“Sir, with the extremely lawsuit vulnerable demand you set to have either a woman who was happily married or over the age of fifty or a man who wasn’t gay, Alexa Clark is exactly what you are looking for. Ms. Clark is not going to strip and lay across your desk. I’ve never met someone as happily married as she is. Her experience and references are better than the last six candidates. Frankly, if you don’t at least interview her, then I’m giving notice now to save us both time.” Normally soft brown eyes are hard as they meet mine.

Fuck. I pull out the woman’s file again. Were it not for the bullshit I have been going through with the other personal assistants since Victoria retired Alexa Clark would be my number one pick without hesitation. “Fine. Get her in here today.”

“Yes, sir.” Her relief is clear as she walks out.

I keep the woman’s file open in front of me. A quick call to Diego Valdez, the head of the only security company I trust, ends with his promise to have me everything on Alexandra Clark by the end of the day. Reading off everything he asks for, I find myself staring at the small picture at the back of the file. She is pretty enough, if unmemorable.

Seeing the way she was forced to keep waitressing while she worked at Miller Investments until three years ago angers me. She has been underpaid for years, her yearly pay is less than the quarterly bonus her boss gets. If I hire her, she’ll be making ninety thousand a year as my personal assistant, a forty percent increase in her pay, not including the bonuses I pay out quarterly.

I value my employees and make sure they know it. The salaries from top to bottom in my company are at a rate of thirty percent higher than any other financial firm in the industry. I believe in my people sharing in what they helped make possible.

Diego will get me facts, I want more. I make another call. “Leo, Ria was just telling me a few days ago I needed to invite you over for dinner again. Can we pretend I called you and you’re calling me back now?”

Shaking my head, I stifle a chuckle at the pleading. I never thought there would come a day when the Dragon of Chicago would be concerned about upsetting the small slip of a woman he is married to. It wasn’t even as if Ria would throw a fit. I have never heard her raise her voice in the six years I have known her since she and Drake were married. While I have seen her angry, it’s rare. She is sweet-natured and calm yet at the same time bold enough to handle Drake, which is why she is one of the few women I genuinely like and respect.