Page 54 of Runaway Bride for the Boss

“Whatever. Tell me why you called me here, Andie,” Ezra says as he digs into his food with gusto. Andrea takes the seat across from him.

“My darling big brother, you know I love you right?” Ezra chokes on his soup and starts coughing. Andrea scowls as she pushes a glass of water toward him. “What? Telling you I love you makes you gag?”

I chuckle quietly, but maybe not quite enough because Andrea glowers at me. I raise my hands up in surrender. “I’m not doing it,” Ezra declares when his coughing fit is over.

“Come on! You don’t even know what it is yet,” she complains.

“I know that whenever you start a conversation that way, you’re about to ask me for something impossibly difficult. The last time was to help convince Dad to let you have this place and become a bar owner. I almost lost my family jewels, remember,darling sister?”

Andrea sniffs indignantly. “Dad wouldn’t have really shot you, he was just bluffing. You know he loves you, and he’s desperate for grandkids. He would never do anything to jeopardize that. I knew you, and your preciousjewels, were safe the whole time.”

Almost shot him? My eyes go wide as I let out a small squeak.

“What I want this time is easy enough,” she continues. “Want to one-up Alexander?”

Ezra smirks, “Okay, I’m listening.” Andrea explains what had happened this afternoon, and she’s not even done talking when he says he’s in.

“I’m not actually interested in going into business with him,” I speak up for the first time.

“Why? Because you don’t want to mix business with pleasure…or because of something else?” Ezra asks, gazing into my eyes with those light blue eyes of his. I start to stammer that there’s nopleasurebetween Alex and I when Andrea interrupts me.

“If even I know about you two, you can be rest assured that Ezra knows you and Alex are together.”

But we aren’t together. Not really. “Yeah, well that’s why I’m not interested. My last relationship was doomed from the start, but things really started to deteriorate when he started to use his money as a means to control me. Not that Alex and I are in a relationship or anything, because we’re not,” I rush to add, and Andrea smirks at me.

“Then let me assure you, if Alex is saying he wants to invest in your business it’s because he believes in your abilities and not because he wants to keep you under his thumb. He’s had several past flings bring proposals to him which he declined because they weren’t good enough,” Ezra insists.

I realize I have no right to feel jealous over the mention of previous flings, but God help me because the thought of some other woman trying to sink her teeth into Alex and his influence has me seeing red.

“Besides,” Andrea adds, “Alexander is an astute and picky investor. Although he has a pulse in every business in town like I told you, it’s because of him that they’ve survived and ultimately thrived. Most of the companies he invested in as startups are now booming.”

“Yeah, but–”

“If you have another reason you don’t want him in your business, I’ll totally understand and back off. But it would be incredibly stupid to let go of this opportunity because of something trivial, Autumn,” Andrea states. “So, what if you two don’t work out? Who cares?”

Um, I care. But she continues ruthlessly, “Don’t you think you’d regret letting the opportunity to start your own business go? Fine, you’ll eventually be able to save enough to start off on your own in a couple of years, but why wait when you can do it now?”

“I’ll make sure the contract is ironclad in your favor so that any eventuality of your relationship with Alex, can’t compromise your business,” Ezra assures me.

My heart starts to pound again, but this time for another reason. They’re right. Alex can be controlling, yes, but he’s not like Larson who steamrolled all over me and tried to change everything about me.

He likes me for me. I push my glasses up my nose. I imagine finally being able to work as a Landscaper. Excitement fizzles in my veins as I envision it. And being the only Landscaper in Brattleboro wouldn’t exactly hurt my chances at success.

“She’s in,” Andrea announces and grins.

CHAPTER 31

ALEXANDER

“Alex,” Noah pops his head into my office. “You finally done with that report?”

The report documents Autumn Montgomery’s life from birth till her car broke down in my town two weeks ago. Feels like it’s been much longer. She’s held my interest from the moment she ran into me at what the report informs me was her own engagement party a year ago. All this while, I’ve been searching for my AWM, but she’s been right under my nose. In fucking Larson’s arms. She’s gone through a lot in her twenty four years, and things became even worse after she started fuck– dating that rat. The thought of them together, of him touching her, has me seething. That piece of shit is so far beneath my girl, it’s laughable. What finally made her leave, though?

“Yes, I am.” Larson Brown went into hiding the moment he found out Mason, his accomplice, had been caught, but my men are hot on his trail. He was already going to die for daring to steal from me when I was merciful enough to let him live after his mistake last year, but now I’m afraid that his death will be slow and painful.

He nods. “Someone’s here to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment.”

“I’m not interested in whatever business deal she’s bringing. Send her away,” I order.

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