Page 64 of Off Limits (Alpha Billionaire)

“Would you like to join me?” I asked, gesturing at the empty chair next to the couch I was taking up.

“You know, a change of scenery would be nice. I think I will,” she said as she slowly made her way to the chair and slowly sat down. “How are your feet doing?”

I made a face at the bandages. “They hurt. I probably shouldn’t have walked down here, but I was desperate to get out of that room.”

“I thought you had been desperate to get into that room,” Clara muttered.

I was done with her. “I can hear you, you know? You aren’t subtle. You’ve already driven another nanny that Max liked away, and she was only a temp. She would have been gone as soon as I recover.”

“Clara, there is no need to be rude,” Mrs. Anderson barely scolded her.

“I’m not being rude, I’m just stating the obvious,” Clara huffed.

“No, you’re being rude. That whole ‘I’m just telling it like it is’ bull is just an excuse to be passive-aggressive. It’s not caring. It’s not truthful. You’re being cranky. We’ve talked about this,” Mrs. Anderson said.

“I don’t like new people,” Clara said. “It takes me a while to warm up.”

I snorted. “No, that’s rich. I’ve been here for months and you’re still rude to my face. Max has been here his entire life, and you treat him like he’s a gnat. I’ll agree you don’t like new people, but there is no way you take time to warm up to them because you don’t even try. And don’t pass this off as being shy. I don’t know what I did to piss you off, but I’m done with it.”

Her eyebrows lifted, and she looked almost pleased. “Does this mean you’re leaving?”

“Clara!” Mrs. Anderson called out.

Clara’s expression changed dramatically. Her eyes narrowed with an almost smile suddenly went round with surprise.

“Clara, explain yourself,” Mrs. Anderson demanded.

Clara opened her mouth to say something, but then her shoulders slumped and she seemed to drop a good inch or two in height as she let out a deep sigh. “I’m defensive because I never know when Mr. Anderson is going to replace me. How do I know that you” —she glared at me— “aren’t poisoning him with lies about me?”

It was ridiculous and I stifled a laugh. I knew this was serious, but the ridiculousness of it was too much. “Are you serious? I’ve been looking after Max. When would I have time to come up with lies about you? Your real actions are damning enough. I don’t need to make up anything.”

“See, this is what I mean. My real actions? I’m only doing what’s best for Mrs. Anderson,” Clara said.

“Lying and yelling at Max are what’s best?” I asked.

“If he doesn’t visit, the nanny can’t make up stories about me and get me fired,” Clara explained.

“So instead, you make up tales about the nanny?” Mrs. Anderson asked. “Oh, Clara, what have you been doing?”

29

DYLAN

“Don’t stay too late, Dylan. You’re burning the candle at both ends,” Sarah said.

I looked up. She stood in my office door, ready to leave. I was still prepared to work for another several hours beating this last proposal into shape.

“I’m almost done on this one. I have to have something here that Thompson will accept,” I said.

She nodded. “Is he still pushing for the Carmichael Project?”

“He is, and that’s not going to happen,” I confirmed.

“Hypothetically?” she teased.

I chuckled. “Hypothetically.” The word had become a bit of an inside joke. There was nothing hypothetical about the trauma and pain he caused Jessica. First and foremost, I needed to protect her from that asshole, and that meant never working with him again. Ideally, I should still be able to keep my investors happy with another proposal, but Thompson was being a pain in my ass.

He was a double pain because this needless scramble to put together a replacement proposal was unnecessarily urgent, and it kept me away from home. I had a son I wanted to see more than while he was asleep, and Jessica was recovering and I should be there for her. Instead, I had shuffled another of my loved ones off onto hired help.

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