C23, PT. 2

He stared at her with the watery, bloodshot eyes of a starving St. Bernard.

“How much is Roth paying you to play your part?” His sweaty finger trailed over the back of her cold hand. “To make you do whatever he wants? We’ve been waiting for our turn with you. If you’re anything like your mom, I’d be willing to give you another pretty piece just like this.”

“That’s enough.”

She was vaguely aware a woman had arrived and was marching toward them. Warren whirled to face the newcomer. She had no idea what state her face was in because her world had shattered into a million pieces. Her bare back felt as if she’d taken a dozen lashes. A flash of bronze fabric caught her eye a second before she heard Colette’s voice over the sound of her racing heart.

“How dare you?”

Colette’s furious tone jarred Jasmine out of her daze. Slowly, her eyes moved from Warren to her sister, who was angrier than she had ever seen her.

Warren took in Colette’s gown with a disapproving leer. “What happened to you? You used to be so proper. Maximus would never allow you to wear something so provocative.”

“I’m an adult, not a child,” Colette snapped. “And what I’m wearing is none of your business. Did you just proposition my sister?”

“We’re all adults here. She can always say no.” He made a throwaway motion. One of his gold rings looked like it was cutting off his circulation. “But if she’s anything like Elena, she’ll spread for anyone in our tax bracket.”

“Shut your mouth, Warren.”

If she had the capability to feel anything, Warren’s incredulous expression would have delighted her. No one spoke to him like that. He was too influential for people to risk offending him. They usually took his barbs without complaint, but Colette looked ready to clobber him with her clutch if he said another word.

 “Wha… what did you say to me, girl?”

“I’m not a girl, and you heard me perfectly,” Colette said crisply. “Not another word out of your mouth. Everything you say has always been poison.”

Warren flushed with rage. “Do you really want to go there with me?”

Colette eyed him clinically. “The real question is, do you want to go there with me?”

His mouth sagged a little. It took him a moment to close it, and even longer for him to regain his voice. “Are… are you threatening me?”

Colette hesitated, making him sneer.

“Do you know what I could do to you?” Warren took a step toward her, glaring up at her with a superior look on his face. “You bungled the company, just as I knew you would. I told Maximus he should have put Lyle in charge of it.” He snorted. “Women. They’re only good for one thing. You have no place in business.”

Even as that jolted Jasmine out of her daze, Colette whispered, “No more.”

“What did you say?”

Colette straightened. “I said, no more, Warren.”

“What the hell are you talking about? No more what?”

“No more being afraid. No more insults. I considered you a second father, a mentor, someone to be trusted. Just like Dad, you criticized, lectured, and humiliated me. I thought it was to make me stronger, to teach me a lesson. I realize now, you were grooming me to feel subservient and indebted to you.”

Warren’s expression shifted from outrage to unease. Colette had taken a tack he hadn’t expected, and he was… nervous?

He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

When Colette stepped toward him, Warren backed up before realizing he’d physically and mentally lost ground. He glanced at Jasmine before he puffed out his chest.

“I taught you everything you know out of the goodness of my heart,” he blustered.

“I should have told him about you,” Colette said quietly.

“Told him what?”

“That you raped me.”

Warren’s head kicked back as if he’d been punched. He gaped at her before he looked around the empty room and roared, “I did not!”

“You did. Many times.”

Colette’s voice was whisper soft and controlled, a sharp contrast to Warren’s indignant tones.

“I should have told him.” Colette’s fingernails scrabbled over her clutch, tearing at the fabric as she stared at Warren with enraged, glistening eyes. “I should have known Dad would never expect me to submit to any man, even one he considered a friend.”

Warren paled. “I was loyal to Maximus.”

“You’ve never been loyal to anyone in your life. If Dad revealed a weakness, you would have pounced. You were jealous of Dad because he set the tide while you were left in his whitewash. You needed to be his friend so you knew what moves to make. You were the enemy masquerading as a friend. I let myself believe you violating me wasn’t a good enough reason to ruin a business relationship, but I was worth it, and Dad would have ripped you apart.”

“No one will believe you,” Warren hissed.

“You think my husband or brothers-in-law will believe you over me?” Colette taunted softly. “Roth’s put quite a few of you in a bind, and Sullivan, as you saw this evening, is fond of him.” When Warren said nothing, she continued, “One whisper of this and others will start to pull away from you. It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not, though you and I both know it is. I know there are others. If they start talking…”

“What do you want from me?” he asked abruptly.

“We made a deal long ago. You just broke our terms.”

He glanced at Jasmine and snarled, “I didn’t even touch her!”

“Just get out of my sight,” Colette ordered and looked at Jasmine, who hadn’t spoken or moved throughout the confrontation. “The damage’s already done.”

Warren opened his mouth, closed it, and then shook his head as he hobbled out of the room. When he was gone, Colette slowly approached Jasmine.

“Are you okay?”

Jasmine met her sister’s eyes and swallowed bile as she whispered, “He touched you?”

“It was a long time ago.”

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

Copyright © 2024 Mia Knight. All Rights Reserved.