Page 125 of Bitter Heat

“You don’t have to do anything.”

She closed her eyes as he tipped her face up to his. He defused her tension even more by covering her face in kisses.

“Stop,” she said as her eyes burned with tears.

His fingers traveled down her throat. “Did my mom tell you she calls me a monster?”

Her eyes flew open and clashed with his. “What?”

“My mom thinks something’s wrong with me. She used to take me to psychologists to have me institutionalized.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss over her hammering pulse. “Maybe she’s right.”

She clutched a handful of his suit. “Roth.”

“I’m not what she wanted in a son. That’s something you and I have in common. We never fit in with our families.” He sucked on her neck and smiled against her skin when her breath hitched. He followed the tendon in her neck to her jaw and then her ear. “You’re a Hennessy, heir to one of the largest empires in the country. You were engaged to a Baldwin, a golden boy who grew up like you. On the outside, your life was perfect, but you were looking for something else. You found it in me.”

He raised his head and looked down at her.

“You gave me what no one else has,” he said.

“What?”

His hand circled her throat. “You accepted me for who I am. You chose me when no one else did.”

When she tried to draw away, his hand tightened on her throat.

“You gave me everything. How can anyone compare to that?”

“Stop it, Roth.” He was slicing open old scars that had never completely healed.

“If you remarried, I would have destroyed him.”

She could see he meant that.

“If I had the names of the men in your books, the men you used to forget me, I’d fuck them up.” His eyes traveled over her face. “Be careful who you bring between us.”

“You said—”

His hand flexed, cutting off her words.

“You forgave your father for all he’s done. Why not me?”

“H-he loved me.”

His eyes moved over her face. “Do you want me to love you?”

“No.”

“Why not?” he asked as his thumb stroked her pulse.

“I want to be free.”

“I’m a wealthy man.”

“Money doesn’t equal freedom, and you… you’ll never be satisfied with what you have. I already know what road you’re on. I’ve already lived that life. I don’t want any part of it.”

“I’m not like everyone else.”

“I want freedom,” she said fiercely. “I grew wings after I left you. I soared without you.”

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