Jet Discussions continued… PT 2 (Patreon)

“I need to know what happened.”

“Why?”

“Why?”  he echoed dangerously. “Aside from the fact that no one fucks with my wife, this involves your sister. Anyone who makes a move against either of you knows they’re making an enemy of Lyle and I and by extension, Rami.”

When she didn’t speak, he continued, “They banked on you and Colette not sharing, on trying to handle it yourselves as you always do. Whether it’s Warren or someone else that has a grudge or secret agenda, it weakens us as a unit and by default, affects business.”

“And if all that was said was the truth?”

“What truth?”

She looked away and crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s up to Colette whether she wants to confide in you or not.”

She could almost hear him grinding his teeth.

“Do you want this piece of shit to get away with what he did to Colette?”

His scathing tone punctured through her wavering self-control.

“Of course not! I want you to rip his fucking head off!” she shrieked, stomping her feet, fingers curled into claws. She would have thrown something if there was anything on the sleek surfaces, but they were empty. “I want you to use every ounce of hatred you felt for my father and direct it toward him. I want you to destroy him!”

“Then tell me who it is and I’ll do it!” he roared.

She opened her mouth, lungs pumping, adrenaline surging. Warren’s name was on the tip of her tongue. She wanted Roth to turn the full force of his wrath on Warren and tear him limb from limb. She wanted that so badly, she knew she’d give Roth anything he asked for in payment, but… Her mouth shut. She couldn’t afford to make another mistake that could add to Colette’s suffering by confiding in a man who had broken too many promises, had too many ulterior motives, and proved his first priority would always be business.

The thought of Warren getting away with it made her lightheaded with fury, but she couldn’t take such a gamble, even to avenge her sister. The consequences could be worse than what Colette had already endured and Roth was right. She’d interfered too many times, assuming she knew what was best and she was always wrong. It had to be her sister’s choice.

“Why,” he drawled in a voice seething with menace, “protect someone who hurt your sister?”

“It’s not him I’m protecting.”

There was a beat of silence and then the veins on his neck stood out as he clipped, “I’m not your enemy. I have no reason to turn on Colette.”

“Not right now, but in future, you could. I know you don’t have a high opinion of her. A few hours ago, you called her useless.” Her hand itched to smack him again. “You already have so much ammunition against us. Why would I give you another weapon to use against my sister? I can’t take that chance.”

“Jasmine, I swear…”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Using a person’s weakness against them is your specialty, just like it was my father’s. Right now, you actually might believe you won’t use it against us, but once we’re no longer useful to you, you’d use it to get your way and destroy us if necessary. That just who you are. You can hurt me, Roth, but I won’t let you hurt my sister. She’s suffered enough.”

“I won’t hurt her. You have my word, I’ll never use this against either of you. Trust me with this, allow me to handle it, you won’t regret it.”

He sounded like he actually meant it, but she’d been duped too many times.

“I can’t,” she said, her voice filled with painful regret.

“You mean you won’t.”

“Right. I won’t.”

The weighted silence was awful, like nails on a chalkboard. She paced away from him and stopped in front of the window. The only thing she could see was her reflection.

“What did Warren say about me?”

She stiffened. “What makes you think he said anything about you?”

“What was it?”

“Nothing.”

Note: Some of these lines were shown in previous snippets, but they've been cut up and rearranged for better conversational flow.

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

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