C15, PT. 4

She rose and went toe to toe with her sister. “You haven’t been managing. You’ve been coping. The evidence of that is in your purse.”

Ariana jerked as if she’d been struck.

“I haven’t told Colette or Rami because I hoped you were in recovery. Can you get clean or should I involve them?”

“No!”

Ariana’s forceful outburst made a bundled up passersby pause. When Ariana glanced at him, he blinked before giving her an admiring smile. Even distraught, the looks Ariana inherited from her supermodel mother short-circuited ninety percent of the male population.

“I’ll go back to my therapist,” Ariana got out, the words clearly paining her.

“Maybe you should go to Narcotics Anonymous,” Jasmine suggested.

Ariana went rigid.

“Perhaps you need to be around others who understand—”

“I can do this on my own.”

“I think Rami has a right to know,” she admitted.

Ariana’s hands balled into fists as she took a threatening step toward her. Jasmine looked up at her older sister’s beautiful, enraged face, and silently dared Ariana to touch her. Roth gave her lots of hands on practice. Ariana didn’t stand a chance in a physical altercation despite her height. Let Ariana explain to the family why she had a black eye or shattered cheekbone. Her sister may be outraged, but she was pissed. Pissed that she had to deal with this situation in the first place, pissed that all of them had something to hide. There were such bigger things at stake, yet her sister thought she could intimidate her into shutting up when she held her own against their father and dealt with the force of nature that was her husband on a daily basis.

“Colette deserves to be informed, too.” When Ariana opened her mouth to argue, she added, “And Lyle. They need to prepare for the worst if you can’t get this under control.”

When Ariana turned away, she gripped her sister’s arm to hold her in place.

“I’m not trying to humiliate you. I want to help. Whatever you need to get past this… If you need someone to go with you to appointments, someone to call at two in the morning, to watch the kids for you, whatever. You tell me, I’ll do it.” Her eyes stung with furious tears. “Damn it, Ari, this has spiraled out of control. If you were capable of doing this on your own, you would have kicked this habit long ago. Let me help you.”

A tear slid down Ariana’s cheek as she whispered, “I can do this.”

She sighed, but relented. “You’ll tell me if you can’t do this on your own?”

Ariana gave a militant nod.

“It’s a miracle Roth let me talk to you. I don’t think there will be a next time. Do you understand?”

Ariana nodded and then tugged back her sleeve to look at her watch, which was flashing. “I’m late for a meeting.”

“We’ll give you a ride back.”

“We?” Ariana said warily.

“My security.”

Ariana glanced back as Mo came up behind them. Color rushed back into Ariana’s pale cheeks as she faced forward again.

“This is mortifying.”

“It seems all of our secrets are being exposed. Be grateful your secret hasn’t gone public yet. Colette couldn’t keep her troubles about Hennessy & Co under wraps. Dad told you my pen name and Roth…”

“Was blackmailed,” Ariana said succinctly, but she sounded more thoughtful than critical. “Is that still a mystery?”

“Yes.” She hoped Ariana wasn’t foolish enough to investigate Roth in hopes of discovering his secret, since he revealed hers. If Roth chose to expose Rami’s past, it would shatter Ariana’s world. Her temples pounded as all the ways her family and husband could destroy one another passed through her mind.

As if Ariana were following a similar mental path, she asked, “Has he been keeping tabs on all of us?”

Was there any point in denying it? “Yes.”

Ariana shivered. “I guess it’s a good thing he’s on our side.”

“You didn’t think that on Thanksgiving.”

“No, I didn’t,” Ariana agreed.

When Johan pulled up to the curb, she rounded the car to sit behind the driver’s seat. She listened to Ariana call her secretary to inform her that she was running late. Jasmine stared out the window, chest tight with mixed emotions. She thought she would feel better with things out in the open, but nothing was resolved. She wasn’t naive enough to believe one conversation would magically fix everything. If addiction was easy to overcome, it wouldn’t have progressed to this point. What if Ariana spiraled even further and got better at hiding her addiction? Did Ariana deserve the benefit of the doubt and have the right to try one more time before she called in reinforcements? Or, should she alert the rest of the family from the get-go? But if she involved the family, how would she explain how she caught Ariana in the act? Sooner or later, it would come out that Roth was monitoring all of them and all hell would break loose.

Her heart sank. Was the past about to repeat itself? Would she have to choose between her family and Roth? She would choose him, even knowing she would have no one once they parted. What if her family decided to gang up on him? Would they put him in his place, or would he dismantle their empires?

“You knew at Thanksgiving. That’s why you asked if I had skeletons in my closet,” Ariana said suddenly.

She didn’t take her eyes from the view. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you throw it in my face then?”

“I wanted to, but like you said, it had no bearing on our discussion at the time. And you have a right to decide who’s around your kids.”

“That doesn’t apply to you.”

Her sister still didn’t get it. She and Roth were a package deal. Although he would tolerate Ariana’s antics, she wouldn’t stand for it or expect him to endure such disrespect.

“Colette said you won’t be joining us for Christmas.”

“It won’t be the first time,” she said in a voice that sounded as dead as she felt.

“The kids will be disappointed.”

“I’ll make sure to deliver their presents ahead of time.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about. They’re very attached to you.”

Her eyes filled with tears. Her niece and nephew lit up her world, but she wouldn’t put Roth in such an uncomfortable position and if this was the beginning of the end with her family, maybe it was best that she start distancing herself.

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

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