Page 44 of Boss Level

Anyone who said tone of voice didn’t carry over text had never gotten an angry one from Xander. I’d be assured if I wasn’t upset about the same thing—Oliver’s vote.

Dominic sent another a moment ago.I’m sorry.

I could call Xander, but he had more pull to get answers and talking to me wouldn’t provide them. No matter how much part of me…

Wanted to hear his voice.

The same part of me hated that indulging that impulse would make me look weak. Scott didn’t have to worry about that perception. Elliot didn’t.

Enough of that. I called Dominic instead.

“Hey.” He managed sympathy and strength in a single syllable when he answered. “I know about the vote, but nothing else. How are you holding up?”

I hate this. Why can’t we let people fuck who they want, and trust that the people we trust won’t be assholes about it? “I’ve had better days.”

“Yeah. Anything I can do?”

A random thought popped into my head and I was almost grateful for the distraction. “Did you give Claire my phone number?”

“No. Why would I do that?”

“You wouldn’t.” But she’d gotten it somewhere. “But she called me and invited us to dinner.”

I expected surprise from Dominic, so his sigh, followed byfuck, caught me off-guard. “I already told him no,” Dominic said.

“Without asking me?”

“If I’d had the kind of day you ‘re having, if I was dealing with this shit, the last thing I’d want would be to field dinner invites with people I don’t like. You would’ve done the same.”

True. But admitting that didn’t make it any easier for me to swallow the fact that he was making decisions on my behalf. “Doesn’t matter. She called me anyway.”

“What did you tell her?”

I barely remembered. It seemed like a lifetime ago. “Something about I’d let her know.”

“I’ll call Dale again and tell himnoagain.”

That was smart. I shouldn’t protest because that was what I wanted. “Don’t.” What was I doing?

I needed something to go my way today, even if it was just convincing some asshole that Dom’s firm was the perfect firm to put on retainer. “I’m up for it if you are.”

16

xander

Barely suppressed rage thrummed inside my skull.

Oliver had represented us, every Raphael Group investor in AcesPlayed, in that meeting, and instead of voting our wishes, he went off and picked exactly the opposite. Which was why all of the investing partners were gathered in a room, and I was telling myself violence probably wasn’t the answer.

Normally Jonathan would join us remotely, since he was based out of L.A., but he’d been in town for RinCon and stuck around with this news. Liz and Kandace were also here, in addition to me and Oliver.

We’d picked him to sit on the board at AcesPlayed specifically because he didn’t have any connection to the company outside of his investment.

But also because he was the boss’s brother. Every partner owned a stake in The Raphael Group, but Oliver and Wade sat at the top of the pyramid.

I didn’t care. I was going to string Oliver up regardless. He could explain, and then—

“We need to understand why you did this.” Kandace’s tone was cool. Professional.

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