Page 102 of Bitter Heat

For a moment, she considered ignoring him. She should. It was over, and any other interactions with him would only lead to more pain, but she didn’t walk away. She stood rooted to the spot with students rushing around her. He didn’t come to her; he just watched her steadily, waiting for her to come to him. He exuded confidence. It was something he had in spades, and something she lacked. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and cry, but she had done too much of that lately. What was he doing here? Had he come to say goodbye? Even as the thought filled her with dread, she lurched into motion because she was a glutton for punishment. She stopped several feet away, drinking him in and trying to imprint this image of him in her mental bank to drool over later.

“We need to talk,” he said.

She blinked. That wasn’t what she was expecting. “That’s not a good idea.”

“I’m not asking.”

She frowned. “Didn’t you get my text?”

“My father knows,” he quoted. “I can’t see you anymore. I’m sorry.”

“So, what are you doing here?”

“I need more than that.”

He grabbed her arm and propelled her in the direction of her apartment, which was a block away.

“I have class!”

“You can make it up.”

“Someone’s going tosee!” she hissed as she tried to pull away.

“Let them.”

He sounded supremely unconcerned.

“We need to stop this,” she whispered desperately. “My father’s going to destroy you.”

“Let me worry about your father.”

“He said he’s going to cut you out of the Langdon deal if I didn’t—”

“He already did it.”

“But…” She felt ill. “But I broke it off with you.”

He glanced at her, but she couldn’t read his expression when he still had his shades on.

“I’m sorry, Roth. You worked so hard on that deal.”

He dragged her into her apartment building and didn’t release her even when they got a sidelong glance from the couple in the elevator. Her stomach rocked as she stared straight ahead. Her father followed through on his threat even though she had complied with his wishes. The Langdon deal was supposed to take Roth to the next level, and now it was gone.

Her hand trembled as she pulled the keys out of her backpack. Roth pulled them from her grasp and unlocked the door. She preceded him into the apartment, set her bag on the floor, and strode to the windows.

“I’m so sorry,” she said thickly. “He promised he wouldn’t…”

He pulled her around to face him. “Tell me what happened.”

She dropped her face as her eyes filled with tears. She took two uneasy steps back and shrugged, eyes downcast. “I’m sure you can guess.”

“I want to hear it.”

She swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around her middle. “He told me to come to New York.” She stared at his shoes as she tried to think of a way to make this as painless as possible. “He knew.”

She dragged her shoe on the carpet, trying to focus on the pattern she was making rather than the insults that had been hurled at her. She had never seen her father like that before. He was enraged and disgusted at the sight of her. She had been such a fool. For two blissful months, she had suspended reality, and for the first time in her life, she did what she wanted. She fell for a guy and indulged to the hilt. She convinced herself that Philadelphia was worlds away from New York, and their affair would remain just between them. She was wrong.

“I don’t know who told him,” she said and acted like she was brushing back her hair so she could surreptitiously swipe away a tear. “He told me he would go after your businesses if I didn’t break it off.”

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