Page 95 of Devious Corruption

“Sure you do. If he goes under, you lose your job. Same thing if you owned it. And if you owned it, you’d be able to do the things you want, like add a larger romance section.”

“You tapped into my emails?” There is no boundary this man won’t cross.

“No. I heard you talking with Nicolette before she left. She had you on speaker.”

“I’m right about the romance section. And putting in a corner for indie authors, especially for the local writers. But it’s his place.”

“But you’ve never thought about it?” The sarcasm in his tone isn’t subtle.

“Don’t we need to get going?” I pick up the trash bag full of the packaging material.

He checks his watch. “We should. I’ll take that, you get your things.”

“And he’s back to being bossy.”

A playful swat lands across my ass. When I turn to give him a look he winks, unlocking an entirely new level of desire.

It’s hopeless.

This whole situation is hopeless. There’s an axehanging over us, and as soon as my brothers get back the executioner is going to take his swing.

We’re halfway through the dinner Lev picked up for us on the way back to his penthouse when his phone dances on the tabletop.

He turns it over to see who is calling before declining the call.

“You don’t need to ignore work on my account,” I say taking another bite of the most delicious roast beef I’ve ever had in my life. The man really does employ the world’s best chefs at his restaurant.

“It’s nothing that can’t wait.” He pushes his plate away from him, having finished everythingexcept the peas.

“You don’t like peas?” I point with my fork at the pile left on his dish.

“No.”

“Then why’d you order them? You own the restaurant, I’m sure they’d make any substitution you wanted.”

A hint of a smile touches his lips. “When Nicolette was younger, the only vegetable I could get her to eat without a fight was peas. So, if we were eating out and she didn’t order a vegetable or her meal didn’t come with one, I’d make sure mine did.”

“And then you’d make her eat them?”

He laughs, a soft sound coming from an old memory. “I’d bribe her. If she ate them, she’d get dessert.”

“But then you didn’t eat a vegetable, so did you still get dessert?”

He deadpans. “Always. You don’t mess with a man’s dessert, Maxine.”

A laugh bubbles out of me. He has such a serious expression, but there’s that little pull on his mouth. It’s sweet. And hot as hell.

“So, you raised Nicolette, then?”

He shakes his head while taking a sip of his drink. “No, not really. She was thirteen when our parents died in a car accident.”

“You were bribing a teenager with ice cream to make her eat her peas?” I tilt my head. Seems a little old for such a trick.

“Nicolette had a hard time with their death. I was already grown and out of the house. It was an adjustmentto have me step in. It was probably a little juvenile, and to be honest, I would have given her the dessert anyway. Just to see her happy.”

He sighs, letting the moment hang between us.

“But that was a long time ago. She’s an adult now, and I’m sure she has ice cream for dinner more nights than I would be happy about.”