by Cynthia Eden
“Where did you think those bids came from?” Jason asked, voice mild.
“What?” Cameron shook his head. “What the hell are you talking about now?”
Her father kept glaring. Kept looking at her as if—as if she were trash. Unworthy.
Her chin lifted.
“The bids that Cat gave to you a year ago,” Jason explained, sounding bored. As if this scene didn’t matter at all to him, but she could feel the heavy tension in his body. It matters. “Didn’t you ever wonder how she got them?” Jason asked silkily. “I mean, you knew they were from my company. How did you think they just magically made their way into her sweet hands?”
Cat’s attentions shifted to her brother once more. “I-I told Cameron that I took them. That we—we met at a casino. I was able to get access to your briefcase, and I took them,” she said again.
Jason laughed. “Gained access, hmmm?” He still had a hold on Cat’s hand. “So you knew, Cameron, that your sister had slept with me.”
Yes. That knowledge had been in Cameron’s eyes when she saw him a year ago. When he’d taken the bids and said…What have you done?
“He knew,” Cat whispered.
Nathaniel swung toward her brother. “You knew your sister had whored herself out to that slimy—”
“Too much,” Jason snapped. He lunged for her father.
But Brock jumped in his path. “Can’t let you do that,” Brock said, shaking his head. “He might’ve had it coming,” Brock’s voice was low, “but he’s my boss and I can’t let you punch him.”
Cat was clutching Jason’s arm in a death-grip as she tried to make sure he didn’t attack her father.
“Jeremiah,” Jason suddenly fired out. His careless pose was completely gone.
Nathaniel frowned.
“Do you remember that name? Jeremiah Adair.” Jason’s body was tight with fury. “You should remember him. You took his restaurant. You ruined his life.”
Her father’s frown deepened. “Adair…he had the pub in New York…good space. A space I needed…” His shoulder rolled. “So, yes, I took it.”
Her father didn’t sound even a little concerned.
Brock still blocked Jason’s path to her father.
“Do you know…” Jason gritted out, “what happened to Adair?”
“Why the hell would I care?”
Cat flinched. Jason’s profile became even harder. “Jason,” she said, heart aching, because she hurt for him then.
“He died six months after that restaurant was taken from him. He left his wife a penniless widow. His son…his son wound up being shipped from relative to relative because his widow couldn’t support him. She couldn’t support herself.”
“Why does some fool—” Nathaniel began as he shoved Brock out of his way.
“My father,” Jason snarled, his fury filling that room.
Silence.
Then… “Oh, hell,” Cameron said. “That’s why you keep coming after us. For years…why you’ve been coming…” Cameron looked at Cat, and there was pity in his eyes.
“I saw your daughter in a crowd-filled casino one night,” Jason announced, his voice still cracking with fury. “Do you know what I did then?”
Her eyes squeezed shut. Don’t say it, Jason. Don’t.
“You sonofa—”
“I took her,” he said, throwing back her father’s words from moments before.
Ice crashed through Cat’s body.
Revenge. Is that all I still am?
“And I will take everything else you value,” Jason promised.
No, Jason had told her—in that very room—that he’d backed off a year ago. He’d said he wouldn’t destroy Donnelly Dining.
He’d lied.
“Now get the fuck out of my office before I call security,” Jason’s hand flew up and pointed toward the door. “Or before I decide to kick your asses out myself.”
Her father suddenly looked much, much older. The lines on his face had deepened. His shoulders slumped. “You had to humiliate me…had to take away everything…”
“Just like you did to me,” Jason fired back. “To my family.”
Cat wasn’t touching Jason any longer. Wasn’t trying to touch him. Her knees were shaking. Her fingers trembling.
“Catherine,” Brock said softly.
Her gaze jerked to him. He wasn’t staring at her with fury or distaste. There was sympathy in his warm, brown eyes. “I think you should come with us.”
“Cat stays with me.” Jason’s voice was lethal.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t.” Not after what he’d said. Not after the way he’d just broken her heart.
