Mile High (Up in the Air #2)(68)
I shot him a look. I didn’t care for him putting me in the middle of what was obviously a family squabble. I let my eyes tell him as much. He just smiled at me, stroking a finger down my cheek.
Mildred harrumphed. “I know you like to have your fun at my expense, you rotten boy, but this is going too far. Really, what a ridiculous thing to say. You’ll give the poor chit delusions of grandeur.”
He stopped smiling, giving her a very serious look. “It is no joke, Mildred. Meet my future. Her name is Bianca. Come to terms with it. My advice would be to get on her good side.” With that, he led me away.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
He was tense as he led me away. “Please don’t involve me in that family stuff, James. It makes me horribly uncomfortable.”
His mouth tightened. “Just handle it with the practicality that you’ve handled the press, Love. My family is f**ked up to the Nth degree, and you are now a part of it. Trust me, it’s best to face them all head on.”
“Facing them is different than goading that awful woman with lies about heirs or inheritors.”
He pursed his lips, studying me. I could tell that he was debating with himself what he should say to me. “It wasn’t a lie, Bianca. You will be inheriting everything, should I pass. I’ve already begun the process.”
I swayed a little on my feet, feeling suddenly quite light-headed. “Please don’t, James. Don’t say that, and if you’re so crazy that it’s actually the truth, don’t do it. It is the last thing I want. Your family will despise me.”
“I’m sorry to say that they will despise you regardless. They are a spiteful nest of vipers, and if something should happen to both of us, all of the family wealth will be going to my mother’s favorite charities. I know you will tell me that I am too hasty, that it’s all too sudden, but this is how I do things, Bianca. When I’m certain of something, I am decisive about it.” His eyes were steady on mine as he spoke, and we stared at each for a long moment while I tried to process what he was saying.
“You won’t sway me from this,” he continued, “I’m quite set on this course. It only needs to bother you as much as you let it. Go back to pretending that you don’t know, if you need to.”
I gave him a long, level stare. “You’re impossible,” I told him.
He had the nerve to grin.
His gaze shot to a spot behind me, and in an instant that grin was gone, replaced by a very careful, very blank mask. It worried me. I didn’t want to see what had bothered him enough to close him off so quickly.
I turned, a feeling close to dread in my stomach, and sure enough, it was justified. Jules was less than ten feet away, clearly making her way to us through the crush.
James moved in close to me, tilting his head closer to my ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she would be here.”
“I’m not avoiding her,” I told him, my eyes never leaving the ravishingly beautiful woman.
She was stunning in a cream silk gown. Her shoulders were perfect and delicate in the classic sleeveless gown, her skin a perfect dusky shade against the pale silk. My own shoulders were broad and bony and pale. Her cle**age was perfect, showing just enough to be tasteful and sexy. My own cle**age felt vulgar in comparison. Fair or not, I hated her.
“That’s for the best, in general, I suppose,” James said quietly into my ear. “I can see from here, though, that she is determined to start trouble for us. Please, my love, don’t let her get to you.”
I took deep breaths, not answering. The last time I had seen the woman, I had been devastated by the things she had implied about her relationship with James. If I could trust James, and I was beginning to, this woman had to be close to crazy, planting stories to the press about their fictional romantic love affair. I was bound and determined not to let her ruffle my feathers. She wasn’t worth it, even if she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. I despised her for that, for being so close to the female counterpart to James’s impossible beauty.
Jules gave us what appeared to be a truly genuine smile as she drew close. “James! Bianca! How lovely to see you both.” She air kissed both of our cheeks.
Our responses and postures were nearly identical as she leaned close to us both. Stiff and distrustful.
James held me to him with a hard arm around my waist, his hand snaking to grip my hip firmly. One side of the front of his body pressed into my back.
I thought resentfully that Jules even smelled divine as she pulled back with a smile on her blood red lips.
“Give it a rest, Jules. I know about the stories you’ve been planting. Just what did you hope to accomplish with any of it? And bringing her here? What are you doing? Why waste so much energy? Just for pure spite? Or are you really so addicted to staying in the headlines?” James spoke in a cold, disdainful voice that somehow managed to be bored. Jules’s smile barely slipped, but I sensed how his disdain crushed her as I looked into her gray eyes.
She’s in love with him, I thought. I shouldn’t have been surprised, all things considered. And of course, the largest consideration was the man himself. Who wouldn’t be in love with him?
I hadn’t noticed the second woman until James mentioned her, though it was hard to believe that anyone could overlook the stunning woman. Perhaps it was her size. She was very petite, maybe five feet tall, with curly black hair that hung loose to her waist.