Vincent
“Get your hand off me,” I grit out between clenched teeth.
Lauren quickly drops her hand and takes a step back, her eyes going wide. All that irritation and anger that Jules had tempted comes roaring to the surface. It doesn’t help that I’m watching Jules move farther away from me, getting lost in the crowd of people.
“I’m sorry. I just—”
“Just what? Are you here with Richard?”
When my mom told me about Lauren being a bit snippy when she’d met Jules, I’d immediately fired her. Mom pointed out that Lauren has been harboring some crush on me for a long time and that maybe having a female assistant that ran my home wasn’t a good idea now that I had a wife. I agreed with her.
Out of respect for Jules, I let Lauren go. I have no tolerance for any disrespect for my wife. I'll do whatever it takes to make her as comfortable as possible. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? I want her to stay… forever.
I’d never sensed Lauren having those kinds of feelings toward me, but then again, I never paid her much mind. She did her job, and that’s all I gave a shit about. She was efficient.
I knew Richard Newman was looking to hire a new PA, so I’d pretty much passed her over to him. If she wanted the job. She could even have the possibility of moving up the ladder within his company. Everyone I have is pretty solid and in place. Someone would have to die or leave in order for anyone else to advance.
He’d even given her a pay increase, and she’d taken the job. That was the last I’d heard of it. Aaron handled the details. Seeing Lauren now and the expression on her face, I know my mother hit the mark. Then again, she always does.
As my mind always does, it starts to backtrack to the story mom told me about finding Jules and Lauren outside the front door. I hadn’t thought too much about it. But now I’m starting to think that maybe Lauren said something to her, and that was one of the causes of her sudden mood change. That it was more than me going in to work that day. Actually, it makes much more sense now that I’m seeing the jealousy written all over Lauren’s face. I’m betting she said something to Jules.
I know the look. Jealousy has been all over my face since Jules walked out in that damn dress and we got to this event. Every single person in this room has had their eyes on her.
Who am I kidding? I’ve been jealous over everything when it comes to her since she started to pull back from me. Anything that can get her attention over me. It could be a damn spoon she was eating ice cream off of. My obsession with her has no real bounds. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to get that part of me under control when it comes to her. I doubt it.
“Richard is here, but I came to speak to you.”
“Why?” She stares at me, her eyes still wide. “I don’t have all day, Lauren. Speak now or I’m leaving to go track down my wife.”
“You just married her. I don’t understand.” She shakes her head, looking utterly confused. It’s even more clear now that her emotions have gotten the best of her. Lauren is a smart woman; I wouldn’t have hired her otherwise.
“It’s not for you to understand. What I’m trying to understand is why we’re having this conversation at all. You’re not my confidant or even a friend. You were an employee. I don’t owe you an explanation.” I try and snap her back to reality. To be logical.
“That’s all you see me as? I ran your home?” What the fuck is happening here? “I thought that maybe one day we’d—”
“No. Don’t finish that sentence. I don’t currently see you as anything, and I never saw you as more than my employee. You ran my home because it was your job. One that I paid you an exorbitant amount of money to do.” Her lips purse, and I can see the anger she is trying to hide behind her watering eyes. It’s bullshit. I think Lauren is mad because she thinks someone else got her toy. She worked for me for years. Never once was there even a moment between the two of us.
The way I felt the second I saw Jules, only in a picture, I find it hard to believe you could truly love and adore someone and hold back for so long. I'm pretty sure I remember Lauren mentioning a boyfriend once. I could be wrong.
“Vincent.” She lets out a long breath.
“Don’t you have a boyfriend or something?” I don’t know why I ask. I’m trying to be as rational with her as possible and not be a complete asshole.
“I said that to get a reaction out of you,” she hisses, more of that anger coming to the surface and showing me a piece of who she really is. The Lauren I recall was always calm, cool, and collected.
“Did you say something to my wife? Something that would upset her?”
“What? Why would you—”
“Did you say something to my fucking wife, Lauren, that might upset her?” I cut her off. Obviously, the nicer way isn’t getting through to her. I can’t keep the anger out of my voice at this point. Now my mind is really starting to fill with possibilities. All sorts of thoughts run through it as to what Lauren might have said that changed my Jules toward me.
She opens and closes her mouth. “Never mind. I’ll find out for myself. You better pray you’ll be able to find a job in this city come tomorrow morning,” I tell her before I go in search of my wife, leaving her standing there.
When I don’t find Jules quickly, I pull out my phone that I’d switched to silent to see a string of texts and a few missed calls from Graysen.
“Sir.” Neily, the new woman Graysen hired, suddenly pops up in front of me as I’m starting to call him back. I’d told him to find a female to add to the security team who could not only work at the main office but also help if I ever needed someone to cover Jules.
“What’s happening?”