Page 14 of Checks & Bonds

I pulled away, breaking her hold. "You gave Freya an initiation card?"

Her eyes widened, and I saw the truth in her face before she could speak.

"Why?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Why are you so upset?" she countered, stepping closer again and running her hands over my shoulders. "This is the perfect way for us to be together and it'll get rid of her."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut.

"Freya is my fiancée," I said, my voice hard and unyielding.

Rebecca's lips curled into a sneer. "That's a joke," she spat. "Because the two of us have been together, more intimate, than you and her have ever been."

"I can't just call things off," I barked, the frustration boiling inside me.

"Of course you can," she retorted. "Your sister —"

"My sister didn't inherit the Mathers estate, did she?" I growled, cutting her off.

"Just the Detroit Serpents," she fired back, her eyes flashing with defiance.

I laughed, a hollow sound that echoed between us. "You think that's anything? It's a fraction of my grandfather's legacy."

"Your grandfather is dead," she said, her tone dripping with contempt.

My eyes narrowed and my muscles tensed. "Never speak of my grandfather."

Rebecca looked away, her bravado faltering. "It's not like you love her," she muttered. "What do you care if she's claimed by Jensen —"

"Ackerman is going to claim her?" I asked roughly, stepping closer to her.

"Fuck," she whispered, panic flickering in her eyes. "Henry, I just thought —"

"No," I cut in, my voice sharp. "You didn't think. You only thought of yourself." I stepped back, feeling the weight of my own stupidity settle in. "I was a fool to let myself become distracted.”

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"You and I are done," I said, the words heavy but necessary.

She laughed, a bitter, incredulous sound. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

"Wait, but Henry—" She reached out, desperation coloring her voice.

I took another step back. "Don't touch me."

"I was doing this for us," Rebecca insisted, her voice rising. "Don't you get that?"

"So you give her the idea to bind herself to someone?" I demanded, my anger flaring. "How does that help us? I still have to marry her. And I'll have to do it knowing someone—knowing Jensen—has touched her..."

Searing anger coursed through me, boiling over. The thought of Freya with another man twisted my insides. First, it was that stupid soccer player. But Jensen? He was much worse.

Rebecca's face twisted with confusion and frustration. "I thought you didn't care about her," she spat.

"That's not the point," I snapped back. "This isn't about love or care. This is about what’s right and what’s mine."

She recoiled as if struck, but then her expression hardened. "You think this is all about you? You're just as selfish as the rest of them."

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