Page 111 of Point of Contention

To men like Roderick, money was all that mattered. Power.

He wanted mine; instead, I would take his.

I leaned back in the chair and spun around to look out at the skyline.

What a fucking mess.

I pulled my cellphone from the interior pocket of my coat, then hit Rylan’s number and waited to hear her voice on the other end of the line. I planned to spend the rest of my life with this woman, regardless of what that looked like, and with our future in mind, I knew I had to keep her abreast of what was going on in my world.

Trust was the only way forward.

And trust meant honesty.

I also needed her. It felt foreign and a bit scary, but I couldn’t fathom getting through this shit without her by my side. Add that to the growing list of things I hadn’t anticipated.

Rylan answered after a few rings, her voice breathless. “Miss me already?”

I sighed with relief. “Are you walking somewhere?”

“Maybe.” She giggled.

“Rylan.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose between forefinger and thumb. “Cole has been instructed to drive you wherever you need to go.”

“I know,” she grumbled, lowering her voice as she said, “I just wanted a latte and he’s following me in the car like a stalker.”

I smiled at that. “Well, get in the car. I need you.”

She sucked in breath. “What’s wrong?”

Whatwasn’twrong? “Everything is fucked.”

“I can come by before my interview at Turn the Paige—”

“I need you now.”

“Cabot, I took the day off. I can’t just show up and—”

“Please.” I bit the word out, foreign and unfamiliar.

“Okay.”

Closing my eyes, I titled my head back and sighed. “Thank you.”

Shetsked. “This isn’t going to look good.”

“I don’t care how it looks, Rylan.”

“I do!” She paused and her words were muffled as she said, “He’s making me drive with you… yeah… Reed Tower.”

I smirked and waited for her to come back to me.

The door of the car closed and she said, “You can’t be so dominatingallthe time. Don’t you get tired?”

I breathed deeply though my nose and said, “I am notdominating, Ms. Blake, Iamdominance.” I ended the call and set the phone on the desk, then growled with frustration.

She’d be pissed at me for hanging up on her, and rightfully so.

“Fuck!” Picking up the phone again, I sent her a quick text.

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