Her father started to smile.
She saw him then, for exactly what he’d always been.
I was drowning, and you were never there to save me. Not just the day on the beach. Not then…
“And I’m not staying with you, either,” Cat said. She’d come to Vegas because of the blackmail threat, but the photos had been leaked. Even with Jason’s power, more photos or video footage could still escape. Especially with the power of the Internet these days. And if that happened…
She’d deal with it.
“I’m going home.” She slipped from beside Jason. She didn’t look at her father again. Didn’t look at Cameron.
“Cat.” Jason’s voice. Not pleading with her to stay. Not regretful for what he’d said. Had he even realized how humiliating that had been for her? He’d taken her…as if she were a thing. Just a weapon to use against his enemy.
Her fingers toyed with the ring on her finger. She’d left that ring behind before. Part of her was tempted to yank it off and throw the damn thing at him right then. He just seemed to keep playing with her. But…no, she was the one that just stumbled right into his arms.
This moth got burned. She’d even seen the fire coming and hadn’t cared. Her steps were slow but certain as she made her way to the doorway. And she kept the ring on her finger. Why?
Well, why the hell not? It was hers. A memento to remind her that pleasure wasn’t worth the heavy price attached to it.
She opened the door.
Finn hadn’t gone to lunch. The man stood a few feet away from Jason’s office. He watched her behind the thin frames of his glasses, his eyes like saucers. Obviously, he’d overheard plenty. “Do you…” His voice was a strangled whisper. “Do you want me to get you a cab?”
She smiled at him. “No, I’m fine on my own.” She would be. She’d made it before when she walked away from the tornado that was Jason August.
August…is that even his last name? He’d said his father was Jeremiah Adair. August was just another lie.
Like when he’d said that he needed her. That she was more than just a fuck to him.
There was silence in the room behind her.
She made it to the elevator. Waited for the doors to close. Then the tears that she’d been holding back slid down her cheeks.
***
Jason unclenched his fists. His eyes were on Nathaniel Donnelly. He’d never hated a man as much as he did that bastard.
When he stared at Nathaniel, he saw his father’s casket. And this bugger didn’t even give a piss about the lives he’d shattered.
Payback is coming your way.
“I’m supposed to be afraid of you?” Nathaniel asked as he jutted his jaw toward Jason.
Jason smiled. He knew the sight would be chilling. “You are afraid.”
Nathaniel backed away. “You won’t take my business! I’ll fight you every inch of the way!” He whirled and stormed for the door.
Brock hurried after him. Yeah, he’d seen that flunky before. The suit who jumped so fast for the old man.
Cameron didn’t head toward the door. And when he saw that Cameron wasn’t moving, Brock’s steps slowed. Nathaniel didn’t stop. He stalked out of the room.
Brock hesitated. “Cameron, man, it’s not worth it.” He sent an angry glance toward Jason. “He’s not worth it.�
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Jason shook his head. “Better smarten up,” he warned Brock. The man’s brown eyes narrowed on him. “After they’ve used you up, they’ll spit you out.”
Cameron still hadn’t moved.
Brock locked his hand on Cameron’s shoulder. “Come on. I told you and your father that confronting him was a mistake.” Worry edged his words.
Jason laughed. “It’s not like it’s their first mistake.”
Cameron’s eyes were on Jason. “You hurt Cat.”
A cold fist seemed to close around Jason’s heart. When he’d seen Nathaniel, the world had gone red for him. He’d wanted to strike out and hurt the man. Destroy him…as he tried to destroy me.
But…I never wanted to hurt Cat. Not her.
“If you come near my sister again,” Cameron continued, voice soft and certain, “if you hurt her ever again, I will kill you.”
Brock choked. “No, dammit, that’s not what he meant to say—he’s not actually threatening to kill you—”
“It’s exactly what I meant to say.” Cameron’s eyes were chips of ice. “She’s the only thing that really matters to me. Take the business. Screw it to hell and back. But don’t even think of going near her again. If you do, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
Brock dragged Cameron toward the door. “I have to control your father and you? Stop this! Get a grip!”
