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Dionysus

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Three days later

Control freak is definitely a good epithet for me. Even though I’ve had to come to an emergency meeting in Europe, where I’m trying to acquire the biggest French TV station, I need to know what’s going on at home.

In my defense, when I checked the home security cameras, it wasn’t to spy but to see that everything was okay.

As for Joseph, I knew he was safe with Odin and Elina, but what about Cecily? How was my sexy redhead who had become my erotic obsession?

I purposely haven’t called her since I left. There’s something about the woman that makes me lose the control that I’m so well known for, and from the reports I’ve had from Barbara, I’ve learned that Cecily’s short relationship with Joseph has been perfect.

The housekeeper told me that my son smiles all the time when the new nanny is around.

Joseph’s wellbeing will always come before my desire for her. I can’t risk losing someone who’s important to him for an adventure that I know won’t last more than one night.

However, she’s a tease, a temptation dangling right in front of my face, and I can’t tear my eyes away from the security cameras. Particularly the one in the heated pool area, because I’ve just discovered that over the last three nights, Cecily has been swimming in a tiny white bikini that shows me every inch of her delicious body.

No matter how much I tell myself it’s perverted to watch her, I can’t stop now that I’ve discovered her secret.

I can justify myself by saying that it’s not a secret camera—it’s like the many others that are spread around the house.

Is she aware of them? I don’t think so. Cecily may be sexy, but she’s not provocative.

I grip the lid of the laptop with the intention of closing it, but I don’t, my eyes still focused on the frozen image of Cecily, almost naked, emerging from the water last night, her entire body dripping.

As if trying to test my sanity, the phone pings with a message from her.

Cecily: Good morning, Mr. Dionysus. I would like to know if there is any particular outfit that you want Joseph to wear for the wedding, since Elina told me that you will be arriving at the last minute for the ceremony. Barbara couldn’t say. If you need me to provide him with an outfit, let me know, so I can buy it when I leave the library today.

Library? What the hell is she talking about?

I tap the display to place a call. “What are you going to do in the library? Your contract with Elina is suspended,” I say as soon as she answers, after the phone rings only twice.

“Good morning, Mr. . . . um . . . Dionysus. I agreed to work part-time for Elina, in the morning. I was told that I would have the day off, so I don’t see what the problem is.”

“What I told you is that I might need you at other times if Mrs. Nuttle misses work.”

“If that happens, I will be available. I already explained to Elina about that eventuality. Got my message about Joseph’s outfit, I suppose?” she continues, already changing the subject, but I’m not willing to let go of this issue anytime soon.

“Am I not paying you enough?”

“What?”

“You aren’t satisfied with your salary, so you want to work at the library?”

“Of course I am. You know you pay me well above the market rate.”

“So, what is the problem?”

“There is no problem, but I like to make my day productive.”

“Study, then.”

“I’m not following.”

“Take an online university course. I’ll pay.”

“You haven’t even hired me definitively yet.”

“I’m hiring you now. The trial period is over.”

“What if I don’t want to stay?”

“You do want to stay.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then why are you being so stubborn?”

“I’m not being stubborn. I’m being independent. If you don’t want me to work at the library, that’s fine, but I’m not going to let you pay for a college course for me. With the salary I receive, I will be able to pay for it myself. Thanks.”

“Stubborn.”

“This is not an appropriate conversation,” she says, and even though I know she’s right, this irritates me.

I can’t have her, but I don’t want to give up the intimacy between us either. “I don’t care about being appropriate.”

“Because you are the owner of your world.”

“That’s right.”

“Well, I’m the owner of mine. These interactions between us will end with me fired and you moving on to your next conquest.”

She’s right, but I won’t accept being contradicted. “Do you think I’m trying to win you over?”

Cecily seems to have some difficulty responding to that, and I feel like an idiot because I know that since that day in the hospital, there has been a web of seduction developing between us.

“No . . . I mean, I expressed myself poorly. But you leave me confused. I never know how to act.”

Hell! What am I doing? I need to put a stop to this. “I’m not trying to win you over, just being friendly. Let me know if you change your mind about university. You can continue your part-time job at the library too, as long as you’re available when I need you to take an extra shift with Joseph.”

“I will be.”

“Regarding my son’s clothes, I’ll send a stylist with some options for you to choose from. I’m only going to arrive on the wedding day. I’ll meet him there.”

“Madison invited me to the ceremony and party.”

“And you’re going?”

“If you have no objections, then yes, I’m going.”

“And why would I have? What you do with your life outside of work is none of my business, Cecily.”

After I hang up, I stare at the device, hating the way that just hearing her voice makes me lose control. Wanting what I can’t have irritates me, but in a contradictory way, it’s also exciting.

She said she doesn’t know how to act with me. Me either. Cecily was supposed to be my employee, but after just a short time together, she’s become my obsession.

I pick up my phone again, determined to erase the nanny from my thoughts.

Since I met her, I haven’t gone out with a woman, giving myself the excuse that I don’t have time, when in reality, I know it’s because none of them are her.

The time has come to change that.