Page 62 of Off Limits (Alpha Billionaire)

“And it is a frivolous suit. I’ve already confirmed that he has no legal leg to stand on. He’s trying to pressure us to make a very bad decision.”

“But it is a very lucrative proposal. I don’t know if Frisco would be able to support your future projects if you were to pull out of this,” he said.

“What if I replaced it with a proposal of equal or greater opportunity? I think it would behoove us to seek out a different relationship,” I explained.

“Are you saying that you are unwilling to work with Carmichael?” he asked.

“Information has come to light regarding Carmichael. I can’t divulge on the basis of slander, and he’s already threatening to sue over breach of promises made. I’m not going to give him something else to grab onto. The only promises were that I would pass this around and see what everyone thought,” I explained.

“Do you have something better? Because a deal in the hand is worth a bird and all of that.” The idiom was brutally bastardized, but I knew what he meant.

28

JESSICA

After several days of spending all of my time in bed, I was getting restless. I wanted to get out of the four walls that boxed me in. I didn’t understand how Dylan’s mother did it. She stayed in her rooms all the time.

The day nurse came in and helped me to the bathroom. As we were walking back to the bed, I noticed my feet didn’t hurt nearly as badly as they had been. I wasn’t ready to take a long walk, but I certainly thought I’d be able to take on more than simply walking to and from the bathroom.

Once I was back in bed, she helped me to get comfortable.

“Do you think I could go downstairs later today? I’m getting sick of the view,” I announced.

She stood and pursed her lips as she thought.

“Your feet did look pretty good when we cleaned them and re-bandaged them yesterday. Downstairs, huh? Remember, you’ll have to come back up when you’re done, so…” She wasn’t giving me a yes or no answer.

“You’re here. You can check to see whether my feet can handle it, right? There's a sitting room at the bottom of the stairs. I just want to go sit there and work on a project. Be somewhere different, get different perspective.” I continued to plead my case.

“How do they feel?” she asked.

“They don’t hurt as badly as they have been.” I gave her a wishful smile.

“Let’s see how you’re feeling after lunch.”

I had to accept her judgement. After lunch, I’d probably take a nap, and then I’d have more energy later in the afternoon. I settled in for a mid-morning movie. It still made me giggle that the TV looked like a framed painting whenever it was turned off.

Dylan actually noticed that I had a new piece of art on the wall every night when he came home. And he was coming home late. I knew that was my fault. The issues I had caused with Ryan were keeping him at work. He wouldn’t tell me what he was doing, only that it wasn’t my fault. I had a hard time believing it.

I didn’t want to complain that I was missing him, but I was. And I tried to not pester him too much, but I couldn’t help it. I kept texting him during the day. Not with big issues, just letting him know what I was doing.

As the movie started, I had my phone in my hands. I typed with my thumbs.Watching Max’s favorite dinosaur movie without Max. What have I become?

A few minutes later, Dylan responded.Sounds like you might be expecting Max to join you?

Hard to watch an R-rated movie not knowing when he’ll decide it’s time to hang out with me. We got that Mrs. Coleson woman again from the agency today. Max doesn’t really like her.

Dylan didn’t respond immediately, but he kept the conversation going when he did.How do you know? What did he say?

Max wouldn’t say anything. He gets sad when she is here. She is not Anna. Max likes Anna. I like Anna, I texted.

Anna wasn’t available, Dylan texted back.

Anna hasn’t been available since the last time Max saw your mother. I think Clara ran her off.

I worried I'd overstepped when Dylan didn’t respond. The longer I waited, the guiltier I felt. I finally set my phone down and tried to let the movie distract me. But I kept looking over at the phone. Finally, he responded. I grabbed my phone to read his message.

Sound theory. Why did Clara not drive you away?

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