Page 43 of Bitter Heat

“Are you going back to the castle?” Bailey asked as she got up on her knees on the chair.

Her mouth curved. “Yes.”

Bailey glanced at her mom before she leaned forward. “Can I come?”

“I think she has you on a tight schedule.”

“But if you tell her you’re sad, she might let me come with you.”

Bailey was definitely learning the art of negotiation quickly. She was logical and persuasive and not even five years old.

“Come too!” Kye said loudly before his sister shushed him.

“I’ve been away for a while. I have some work to do, but if your mom lets you, I’ll pick you up in a week or two,” she said.

Bailey sighed and sank back into her seat, arms crossed. “I want to see the horses.”

“You will.”

“I want to see themnow.”

She tapped her niece’s nose. “Be good and you will. No pouting.”

After dinner, she played with Kye and Bailey before Ariana declared it was time for bed. She kissed the kids before Rami took them two floors down to their penthouse. Lyle locked himself in his office while she and her sisters, by mutual accord, settled in the grand living room.

When Jasmine glanced at the fire, memories of her and Roth fucking in front of a similar blaze swamped her before Colette cleared her throat.

“You haven’t responded to my messages,” she said.

Jasmine switched her attention to her sister as remnants of the flames danced in her eyes. “I don’t know what we have to talk about.”

Colette and Ariana glanced at one another. They were so in sync with one another that talking wasn’t necessary. Growing up beneath two talented, gorgeous sisters hadn’t been easy. She was always ten steps behind, and no matter what, she would never catch up. Roth freed her from the Hennessy mold. She stopped trying to be the perfect daughter and employee and decided to be herself. Her sisters played a high stakes game she wasn’t built for. She was glad she had gotten out before she married Ford and got stuck in a world where money was king and image was everything. When she broke off her engagement, her sisters had been just as angry as their father. Her sisters didn’t reach out during the estrangement, and when she reconciled with their father, Colette and Ariana went along with it but not without sharing a lot of long looks. She had always been an outsider.

“This news with Roth is… unexpected,” Ariana said, obviously trying to ease the tension in the room.

Her pussy pulsed. She crossed her ankles and fisted her hands in her lap.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that he came back to New York after Dad passed?” Colette asked.

She blinked. “What?”

“He moved back right after the funeral.”

She frowned. “Of course, it’s a coincidence. What else could it be?”

Colette and Ariana glanced at one another again.

Ariana sat forward. “We reacted badly when the will was read. We wanted to let you know we don’t harbor any resentments about your inheritance.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” she said. After dealing with Roth, her patience was at an all-time low. She wasn’t interested in their polite bullshit.

Her sister’s visibly stiffened. It was clear they weren’t expecting her to be so blunt.

“I didn’t know that he named me as the executor,” she said, looking directly at Colette. “And I didn’t know I would inherit his remaining assets. I never asked for anything.”

Colette lowered her gaze while Ariana shifted uncomfortably.

“You walked out after the will was read,” Jasmine continued. “You forced me to make that decision about Dad alone. You weren’t there when he passed.” Her breath caught, and she looked at the fire as she fought to keep her composure. “Be honest for once. You were pissed.”

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