Page 34 of Bossy Ex's Brother

I’d done the former.

And Jane had done the latter.

She’d also chosen to sacrifice her life for her mother’s kids. I knew that much from overhearing her conversation with her siblings yesterday.

“You’re pretty smart,” I said. “Why work here at all?”

“Because no one else would hire me.” She gave me a teasing smile. “Except, of course, a desperate club owner.”

That smile sent a funny sensation through my chest, one I didn’t understand. But I decided to ignore it.

“Why not?” I asked instead.

She shrugged and looked away without answering, so I decided to let it go for now. But soon enough, I would find out.

For some reason, I was hungry to know everything about her.

THIRTEEN

JANE

I came out of that meeting on a high, glad that it went as well as could be expected. Nobody cursed at me or threw a punch. Luca even agreed to cover the salary part, and I didn’t need to grovel for it.

All in all, everything was getting set up for the rebranding of a lifetime.

But I was still nervous because now that everything was being put in place, it was all down to me. If it didn’t work out, it was my ass on the line.

After I left Luca’s office, I stopped by the dancers’ changing room. I knew some of them probably didn’t want to see me right then, but we needed to establish a relationship so that they knew I wasn’t just going to be the boss spitting out orders at them without taking into account what they wanted.

I knocked on the door and waited until someone called out, “Come in,” before I entered.

“Hey,” I said to the room of about half a dozen people who turned to regard me. Some of them eyed me with displeasure, but the dancer that I had helped yesterday perked up when she saw me.

“Hey!” she exclaimed happily, bouncing over to take my hand. “It’s you. Come on in.”

She dragged me into the room, pulling me to sit on the couch.

“What’s up?” the girl asked.

“Is she supervising our clothes now, too?” one of the other women grumbled. I recognized her as the one who’d talked during the meeting. She met my eyes with a sardonic look. “What, you want us to start wearing suits now?”

“Oh, stop being such a bitch, Stella. It’s beneath you,” the first woman shot back before turning to me. “I’m Fabiana, by the way, but everyone calls me Fab. For obvious reasons, of course.”

She gestured to her body and her sparkly outfit, and I smiled.

“Hi, Fab,” I greeted. “How are you doing, by the way? Especially after yesterday?”

“Good. Doesn’t even bother me anymore.” She shrugged. “You know, unfortunately, that kinda stuff comes with the territory.”

“It shouldn’t,” I said. “Or at least there are things we can do to mitigate that.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t sound very convincing, but she shook it off, perking up instantly. “Anyway, I never got to thank you for what you did out there. You know, sticking your neck out to help me and all that. That was super nice of you.”

“It was no problem,” I told her. “If I hadn’t stepped in, someone else would have.”

“Sure.” But again, she didn’t sound convinced. “Still, though, thanks. And for what it’s worth, I really like your idea of making our dances more creative. You know, May over there used to do ballet, and I was a figure skater for a while. I’m sure I could incorporate some part of the routine into it.”

“Oh yeah?” Stella grouched. “And what about those of us who never learned all that fancy bullshit? I guess we just need to go fuck ourselves then, right?”

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