Page 72 of Boss Level

“Excuse me?” Roger’s pleasant look faltered.

“I won’t be welcoming Dale to the firm.” I never looked at the man in question.

Roger’s chuckle was awkward. Good. “I’ll talk to you in your office when I’m done,” he said.

“That sounds like a good idea.” I turned before he could say anything else.

“I’m sorry about—”

My closing the door cut off Roger’s bullshit apology to Dale.

I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about what I’d just seen, but there weren’t a lot of blanks left for me to fill in. And there was no way I would yield on my refusal to do business with Dale. Somewhere in the past few days I’d reached my lifetime limit of being polite because business required it.

Which also meant Roger was about to find out I was done hiding who I was. What Xander meant to me.

“Again, so happy to have you and your firm aboard.” Roger’s drifted into my office.

Color me pissed.

A moment later, Roger joined me. Alone. “What was that?” he asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know. We agreed not to take him on as a client.”

“He’s an upstanding member of his community and church. And he’s paying us a nice retainer.”

There it was. “Money has never been a reason for us to take a client before.”

“It has to be sometimes. By the way, Dale misses his wife.”

I doubted that. What Dale missed was having his trophy.NowI was making assumptions, and I didn’t feel misguided in it at all. “He should’ve treated her better.”

“She should’ve—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there. Don’t say whatever you’re about to say.” I didn’t need to know any more about the situation than what Judith had already told me, and what I’d seen at dinner. She knew what she was doing, letting Claire stay with her. Besides, Claire didn’t strike me as the kind of person who would jeopardize a life she wanted for the sake of drama.

Roger’s nostrils flared and he clenched his jaw. “Dale is a good client. He’ll bring the right kind of focus to this firm, and damn it, I’m tired of struggling. We work hard.”

“Yeah, we do. And there are a lot of firms out there who turn that into a cash mill, and we’ve never been one of them.”

Roger raised his brows. “You don’t know as much as you think you do. You haven’t seen it all.”

Now he was just being obtuse. “I won’t work with a client like that. Not knowing what I do. If he treats his wife that way, he doesn’t treat his business partners any better, he simply hides it behind a wall ofthis is how the world works.Besides, Dale won’t work with me. I’ve decided with Xander that we’re done hiding our relationship.”And maybe you should be considering something along the same lines.

When Roger came out or if he ever did wasn’t my place to say.

“Not here you’re not.”

The longer this conversation went on, the more my anger grew to match my frustration. How much had I overlooked over the past few years? How many things did I pretend didn’t bother me, so I could make this man happy? “Whether or not I tell the world who I am isnotyour decision. Just like bringing Dale on without consulting me shouldn’t have been your decision.”

“This ismyfirm.” Roger’s voice was tight.

“And I’m your business partner.” This back and forth was getting old, and the conversation wasn’t going anywhere. “My father had so much respect for you, he spoke so highly of you, and I know why. You are a good person.” Or I thought so, anyway.

“Your father was my best friend. My brother.”

I shook my head, and the truth sank in. The reality I’d ignored for too long. “This would’ve disappointed him so deeply. He was so insistent on being true to oneself. Always.”

“He also understood that—”

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