Page 30 of My Boss's Sons

“She did! And they aren’t even good clothes!”

Lily stomped her little foot. “Yes, they are!”

“They are not!” Ava stomped her foot back at Lily. “They look ridiculous!”

“You paintedsluts.” Lily whispered the last word but both Sophia and Ava reacted like she’d screamed it. Lily, seeing their reaction, rushed to try to avoid getting into trouble. “Mrs. Johnson said so! Not me.”

Sophia’s phone rang and she jabbed a finger at both Ava and Lily. “Both of you, sit down. Plant your butts in those chairs and do not move.”

I shot an amused look at Noah and Alex as both firecrackers plopped themselves down, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Noah looked slightly horrified, but Alex was watching with a big smile on his face.

“Sophia Bennett.” Sophia answered her phone while still frowning at her family. “Mrs. Bush, hi. How are you today?”

Lily hugged her stuffed seal to her chest and I heard her whisper. “John Cena thinks you’re mean.”

“John Cena can find himself in the garbage disposal if he isn’t careful.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m really happy you got back to me so fast, Mrs. Bush. When I saw your product, I immediately bought two of them for a neighbor. I think you’re brilliant. Let’s start there.” Sophia tapped the mute button on her phone and her voice dropped to something darker. “The two of you need to be silent right now.”

“But-” Lily cut herself off as her mom shot her a look.

“Caroline? Okay, but only if you call me Sophia.” Sophia pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened. “Yes, ma’am. I know I mentioned this in my email, but I handle research in my department. I look through hundreds of companies every day and I only reach out to a few of those. Your company caught my eye immediately. What you’ve done is amazing, honestly.”

Ava groaned and sank deeper in her chair. “I don’t have time for this.”

Sophia muted her call again. “Oh, you don’t? Too bad. You know better than to bring Lily here. Storming in here like that makes me look unprofessional and you know I’m already fighting an uphill battle. And you, Lily Marie Bennett, are in big trouble. You-”

Listening to something on the other end of the line, Sophia cut herself off mid lecture and I watched as her face shifted into something softer again. It was amazing to watch her go back and forth.

“I think we both know that the business world can be hard on women, Caroline. My assistant’s wife is a lawyer who specializes in women’s rights and I’ll just say that she stays busy. You’re in a market dominated by men and it’s hard to break through that glass ceiling. I was interested in your company already and when I saw that you were the owner, I knew that Anderson Inc. would be foolish to overlook you. I know without you telling me that you’ve fought for your company and poured so much into it.” Sophia tapped the mute button and turned a hard look at Lily.“You know better than to touch Aunt Ava’s work. It was wrong of you to do that. And don’t ever let me hear you calling anyone a slut again. Mrs. Johnson is a jerk for doing it and I’m not raising a jerk, am I?”

Lily pouted. “They were all naked!”

“If you don’t want to see Aunt Ava’s paintings, you don’t have to go into her work space, Lily.” Sophia went right back to her call. “Unfortunately, my work stops at the research. The purchase and contract part of Anderson is handled by people higher up than me. I just find companies that deserve a second chance and sometimes get a little sentimental when I talk to owners. I hear so many owners sound defeated when I reach out to them. They think that I’m coming in at the smell of blood in the water, but I’ll be honest with you, Caroline. I don’t react to the smell of blood. I hunt for potential and promise.”

I shifted where I stood and sank my teeth into my bottom lip. I tried to focus on the pain instead of how fucking hot I found Sophia. Watching her work and win over another business while simultaneously lecturing her sister and kid was impressive. From listening to Dad talk about what Sophia did, I never would’ve known how brilliant she was or how she sent every one of her finds to the closing team already closed pretty much.

“I wish I could go along for the whole process with so many of the people I find. I get so excited for people like you, people who get another chance. I would lose my job on my first client, though, if I did. I’m not into sales or that part of our business. I will always want more for you and have the utmost faith that you’re worth it.” Sophia smiled a pure, genuine smile as she jotted something down in her notebook. “I’m ready to get into the details now, if you are. Well, I’ll need just a couple of minutes. I have a child to handle before we get focused.”

Ava stuck her tongue out at Lily. “She’s talking about you.”

“You have children, too?” Sophia laughed. “Yeah, they never cease to surprise you, do they? How about I call you back in five minutes? Does that work for you?”

Lily swung her stuffed seal at her aunt and Ava snatched it away. Right before Lily could scream, I stepped forward and plucked the thing from Ava’s hands and handed it back to Lily. Frowning at each of them, I planted myself between them to keep the peace until Sophia was finished with her call.

26

***Noah***

I’d thought about Sophia as a mom after finding out she had a kid more than a few times. I’d wondered why she hadn’t mentioned it and what kind of mom she was. I’d wondered who’d kept her kid when she spent the night with us. I’d thought about it a lot, probably too much. I knew she’d been married, but were she and her ex still close?

Seeing Lily in real life and watching Sophia transform into a mother in the blink of an eye was surreal. The little girl looked a lot like her mother, even down to the glares she flashed at her aunt. It was impressive to watch their interaction and even more so when Sophia balanced work and family like an expert. She’d pretty much gained a new business for the company while lecturing her kid and sister. In all the years I’d watched Dad work, I’d never seen him balance things the way Sophia could.

I stood off to the side so I could watch them without being in the way and I wasn’t disappointed when Sophia hung up her phone and went into full mom mode.

“Lily, you need to apologize to Aunt Ava. She’s been working on that painting for weeks and it was really beautiful.” Sophia looked at her sister. “It was stunning, Ava. If you can’t fix it, I’ll find a way to make it right.”

“I’m not saying sorry. She’s being too mean!” Lily leaned around Ethan to glare at her aunt. “You’re being a bully.”

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