussing my well-being, I’m enough of an adult that I should have been there. When have you ever gone into a contract negotiation without me present? Why would this be any different?”

Backpedaling, she tried to cover her ass. “That’s not how it started out, Lex. Really. He’d mentioned a couple of times and I’ve blown it off, saying that you just need time. I don’t think that he is trying to be an ass. He’s concerned about you.”

“Concerned. If he was concerned, he would have come to me. He’s pissed I’m not scoring goals. He could give a shit that my father died. Which is his job. I don’t hold him responsible for doing what he’s paid to do. What I’m concerned about is that you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do, what I pay you to do.”

For the first time, Lex saw Caroline contrite.

“You’re right,” she conceded. Which didn’t surprise Lex. He paid her a lot of money to agree with him when he needed her to.

Lex sat back in his chair, looking at Caroline. She was a beautiful woman and she was good at her job. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and even scrubbed free of make-up, she looked good. But he saw a hint of the fear he wanted her to feel shimmering in the cracks of her smile.

“How long did you know about Nina?” he asked. He continued to watch her, reading every emotion she tried to hide behind her work mask.

“Soon after I signed you,” she answered, not giving any more information than he’d asked, her lawyer instincts kicking in.

Nodding his head, acknowledging her intelligence, he continued. “Did you sign something with my father saying you wouldn’t tell me?”

“No.”

“Did he ask you not to tell me?”

Here she paused. “No. It was implied.”

“Implied?” he asked, skeptical.

“Yes.”

“So you could have told me at any time?”

“Yes.”

“But you chose to keep my father’s secret.”

“Yes.”

“What prompted you to tell me at the funeral?” This had been bothering him. She could have told him at any time. She could have told him when they found out that Mike had died. She could have taken him aside at any point and told him. But she didn’t. So, why did she tell him when she did?

“I just thought you should know.”

Again, Lex nodded his head, as if he understood what she was saying and agreed with her. He stood then and made his way around the table, until he was standing behind her.

Leaning down, he placed his hands on either side of her, resting on the arm rests and brought his head down next to hers. “I’m just confused about the timing. Because from what I understand, you told Lu that she could tell me and I think you even gave her a deadline. Perhaps deadline isn’t the right word. I think time line would be more appropriate.” He felt her tense in the chair. “So if you gave her a heads-up, why did you think the news would be better coming from you?”