“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.?
??
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!”