Page 43 of Beauty and the Bosshole

I thought I could breathe easy once she decided to up and move to Porter. But, evidently, absence only makes the obsession grow stronger.

"Reese, no," Ava protests. "I'm not leaving you out here to face an army alone."

I'm almost positive five men don't an army make, but far be it for me to tell her that.

"Sweetheart, he isn't going to shoot me. Not if he wants my mother to marry him," I say, exasperated. "Besides which, what, precisely, are you going to do against several men with guns?"

"I don't know. What's your plan, hotshot?" she retorts, fire in her eyes, and then her brows furrow. "He wants to marry your mom?"

"She's the love of my life," Leon says theatrically.

Gag me with a fucking spoon.

Ava's expression softens. Naturally, she believes his bullshit. She's got a soft heart. I fucking love her for it, but Leon doesn't get to manipulate her with his bullshit lies. He doesn't love my mother. He loved the access she gave him to my company and our secrets. He's a user. It's what he does. It's who he is.

"Get in the limo, Ava."

"But Reese—"

"Now."

She grumbles under her breath—something about not helping me if they shoot me, which we both know is a lie because she'll miss the fuck out of me and my cock if they shoot me—before depositing the cat carrier inside the limo and allowing me to help her back inside. Once the door closes behind her, I wheel around to face Leon, fury boiling over.

"Where the fuck is my mother, Leon?" I ask, my voice lethally soft. "Is she in the warehouse?" I take a step in that direction, ready to get her and get the fuck out of here.

"Don't be ridiculous, Reese. I wouldn't bring her out here and let her see all of this." He eyes me levelly, that fucking smile slipping from his face. "We both know I'm not fucking stupid."

"Then where is she?"

"I'll tell you."

I wave my hand, signaling for him to get on with it. I've got better things to do—namely my wife—than deal with him and his bullshit.

"But we have something to discuss first."

"Hell will freeze over before she marries you." Ma may be batshit crazy, but she knows who he is now. She may have softened toward him enough to let him convince her to fly out here, but she won't marry him. Even if he wasn't a piece of shit, she wouldn't marry him simply because she doesn't love him. Her heart still belongs to my father. To her, Leon was never more than a friend.

He laughs abruptly. "You're probably right about that. But that's not what I want." He reaches into the breast pocket of his ridiculous fucking coat and pulls out a sheaf of papers before holding them out toward me.

I stare at the papers for a long moment before snatching them from his hands and glancing them over, my temper rising as I read. "You've lost your fucking mind, Leon. I told you the other day, I don't care how many of our vendors you buy out; you'll never see a goddamn dime of stock from my company."

"I will if you want to get your hands on the batteries that operate your toys, Reese. Because as of yesterday, I own the only supplier left in the United States." He smirks. "And since your company doesn't source your supplies from overseas, you need me."

The shady motherfucker…

"Where the fuck is my mother?" I growl, my temple throbbing.

"At your hotel." His smirk grows, humor dancing in his eyes. "Consider her arrival a wedding present." He turns to stride back to the warehouse and then pauses. "I took the liberty of booking her the suite right next door to yours."

Oh, this evil son of a bitch.

"What did he want?" Ava cries once I'm safely inside the limo and we're on the road again, heading back toward the hotel. She's got her cat in her arms… though the cat doesn't necessarily seem as thrilled by this as she does.

Honestly, the cat looks pissed. He's glaring at me.

"To ruin my life," I mutter, scrubbing a hand down my face. I toss his fucking contract on the seat beside me in disgust, leaning back to glare up at the ceiling of the limo. Fucking hell. Leon Anderson is a snake. A sneaky snake, but a snake.

"I thought he was going to kill you," Ava says, her voice soft. Worried.