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“Yeah, what about her?”
“So you admit you know who she is?” Cass squawked.
“Of course I do. She used to work for me,” he acknowledged without a scrap of shame. “My company isn’t so big that I’ve lost the ability to keep track of my people. Especially those who worked in Research and Development.”
“Used to work for you?” she prodded. “But not anymore?”
Gage stood, unfurling to his full height a good three inches above Cass. He crossed his arms, leaning a hip against the bar casually, but his frame vibrated with tension.
“Since I’m pretty sure we both know she works for Fyra now, it sounds like you’re the one who has something you need to tell me.”
This was her opening. The other Fyra executives were counting on her to solve the company’s problems and the last thing she wanted was for her team to accuse her of letting her feelings for Gage get in the way of justice. Alex, in particular, was already poised to lambast Cass. She had to pull this thread.
“I’m sure there’s a rational explanation.” She resisted the urge to back away. “But Rebecca’s in a lot of debt and maintains contact with people in your area. You can see how someone might think that’s a suspicious combination. It just looks bad, Gage.”
“Bad how?” he asked softly. Lethally. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
The pressure of his accusatory expression pushed on her chest, stealing her ability to draw in air. He was going to make her spell this out. She swore. “Come on. You agreed to help me identify a probable suspect for the leak but have spent almost every second distracting me from that goal. Almost as if you wanted to steer me away from any evidence pointing to a name.”
Of course she was the dummy who’d fallen for it. Half of the fault lay with her.
“You seem to forget that I had an interest in finding the leak, as well. The formula is worthless otherwise.”
She waved it off. “Only if you don’t have another way to get your hands on it.”
“Cass.” He huffed out a sigh of frustration. “We agreed you’d talk to the others about selling when we found the leak. We haven’t yet. What other possible way would I get my hands on it?”
Did he think she was born yesterday? “Turnabout is fair play, right? That’s what you said when you demanded I sell you the formula less than twenty-four hours after its existence was leaked to the industry. Tell me the timing is a coincidence.”
“It’s a coincidence.” His knuckles went white as he contemplated her with clenched fists. “But you don’t really think so, do you? You suspect that Rebecca’s the leak and I’m pulling her strings like some kind of corporate raider puppet master. You think I’ve paid her to steal the formula.”
“Well...in a nutshell, yeah.” It didn’t sound so concrete coming from Gage’s mouth and she wavered. He didn’t look guilty. He looked furious. “Are you denying it?”
“Hell, yes.” A muttered expletive accompanied the declaration. “Though why I have to is the real question here.”
Instantly, her hackles rose. Was he that out of touch? “Really? It’s confusing to you why I might have a problem trusting you?”
Obviously, he didn’t see anything wrong with being there for her and giving her a place to get away from all the pressures of life, being understanding and strong and wonderful...and then taking it away at a moment’s notice. Like he had the first time. “You dumped me in college like yesterday’s trash with no explanation. I can’t—”
She shouldn’t have brought that up. Not now.
“No explanation?” He stared at her, his expression darkening. “Our relationship is one of my fondest memories, or I wouldn’t have rekindled it. But it ended at the right time, once it had run its course. We talked about it. That’s what I said.”
“Oh, you said that all right. But you might as well have said, ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’ Either way, it’s a lame line designed to brush off the person you’re tired of.” All of this had been bottled up for far too long. It came rushing out—the formula and the baby and let’s see how it goes all muddled together into a big emotional mess she couldn’t control. “Surely you didn’t think it was an actual reason.”
He’d broken her and she wasn’t letting him do it again. Not personally. Not professionally.
