The CEO's Little Surprise

She was even more tired of missing Gage and wondering why she was beating her head against that wall, too. The man wasn’t interested in a relationship—which she’d known from day one. She’d done everything in her power to keep her emotions out of it, trying to convince herself she was sticking to him like glue so she could keep tabs on him.

It hadn’t worked. She’d fallen in love with him all over again thanks to those quiet moments when he was the man she longed for, who believed in her but didn’t care if she wasn’t strong and capable 24/7, who’d demonstrated his ability to commit to his son.

None of that mattered. She couldn’t trust him and that meant they were through. Forever.

That hole in her heart? It was there for good.

It almost would have been better to find evidence that Gage had been the one whispering in Rebecca’s ear. At least then Cass could hate him for being a sleaze. Instead, she’d had to cut ties because, after it was all said and done, he only cared about the formula. When she’d told Gage it was over, he hadn’t argued. Because he knew he’d end things eventually, so why not now?

A knock on her open door dragged her attention away from the detective’s disappointing phone call and the regret burning in her chest. Alex stood in the doorway. Cass waved in the CFO and held up one finger in the universal “give me a minute” gesture as she told the detective to keep digging.

Alex sauntered into her office, but Cass could tell this wasn’t a friendly visit.

“We need to talk,” Alex said before Cass had even set the phone on her desk. “The prelim quarterly numbers are not looking good.”

Cass bit back the groan. When it rained, it poured. “And now you’re going to tell me they’re down due to the leak, right?”

The hard line of Alex’s mouth didn’t bode well. “I don’t think we can directly pin it on that. But it’s clear we’ve got a problem, and not having that breach buttoned up isn’t helping.”

The accusation of fault hadn’t been verbalized but it came through loud and clear. This was all on Cass and Alex wasn’t pulling any punches. As the CEO, the buck stopped at Cass’s chair and she should have found the leak’s name long ago.

Helplessness welled up and nearly overflowed into her expression.

Push it back. Her throat was already so raw from watching Gage walk out of her life that she hadn’t thought it could get much worse. Turned out she was wrong.

“I’m working on it,” she said smoothly. Or what she thought would pass for smooth, but Alex scowled instead of lightening up.

“You’ve been saying that for weeks. I’m starting to wonder whether you’ve got a secret agenda you’ve failed to share with me.”

Oh, God. She’d landed in turnabout hell. This was shaping up to be a redo of the conversation she’d had with Gage last week, except she was the one in the hot seat.

Being accused by Alex, who had been Cass’s friend for years and years. They’d suffered through exams together in college, through Alex’s man troubles, and of course, Cass’s singular experience with Gage. Later, she and Alex had worked around the clock together, poring over financial statements for places to cut and bonding through the difficulties of starting a brand-new company.

Except Alex was in Cass’s office in her capacity as one-quarter owner of that company. It was her right to call Cass onto the carpet. But she did not have the right to make this about something other than Cass’s inability to do her job.

“I don’t have a secret agenda. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Why are you always so dismissive of me?” Alex’s unmanicured fingernails drummed against her leg in a restless pattern as she stared at Cass with a small frown. “I run this company alongside you, not beneath you.”

Confused, Cass shook her head slightly.

There was more here than a reproach about Cass’s performance on the job. This was personal. She did not get the lack of trust and animosity wafting in her direction. It wasn’t as though she’d done something horrible to her friend that would make all of this justified. Not like what Gage had done to Cass, for example.

“What are you talking about?” Cass asked. “I’m not dismissing you. I—”

A brisk knock at the door cut off the rest and Cass glanced up sharply to see Melinda, Fyra’s receptionist, hovering in the hall outside her office, practically wringing her hands.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Melinda’s eyes were so wide, it was a wonder they didn’t fall out of her head. “But not really. You’ve got a visitor and, well, he’s not the kind of person you make wait around. Besides, I’m afraid he’s disrupted the entire office and I thought—”