Mr. Beautiful (Up in the Air #4)(51)

"Joseph's become a problem," I told him bluntly.

He grimaced.  Clearly, he knew just what I was referring to.  "Bianca sees him as a friend.  A good friend.  You can't just fire him."

My jaw clenched.  That didn't help.

"Does she know he's in love with her?" I asked quietly.

He didn't look surprised by the information, but he shook his head.  "No, no I don't think so.  If she had a clue how he felt, she wouldn't be so open and friendly with him.  She wouldn't spend so much time with him."

I cringed.  "She spends that much time with him?"

"No.  Stop.  Don't do that to yourself.  She doesn't spend an excessive amount of time with him, just, you know, he works at the house, he takes her around.  He's her bodyguard.  That's his job.  But you've got nothing to worry about.  She would never . . ."

I knew I was in a foul mood when even Stephan was agitating me.  I couldn't remember the last time I'd gone to him with something and not had him make me feel better about it.

"You find that situation to be acceptable?" I asked him bitingly.  "You think this is going to end well?  It's escalating, I can tell."

He didn't disagree with me, but he didn't have a solution, either.

I went to Clark about it next.

"Did you know that you hired someone with a very distinct distaste for my lifestyle?" I asked him.

He didn't look surprised.  The set of his mouth was annoyed, and a touch resigned.  "I do now.  I've been catching that vibe for a while, but I didn't know it at the start.  Of course, they've all signed NDAs that will protect you."

"Yes I know.  This wasn't actually my real issue.  Can you guess what is?"

He rubbed at a temple, looking tired.  "Yes, I can.  I don't know what to do about it.  Firing is the easiest solution, with a severance package, but you're going to have to get that past Bianca.  They're good friends, you know."

I laughed, and it was a bitter sound.  "Yes, so I've noticed."

"I spoke to him about it," Clark added.  This was news to me.  "I told him that he needs to do a better job of staying part of the background.  It's not his job to keep the boss's wife company."

"No, it's not.  Did you also tell him it's not his job to lust after my wife?"

"I did, yes.  In so many words.  He said he'll do better.  We'll just have to wait and see, unless you wanted to handle it more aggressively.  Up to you.  Just let me know."

I shook my head.  "No, we'll wait and see, like you said."

I confronted Joseph at every opportunity, but he was doing much better at keeping his thoughts and his reactions to himself and under control after that.  I didn't know if it was because of Clark, or if his own sense of self-preservation had finally kicked in.

As much as it went against the grain, I did nothing, just watched, and waited, feeling sick to my stomach every time I thought of him spending time with her.

It was agony for me.  It made me antsy all the time.  Was he with her right now?  Would he slowly worm his way into her affections?

Had he already?

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

MY PROCLIVITIES

I came home in the early afternoon, some days later, to find her riding.

As soon I found out where she was, I headed straight there, not even bothering to change out of my suit.

Our female horse trainer, Cosette, was with her in the corral, helping her tweak her legwork.

Joseph was there.

He was leaning against the fence post, elbows on the top rail, watching them train.

I approached the corral, but kept walking when I reached it, moving into the tack room.  I grabbed the first riding crop I saw, and headed back outside.

I went to lean beside him, eyes on Bianca posting, a f**king indecent sight, and began to slap the crop against my palm.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye, saw when he caught what I was doing, was aware of his jaw clenching, fists balling.

I smiled, turning my head to catch his eye.

He looked back at me, clearly agitated.

"Beyond your ability to break," I reiterated my words from days earlier softly, succinctly.

Temper flared in his eyes, but he held his tongue, unfortunately.

I moved away from him, entering the corral, striding across the large space to where the women worked.

Cosette stood at the center of the enclosure, calling out instructions to Bianca.   You could tell just with a few words between them that the women were close.  There was much affection and camaraderie in the way she coached my wife.

Cosette was a diminutive woman, delicately built, somehow able to use that small frame of hers to do some of the most skillful riding I'd ever seen, controlling powerful animals with a flick of her wrists.

I'd hired her two years ago, at Pete's referral, when I'd realized that there was no way in hell I'd allow Pete to teach my wife how to ride.

He'd sworn at the time that Cosette was the best, and he'd been right.

She turned to smile at me as I approached.  She was a beautiful woman, with delicately defined features, her streaky hair cut into an edgy bob, short in the back and sides, with long straight bangs that framed her face and emphasized her high cheekbones.