Mia Knight

"That’s all on me.”

Roth shoved her off him and ran into the bathroom. She sat there, stunned, as she listened to him retch. She got to her feet and stood in the doorway as he splashed his face with water and braced himself over the sink. As if he sensed her presence, his eyes opened and fixed on her in the mirror.

“You can’t ever do that again,” he said hoarsely.

Even as he stared at her, he flinched and then shook himself as if trying to get rid of the images in his mind.

“It’s go...

She has Roth's full attention...

Jasmine cocked her head to the side as she considered the words on the computer screen. With a thoughtful hum, she sat back in her chair. Automatically, her gaze went to the windows. She absently noted that from the angle of light, it was probably closer to late afternoon, which meant she’d been writing close to five hours.

Suddenly aware of her hunger, she took off her headphones and stopped the white noise thunderstorm video that had been playing in the background. She rose with a ...

“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,...

“You can trust me” continuation

Roth stood in the aisle. Before he reached her, every seat in the lounge had been vacated as the men relocated to different parts of the aircraft.

She closed her eyes, ignoring his presence until something heavy was draped over her front. Automatically, she clutched at it when it started to fall and saw it was Roth’s wool coat. It was so large, it seemed more like a heavy blanket than something another human would wear to keep warm.

Roth settled beside her. If she had the energ...

Maximus Flashback PT. 2

"Your only appeal is that you’re a Hennessy. Can’t you see that?”

She tried not to show any reaction to his verbal blows, but despite her best efforts, her eyes filled with tears.

“He saw how useful you were at the party and thinks ruining you will force me to accept him.” His eyes glinted with malice. “He should have accepted the deal with Don Langdon and stopped reaching higher. I’m going to teach him a lesson.”

She lurched forward. “No, please...

Maximus Flashback PT. 1

“I’ve always known you were stupid, but I never imagined you’d be this big of a fool.”

Jasmine flinched.

“An affair?”

Her father’s soft, sinister tone made her lightheaded with terror.

“An affair with James Roth?”

She clasped her trembling hands together in a death grip.

“Did you forget that you’re engaged to Ford Baldwin?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Dad—”

“Did you?”

His guttural roar made he...

“You can trust me.”

He gripped her wrist. She stilled when she felt his beard scrape against her skin and then her hand spasmed when his lips hit the center of her palm.

“Give me a chance to make this up to you.”

She tried to jerk away, but he was prepared for that and hung on.

“I’ll make them pay.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks.

“You can trust me.”

Her eyes opened. With the bright lights shining down and him standing over her, his face was in shadow, but it di...

October Recap/November Update

October Recap:

This book is starting to take shape! Previously, I was bouncing all over the place, chasing interesting dialogue and ideas. Now, I’ve gone back to the very beginning and began to flesh out the scenes, adding detail and emotion and choreography while also stitching in my haphazard patchwork of ideas when applicable.

The manuscript is up to 50k words. Most authors would say that means they’re halfway through, but this book could end up being 150k words, which me...

“You are my fucking business.”

“No one hurt me!” she shouted back.

His eyes narrowed into slits. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

“I’m not!” She was cornered, soul weary, and in so much pain she could barely think straight. “It was what was said that...” When her voice broke, she shook her head, angry at her pitching emotions and slashed her hand through the air. “Just words. No one touched me or hurt me in the way you’re thinking. It was nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing if it made you...

Jasmine’s mindset in beginning of book PT 5

“Mrs. Roth, could we get you anything?”

She glanced at two smiling, but scared-looking female flight attendants.

“Ginger ale and aspirin?” she requested.

Relieved, one of the women disappeared into an alcove while the other twisted her hands together and focused on something behind Jasmine.

“A-and you, Mr. Roth? Is there anything—”

“No.”

His curt tone made the woman flinch. She gave a slight bow as she backed away, clearly wishing she w...

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...

