Page 23 of Bitter Heat

“Yes.”

She hovered on the edge of sleep but didn’t succumb. Her mind was cloudy but still chugging along. She enjoyed the intense heat from the fire and imagined she was lying on a beach getting a tan instead of in a remote cabin in the middle of a snowstorm.

She watched the flames devour the wood blocks. She was the wood. He was the flame. After this, they would be ash.

“Was it all worth it?” she asked quietly.

The raw fucking had its desired effect. She was drained of all emotion, which left her clearheaded enough to examine their catastrophic relationship objectively without her heart interfering.

“What?” he asked.

“The long hours, the nights of no sleep… Your face was on the cover ofForbesa couple of months ago and nowBusiness Weekly. You made it. Are you satisfied?”

“No.”

No hesitation in his response.

She rested her cheek against his bicep and sighed. “It will never be enough.” She hesitated before she said, “Dad had three strokes. He almost killed himself trying to be the best.”

“He’s a legend.”

“Is that what you’re striving for?” It seemed like such an empty goal, but she had grown up around people like Roth her whole life. They were chasing something intangible. Once they reached one goal, they immediately moved onto the next. No celebrations, no breaks, no life. She saw her father suffer in the end. Despite her feelings toward Roth, she didn’t want the same for him. “People become legends only when they’re dead.”

“But their legacies live on.”

“You’re just like him.”

He tensed. “I’m not like Maximus.”

She ignored his denial. “We were destined to fail.”

“No.”

“I was engaged—”

“An arranged marriage.”

“It’s expected. That’s what my sisters have, and they’re happy.”

“You weren’t.”

Roth had introduced something to her she didn’t know she’d been missing. She followed the path her father had laid out for her: private schools, college, major, and even who she would marry. It was expected that during her summer and holiday breaks, she would be at Hennessy & Co, observing and learning. She hadn’t been unhappy until she met Roth. He made her feel brave, rebellious, and adventurous. She tossed her morals and fears into the wind and dived headlong into a torrid affair with another man’s ring on her finger. She wasn’t thinking about consequences, only of herself and what she wanted, and it ended in disaster for all of them. She lost her family and sense of self. Roth lost his businesses and was forced overseas where he worked like a madman to rebuild what he lost. Her father took a huge financial blow when her broken engagement shattered his partnership with Parker Baldwin who he had been friends with for decades. All of them paid a price, and for what?

“I was content with what I had and where I was going. Once I graduated, Ford and I would marry. I would quit Hennessy & Co once I got pregnant. That’s another thing you and my dad agreed on. I wasn’t performing the way he wanted me to in the company, so he thought it was best I became a mother. At least then I would be useful.”

“He’s a fucker.”

“Like you said, it’s about legacies. Marrying Ford would have strengthened Dad’s ties with the Baldwins, but the broken engagement nearly crippled the company instead. Even though Dad disowned me, his relationship with Parker was never the same.” She sighed. “I don’t know why I am the way I am.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.”

She reached back and patted his bristled cheek. “You’re sweet.”

“I’m not.”

“No, you aren’t,” she agreed before she withdrew her hand. “But that was nice of you to say.”

“It’s the truth.” His arms tightened around her. “You wouldn’t have been happy married to Ford.”

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