Page 60 of Bitter Heat

“She’s not allowed to make a mistake, not when billions are on the line.”

“I’ll pay double what you did for the shares.”

His eyes narrowed for a brief second before he shrugged. “Not interested.”

“Of course, you are,” she snapped as her nerves stretched to the breaking point. She couldn’t stand being in his presence. He stirred up so much in her, and none of it was good. Seeing him reminded her of all the mistakes she had made. She felt as if she couldn’t take a full breath like he was sucking up all the air. He was toxic. She wanted to get the shares back and get away from him.

“I have what you want,” she said.

“Do you?”

“I do.” In that, she had no doubt. What she was offering was nothing to sneer at.

“I’ll pass.”

He wanted to play hardball. “You haven’t asked how much I have.”

“It’s irrelevant.”

What the fuck? She stiffened as he rose. How could she have forgotten how goddamn big he was? He faced her across the length of his desk as he smoothed a hand over his shirt, bringing attention to his body, a body she was intimately familiar with. Their last encounter in her apartment flickered at the edges of her mind, but she resolutely shoved the memories in the dirt where they belonged. She wanted to look away because that probing gaze told her he knew what she was thinking. Fucker.

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

A chill tripped down her spine.

“Revenge. I’ve heard it’s a dish best served cold. Appropriate that winter’s coming, hmm?” He slipped his hands into his pockets. “Seven years ago, your father destroyed me, and he had help.”

Realization hit. “Oh, my God,” she whispered.

He began to walk around the office. Roth had always stuck out in a crowd, and it wasn’t just his size that drew eyes to him. It was his confidence that assured people he could pull off every venture he proposed. He had always been intimidating, but now he was a step beyond that. The man she married was no more. He was control personified, completely dispassionate and focused on the bottom line.

“They thought they would teach me a lesson and show me my place.”

He drew out the last word, savoring it.

“And now I’m back to put them in theirs.”

If he was telling the truth, her sisters were just one of many who he felt deserved punishment. He was about to unleash a tidal wave of terror among the New York elite, and no one was safe. He was unhinged.

He came back into her line of vision when he perched on the front of his desk. He was too close for comfort but now wasn’t the time to be squeamish.

“My sisters are innocent,” she said.

“They owe a debt.”

“What debt?”

“Your father’s.”

Even though she had been expecting something like that to come out of his mouth, she still couldn’t believe it. “This is insane! You’re spending millions of dollars to exact revenge on someone who’s dead! What is wrong with you?”

“No one gets the better of me, Jasmine.”

“But he didn’t! You’re here.” She waved her hands to encompass his grand office and the view. “It doesn’t matter what he did to slow you down because you made it despite all of that.”

“It’s not enough,” he said quietly.

“What do you want? Blood?”

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