“Where is she?”

Jasmine lay on her side, back pressed against the couch cushions, hemmed in by her sleeping niece and nephew. Bailey lay on the opposite end of the couch, but close enough, so their legs were tangled together. Bailey, who had always been a restless sleeper, flipped every now and then while her brother cuddled against Jasmine’s front with his arm tossed over her middle as he snored.

Jasmine drifted with Barbie in the Nutcracker playing on repeat. She considered shutting the movie off, but suspected the background noise was keeping the kids under, and she didn’t want to interrupt their slumber.

Her sisters and Rami were talking in the kitchen. She didn’t bother trying to follow their conversation. She didn’t want to know what they were talking about, especially if she was the topic. She dozed, but surfaced when she heard, “Where is she?”

She went rigid at the sound of Roth’s voice. She heard her sisters speaking quickly. Jasmine wasn’t sure whether they were trying to calm him or stop him from coming to her, but she knew they failed when she heard his heavy footsteps cross the room.

She followed Roth’s progress as he rounded the couch and played dead as he came to a stop in front of them. Certain she was safe, it was a shock when she felt Kye slip from her grasp. She kept her breathing slow and even as she cracked one eye open and was treated to the bizarre sight of Roth settling the little boy in the corner of the couch before he turned back to her.

She shut her eyes and kept her body limp as Roth tugged her along the cushions until she could no longer feel Bailey’s tiny legs. Then, an arm slipped beneath her knees and another behind her shoulders, and she was airborne. Roth adjusted her, so her cheek rested against his shoulder, before he strode away. The room was deadly silent behind them.

She knew where he was going to take her. She wasn’t surprised when she heard a door close, but the snick of the lock made her toes curl in protest. He didn’t acknowledge the ripple of tension in her legs, or maybe he didn't notice since he was lowering her on the bed. She lay with her upper half turned one way and her legs in the other and heard the sounds of him undressing. She wondered if he was going to leave her like this and shower, but in less than fifteen seconds, he shifted her further into the bed and got in beside her.

If she hadn’t been focused on her even breathing, she would have stopped completely when his hand went to her throat.

**This is a raw draft of Bitter Sins. Please do not share or distribute.

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