Page 58 of Bitter Heat

Colette’s spine straightened. “No, he doesn’t. I don’t want him to think I can’t handle this on my own. He has his own businesses to worry about. This is mine.”

“If he ever finds out that you didn’t tell him, he’s going to be pissed.”

“Right,” Ariana muttered.

“He won’t find out because we aren’t going to tell him,” Colette said through clenched teeth.

Jasmine stared out at the city as her sisters argued. What was Roth’s end game? To destroy the Hennessy name? Declare war on one of the richest and most powerful families in New York? Maybe it was meant to be that Maximus had given her the money so she could pay off her ex and be free of him once and for all.

She didn’t realize how cold she was until Colette’s warm hands wrapped around hers.

“If you can’t do this,” Colette said quietly, “we can find another way.”

“No.” She faced her sisters who sat side by side on the couch. “I’ll call.”

“You have his number?”

She nodded and stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Get some rest. I’ll contact you if I get in touch with him.”

Before they could say anything else, she walked away and boarded the elevator on legs that felt like jelly.

Chapter 10

“Where to?” the driver asked.

She stared out the window as they pulled away from Hennessy Tower. “Not sure yet. Just drive.”

After two blocks, she pulled out her phone. She unblocked his number and waited for a deluge of notifications or voicemails to pop up. Nothing happened. It was anti-climactic.

Her gaze returned to the window. She wanted to beat her fist against the glass until it splintered. She thought she was done with corporate games, but Roth was drawing her back into the thick of it. He thought she was bad at business because she didn’t have the balls to behave like him, but he was wrong. She would do whatever it took to keep her family legacy alive even if it meant sacrificing every penny she had to fight him. Once upon a time, he broke her heart. That wasn’t enough for him. He kept dicing it into smaller pieces. Did he want her to hate him? Mission accomplished.

She found his name in her contacts. Her finger hovered over the screen. She buried her feelings, tapped on his name, and put the phone to her ear. It rang once, twice, three times. Maybe he wouldn’t answer her call, just like her sisters. She was just a piece of ass to him anyway—

“Jasmine.”

The hand in her lap balled into a fist. “Where are you?”

“My office.”

“I need to talk to you.”

No response. She waited and then pulled the phone away to check that he was still on the line.

“Roth?”

“I’ll be here.”

“Where’s your office?”

He rattled off an address she was very familiar with. His office was across from Hennessy headquarters. Motherfucker.

“See you in ten,” she said and hung up.

She gave the address to the driver who seemed relieved to have a destination. She shoved her phone in her purse and closed her eyes as she readied herself for the confrontation. Her emotions frothed inside her.Business isn’t personal.She ground her teeth as her father’s words drifted through her mind. The fuck it wasn’t. Roth was going after Hennessy & Co and God knew what else. Her eyes pricked with furious tears. He was a heartless bastard.

When the car stopped, she sat back. “Give me a moment,” she said when the driver prepared to get out of the car.

“Ms. Hennessy?”