“He hurt her!” Cameron thundered back. He glared at Jason. “Cat’s never hurt anyone. She was probably the best damn thing that ever happened to you, August, and you just threw her away. Why? For our old man? Cat and I both could’ve told you…he’s not worth shit.”
Brock’s jaw went slack.
Cameron jerked out of the other man’s hold and marched out of the door.
Brock glanced at Jason. The guy looked lost and uncomfortable as hell. Brock cleared his throat. “I’ve…known Cameron and Catherine for a long time. So I feel like I should tell you…the man meant what he just said.”
Jason rolled his shoulders as he tried to push away some of the thick tension in his muscles. “You don’t know me at all, so I think I should tell you…” He advanced on the guy. Brock didn’t back down. “No one will keep me away from Cat.”
Brock’s gaze searched his. “Jeremiah Adair…he was really your father? All that stuff you said was true?”
Jason nodded.
“I’m sorry.” Brock sounded as if he meant the words.
“Take some advice,” Jason said. “Get the hell away from Donnelly Dining while you still can.”
After one long, hard look, Brock headed for the door.
Jason slammed that door closed behind Brock, then he stalked toward the window. The city was spread out before him. His. That whole building was his. Power. Money. Privilege. It was all his.
He wasn’t the kid without a home any more. The boy shuffled from relative to relative until his mom finally found some guy to shack up with—Paul August. A man who’d never given half a shit about Jason…and who’d kicked his ass out as soon as Jason’s mum passed away.
Jason had been seventeen then. Alone. He’d done anything and everything necessary to survive. Staying on the right side of the law hadn’t mattered to him. When it was a choice between living or dying—you did everything to live.
I’m not the same boy.
He had the fucking power now, and he was going to use it.
Cat had just rushed onto the street below him. He could see her so clearly. His hand lifted and touched the glass. He’d left her alone for a year. No, not alone, he’d gone to her little town in Maine. Watched her when the need got to be too much.
Stalking her? Fuck, yeah, maybe he had been, because Cat had messed with his mind. She’d twisted him up on the inside, and he’d had to be closer to her.
If she thought that she could come back into his life, give him a taste of her again, then just walk the hell away once more—
Cat slipped into the back of a waiting cab.
You’re wrong.
He sucked in a deep breath. The rage he’d felt when he came face to face with Nathaniel Donnelly had taken him by surprise. He hadn’t anticipated that fury. He’d have to deal with Nathaniel. The man had to pay for his crimes. As for Cat…
She could run, but she couldn’t escape. He wasn’t letting her go.
***
“He’s trying to ruin me…over a damn hole in the wall pub!” Nathaniel Donnelly paced furiously around his office, his face red, his movements tight and jerky.
Cameron stared at his father, well-used to his outbursts by now. “Did you know that man—Jeremiah—died after you took his pub?”
Only the guy hadn’t just died. Cameron had done some digging in the last few hours. From all accounts, Jeremiah Adair had committed suicide.
And left his son consumed with hate and rage.
“Why the hell would I care what happened to the man after I got his place? I had what I wanted!” Nathaniel stopped pacing to point a stiff index finger at Cameron. “Now you need to get busy. Do some PR damage control on this mess that your sister created.”
Cameron choked back his own fury. “Cat didn’t make any mess.”
“She let him screw her!”
Cameron stepped forward. “Don’t.”
“She didn’t ever have the steely spine needed for this business. She couldn’t stay in command so she ran away to play with those damn kids.” He waved his hands in disgust. “But she came back long enough to make us look like a laughingstock to our stockholders. Useless. Always was. Always—”
Cameron had grabbed his father by the shirt before he’d even realized that he’d leapt across the room. “She’s the only thing that has mattered to me when it comes to this piece of shit we call a family.”
