Page 69 of Spooked

“How did you know?”

“About the court appearance? It’s in your calendar.”

As a private appointment, but that made no difference to Alexa.

“No, that Carissa would go for Jerry.”

“Oh, that was thanks to Ruby. She mentioned to Grey that Carissa hooked up with a friend of hers, remember? You told me two months ago.”

“How did that help? It happened before we got married.”

“Because I asked Grey for more info, and he said it was a bartender named Tony.”

“And?”

“Ruby’s bartender friend was Toni with an I, not Tony with a Y. Antonia. A woman. So that piece of info set the ball rolling. Did you know Carissa sleeps with her assistants? Every single one of them is either bi or lesbian.”

Chase moved his legs in a hurry as Brax slumped onto the couch. His head was pounding now.

“No, I didn’t know.”

“We started going after the ones who’ve quit, but they’re under heavy NDAs. Hea-veeee. I’m talking black holes. Ari’s been chasing them all over the East Coast, but only one would talk, and that was off the record. Carissa’s been rubbing your nose in it for years, dude. While you’ve been losing your mind through abstinence, she’s been having nooners before she goes to the spa. But her current squeeze is on vacation, so we figured she’d be gagging for it. A splash of alcohol, a few suggestive words, and voilà! She has a thing for redheads. Did you spot that seven out of her nine assistants have had red hair?”

“I never noticed.”

Should he have done? Carissa had never gone out of her way to introduce Brax to her staff, but the information had probably been in the investigative reports. Now he was kicking himself.

“That was actually Ari’s observation. Anyhow, it’s done. Now you can negotiate a new settlement and drop-kick the bitch out of your life. I need more coffee. Can someone get me more coffee?”

Chase jumped to his feet. “On it.”

Brax needed to call his lawyer and get him here pronto. Alexa…she’d just changed everything. And so had Meera. By resisting temptation that night in Virginia, she’d allowed him to keep the upper hand, and now he’d win the war. Brax rose too, and this time, he kissed Alexa on the head.

“Yeuch,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“Somebody had to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life.”

“I mean it. And I’m also sorry for what I said about Nolan.”

“Doesheknow?”

“That you had a crush on him? I don’t think so.”

“Good. Don’t tell him. He always thought of me as a little sister anyway.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

“Where are the macarons?”

“Right here. Do you want lunch before you go back to…wherever it is you came from?”

“Lunch and dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“You think I’d miss this meeting? Seeing Carissa apoplectic will be the highlight of my month. How long do you think this video should be? Should I tease her with an intro, or get straight to the fun parts?”

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