Page 44 of Bossy Trouble

Then, when everything was over, I would walk away with my company and the feeling that I finally won against Donovan Dresden. I finally used him just like he used me.

I took a deep breath, splashed water on my face, and walked out to get to work.

I ran into Ellen on the way out, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw her. She eyed me up and down, frowning.

“You came to work dressed like that?”

“Yes,” I responded, not in the mood to put up with the woman’s snark. I raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, giving me a condescending stare. “This is a very professional work environment, and we work with clients of a very high class. That means our standard for work attire is also lofty. You can’t come to work looking like you just slipped out of bed.”

Okay, then.

While she wasn’t wrong in any of what she said, her tone was irritating.

I suppressed my annoyance, deciding to be a bigger person. “I understand, but unfortunately, I’m already here, and I have too much work to do to go home and change. But I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

“You should do that.” She continued into the bathroom with a sniff but then paused and turned around. “By the way, I went to your desk to look for you, but I couldn’t find you. I did, however, find your cell phone going off consistently. Do something about it, and remember, no social calls during work.”

I frowned. I didn’t often get calls at work. Very few people had my personal line, and Macy knew not to call unless Avery had some kind of emergency. With a quick thanks to Ellen for the heads-up, I immediately rushed toward my office, grabbing the phone from my desk. It buzzed again, the screen blinking, but it wasn’t Macy calling.

Instead, it was Alexander Lupin, and he also left a very helpful and foreboding text. “We need to talk.”

* * *

I decidedto meet him after work, somewhere significantly farther away from the office and closer to my home, so that I could go back to Avery immediately after I was done. The sun was descending in the sky when I did, and luckily, there was a cool breeze, so my commute home wouldn’t be so bad.

I stepped into the restaurant and saw him immediately, his bright hair standing heads above anyone else in the room. He had a salad in front of him but was making no move to reach for the fork. His hands were crossed, and he was watching the door.

His expression didn’t change when he saw me.

“Sorry, I’m late,” I said, slipping into the seat opposite him. “The Uber took a different route.”

“Ubers are not safe,” he said. “You should probably get a car.”

Like it was that easy.“Yeah, that would be nice, except I don’t have the money for that right now.”

He frowned like he couldn’t fathom the idea of someone not having money for something. I’d seen the look plenty of times on the faces of the rich kids at St. Peters when I told them I couldn’t afford something. He then shook his head, immediately dismissing that idea.

“So,” he said. “What did you find out?”

“Nothing,” I admitted. “So far, we’ve visited all six warehouses and gone to several meetings with investors, and there has been no mention of anything out of the ordinary. There is nothing off in the documents either.”

“What were the meetings about, and with whom?”

“Most of it was networking. Just a bunch of rich people talking about rich people’s things. Not even the hint of corporate espionage.”

His lips tightened even more. He didn’t like the sound of that. “Are you sure you didn’t notice anything?”

“Positive,” I said firmly. “Are you sure he’s involved in anything illegal? It just seems like he’s trying to gather as much capital as possible so he can invest in a new business opportunity.”

“Which is?”

“I’m not sure. Looks like he’s planning on buying out a few smaller businesses and adding to his conglomerate.”

Alexander shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s it. I know him. It wouldn’t be that simple.”

“How do you know Donovan again?” I asked. Ever since I saw him, there had been a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I’d seen him before. He did look a little familiar, but I wasn’t placing the face.

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