Jasmine’s mindset in beginning of book PT 3

Despite his threats and cruel words, she played her role and stood by his side and did her best to guide him through the social minefield at the Trentham Ball. But, by the end of the night, he realized what everyone else already did—that she was the defective Hennessy.  I gave you too much credit, believing you could play this role as well as your sisters. It’s no wonder Maximus didn’t bring you to many events. You’re a loose cannon.

She sacrificed everything for t...

Jasmine’s mindset in beginning of book PT 2

That’s why Lyle tried to talk her out of it—he knew she was setting herself up for an epic fall.

She loved him.

If any other man had taken control of her father’s company, marrying him wouldn’t be an option. It was because it was Roth. Despite their past, despite all the questionable things he’d said and done since their reunion in Colorado, she hadn’t been able to resist being with him again, even temporarily.

Roth never concealed the fact that he had other a...

Jasmine’s mindset in beginning of book PT 1

She dropped her face into her hands and bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from screaming in helpless frustration.

She couldn’t lose it here. Thousands of feet up in the air in Roth’s new jet with Johan, Mo, and a ridiculous amount of security present. Roth stood before her, so close she could feel his body heat. His cologne, a scent that normally would have reassured her, made her ill.

Why was he here? He should be at the Trentham Ball, making the most of this incred...

Draft and draft and draft again...

Even during the first draft, there's multiple drafts. When I lose my way and I'm staring at my computer screen, at a loss, I go old school. I don't know why but seeing the words on paper gets my brain moving again instead of being at a standstill.

I tend to write a lot of different drafts of highly emotional scenes. I usually do an over the top version, sedate, and then medium. If the emotion isn't right, I keep working on it until I feel it's right. Technically, since this is a first ...

“You don’t trust me?”

“It isn’t for me to say. It’s up to Colette if she wants to confide in you.”

“Why would you protect someone who hurt your sister?”

As the silence stretched between them, his expression altered ever so slightly.

“You don’t trust me?”

“How can I? I know what you think of her, what you think of me. How ruthless you are. How many promises you’ve broken. Why would I give you another weapon to use against my sister?”

“Jasmine, I swear—” 2025-10-19 15:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Roth cooks a meal

The scent of something mouthwatering distracted her from her work. She frowned, rose from her chair, and made her way to the kitchen. Had Roth hired a chef to prepare dinner? But he wouldn’t be home from work for several hours…

She stopped in the doorway and felt her mouth sag a little as she took in the sight of Roth at the stove in his button up, sleeves rolled up, frying something in a pan.

“Am I hallucinating?” she said dazedly.

He turned his head and grinned. ...

Elena

“And this?”

The sight of the ruby heart ring she’d worn this evening made her recoil. Roth’s eyes narrowed.

“You replaced your wedding ring with this one, which meant it had great sentimental value, but by the end of the night, you hate the sight of it. You want to explain that?”

This was the first token Elena ever picked out. I still remember what she did to earn it. Warren’s smug tone replayed in her mind, making her stomach roll. How ironic that s...

Tucker

Roth examined her bruised arm.

“Tucker’s a dead man,” he rumbled.

“He just saved you the trouble of doing it yourself,” she quipped.

Like he had in the penthouse, his hands dropped away immediately. This time, he even stepped back as if she’d threatened him in some way. His perpetual stony expression had morphed into one of severe disquiet. She wasn’t certain with his dark complexion, but it looked like he’d paled slightly.

“I’ve never hit you,�...

Trapped!

She spun on her heel and marched determinedly toward the bedrooms, but paused when she heard him type a series of numbers into the elevator keypad. The odd sound and the fact that he’d never done so made her turn to face him with a frown.

“What are you…?” she began, but her voice died when he slipped his hands into his pockets and stared at her with an implacable look that made her heart begin to race.

“You aren’t going to a hotel,” he stated.

Her mouth sagg...

Ford

She stopped and turned. A man stood ten feet away in jeans and a worn sports jacket. For a moment, she didn’t recognize him and then it clicked.

“Ford,” she whispered.

