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She was still mulling things over when they arrived home. Ali waited for him to open her door, then took his offered hand as he helped her out of the vehicle.
Her heels clicked on the concrete floor of the garage as they made their way inside. Daniel eased her coat from her shoulders and down her arms, hung it up for her, then removed his own. He loosened his tie as he strolled down the hall toward the kitchen. Removing two glasses from the cabinet, he filled one of them with water. “Water or something stronger?”
“Water’s fine.”
He nodded, handed her the already full glass, then filled the other one. After downing half of his water, he leaned against the counter, facing her. The look in his eyes told her she wasn’t going to like what was coming and she was right. “Tell me about your boss.”
* * *
Daniel watched Ali’s face pale. Her gaze darted around them room, looking everywhere but at him. “Um. He’s my boss.”
“Yes. But why would you need to have proof you attended tonight’s event?” Her nervous assertion after dinner had all his protective instincts on alert.
She lowered her gaze, focusing on the clear liquid in her glass. Was she searching for words because she didn’t want to tell him? That didn’t sit well with him at all.
The silence was almost deafening while he waited for her response. He’d stay there all night if he had to. Luckily, she didn’t make him wait that long. “He’ll want to confirm I was there.”
“Why?”
Ali scraped her teeth over her bottom lip, a nervous habit of hers. “Because he wanted me there.”
Daniel sighed, set his glass on the counter, then strode toward her and lifted her chin to meet his gaze. There was a note of fear in her eyes and those protective instincts went from concerned to wanting to throttle someone—namely her boss. “Allison, we are going around in circles.”
“Please.” Her desperate whisper did nothing to calm him. “I can’t lose my job.”
Alarm bells were going off all over the place. He clenched his jaw, keeping a tight rein on his temper. “Has he touched you?”
Genuine shock crossed her face, which helped to soothe him a little. “No. It’s not.” She paused, trying to find the right words, and he wished she’d just spit it out already. He didn’t care if it was pretty. He only wanted to know what was going on. “He’s never touched me or said anything...inappropriate.”
“Then what?”
She averted her eyes again. He didn’t like it when she didn’t look at him, but he gave her time to gather her thoughts. When she answered, it provided him no more information than what he’d had before. “He’s picky.”
Daniel was losing patience. “Look at me.”
Her gaze found his and he saw the mix of emotions raging behind her eyes.
“We are not leaving this kitchen until you tell me what is going on with your boss, do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good.” He dropped his hand, letting his arm fall to his side. “Now, out with it.”
“I’m not sure I can explain it.” When he didn’t respond, she went on, realizing he wasn’t going to accept that vague dismissal. “He likes to micromanage everything.” She paused. “Including me.”
Daniel crossed his arms. “Explain.”
Ali sighed, resigning herself to his interrogation. “Every morning when I get to work, I have an email waiting for me with a list of tasks I need to do. Most of them are the typical stuff I do every day, but there are always some other things mixed in there as well. He says he likes to keep me busy.”
He nodded for her to go on.
“It’s not what he says, exactly. It’s more how he says it. He’s very...condescending. When he told me about the fundraiser, he didn’t ask me if I would go. He told me I needed to go in his place.”
Daniel’s eyebrows nearly rose to his hairline.
“But that’s not unusual. He does that stuff all the time. He assumes I have no life outside of work and that if he needs something, I should be able to accommodate him. I’m his assistant after all.”
The way she said that last sentence, as if she were repeating her boss's words, made him see red. And it had nothing to do with the dress she was wearing. “Being his assistant doesn’t give him the right to mistreat you.”
