C4, PT. 2

His voice deepened. “I had affection for you, princess. More than your father and sisters combined. I sacrificed everything for you, just as you did for me. That has nothing to do with business.”

His hand twisted in her hair to stop her from shaking her head.

“You only wanted me because—”

He tugged, forcing her head back. Wet lashes parted and looked up the long length of him. He stared down at her, grim-faced, eyes two burning black holes.

“I picked you out of a crowded room. I coveted you before you spoke your first word, but you sealed your fate when you asked me to take your hand, risking rejection and ridicule to integrate a stranger who didn’t belong in that room. You supported me with no expectation of compensation or reciprocation. I saw traits in you I read about in books, but didn’t believe truly existed, especially in a daughter of Maximus Hennessy. Every weakness I uncovered, I used to bind you to me. Whatever your family wouldn’t give you, I did. I gave you my time and attention and encouraged your dreams of being a writer. Baldwin was so sure of himself, he didn’t even bother to seduce you, so I did. I always intended for our affair to be discovered.”

“You…” She was so astounded, she couldn’t articulate the question that had plagued her for years.

His face set in uncompromising lines. “I had no intention of letting you keep me a dirty secret. I forced you to choose. When you tried to break it off, I thought I miscalculated, only to discover you were trying to protect me from your father. You thought I would give you up for the Langdon deal.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Why would I give up the only person who ever stood up for me? Who gave herself to me, knowing she could only grant that privilege once, and I was her choice?”

“You trapped me.”

His resolute expression didn’t change. “I’d do it again. A dozen times over to possess something so rare and pure. I knew whatever future came through you would make everything I endured worth it.”

When her eyes flicked away, he grasped her chin so she couldn’t avoid him.

“I vowed to give that woman the world, but before I could, she ran from me. I told you where my head was at, why I lied and said you weren’t worth the struggle, but I never contemplated letting you free. The year I refused to sign the divorce papers and demanded a face-to-face should have told you that. You weren’t supposed to leave me.”

Abruptly, he straightened and turned from her, an explosive curse bursting from him as he paced away. She stared straight ahead with tears falling freely now. The glimpse of the betrayal and rage that contorted his face before he walked away left her trembling.

Her throat convulsed. “You… you didn’t—”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?” He cut off her flustered stammer as he stared at the view, hands clasped behind him. “What did you promise your father in exchange for his help, Jasmine?”

His tone suggested that he didn’t care one way or another, but she knew better. Guilt twisted her gut. She had every right to end a marriage she didn’t want to be in. He shouldn’t have fought her choice, forcing her to involve her father, which started a war of retaliation and revenge she was still waging four years later.

“I wanted freedom,” she whispered, willing him to understand.

“There’s no such thing as freedom.”

His voice cracked like a whip—impatient and oh so angry.

“What were his terms? Divorce me and inherit three hundred million?”

She thought back to his accusations in Colorado. She corrected him at the time, but apparently, he didn’t believe her. “Receiving my inheritance wasn’t contingent upon our divorce.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Why would I? There’s no need to at this point,” she said wearily. “Dad never told me I would inherit a dime or that I was his executor. I learned of both in the hospital when he was in a coma.”

His blatant skepticism made her chest burn.

“Maybe you should look back at that funeral footage. The reason Matt, Julius, and the others were around me was because I had no one. My sisters were pissed I inherited anything, much less the last of his fortune. They thought I manipulated him into changing his will. They left me to deal with Dad and the funeral arrangements by myself. I didn’t handle it well.” She scrubbed her hands up and down her thighs as memories of those horrible days bombarded her. “Matthew escorted me to the stage because I could barely walk, and Julius forced me to drink something because I almost fainted. My sisters kept their distance and never said a word to me.”

She averted her face to hide the hurt that still gnawed on her insides. She forgave Colette and Ariana, but that didn’t erase the memories or doubt fanned by the man judging every word that fell from her lips. Was her sister’s recent change of heart genuine, or were they simply rewarding their scapegoat for taking the bullet for them by keeping their pristine reputations intact and restoring their already vast fortunes?

