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“And who has he told?”
“Exactly. I’m on it and I’ll let you know when I find out more. Then we can figure out how to handle him.”
“What do you mean, you’re ‘on it’?” Lamont asked warily.
“I’ve got eyes on the woman as we speak.”
“Make sure they’re discreet,” he snapped.
“As always.” The reply was an infuriating drawl with a touch of malice.
“Fine. I’ll be waiting.” Lamont ended the call and, looking around, found that they’d progressed all of two blocks. Damn festivals. They gummed up the works, seemed like every damn week.
“What’s going on this week, James?”
James’s gaze flicked to meet his in the rearview mirror before returning to the long line of cars that stretched before them. “Satchmo, sir.”
“But that doesn’t start for two more days.” He shook his head. “Never mind. Damn tourists.”
“Yes, sir. I’m glad for their money, but not for their traffic jams.”
“You and me both,” he grumbled, checking his calendar. At least his personal assistant had cleared his afternoon of meetings. He tapped on her name, unsurprised when she answered on the first ring. “Ashley, I’m stuck in traffic.”
“I figured you would be, sir. That’s why I cleared your calendar. SummerFest traffic.”
He smiled in spite of his irritation at the delay. Ashley always made him smile. She’d make a good wife number four, if she stuck around long enough for him to be rid of wife number three. “Any calls while I was out?”
“Just your wife, sir. She said she’d talk to you later.”
He ground his teeth again. He had to stop doing that. His teeth would be nothing but nubs by the end of the day at this rate. “I talked to her before I went to lunch.”
“I know, sir. She told me. She was... well, unhappy with me.”
He frowned. “Did she say anything to you?”
“Not really. Accused me of lying about your whereabouts like she always does. But—” Her voice dropped to below a whisper. “I think she suspects.”
Not a surprise, considering Joelle had been his personal assistant when he’d had an affair with her while married to wife number two. “Just stay out of her way. I’ll deal with her later. Can you send the Nelson file to my email? I have no idea how long I’ll be stuck in the car, and I’d like to have it read before I meet with him at dinner.”
“Doing it now.” Her voice warmed. “I’ll, um, see you later.”
“Yes, you certainly will.” He ended the call and leaned forward. “James, did my wife call you today?”
James’s wince was answer enough. “Yes. Three times while you were in with the mayor.”
“I see. I’m sorry about that. She’s in a mood today.”
James said nothing because he was a very smart man.
Joelle would have to be dealt with soon. She needed to be calm and unruffled and proper, not some screaming fishwife. Looking out the window at the tourists, he scowled. He couldn’t divorce her soon enough. And, as tempting as killing her was, having her commit suicide was too risky, seeing as how that was what ended wife number one. It was one of his favorite ways of eliminating human obstacles. Case in point, Rocky Hebert.
His son knows.Although what the chef knew was still to be determined. He could have hired a PI to investigate something entirely unrelated to his father’s “suicide.”
Lamont would worry about that when they knew for sure what Rocky’s boy had discovered.
He reined his thoughts back to the annoyance that was Joelle. Eventually, once his political career was firmly established, he would get rid of her. But he didn’t think she’d agree to a simple divorce, and he didn’t want to have to create a sexual scandal like he had with wife number two, who’d expected to receive alimony.
Alas for Francesca, she’d been caught cheating with one of his best interns. Kid had unwittingly done him a real solid by fucking his wife, but the aftermath had been embarrassing.
