Stanton Box Set

“Max, if I have to live this ridiculous life and have a guard I want it to be you and you can guard me only when Joshua is at work and then I don’t have to be with losers all the time. You won’t even see him. Please, Max, don’t leave. You are my bodyguard, not Joshua’s. I will talk to him, I promise. He’s being ridiculous.”

He stays silent as he thinks.

I try to sweeten the deal.

“Take three weeks and we will t

alk about it when you get back, ok?”

“Fine.” He sighs and I smile broadly and hold my chest in relief.

“Thanks, Max. I’m sorry about Joshua’s behaviour. I know this is hard for us to understand but when I left LA with you it affected Joshua more deeply than we thought. It will take time.”

“Hmm,” he grunts.

“See you in a couple of weeks.” I smile hopefully.

“Bye Tash.” He hangs up.

Oh, thank god. Relief fills me and I go in search of my lunatic man. I find him in his huge office with Ben. I stand at the door.

Joshua has his back to me and is undoing the combination of the safe.

“No one could get into this safe. I can’t get into it myself,” Joshua mutters.

Ben sees me and smirks as I hold my finger up in a sh signal.

“Seriously, what is Max playing at?” Joshua sneers.

Ben plays along with my game. “He is twice her age, dipstick.”

“Nope, guns still here,” he mutters as he finally gets the safe open and looks inside with his back to us.

“Guns.” I frown. “Why do you have guns?” I ask, horrified.

Joshua’s eyes snap back to me. “We just keep them in case we need them one day.”

My eyes flick to Ben nervously. I’m just going to come out with it. “Ben, I rang Max and asked him to take three weeks off with full pay to give Joshua time to cool down.”

“You did what!” Joshua snaps.

My eyes hold Ben’s and I can tell he wants to smile broadly but is holding it in. I need to stop this spoilt shit Joshua is pulling right now.

“Joshua, Max works for me, not you, and you are being ridiculous. Max is like a father to me and it is not how you portray it. We are friends,” I announce as I try to act mature.

“You do not be friends with your bodyguard, Natasha, and he is too touchy,” Joshua fumes.

I raise my eyebrows and fold my arms in front of me in defiance. “You’re friends with Ben. What’s the difference?” I ask.

Ben smiles and drops his head as he tries to stay out of the conversation. I really do like Ben and I bite my lip as I also stifle my smile.

“This is my first decision as the woman of this house, Joshua. I have given Max holiday pay and when he gets back the four of us will have a meeting.” I signal at the space between Ben, Joshua and me. “And if you two can’t figure this mess out then Ben will make a decision as to whether he stays or not. Ben is in charge of security, Joshua. Trust him to do his job.”

Joshua narrows his eyes at Ben who gives me a quick nod. I can tell he was impressed with what I just said and I smile broadly, feeling very proud of myself. We walk up towards the car museum at the end of the hall.

“Now I am going upstairs to find Bridget.” I smile.

Ben’s eyes flick to mine as he opens the door.