Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“Her annual Christmas ball,” I said, and lowered my own voice. “She can’t have it. She can’t afford it. That’s what this lunch is about.”
Selena’s eyes widened and her pink lips parted in dismay. “She can’t–does she know?”
“She knows,” I said grimly. “She might not want to know, but I’ve been telling her for years that she needs to cut back. Now the markets are down, and she’s almost out of capital.”
“That’s terrible,” Selena breathed. “She was telling me about it on the way to your office, and she’s so excited about it. It’s the twenty-fifth one, you know.”
“So she keeps saying.” I shrugged my shoulders impatiently. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to have to get creative to find a way to keep her in her house with her staff and full-time nurse. The Tiny Tims are going to have to get their plum pudding somewhere else this year.”
Selena looked startled by the coldness in my voice, then disapproving. Irritation worked its way into my shoulders. I didn’t need this shit from my most junior associate. Yeah, Jake would have mortgaged his own house to give Mrs. Kloss her party, but I wasn’t my nephew. He was all heart, but that’s all he needed to be. After his dad died, I made sure I’d always be able to provide for him and that he’d never have to work as hard as Marjorie and Bryan had for me. As hard as I had for him. He was going to graduate medical school with a Ferrari instead of bills because I did what had to be done.
Including breaking this old widow’s heart.
“I’m not asking you to help, but keep your mouth shut,” I warned Selena. “If you take her side, you’re going to have the shortest tenure at Marks Wealth Management anyone has ever seen.”
Selena’s eyebrows raised in surprise, then slanted together. She opened her mouth, then shut it with a snap and turned abruptly to look out the window.
I was surprisingly disappointed. I’d been ready for her to fight back, like a kitten unsheathing its claws. People so rarely said exactly what they thought to my face, and Selena had been about to. Her hot, angry words would have amused me more than scalded me. And they would have distracted me from what was coming with Mrs. Kloss. They might have even been enough to warrant following through on my threat to fire her.
I didn’t know what it was about her exactly that put me on edge like this, but I knew it wasn’t good. Either women didn’t affect me at all, or they got under my skin until I got them out. It usually only took a couple of nights together.
I couldn’t do that with Selena, though.
I just had to get rid of her.
6
SELENA
Mrs. Kloss took us to an upscale little bistro that could only have been described as frou frou. It was early November, but they were fully decked out for Christmas. It was a small place, and it felt smaller with the profusion of fake snow covering every surface. Swags of greenery and holly swung from the ceiling. The columns bristled with the number of lights wrapped around them.
Though I was still furious about his threat to fire me, I couldn’t help sneaking a look at Dominic. This was the kind of place that Jake and I might have gone to appreciate–and mock–the kitschy, over-the-top decor. Dominic didn’t look amused in the slightest. His lip wasn’t curled exactly, but I had a feeling that it would be if he didn’t have complete control over his expression.
The hostess recognized Mrs. Kloss and led us to a booth nestled against a window. Though I knew perfectly well it was almost sixty degrees outside, the glass had been spackled down with fake snow, and I could swear I almost felt a chill emanating from it. It made me want to order one of their absurd hot chocolates with the mountain of whipped cream and silver-sugared rims just so I could wrap my hands around it and enjoy the warmth. True winters were the one thing I would miss about New York City.
“You’re not cold,” Dominic said, noticing my shiver. He didn’t say it like he was concerned, or even as though it was a question. He said it as though it was a fact–I could not be cold.
“Well, you would know better than me,” I said, the snark slipping into my tone before I remembered that he was my boss, and I shouldn’t speak to him like this, even if he was absolutely infuriating.
Dominic’s eyebrows–incongruously pale against his tan skin–raised. He looked like he wanted to say something to put me back in my place, but Mrs. Kloss suddenly leaned across the table and grabbed my hand, startling us both.
“You’re going to love the Christmas Ball, dear,” Mrs. Kloss said, beaming at me. “It’s just magical.