I roll my eyes. I really want to chuck a tantrum right now but I know Joshua has a lot on his mind and now is not the time to do it.
Ben scratches his head in frustration and looks at me and I know that he knows something is going on that he doesn’t know about.
“Has anything been stolen?” I ask flatly. Nothing would give me more pleasure than fighting you right now, asshole.
“Who knows?” Joshua snaps and then leaves the room in a rush.
Ben lingers in the kitchen and waits till he leaves. “Can you ring Max and tell him not to be stupid and that I will ring him later?” he asks.
I smile and rub his arm gratefully. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“Don’t touch me. I like my job,” he teases as he pulls his arm from my grip and I smile stupidly.
“That was innocent, Ben. Joshua is overreacting,” I whisper, mortified.
“I know. He’s acting crazy.” He sighs and heads off after Joshua.
I walk out to the front garden and I see all of the guards checking things. Then I head over to the pool area to ring Max. I need somewhere private. I dial the number and it rings.
“Yes,” he answers and I can tell he’s walking briskly from his breathing.
“Max, Joshua has a lot on his plate at the moment and I can’t tell you what but I was hoping that you could just ignore him.” I am talking in a rush to try and get the words out. I can’t believe Joshua spoke to him like that.
“Natasha,” he sighs.
“Ben asked me to ring you and he said don’t do anything stupid and that he will call you later.”
He stays silent.
My mind is in overdrive and I know Joshua is going to be stressed as hell over the next few weeks. I need to keep them apart. “Have a couple of weeks off with full pay and you can both calm down. Go and see your folks.”
He stays silent.
“And then when you get back we will have a meeting and if you two can’t come to an agreement then that’s ok, but just don’t do anything rash. Max, I know you can’t get this money anywhere else. Please, for me will you think about it?”
“Natasha, I can’t see this improving,” he replies.
“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 talk 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.”