Page 106 of Until It Was Real

I lean back in my chair. “What did you need to discuss?”

Eli lifts a brow. “You have to ask?”

“Shit,” I mutter. I had hoped my big brother was here about work. I hate to be wrong, especially when it means I have to discuss my failures.

“What happened?”

I scratch my chin. “With?”

“Seriously? My personal assistant has been crying her eyes out all morning. What happened?”

I frown as guilt stabs me. I ignore it. I don’t have a reason to feel guilty. I’m not the one who was keeping secrets. I’m not the one who tricked someone into falling in love with me. I’m not the liar.

“Crap.” Eli sighs. “I don’t want to fire Dakota. She’s a damn fine assistant but judging by the way you’re grinding your teeth there’s no way the two of you can work together.”

Panic lashes at me. Dakota may be a liar. But her desperation for money is real. Her late husband screwed her over bad.

“You can’t fire Dakota.”

“Pretty sure I can.”

“No, Eli. I’m serious. You can’t fire her.”

“But you two can’t work together anymore. I knew I should have forbidden you from dating her. But you always kept your distance from the women you dated before. I assumed you’d have a fling and be over it. I didn’t think I’d find my assistant crying in the bathroom.”

Fuck. Dakota was crying in the bathroom.

“And you trying to break your desk.”

I jump at the chance to keep the conversation focused on me. I can’t think about Dakota crying in the bathroom. Her tears kill me. “I didn’t try to break my desk.”

“Jaxon heard you in the distillery.”

“Liar. The distillery could burn down around him and he wouldn’t notice.”

“I heard you.”

“I just need some time. I should have worked at home, but I needed to pick up some documents, and the phone rang, and before I knew it, I’d been here all morning.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to discuss it.”

“Too bad.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Wrong. You dated my assistant. I need to know if I should fire her.”

“Our breakup had nothing to do with her work here.”

“If she broke your heart, I’ll fire her.”

I rub a hand over my chest. “You can’t fire her for breaking my heart.”

He smirks. “You admitted she broke your heart.”

“Asshole,” I mutter.

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