Page 45 of Bitter Heat

“He was proud of you.”

“He promised!”

Colette and Ariana glanced at one another. Their somber expressions melted into grins.

“What?” Jasmine growled.

“Did you make him pinky swear?” Ariana asked.

She glared at her sister. “If you tell Rami, I’ll kill you.”

“He already knows.”

Jasmine grit her teeth. Her anonymity was being blown out of the water. At this rate, the whole world would know her identity by the end of the year.

“So you’re a writer,” Ariana said with a shrug. “What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal,” she stressed through clenched teeth, “is that I’m the newFifty Shades,and I’ve already caused enough damage.”

Ariana waved her hand. “You’re an artist.”

“I bought the boxed set,” Colette added. “I’m going to read the series when I’m on maternity leave.”

Jasmine covered her face with her hands and moaned.

“What? I’m trying to be supportive!” Colette said defensively.

“You’re going to gouge your eyes out once you’ve read it,” Jasmine predicted.

Colette shrugged. “You don’t know that.”

“Look at you!”

Colette looked down at herself. “What?”

“You’reyou!”

“What does that mean?”

“You’re wearing pearls and Mrs. Straitlaced. You can’t handle it.”

Colette tipped her nose in the air. “We’ll see about that.”

Jasmine paced toward the view of the city lit up at night. “This is not okay.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Minnie. Your dream of being a writer came true. What does it matter what we think?”

“It doesn’t,” she muttered even though it was a damn lie.

She respected her sisters for who they were and what they accomplished. She would rather have them believe she did nothing than read the writings of her soul and sneer at it. It was one of the reasons she had concealed her identity. The writing was hers alone… or it had been before Sarai and her father decided to tell the whole planet.

She wandered toward a gold mirror hanging on the wall to see the damage her latest crying session had wrought on her face. She looked awful. Good thing she had sunglasses in her purse.

“Dad was really proud of you,” Colette said.

She sighed. “I know.”

Even while they were estranged, Maximus had kept an eye on her. He tracked her writing career, was aware of Thalia Crane’s success, and was notified immediately when she left Roth and filed for divorce. When she came to him for help, he already knew everything.

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