Nathaniel’s mouth sagged open. “Wh-what?”
“You only cared about the money. Always, the money. How much you could make. How much you could take from other people. You never saw us.” He forced himself to let his father go. “Not me. Not Cat. The difference between us was…Cat cut her losses. She left.” His laughter was bitter. “I’m the fool who stayed, thinking I could impress you enough that you’d care, but you won’t. You can’t, can you? You can’t care about anyone but yourself.”
Nathaniel—when did I ever call him Dad?—narrowed his eyes. “Watch that mouth, boy.”
More laughter spilled from him. “You’re kidding me, right? I’m not seven. I’m not some boy.” He yanked at his tie. He hated the ties. Hated the sterile office. Hated the restaurants. I even hate cooking—and we have a freaking restaurant empire! “I’m done.” He spun for the door.
“Don’t you walk away from me!”
That was exactly what he was doing. He paused at the door. Glanced back once more. “Don’t ever call my sister a whore again.”
His father snarled, “You don’t talk to me like—”
“Like what? Like I see you for who you are?” Who I could become? Cameron shook his head. “I know you…and I even know what you’ve been doing with the company.” More like doing to the company. “We could’ve survived August’s attacks, but someone’s been siphoning off cash for quite a while…someone at the very top of our organization.”
“What?”
Cameron’s shoulders sagged. “I traced it back to your access codes, Nathaniel. What happened? Did you get too many expensive mistresses?” He’d always had them, and their mother had never cared. When she’d had her fatal heart attack four years ago, her father had been gone…with another of his women.
And he dared to call Cat a whore?
Cameron’s lips tightened in distaste. “I can’t believe I cared what you thought.” He glanced around the office. He was done.
“Don’t walk away!” Nathaniel roared. “Don’t! You’ll regret this! I haven’t taken a dime—this company is mine!”
Cameron shut the door on his father’s shouts. He walked down the hallway, the sound of his footsteps being swallowed by the thick carpeting. Night had fa
llen outside, and the rest of the staff had already gone home. He pulled out his phone. Called Cat. He’d tried to reach her several times that day, but she hadn’t answered him. Come on, Cat. Pick up now. Pick up.
Amazingly, she did. She answered on the second ring.
“Where are you?” Cameron asked his sister.
“The airport.”
It was the answer he’d expected and feared.
“Don’t leave yet. Just give me a little time, and I’ll come for you.” His steps hurried toward the elevator. “We need to talk, in person.”
“I’m sorry,” Cat whispered. She’d been crying. He could hear the tears in her voice.
“You have nothing to be fucking sorry for, do you hear me? Nothing.” He was almost to the elevator. “Don’t leave. Wait for me. I’m coming.” The elevator doors opened.
“Cameron!” His father’s roar of fury chased after him.
Because he’d answered his father’s call for all of his life, Cameron hesitated.
“If you leave me now, I’ll make sure that you and your sister have nothing.” His father yelled. “Do you hear me? Nothing.”
The elevator waited.
But the rage inside of Cameron had him whirling back around to face his father once more.
***
Cat’s shoulders slumped as she ended the call. So much for her smooth escape. But Cameron was her weak spot. If he needed her, if he wanted her to stay, she would.
She started making her way toward the counter once more. She’d been lucky to score the ticket on the plane that was leaving in the next hour, but maybe…maybe that luck would hold a bit and she’d just be able to transfer to a slightly later flight.
A man stepped into her path. A man with big, wide shoulders. A man with glittering, golden eyes.
Eyes that would haunt her forever.
Cat’s heart seemed to jump right out of her chest.
Jason shook his head. “Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”
She tore her gaze from his. Tried to walk around him. He caught her hands, and his touch was like fire against her skin. “Don’t!” Cat cried out.
Jason immediately dropped his hold. “We have to talk.”
He wanted to talk. Cameron wanted to talk. She was sick of talking. “Why? So you can lie to me again and tell me that I matter to you?”