Jasmine’s mindset in beginning of book PT 4

Knowing he was only touching her because he wanted something made her want to vomit. She’d been such an easy mark for him. Five years apart hadn’t made her any wiser. The first time, not even being engaged to another man had stopped her. The second time, within hours of being reunited, she had sex with him. All he had to do was act like he cared and she did anything he fucking wanted. She was fucking pathetic.

The week leading up to the Trentham Ball, he let her know he was through with her. He stopped touching her. Looked through her as if she were beneath his notice. He slept in the same bed without acknowledging her presence as if she was a human shaped pillow rather than his wife. They played happy newlyweds at the Ball because it was expected, but she couldn’t pretend anymore and she wasn’t going to be coaxed into confiding in him. She just needed some fucking time alone to process everything Warren had exposed, but Roth was poking and prodding at her, pushing her toward a breaking point from which there’d be no return.

Roth went visibly solid for a second when she pulled away, but he didn’t obey her order not to touch her. He shot to his feet and a second later his large hand gripped her chin and forced her head back so she couldn’t avoid eye contact as he loomed over her.

“Who the fuck touched you?”

His voice trembled with rage. He should have been exhausted. She suspected he’d been up over twenty-four hours, but he showed no sign of it. His relentless energy, which had built a billion dollar empire in little more than a decade, crackled around him. His obsidian eyes were murderous, but she didn’t care.

She tried to wrench her jaw out of his grip, which tightened to bruising force. His head swooped down so he was inches from her.

“Answer me,” he barked and gave her a shake that made the knot on the back of her head start pulsing.

“No one touched me!” she shouted and thumped him on the chest with both fists hard enough to startle him into loosening his hold. She kicked out at him, forcing him back to give her space.

She undid her seatbelt and walked into the brightly lit galley. When she boarded the jet, she claimed the first seat she came across, which she suspected was actually meant for the flight attendants. It was just two forward facing seats separated from the rest of the cabin. She didn’t remember take off. Her mind and body shut down out of sheer self-preservation from the emotional overload. Now, she was awake again. She didn’t want to be. Didn’t want to think, feel, or be locked in an enclosed space with Roth.

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

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