Page 62 of Beneficial Misfortune

Their leaving is for the best, for now.

If I get my way soon, she won’t be leaving my bed.

I like to think I’m a man who has pretty good control and discipline. Years of dealing with assholes in meetings and women who only want my money have made me rough around the edges. With that, a certain kind of restraint comes into play. It makes my life easier and makes business run more smoothly.

Yet seeing Kat laid out on my desk as my brother fucked her had me ready to snap. Hell, I’d been ready to snap the second he pulled her into my office in those tight little shorts and tank top.

Kat had been invading my mind since the first time I met her, and with every meeting since, it only got worse. I really did want her to be Addison’s nanny. She’s great with her, but that wasn’t all I wanted.

Alex was right. We owned several houses that our staff lived in, including the nanny. It gave us privacy. If we brought someoneback to the house with us, we used the pool house for the same reason. I could have told them I offered her a room because her apartment was broken into, and they probably would have bought it, but I’d offered even before that.

No, I wanted her and as luck would have it, so did Alex and Desmond. Oliver was still adamant he didn’t want anyone, but I’d seen the way he looked at her at the zoo. He could pretend and fight it, but I didn’t think that would last long. She wasn’t going to hurt him or the rest of us; I was sure of it. Something about Kat was different, and I had no desire to let her slip through our fingers.

She’d already given Desmond and Alex the slip once.

Alex had carried Kat from my office about an hour ago. He no doubt took her back to her room to enjoy another round, or however many he could get, before she was exhausted and fell asleep. Come tomorrow, Desmond will know she agreed, and he’ll be forced to share. I can’t say I blame him. I’m looking forward to my own time with her, but for now, that will have to wait.

I’d agreed to do this with Alex tonight because he made it clear he couldn’t wait another day, and I believed him. Unfortunately for me, I still have things to get done. All of which I now have to do while painfully hard with the memory of the look on her face as she fell apart and the sinful sounds she makes.

Fuck.

My phone rings, saving me from myself as I debate putting everything on hold to go to her. It’s for the best. I need time to see how she will react to the others…the way she will react to me, and what I want to do to her.

With a groan, I accept the call and put it on speaker before tossing it on my desk.

“Rough night, boss?” Vince’s voice does a wonderful job of pulling me from my musing and back to the task at hand. Aman of many talents indeed. Maybe I should tell him he can add Boner Killer to his long resume.

“You don’t even know,” I tell him, running a hand down my face.

“The little beauty giving you a rough time?” He chuckles, his voice dripping with sarcasm. And if he were here, I’d hit him. We’ve been friends for so long it’s impossible for me to hide anything from him, and him from me. It’s why I hired him in the first place. I trust him, but in times like these, it can be a hassle. I already have one obnoxious brother. I don't need to hear it from him as well.

Ignoring him, I move our conversation back to the reason I’m still sitting in this damn office when I could be doing much better things.

“Did you find anything?”

Vincent huffs into the phone, and I already know what he’s going to say.

“Not really. Whoever broke in didn’t really do much except break shit and, according to the police report she filed, nothing was missing.” It’s not a question, but I know he’s looking for me to confirm.

“She hasn’t said anything about missing things, but I can ask her tomorrow.”

“With everything broken, I would say it was probably someone with a grudge. Does she have any enemies?”

I was afraid he would ask that.

“I’m not sure about enemies, but it’s not as if it’s a secret I’ve been talking to her.” I don’t need to explain any more than that. Vincent is well aware of the type of people we deal with. That’s part of his job, after all.

“You think someone was jealous enough to do this?”

I think about it for a second. I want to say no; honestly, this shouldn’t even have to be a discussion. But I know better, peopledo crazy things when they think it will better them. I’d seen the way Barbara looked at Kat that day in the office. The way Trevor followed her around like a puppy, and those were just the two I saw. That school was full of people, many of whom have tried to get closer to us over the last year, ever since we enrolled Addison and took up endorsing the school. Some took the hint, but not everyone.

“It’s entirely possible.”

“Alright, well, I’ll start investigating the school and teachers, and I’ll let you know if I find anything. And don’t forget to ask the little beauty if anything was missing,” he says, and I can already hear him typing away on his keyboard.

“Is there something else we need to talk about?” I ask, unable to stop myself. This is the second time he’s referred to her as that just while on the phone. I’ve never heard him actually call her anything but her name prior, and Vince isn’t one for nicknames. Unless, of course, you counted his insistent need to refer to me as Boss, but I’m pretty sure he only does that to annoy me.

“Nah, you know I don’t do that type of shit,” he says with a laugh, and I roll my eyes.

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