Page 47 of Point of Contention

When I looked up for the thousandth time, I was finally rewarded with the sight I craved.

Rylan Blake, striding into Reed Tower as if she owned the place, head held high and chin slightly jutted. A warrior. A survivor. Even as nervous as she must be, she didn’t look afraid as she made her way inside.

She looked like she belonged here because she did.

Faces turned and eyes followed her as she walked through security and toward the elevators.

Only when her eyes landed on me, did her steps falter. Her lips parted on a small gasp.

But then her eyes narrowed and I knew I was in trouble.

Rather than calling me out for breaking my promise on the very first day of her return, she stood with the other Reed Tower employees as they waited for one of only two working elevators. Her gaze flicked to me and I inclined my head, but she quickly looked away again.

Dressed in a black skirt suit, with a pale blue satin shirt beneath, and sensible black heels, she was every bit the enticing woman I’d fallen for, but this time, even more alluring. For I now knew firsthand what that conservative little package contained.

A fiery, headstrong woman by day, and a tantalizing submissive by night. A perfect contradiction.

I licked my lips as I feasted on her, my cock twitching as I stared shamelessly at the woman I loved.

When her gaze flicked to me again, lingering longer this time before she looked away, I smirked.

That look in her eyes told me it wasn’t a matter ofifwe’d get back together, butwhen.

I could be patient.

There was the matter of her entertaining Gage Magnusson, but he wasn’t a threat to me. Even if she spent time with him in the club, it wouldn’t endanger what we had.

This was more than a D/s relationship, more than a passing infatuation.

Eventually Rylan stepped onto the elevator, disappearing within a throng of people, so I spared a quick glance at the maintenance crew, then headed for my private elevator bay, breathing easier than I had in some time.

With Rylan back at Reed Tower, my world felt righted.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, my phone buzzed. I glanced at Travis’ name on the screen, then pressed the button on my earbud to answer the call. “Make it quick.”

“How soon can you get back to the city?”

“I flew in yesterday.”

“Great. Get to the tower.”

Pushing the button for seventy-five, I said, “I’m heading up in the elevator now. What’s the emergency?”

“Your father has a meeting with Landon Grant.”

My pulse slammed to a stop. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“When?” I growled.

“Now.”

I had no time to prepare. “On my way,” I said, but the call had already dropped. “Fuck!”

The old man had planned this when he thought I’d be in Los Angeles. It was calculated and underhanded, which shouldn’t come as any surprise. But why the fuck was my father meeting with Landon Grant in the first place? There was only one reason that I could think of and the thought soured my stomach.

The head of Haven House, the second largest publishing company in New York, Landon had been eyeing Reed Publishing for some time. If my father had agreed to a meeting, it meant he was considering the idea of selling to Haven.

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