Page 87 of Illicit Education

“Mr. Reed, I have a Stella Whitney here to see you.”

I stopped abruptly in the middle of my bedroom.

I’d never brought Stella to my private home. We’d spent a lot of time in various clubs around the city, but I’d never allowed her to breech this part of my private life.

Of course, being the executive assistant of Reed Enterprises meant she had access to my address, but this was crossing a serious line. My shoulders tensed and my free hand tightened into a fist at my side.

“Mr. Reed? Should I send her up.”

I cleared my throat. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll be down in a moment.” I ended the call and tucked the phone into the breast pocket of my tuxedo jacket, then shook my head as I collected my wallet and strode to the foyer, breathing deeply through my nose. As I waited for the elevator, I sent a quick text to my driver and asked him to pull around to the front of the building.

I should have ended this thing with Stella months ago.

Hell, I should have never allowed her to work for me in the first place. It was too much contact, bred confusion and blurred the lines of the Dominant/submissive relationship.

I’d fucked up.

But I would rectify it.

As the elevator doors opened, it occurred to me that here I was, fucking up again with Rylan.

Everythingwhere Rylan was concerned was blurred.

I didn’t just want to bring her into my world, I wanted to be near her. I looked forward to seeing her at the office each day, felt almost desperate while I waited for her opinion on each manuscript.

I was about to embark on something completely out of line and dangerous.

And yet I knew I could do nothing to stop it.

The elevators opened to the ground level of my building and I strode out. Stella stood off to the side, a knockout in jeans and heels that made her legs look impossibly longer. All eyes were on her as she looked up and smiled when she saw me.

My gut twisted. This would be difficult.

Her deep brown hair was twisted up at the base of her head, and the shimmery pale gray of her blouse did wonders for the color of her eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

Her smile fell and she lowered her head. “I wanted to talk to you… before you left for the event.”

I breathed deeply through my nose, then placed my hand on her lower back and led her to the double doors. “Stella, you know better than to come to my home.”

She side-eyed me, her eyes tight around the edges. “We’ve been together for almost a year—”

I stopped as we reached the sidewalk out front, rounding on her quickly. “What did you say?” This was worse than I thought. I searched her eyes, shaking my head. “Stella, we are not together.”

She took a shuddering breath, then nodded and dropped her gaze. “I know, sir. I didn’t mean—”

“Stella, look at me.”

She looked up into my eyes, and the wetness in hers tightened a fist around my heart. I was well past the point of doing breaking things off without hurting her.

Which meant not another second could be wasted.

“Stella,” I said as calmly as possible, “I feel it is time for you to find a new Dom.”

She gasped and her eyes widened as she searched my gaze.

Then she shook her head, a subtle, but frantic, movement. “Because I came here? I’m sorry. I won’t do it again—”