Page 31 of Bossy Ex's Brother

It was what Felix said whenever he got paranoid about something but didn’t want to go through the trouble of explaining himself.

“No, I will not take your word for it,” I said. “I took your word for it when you said you were going to stay in school and let me handle this.”

“Back to this again.” Felix rubbed his hands over his face. “ Well, to be fair, I didn’t say those words explicitly. And you can’t deny that things are much better with me back home and lending a helping hand.”

“Better how? No, they’d be much better if you stayed in school and had a brighter future to look forward to.”

“You sound old, Jane. School isn’t the only thing that can give you a bright future.”

“Okay.” Beth held up her hands in defense. “If you guys are going to go back to this, then I’m going up to bed.”

“Hey, we’re not done talking,” I said to Beth, but she only gave me a peace sign. I sighed, feeling exhaustion wash over me. I should go after her, but I was tired of all the fighting.

Felix must have noted it because he looked at me sympathetically and put his hands on my shoulder. “It’ll be fine, sis. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

I shook my head, but I simply didn’t have the energy to argue anymore.

“But you really should be careful around that guy,” he added. “Luca Rossi. And for what it’s worth, he’s a womanizer too.I know plenty of girls who fell for him and got their hearts broken.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” I told him. “My heart is entirely secured.”

It was my panties I had to worry about.

TWELVE

LUCA

Jane ditched the pantsuit when she came to the bar the next day.

She was dressed a little more casually in a button-down blouse and jeans that looked like they were molded to her long shapely legs—legs that would look very good wrapped around my waist.

I was probably watching them for a long time because Brandon cleared his throat at me, and by the time I turned to regard him, he was hiding a smile.

I sent him an annoyed look, and he shrugged wordlessly.

The silent conversation was interrupted by Jane walking up to stand in front of me. I sensed her before I even turned to see her. She had a scent that was subtle, flowery, and sultry all at the same time. I couldn’t tell if she used perfume or if it was all her, but whatever it was, the scent settled into my body and woke up the sleeping tiger, so to speak.

“Hey.” Her softly whispered voice enhanced the growing arousal, and I could feel it like a caress on my skin. Fuck. What was it about this woman that affected me this much? I was getting hard at a fucking ‘hey,’ for crying out loud.

I steeled myself internally before I turned to face her, telling myself to stop being ridiculous and lusting after my new employee.

“Hey,” I responded, giving her a curt nod to overcompensate. “You’re on time.”

“Of course,” she said in a voice that was so self-assured, it could easily have been called arrogant. Yet another thing I liked about her. She never played the demure wilting flower. She knew she was good at what she did, and she owned it. She never took shit from anyone, no matter who they were.

She would do well here.

“Do you think we could call a meeting with the staff?” she asked. “I have a few talking points I want to discuss.”

“And that would be?”

“You can find out about it at the meeting.”

My bossy little miss.

“Or I could just not call the meeting and never find out, and we can all live happy lives not knowing what Jane wanted to say on this fine *** morning.” I leaned back and crossed my arms, showing her that I was perfectly happy with this outcome.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I wanted to talk to them about some new entertainment options I thought we could try.”

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