“I never expected anything from my father, even though we repaired our relationship. If he asked, the only thing I wanted was Tuxedo Park. I resigned myself to watching it pass to my sisters. I hoped they would let me live in the guesthouse or even work alongside Thea if that’s what it took to visit every now and then. But Dad didn’t just give me the only home I’ve known, he gave me everything…” Her voice fractured as emotion engulfed her. “He was so different in the end, the father I always dreamed of. I don’t know what compelled him to change his mind or why he didn’t warn me…” Her hands rose and fell to express the confusion and humble gratitude she couldn’t put into words. “I was so overwhelmed. I had no idea what to do with the money and, like my sisters, I didn’t think I deserved it. I went to Colorado to regroup and make sense of his gift, and I ran into you.”

 She fixed him with a level gaze from dripping eyes.

“He didn’t bribe me with my inheritance. It was my choice to divorce you. One has nothing to do with the other.”

“He said you begged to come back into the family fold, that you were willing to do anything to get your inheritance.”

Her nose wrinkled in disgust. “And you believed that?”

“What was I supposed to think when you refused to take any money in the divorce?”

“I had my writing money, and after you went through so much trouble to keep your success a secret from me, why would I ask for anything?” She mopped up her face with her plush sleeve. “You paid my tuition and provided for me before writing could sustain me. That was enough. Besides, I learned early on money always comes with strings and I didn’t want that tie to you.” She met his shadowed gaze. “When did I give you the impression that I’m easily swayed by money? If my inheritance meant that much to me, I wouldn’t have forfeited it to marry you in the first place.”

Something she said had clearly unsettled him, but she was too drained to care what that was.

“Maximus wouldn’t help you without asking for something in return, so what was it?” he clipped.

He was like a dog with a bone… “He asked for time.”

“Time,” he repeated like he had no understanding of the word.

“Yes, time. He was lonely and sick and wanted us to work on our relationship. I agreed to visit him several times a month.”

She had never seen him look perplexed. Under other circumstances, she would have enjoyed seeing him off kilter, but all she wanted to do was stretch out on the couch and cry herself to sleep.

“After all he’s done, he wanted a relationship with you.” His flat tone expressed his patent disbelief.

“I told you he changed. Maybe he saw himself in a different light because he knew his time was short and didn’t like the way I portrayed him in my books?”

He swept that aside with a dismissive wave.

“What else did you agree to?” he asked impatiently.

“That’s it.”

He stared at her. She could hear a clock ticking somewhere, or was that just her imagination? There was activity in his eyes, lots of it, but she had no idea what was going on in that analytical computer brain of his.

“You asked him to help you get a divorce and in return, he wanted you to play daughter with no other expectations or conditions.”

It wasn’t a question, but she answered anyway. “Yes.”

“Maximus led me to believe you would remarry soon after the divorce.” He paused, giving her time to say something, but when she didn’t comment, he pushed, “In Colorado, you confirmed that you received marriage offers. From who?”

She flicked her sleeve. “Distant acquaintances who only wanted me for my family connections.”

“And Maximus didn’t push you to accept?”

When she hesitated, he tensed. “He made it clear he wanted me to marry, but he didn’t force me.” Her father learned his lesson the first time. She would have run like hell if he pressured her into marriage.

“Did you see Baldwin before he left the country?”

“Ford left the country?” she parroted and ignored his threatening step toward her. “I haven’t seen him since we broke off the engagement. Why would he want anything to do with me after what I did to him?”

Roth stared at her, clearly unsure whether to believe her or not.

“I don’t why Dad would say…”

Her voice trailed off because she knew exactly why her father lied about her having a suitor waiting in the wings to replace him. Hearing that his wife was with another man would be a major blow to any husband. But to a man like Roth, who was possessive to a fault, it would enrage him. She sighed and rubbed her suddenly throbbing temples as several pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “He lied to get a rise out of you.”

Roth’s expression was blank, but she sensed the turbulence beneath the surface.

“I never considered remarrying someone from my father’s world. I wanted someone normal, someone…”

His cutting look of censure stopped her from finishing her sentence.

“Someone like the dozens of losers you fucked in the year you still had my name and hid from me?”

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

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