Page 110 of Point of Contention

“Jesus,fuck.” I pushed out of my chair and paced behind my desk. This was a fucking blow I’d not anticipated.

She’d orchestrated the whole fucking thing.

“Why?” I asked, my voice quieter than I liked. “There was nothing you could have needed that I wouldn’t have given you.” I shook my head as I tried to make sense of it. “How much money could possibly be worth this?” I motioned to the office and the company beyond. “You were in trouble? Needed help? I’m Cabot fuckingReed… I could have given you anything.”

“Just not what I wanted.” She dropped her gaze again, and this time, I allowed it. I couldn’t stand to look at her anyway.

“You betrayed me. For money.” The words were bitter on my tongue. It was unforgivable.

“You betrayed me first!” she snarled, looking up at me with angry eyes.

I clenched my jaw. “We arenotthe same.”

“You left me for achild,” she yelled, rising to her feet to stare down at me. Tears streamed from her eyes. “You fuckingleftme. For yourintern.”

I snorted. “You betrayed me,” I said again slowly. “For money.” I leaned back and crossed my arms, then shrugged. “I never promised you anything, Stella, but I did take care of you. I was good to you, both here and in the club. You needed a job; I gave you one.”

“You broke my heart.”

I rose quickly to my feet and slammed my hands down onto the desk. She shrunk and sank into the chair again. “Don’t talk to me about broken hearts, Ms. Whitney. I know all too well about broken hearts.” It was because of her, because of this heinous betrayal, that I’d had my own heart broken. Her broken heart had nearly cost me Rylan.

“Ilovedyou.”

“This isn’t love.” I shook my head in disgust. “Love is not betrayal.”

Her shoulders shuddered on a quiet sob, but she didn’t respond.

Grabbing my phone, I dialed Mina. I didn’t care that it was still before normal business hours.

She answered on the third ring. “Cabot? What is it?” She paused. “It’s so early.”

“We have a problem.”

She sighed. “What is it?”

“How quickly can you get to Reed Tower? I have Stella Whitney here and she’s just informed me that Gage Magnusson was part of the plan to take me down. He was the one who leaked the photos, after a business rival of mine paid him off.”

Mina’s intake of air was audible through the phone line. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” She ended the call and I tucked the phone into my pocket, then tilted my head back and looked up at the ceiling.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Cabot

I left Stella in the conference room and returned to my office. I needed to think.

Breathe.

Center myself so I didn’t lose my mind.

Everything felt as though it was pushing in on me, crushing me, but I had to keep a level head if I was going to figure out a way to manage the forces working against me.

Magnusson was an issue, but I would look to Mina’s legal team to handle him. He was, after all, the club’s concern, as he’d broken the rules of membership. As much as I’d like to pummel the man for his crimes, the law was the way to go about men like Gage Magnusson. He was insignificant in my world. A flea on a dog’s ass. Irritating, yes, but not the major player.

Stella, well…

She was dead to me. I’d defer to Mina for that as well, and I’d never think of Stella again.

But Roderick Rombauer, however, would have to be dealt with in a different way.