Page 74 of Point of Contention

My phone rang on the table, but I ignored it, this moment too heavy to interrupt. But when it immediately began ringing again, Rylan cocked an eyebrow. “You think maybe you should get that?”

I groaned, then reached for the device. Reading the name on the screen, I scowled. “No.” Then I placed the phone back down on the table.

“Cabot.” She leveled a knowing gaze on me and I growled, then answered the call.

“Speak.”

Roderick Rombauer chuckled on the other end of the line. “Well, hello to you, too.”

Irritation heated my veins as I waited for him to say whatever was on his mind.

“I think it’s time we discuss things, man to man. The new generation.” He laughed. “Leave the old dogs out of it.”

My shoulders tensed. I’d been pretty clear at our last luncheon that I didn’t share his views on the good ol’ boys club, newdogsor old.

“Our fathers have been discussing the futures of Reed Enterprises and Rombauer and Sons.”

I narrowed my eyes at this.

“A possible merger is in the works.”

There’s that fucking word again.My breath left my lungs in awhooshbefore I could stop it. No doubt, Roderick heard the sound.

“I take it this is news to you?” he asked, a smugness to his voice that made me want to reach through the phone.

“What do you want?” I asked, schooling myself back into practiced composure.

Rylan rubbed her thumb between my eyebrows. I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch.

“I want to move forward without them. They lack a certain…” He paused, then said, “Truthfully, old friend, they lack a vision for the future, for progress, and I’d hate for them to run our birthrights into the ground.”

Scowling, I opened my eyes. With my head lowered, my gaze was on the promised land between Rylan’s thighs. I reached between us and gently brushed my thumb against her seam, looking up to gauge her reaction and smirking when the ghost of a smile teased her lips.

“And if I agree with you,” I asked Roderick as I began driving my thumb up and down over Rylan’s clit, “what is your suggestion? How do you plan to remove our fathers from the equation?”

Rylan’s eyes widened slowly, and not because of my hand between her legs. Well, maybe partly from that.

“It’s simple, really,” Roderick said.

I wet my thumb and returned it to her clit. Her lips tried to pull into a grin, but she bit down on the bottom one and leaned back against the coffee table, spreading her legs further.

“Good girl,”I mouthed.

“They’re old, past their prime.” Roderick chuckled again, a grating sound. “I’d even venture as far as saying… senile.”

My jaw clenched. My father wasn’t even in the same realm as senile, and though I greatly disliked Roderick’s father—my godfather—I couldn’t accuse him of being anything less than astute either. Both men were shrewd and calculated; to imply otherwise showed just how careless Roderick had become—and just how dangerous he was to both his family’s legacy and mine.

Rylan wiggled and I realized I’d stopped stroking her. I slipped my thumb downward, swiping it through the wetness I’d created, then dragged it back up to circle her clit.

“It’s time we make a name for ourselves, Cabot.”

“Not interested.” I began to pull the phone away from my ear—

“They’ve been moving against you,” he snapped, his voice high with the first hint of desperation.

I brought the device back to my ear and asked calmly, “What did you just say?”

“This is your chance to take your place on the throne, like it or not. It is your birthright. We are meant to rule, even if you take that gift for granted.”

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