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Chapter Nineteen
As soon as we stepped into a downstairs office, Mina rounded on us. “What the hell was that? What did I just witness?”
Reed squared his shoulders, positioning himself between us protectively.
Mina scoffed. “Oh, don’t get it twisted, I’m not the one she needs protection from.”
I stepped back at the vitriol in her voice.
“Rylan, please have a seat.”
Reed’s hand flew out and his fingers encircled my wrist. He pulled me behind him more fully.
My eyes widened in shock as I watched Mina’s eyes widen in anger.
“Cabot,” she said slowly, her voice low and threatening, “Do not forget your place here.”
On a deep breath, he released my wrist.
“Rylan.” Mina motioned to a chair off to the side. “Please.”
I swallowed hard and hurried to sit down.
Mina breathed deeply as she paced the small room, arms crossed over her chest. Every few seconds, she’d shake her head, as if in conversation with herself.
With tense shoulders and a racing pulse, I waited, chewing on my thumbnail as I looked back and forth between these two powerful people.
It occurred to me then why I’d been so drawn to Mina. She held the same animal magnetism that Reed did. The same predatory power. She commanded respect without saying a word. It was in her stance, the set of her shoulders, the tilt of her chin.
She was a woman people respected.
The sheer power coming off these two people was nearly stifling in the small space.
Finally Mina paused her pacing, then practically sank into a chair behind the desk. “I don’t honestly know how to handle this.”
“Mistress–”
“Fuck the titles, Cabot,” she growled. “We’ve been friends for a long time. I’m not your Mistress.” She shook her head. “Not right now.”
I leaned forward, trying to figure out where this was going.
“What were you thinking?”
Reed’s shoulders slumped. His head drooped.
I tried to see the look on his face but he was turned away from me just enough that I couldn’t see his expression.
“How long has this been going on?”
I looked at Mina, but her eyes were focused on Reed. She wasn’t asking me.
“Two weeks.”
Her eyebrows crept up her forehead. “Two weeks?” She looked at me and I nodded.
“Goddamit, Cabot,” she murmured. “I warned you to stay away from her.”
I’m sorry, what? I leaned back, raising one eyebrow.
“I couldn’t.”
She barked out a laugh. “Couldn’t? You’re the most self-composed man I’ve ever known. You’ve never fallen victim to your own whims. What changed?”
She glanced at me for an answer, but I was just as curious as she was. She’d warned him to stay away from me? Why? And what had changed? Why couldn’t he stay away?
“She’s too young,” Mina whispered.
“Okay,” I said, raising my hands. “I have to stop you there.”
Mina’s jaw tightened as she turned her attention toward me once more. “Rylan, you need to understand something.”
“I understand plenty.”
She shook her head. “We have rules here, guidelines. We have strict policies, especially for those of us in charge–”
“Mina–”
She whipped her head toward Reed. “You’re my fucking Ombudsman, for God’s sake, Cabot! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
He rocked from the force of her voice. “I didn’t break any rules.”
Mina’s nostrils flared as her eyes widened. “You broke the most important one.”
“She has always consented–”
“She can’t consent!” Mina’s voice rose with her brief loss of composure, but she quickly took a deep breath and when she spoke next, her voice was calm again. Terrifyingly calm. “You are her employer, Cabot. She cannot consent.”
My muscles were tight across my shoulders, and there was a pit growing in my stomach. I think I understood where she was going with this, but it was bullshit. “I did consent. Do. I do consent.”
“Just the simple fact that he is your boss outside of the Rabbit Hole means that you cannot, in the true–legal–sense of the word, consent, Rylan.” She shook her head, closing her eyes on a long blink. “He has betrayed your trust, and in doing so, has betrayed mine.”
I looked back and forth between them, from the disappointment in Mina’s eyes to the side of Reed’s head as he still focused intently on the floor. This version of this man was unfamiliar to me. It was so opposite of everything I’d learned in the three weeks I’d known him.
“Reed?” I said.
Mina’s mouth fell open.
I spared her a brief glance, but honestly, I didn’t really care about formalities right now. “What’s going on? Why won’t you look at me?”
He swiveled his head and our eyes locked. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the hint of anger in those onyx pools. I’d slipped up and called him by his last name in front of Mina, his boss… or whatever… here in the Rabbit Hole. He was pissed at me for doing so, even in this tense situation. And I found strength in that glare.
“Oh my god.” Mina sighed. “It’s worse than I thought.”
I turned my attention toward her and braced myself.
“I thought you didn’t entertain personal relationships, Cabot.”
My brows furrowed. He’d told me the same thing. What was she getting at?
He dropped his head again, staring at the damn floor. “I don’t.”
See? Cleared that right up.
“You’re going to lie to me as if I don’t have eyes?”
Reed didn’t respond.
We weren’t in a relationship… were we?
“Stella is out there!” Mina whisper-yelled, pointing to the door.
I jerked back in my seat. Stella is here? I looked at Reed.
He’d gone white as a ghost.
“If she can see this,” Mina continued. “If she saw what I and all of those people saw on that stage…” Mina made a strangled sound in her throat and I swiveled my attention back to her like I was watching a damn tennis match.
“Tell me she doesn’t still work for you.”
