Page 2 of Bitter Heat

She was so drained she could barely think. As she stood there, trying to figure out what to do next, the sound of a stifled sob captured her attention. Several doors down, a doctor tried to console a man who had tears running down his face. The man’s helpless despair made her heart pound in her chest. Her emotions surged, but she ruthlessly tamped them down and switched her attention to a nurse pushing a cackling old man in a wheelchair down the corridor. She followed their progress until the nurse altered her course to avoid a large man standing in the middle of the hall. Her gaze flicked to the man, went back to the nurse, and then snapped back to him. She was too far away to make out the man’s features, but she didn’t need to. Her sixth sense told her who he was—her worst nightmare. She pushed off the wall and headed in the opposite direction at a fast pace until she rounded the corner. Even as her mind told her that she was overreacting, she broke into a run.

A cluster of nurses around a desk looked up as she blitzed past. One of them called out to her, but she didn’t stop. She dodged around the medical staff, raced down deserted hallways, and shoved through the double doors. She didn’t stop until she came upon an unlit corridor.

As she skidded to a stop, the lights flickered on, revealing a wing under construction with plastic sheets on the ground, a scaffold, and paint buckets lined against the wall. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees as she panted. Maybe it wasn’t him. The only details she could discern from that distance were a large man with dark hair. That had been enough to make her bolt. God wouldn’t be cruel enough to add him on top of everything else, would he?

“Still running from me, Jasmine?”

That all-too-familiar voice reverberated in her ears. Godwasfucking cruel. In all the different scenarios where they faced one another, a deserted hospital corridor never crossed her mind. In the best scenarios, she was at a party looking like a million dollars on the arm of a man who couldn’t take his eyes off her. Instead, she was dressed in an old college T-shirt and jeans, didn’t have on a lick of makeup, and hadn’t brushed her hair before she’d rushed Kaia to the hospital.

“Pretending I don’t exist isn’t going to work.”

The taunt made her whip around, but he was standing closer than she anticipated. She had to stop herself from backing up at the sheer size of him. His size had made her feel feminine, dainty, and protected before, but those days were long gone. If it wasn’t for the suit beneath his open overcoat, he could be mistaken for a football player, ranch hand, or construction worker. His clothes were tailored, an indication of how far he’d come in life. But only if she’d been living under a rock and failed to see his face plastered on magazines or on the news. James Roth’s success was well-documented by the media who couldn’t get enough of his rags-to-riches story.

Her eyes flicked up and collided with his, a stunning liquid black that had captured her interest from the start. He was racially ambiguous with strong features from Kaia’s Native American background and his German and Danish father. The full beard was new, as was the faintest hint of silver in his hair, even though he hadn’t hit forty. Despite his refined appearance, something about him was still rough around the edges. Once upon a time, that raw power had drawn her to him, but now, she examined her ex-husband through a set of jaded eyes. He was downright frightening. What the hell was her twenty-three-year-old self thinking? Roth wasn’t the type of man she wanted to meet in a dark alley… or a deserted corridor.

“You’re the last person I expected to see here.”

His dispassionate tone snapped her out of her dazed horror. It had been five years since she laid eyes on him, and that was all he could say? Her chest burned with anger, but she banked it and donned the mask she had cultivated in the public eye when she was a child. If he wanted to play cool and unaffected, then she would do the same.

“I could say the same about you.” It took considerable effort to sound as blasé as him, but she managed. “Kaia didn’t think you’d come.”

“What are you doing here, Jasmine?”

“Visiting.”

His eyes narrowed. “Since when are you and my mom so close?”

“I always kept in touch with her even after…” She trailed off and gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I call her every now and then to check on her. She always invites me to visit, but this was my first time I took her up on it. I’m glad I was here for her today.”

He didn’t respond. He just stood there, staring at her. She knew the tactics. Her father was a master manipulator, after all. Roth was trying to intimidate her with his silence. Not going to happen. The initial shock of seeing him made her lose her head, but she was in control now, and she could handle him.

“As much as I’d like to engage in a staring contest, I have places to be,” she said airily. “The only reason I’m still here is because Kaia didn’t think you would come, but you’re here now, so I’ll…”

She took a step to the side and froze when he shifted with her. She stared at him for a moment before she took another step. Again, he moved to block her.

“Roth,” she said in a warning tone.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?”

His crooning tone raked over her taut nerves like sandpaper.

She edged backward. “I’m not playing this game with you.”

She desperately raked her mind for an exit strategy as he invaded her space.

“Who said I’m playing a game?”

“You’re always playing a game! Everything you do is calculated. You’re a chess master, herding people where you want them before you take them out.”

“Some people think life is a game. I’ve always known it’s war.”

Her control snapped as she stumbled on the dirty plastic covered in paint splatters. “Fuck you, Roth! Get out of my way.”

“Your face has been all over the news since your father died.”

She stopped dead in her tracks, hands balling into fists at her side. “Don’t talk about my father.”

He cocked his head to the side, scenting blood like the predator he was.