Page 108 of Illicit Education

Knew what he gave in return.

And now she knew what it felt like to lose him.

Just the thought of that tremendous loss made my chest ache with emptiness and my palms sweat. I looked up at him, pressing my hand to my chest to ease the ache, reassuring myself that he was right here. He hadn’t gone anywhere.

Stella didn’t have him anymore.

I did.

“You stupid, stupid man.” Mina whispered. “Look at her.”

His head swiveled toward me and his eyes softened around the edges.

Then he shook his head and closed his eyes, letting his head droop again.

“Your arrogance will cost you everything.”

I looked at Mina. What did she mean by that?

“Stella was instructed to stay away,” he said.

Mina laughed, a bitter sound that caught me off guard. “Has she ever played the obedient pet before, Cabot?” She shook her head. “And were you clear about your demands? Was Stellahere, atthislocation, trying to pick up the pieces at a different club, with a differentDom, somewhere she’d be safe and wouldn’t have to see you with Rylan?”

I sucked in a ragged breath. Had we hurt her? I didn’t like the woman, but I would never want to cause her pain.

“She’ll go to the board,” Mina whispered.

“She wouldn’t do that.” He shook his head.

“It took Lacey months to get over you, Cabot.”

I’m sorry, what now?

“Do you know how hard I had to work with her? Do you know how long it took for me to ease her out of that, to reintroduce thisworld to her?” Mina looked at me, then shook her head. “She didn’t even know this place before you.”

Was she talking about me… or Lacey?

Or Stella?

I looked up at Cabot, trying to understand him.

Mina breathed deeply, then stood and walked around the desk. She began pacing again. “All right. First, we have to get Stella in here. We have to convince her not to go to the board. At least, if we can protect your company–”

“I’m the goddamn CEO,” Reed growled.

My body reacted to the strength of his voice with a rush of goosebumps—and relief.There he is.

“There’s nothing she can do to me–”

Mina rounded on him so fast a breeze tickled the baby hairs around my face. “You think a shareholders board the size of yours wants to know that their chief executive officer is a fuckingDominantwho fucks his employees?” Mina scoffed. “You’re not this stupid. Tell me you’re not this fucking stupid.”

I opened my mouth to clarify that we hadn’ttechnicallyfucked yet–

“Mina,” Cabot began.Oh, good, he’s gonna handle the hard stuff.

She raised her hand to stop him. “You have the third-largest children’s imprint in the world, Cabot!”

Cabot squared his shoulders. “I also have the most successful romance imprint in the world.” He shot me a glance. “Dominating a nearly two-billion-dollar industry.”

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