The polished heir to the Baldwin fortune was almost unrecognizable. His short cropped blond hair was now shoulder length. He had a wild beard and his cobalt eyes stood out starkly on his tanned face.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I need to talk to you,” he said. “It’s urgen...

Voicemails from the past

“Go fuck yourself,” she snapped and turned her back on him as she started for the door.

The sound of her own voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Hey, baby, it’s me. I just got out of class. I wanted you to know I’m thinking of you. I hope you’re having a great day. Call me when you have a chance. I love you.”

She swung around to see Roth had his phone in his hand. He had a grim look on his face as he tapped the screen and another voicemail began to play. Her voic...

Mo & Johan pick a side...

He undid her jacket so fast, she didn’t have time to react. The long sleeve she wore underneath didn’t discourage him. Without hesitation, he ripped it as easily as if it was tissue paper. A gust of cold air across her suddenly bare chest and shoulder brought her out of her stupor. She reared back in her seat and shoved him hard as she tried to cover her exposed bra.

“Are you insane?” she snapped.

He blinked and glanced around, apparently forgetting they weren’t alone....

Jasmine, 10 Years Old, PT 4

Warren grunted and wandered over to the chess game in progress. He examined the board for a moment before he used the queen to take a pawn and attack a rook.

Jasmine’s smile faltered when she saw Colette’s vivid blue gaze was glowing with anger.

“What were you thinking?” Colette grabbed Jasmine’s arm and gave her a little shake. “You know better than to leave the ballroom without informing someone where you’re going. I’ve been looking for you for fifteen minutes.�...

Jasmine, 10 Years Old, PT 3

Her friends convince her to leave the ballroom to give them a tour. Her friends want to explore her father's library/meeting room, which is strictly off limits. Jasmine tries to shoo them out of there without much success and then...

“Now that you two have thoroughly examined…” Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw movement at the door, but it wasn’t her father who advanced into the room. Weak with relief, she exclaimed, “Uncle Warren!”

Her dad�...

432 Park Avenue

She frowned when they pulled up to 432 Park Avenue.

“I said I wanted to go to,” she began, but Roth interrupted her.

“I need to grab something. It’s urgent.”

“Oh.” Contrite, because she knew she was the cause of anything being urgent, she waved a hand. “I’ll wait here.”

He paused with his hand on the door handle. “Do you want to grab anything?”

She instinctively recoiled. “No.” The thought of going into his penthouse was only slightl...

How Roth & Grayson met…

“Do you mind if I sit?”

Before she could answer, Grayson settled beside her and stretched his legs out. Distractedly, she noticed that he didn’t have one hair on his glossy, perfectly sculpted legs. Did he wax?

They sat in companionable silence for a minute, taking in the other beachgoers before she asked, “You know?”

“Yes.”

The moment she laid eyes on him, she suspected he’d been told. She stifled the urge to surge to her feet and walk away and inste...

Vasectomy Talk

“You never brought up wanting to have kids the first time we were married.”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t,” she replied.

“Did you want kids?”

She tried to withdraw her hand, but he tightened his grip. Anger rose when it shouldn’t. She tried to be diplomatic. “We shouldn’t talk about this.”

“Why?”

He had to know his vasectomy was a touchy subject. “Are you trying to hurt me?”

“No.”

“Would you have told me about the...

Return to New York

She glanced at Roth who was staring pensively out the window. He must be happy to be back. He probably had six month’s of work to sort through and weeks of phone calls to return. His first priority should be to reach out to everyone he’d met at the Trentham Ball and start filling his calendar with lunch and dinner dates. In fact, he should be doing that now on his cell phone, but it still hadn’t made an appearance. Was he trying to prove he was turning over a new leaf? He didn’t need ...

September Recap/October Update

September Recap:

Another month gone?! What the hell? Why has this year passed at supersonic speed?

This month I combined the drafts I had of books 4 & 5. The original draft of book 4 was around 67k words, but I’ll only be using maybe 25% of it. I decided to go on a completely different path that would cause more mayhem and drama that would force the characters into more uncomfortable situations. The original draft of book 5 was 27k words. I will be using mor...