Page 33 of Hard Limits

“Getting better, I think? He said he’d help me to move some rocks tomorrow.”

“That’s great news!” Did I sound enthusiastic enough? I hoped so. “Maybe you could both take a day off and do something fun together? An indoor activity? Alfie’s a good guy, but you’ve both been under a lot of stress lately.”

In Boston, he hadn’t spent much time outdoors, so I could imagine that working on a farm every day was somewhat of a culture shock for him. And Meera got so enthusiastic about the project that she tended to forget he wasn’t actually an ecologist. Alfie had put his own plans on hold so she could follow her dream, and there had to be a little give and take.

“I guess that’s a good idea,” Meera said.

“Let me know how it goes?”

“Always. Update me on the hot boss?”

“Of course.”

“So you’re not denying he’s hot?”

“I’m going to hang up now.”

I was laughing as I did so, but no, I couldn’t deny it. Braxton Vale might have been a world-class asshole, but he was also incendiary.

CHAPTER 12

BRAX

“She drank herself into a stupor, almost got abducted, and then passed out. What did you expect me to do, Carissa? Leave her there on the sidewalk?”

“You could have taken her home.”

“I couldn’t find her keys, and she was incapable of telling me where they were.”

“Ever heard of calling a locksmith?”

“At one o’clock in the morning? You’re really reaching now.”

“Why didn’t you put her in one of the rooms on the second floor?”

“Because she’d already vomited at least once, and I didn’t want her to ruin the soft furnishings. We were fully booked the next night. For fuck’s sake, Carissa, haven’t you ever heard of altruism?”

“My lawyer might want to speak with her.”

“Fine. Call her in for a deposition. I’ll give her the morning off, but I’m deducting the cost from your settlement.”

The bitch hung up, and Brax raised his hand to hurl the phone against the wall. Stopped himself just in time. Carissa had cost him three phones this year already, and it was only February. She just had that effect on people.

Brax took a calming breath instead. Carissa wouldn’t depose Meera, not at the moment, but her poking around still left him with a problem. It was becoming harder and harder to deny the effect his new assistant had on him. Not only was she smart and beautiful, but the magic combination of submissive with a hint of feistiness that she struggled to control made his cock stand to attention. If Meera had been compos mentis and willing last night, Carissa might very well have won the divorce war.

But Brax didn’t take advantage of inebriated women, so he’d gotten a reprieve. And Meera herself wasn’t the only issue. Carissa had known that she’d spent the night in his apartment, not in a guest room downstairs, which meant his darling wife had a mole inside the building. In a business that involved so many secrets, a breach of trust was of great concern.

He emailed Alexa.

Call me.

Two seconds later…

You forgot the “please.”

Alexa called anyway—the lack of a “please” was an old joke between them. But she didn’t call on a regular phone. No, she used an app that had suddenly appeared on his cell one morning. He suspected the app gave her access to everything on the device, but even if he removed it, she’d find another way to dig through his life. Alexa didn’t give up. A quality he intended to utilise for his own purposes.

“What’s the problem?” she asked. “Did you accidentally sleep with your new assistant?”

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