C4, PT. 3 (Patreon)

Colette was acting insane. What had Roth told them? This couldn’t be because of her, could it? Maybe something else happened that she didn’t know about. When another blonde appeared in the doorway, Jasmine’s confusion deepened. Ariana? Mo set the tray on a table before he slipped through the door, allowing another man to take his place. Rami eyed Jasmine soberly through round spectacles and gripped Ariana’s shoulder as a tear slid down her cheek.

“Col, calm down,” Lyle said through gritted teeth.

“Fuck calm!” Colette bellowed. “How can I be calm after she tried to—”

“This isn’t helping,” Lyle snapped, but his wife ignored him.

Colette’s eyes, alight with fury, locked on Jasmine as she yelled, “Do you know how many nights I lay on the bathroom floor, wondering if I wanted to wake up the next day? If my daily hell was worth it? Do you know what stopped me? What kept me going?” Colette jabbed a shaking finger at her. “I knew I couldn’t leave you and Ariana behind. You needed me and I…” Colette’s beautiful face crumpled. “I-I need you two. I can’t do this without you.”

When Colette sagged in Lyle’s arms, Jasmine rushed to her sister, getting there at the same time as Ariana. Colette lunged at her and wrapped her arms around Jasmine so tight that she couldn’t breathe. As she took Colette’s full weight, they sank to the floor. Ariana hugged Jasmine from behind, supporting both of them as they went down.

“You can’t leave me,” Colette sobbed, fingers digging in hard enough to leave bruises.

“I won’t,” Jasmine promised.

Colette’s trembling fingers touched Jasmine’s face, as if to ensure she was solid and real. “Is it my fault?” Sorrow radiated from her every pore. “Because of what you heard about me and War—”

“No!” Why hadn’t it occurred to her that Colette would feel responsible? “It had nothing to do with you. It’s me. I…” She swallowed hard. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry."

Colette collapsed against Jasmine’s front, shoulders shaking as she wept uncontrollably. Colette had always been a rock—taking on the business world with enviable grace and tenacity. Colette didn’t let anyone keep her down. Not their tyrant father, Warren, or her grandfather… but this had shattered her. The fact that she’d been the one to make her sister fall apart gutted her.

Her sisters had taken news of Maximus’ sudden death with such emotionless practicality, she assumed they would treat hers the same. That they’d treat her passing with a distant sense of regret. She’d been wrong. So cataclysmically wrong that she would do anything to take it back, but it was too late. The damage was done. This glimpse into the destruction she would have left in her wake made her sick with shame. It made all the reasons she pulled the trigger seem shallow. She’d been so focused on who didn’t love her that she forgot who did. Her sisters didn’t deserve this.

“What can we do?” Ariana asked thickly.

“You’re doing it,” Jasmine replied.

Ariana’s arms tightened around Jasmine’s middle before she dropped her face on Jasmine’s shoulder.

As her sisters tears soaked into her clothes, she met Lyle’s glittering gaze. It lasted for a split second before he turned on his heel and strode out of the room without a word. Rami moved then. As he approached, Jasmine hunched her shoulders, so emotionally battered and overstimulated that she couldn’t take anything else. But she should have known he wouldn’t add to her burden. He never had. His hand smoothed over her hair before he kissed the top of her head. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t need to. Actions spoke louder than words, and the fact that her family had dropped everything and showed up in Colorado made her tattered heart ache.

Neither sister moved as the sound of kids hollering in the distance reached them, but Rami hastened out of the room. She wasn’t sure how long they sat on the floor. She’d started to doze off with her cheek resting on top of Colette’s head when she heard Roth say, “Jasmine needs to rest.”

She’d forgotten he was in the room. He appeared at her side and extended his hand, but it wasn’t necessary, since her sisters assisted her to her feet and led her to bed. To her bemusement, Colette slid in bed beside her. Ariana gave Roth a considering glance before she rounded the bed and got in on Jasmine’s other side.

The sound of a baby’s piercing wail made Jasmine look down at Colette, only to find her sister fast asleep. Roth went to the door. She was relieved when he closed the door behind him.

Propped on her side, Ariana’s troubled gaze moved over Jasmine’s wan face. “You scared the hell out of us, Minnie.”

She closed her burning eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“All I could think about on the way here was how I acted on Thanksgiving and how I said—”

“Don’t, Ari.”

Ariana sniffed. “You’re my kids favorite person. If something happened to you, it would mark them for life. I know we don’t always get along, but how could you even consider such a thing?”

“I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Is it because something happened at the ball?” When she didn’t answer, Ariana lowered her voice even further. “Lyle said there was an altercation between you, Colette, and Warren? Colette hasn’t said a thing. She locked herself in the bathroom for most of the flight. I’ve never seen her like this.”

Her chest tightened. So Colette hadn’t confided in anyone yet, not even Ariana. “I can’t talk about it right now.”

“But something did happen?”

Jasmine nodded.

There was a long pause from Ariana, and then she declared, “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. There’s nothing we can’t fix.”

Her tone was filled with unshakeable conviction. At least one of them still had hope. Jasmine didn’t believe in anything anymore.

Ariana cuddled close and sighed. “Sleep. We’re here now. Whatever you need, as long as you need.”

***

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

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