The Boyfriend (The Boss 7)

“Well, not everyone can retire.” Laurence’s expression matched Neil’s. They’d perfected this art of arguing with each other in front of Olivia in a way that wouldn’t let on that they were arguing. “Someone has to run the business.”

“Yes, we all know how companies like General Electric, Apple, and Wal-Mart folded once their founders left.” Neil shook his head sadly.

That was enough. Like, e-total-nough.

“Olivia, why don’t you take Afi to see the toys a minute,” I suggested sweetly, bypassing both men and their tempers. “I need to talk to Grandpa Laurence.”

Narrowing his eyes, Laurence set Olivia on her feet. She reached for Neil’s hand. “Come on, Afi. Come with Olivia.”

Neil did as his granddaughter commanded; I’d played a dirty trick there. He couldn’t deny her anything.

As they climbed the stairs, I fixed Laurence with my no-bullshit stare. He gave me a fake smile. “What is it you’d like to speak to me about?”

“Stop it,” I said coldly.

Now that I’d given him permission to drop the pretense, his expression went hard and angry. “Excuse me?”

“We know you don’t like us. We know you don’t approve of us traveling around, of having a nanny. We know you think we don’t care about Olivia, but we do. If you ask Valerie, she will tell you that this is exactly how Emma was raised. Spending time with her, spending time with Neil, splitting up custody during business trips and vacations. Not that Neil often took the latter. He was so busy trying to run two companies, including the one that gave your wife her job and her wealth in the first place.” Maybe that part was unfair. I would deal with that later. I lowered my voice so I wouldn’t be overheard by Olivia and Neil upstairs. “If Olivia is such an inconvenience to you, just say so.”

“You think she’s an inconvenience to me?” He looked truly offended at the suggestion. “I’m not angry with you two for jetting off all over the world because you leave Olivia with us. We love having her here. I’m angry that you don’t want to spend that time with her. From where I stand, she seems like an awful big inconvenience to the two of you.”

“How dare you!” I allowed myself a momentary fantasy of slapping his stupid, overly-tanned face. “Caring for someone else’s child is obviously an inconvenience. And Olivia is a wonderful, loveable inconvenience who was entrusted to my husband and me by one of the most precious people in our lives. We take that very seriously, and we wouldn’t trade her for the world. But we take Valerie’s happiness seriously, too. She moved here permanently to be closer to her granddaughter. I’m sorry if that means that for a few months out of the year, she stays with you. How negligent of us to share her.”

Laurence nodded and slipped his hands into the pockets of his ugly khakis, the way middle-aged white guys always seemed to do when they were about to make some dramatic point. “How’s your friend, El-Mudad?”

That wasn’t the direction I’d expected him to go in.

“He’s fine,” I answered cautiously. “I’ll tell him that you asked and convey your regards.”

“Or I could convey them, myself.” Laurence nodded toward the door. “Because I’ll bet a thousand dollars he’s in that car.”

My blood ran cold.

“I’m not stupid, Sophie. Neither is Valerie. Whatever strange relationship you have going on out there at your palace by the sea...it’s not healthy for Olivia to be around sexual deviance. Valerie agrees, but she’s too afraid to confront you about it. One day, she won’t be, though. I suggest the two of you—pardon me, the three of you—lawyer up.”

The stairs creaked overhead.

“That will be your husband, I think,” Laurence said with a triumphant smirk, pointing up at the ceiling. “Is there anything else you’d like to say before he comes back?”

There were a lot of things I wanted to say. But we had a plane waiting for us, and I couldn’t get on it if I were in jail for threatening a man’s life.

“You see,” he went on smugly, “I’m not all that sympathetic to gold diggers who find themselves put out by the realities of life. You might want to fuck two rich men, run off to exotic places, and spend their money, but the fact is that whether Valerie and I like it or not, you have a responsibility now to that little girl. From what I understand, Neil is never going to grow up. Maybe you should try to, for his sake.”

I maintained steely, unflinching eye contact with Laurence for a long moment, shaking with rage. Then, I went to the stairs. “Neil? Olivia?” I called up. “The plane is waiting.”

I turned to Laurence. “I’ll be sure to let Valerie know that we had this little talk. She would probably love to hear the kind of shit you’re saying to us when she’s not around.”