Page 75 of Boss of Her

Simone leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “What exactly do you mean, Alan? Please, enlighten me.”

Daniel cleared his throat, shooting Alan a sharp look before turning to Simone.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about your latest acquisition,” he said. “The Ashton Star? No one thought Ashton would ever actually sell that place. Her family has been clinging to it for decades. How did you manage to pull that off?”

A shift in conversation with a side of flattery.Daniel knew how to play the game. Perhaps it was a necessity with a partner like Alan. It was becoming clear that Alan’s little slip-up earlier wasn’t a slip-up at all. And that he wasn’t the kind of person Simone wanted to do business with.

Nevertheless, she entertained the change of subject. “It was a simple matter of understanding where the true value of the hotel lies. The Star is more than the land it was built on. Ashton needed to know that whoever she sold her hotel to understood that.”

“An interesting approach. I can see why—”

Daniel’s words were interrupted by the ringing of Alan’s cell phone. Half the restaurant turned to stare. At such an upscale venue, where ambiance was at a premium, an unsilenced phone was a cardinal sin.

That didn’t stop Alan from cursing loudly and taking his phone from his pocket. “It’s my assistant. What the hell does she want?” He answered the call, making no attempt to keep his voice down. “What is it? I’m at dinner.”

Daniel gave Simone an apologetic look. She took a long swig of her wine. She was quickly reaching the end of her tolerance for Alan.

“Just tell her to call a babysitter,” he barked. “Christ, you don’t have to call me for every damn thing.” He hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. “My assistant. I swear togod, I’m one phone call away from firing that girl. She’s more trouble than she’s worth. Frigid bitch is pissed because she caught me looking at her ass the other day.”

“Jesus, Alan!” Daniel turned to Simone. “I’m so sorry. He isn’t usually like this. He’s had a few too many drinks, that’s all.”

“Relax, Simone doesn’t mind.” Alan looked her up and down, licking his lips. “Haven’t you heard? She appreciates a good-looking woman as much as any red-blooded man.”

Simone placed her glass down on the table. “Oh, I do. But unlike you, I’m not a neanderthal who leers at every woman who crosses his path. Nor do I feel the need to make such vile comments about them.”

Alan chuckled. “This right here. This is why you have a reputation for being a stone-coldbitch.”

Simone’s jaw tightened.Walk the line. Just walk the line like you always do.

But tonight? She didn’t care about walking the line. She didn’t care about this deal.

She didn’t care if she burned her entire career down.

She took her napkin from her lap and threw it onto the table beside her plate. “We’re done here.”

Daniel blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I said,we’re done here.”

“Lighten up, will you?” Alan said. “It was just a joke.”

“A joke?” Simone said. “A joke requires humor, Alan. And there’s nothing funny about the misogynistic drivel you’ve been spewing all evening. You’re a pathetic, repulsive man who has no respect for women. And I will not debase myself by working with you.”

“Don’t be like that,” Alan said. “It’s just guy talk. You’ve been in the business long enough to understand that. If you want to play with the big boys, you gotta be able to dish it outandtake it.”

“Perhaps that’s how it works in whatever boys’ club you run in New York. But here in Los Angeles? I amqueen.” Simone rose to her feet. “I own half the hotels in this city. I’m better connected than you could ever hope to be. Everyone who’s anyone in LA? They’ll do whatever I ask them in a heartbeat. So say another word. Say one morefuckingword. And I will make sure nobody on the entire West Coast ever works with you again.”

She looked from one man to the other. Both remained silent.

“Goodbye, gentlemen. Suffice it to say, I’ll be looking elsewhere for investors.” She nodded to Daniel, who had at least attempted to keep things civil. “Dinner is on me. I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but I’d be lying.”

With that, she turned and walked away.

There goes that deal.One that had the potential to be as big as the acquisition of The Star. But Simone didn’t feel a shred of regret. She felt nothing at all.

Because none of it mattered.Nothingmattered, not anymore. Not after she’d lost the one thing that had made her feel complete for the first time in her life.

She couldn’t accept that this was it. She couldn’t accept that Jade was gone from her world forever. She couldn’t let go of her, not without telling her how she felt.

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