Page 85 of Beautifully Broken Control

Vince chuckled, but Rachel’s spine shot straight. “You’re the one who doesn’t know him. You’ve been around for…what? Two-point-five seconds? You think you’ve caught him because he’s fucking you? You couldn’t be more wrong. I’m the one he turns to. The one who’s been there from the beginning. The one who knows all his secrets. Knows why he built this company. The pain he’s trying to escape. Do you even know about Kiara?” She scoffed. “Of course, not. All you know is the shape of his cock.”

“Rachel!” Cain strode from the house, anger seeming to tinge the air with each step. “What the fuck did you just say?” His words were slow, deliberate, and filled with so much fury I couldn’t help but take a step back.

The problem was, his anger didn’t change the truth. One that might as well have been a barbed stake to the heart. Apparently, other people could know about Cain’s past. It was justmewho couldn’t. I took another step back. I needed away from this. Space to let out the tears I was holding so tightly to at the moment.

“Don’t.” The single word was a whip as Cain’s head snapped in my direction. “Don’t you move. The only one who’s going to be moving is Rachel. After she explains the bullshit that was coming out of her mouth.”

Rachel’s face screwed up into a mix of hatred and longing. “I spoke the truth. It’s not my fault if she can’t handle it.”

Cain’s jaw went to granite. “We are colleagues. We have only ever been colleagues. You don’t know the first thing about my personal life.”

“Really? Who deals with your flings when they do everything they can to get a second or third go? Who stays until midnight when you’re working on a project just to make sure you remember to eat? Who has been with you from day one, giving everything? Just waiting for you to notice that the perfect woman is right next to you?”

I felt bad for her then. She was a bitch, but so was unrequited love.

Cain’s mouth fell open. He was totally and completely clueless. “Rachel…I’m sorry, but I don’t feel that way about you…”

Rachel held up a hand to silence him, her face going red. “Shut up. I don’t want to hear it.” Maliciousness filled her features, and I knew that whatever she was about to say, it would be meant to cause the maximum amount of damage, to hurt Cain the way he’d hurt her. “Didn’t know there was a traitor under your nose just like you didn’t know there was one in your family. Isn’t that right, Cain? What does it feel like to know you couldn’t protect your sister then, just like you can’t protect your company now?”

Cain’s eyes narrowed, a coldness I’d never seen before slipping over his features. “Have you been selling access to our servers, Rachel?”

She let out an ugly chuckle. “I might not be a CEO, but I’m not an idiot. I’m not telling you shit. But you should’ve realized how much the people around you have grown to know about the programs you designed.”

I didn’t think, I just lunged. This greedy little— She’d stolen Cain’s blood, sweat, and tears and sold it to the highest bidder. “You bitch!”

Cain caught me around the waist. “Don’t. She’s not worth it.”

I tried to shake loose, but Cain’s hold was too strong. “She stole from you!”

“I know. Calm down, baby. Calm.” I stopped my thrashing as Cain pressed his lips to my temple. “And that’s why she’s fired.” He looked to Vince. “Confiscate her company phone, computer, and tablet, and escort her back to Portland.”

“Of course, sir.” Vince held out his hand to Rachel. “Ma’am.”

Rachel threw the phone at Vince’s chest. “Fuck all of you.” She stormed back to the SUV and got inside. Vince raised a brow at Cain.

Cain released me and pulled out his phone. After a minute of typing on the screen, he looked up. “She’s locked out of the system.”

“You going to press charges, boss?”

Cain looked to the SUV, and that’s when I saw it. Pain. He hadn’t expected the traitor to be Rachel. Someone who had been with him since day one. Someone he’d thought had his back. “I need to get in touch with my PI, see if we can figure out just how much damage she did.”

Vince nodded. “I’ll put a tracker on her car. Just in case.”

Cain chuckled. “Thanks.” He watched as Vince strode back to the SUV and climbed in. He kept watching until the vehicle disappeared from view. Then he turned to me.

“I’m so sorry, Cain.” I didn’t go to him, didn’t reach out. Because it felt like a step in any direction was a step into quicksand.

He took two steps forward. “I’m not.”

“You’re not?”

Another two steps. “Nope.”

I licked my suddenly dry lips. “Why?”

Another two. He was just a breath away, but he didn’t touch me. “I’m free. I can start a life here without looking over my shoulder.”

“Are you sure you want that?”

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