Page 6 of Bitter Heat

“What?”

He slipped his hand beneath her jacket and into her jeans pocket.

“What the hell?” she screeched and clawed at his wrist.

He held her irate gaze as he fished. Her nerves were completely shot by the time he retracted his hand and held up the keys to his mother’s truck. He knew exactly what he was doing. Touch was a powerful tool, and he was wielding it unmercifully against her, pushing her to her limit.

“Fuck you. I’m staying here,” she said and turned away.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She howled as he carried her through the double doors into the snow. The frigid temperature took her breath away. Fluffy white flakes fell into her gaping mouth. He trudged through the snow until he found Kaia’s truck, which was quite a feat since it was nearly unrecognizable coated in white. He unlocked the driver’s door and shoved her in. She crawled across the bench seat as he climbed in behind her.

“I-I’m not going a-anywhere with-with—” she chattered.

“Shut it,” he said as he turned the key in the ignition and adjusted the seat to fit behind the steering wheel.

When she reached for the door handle on the passenger side, he grabbed her jacket and jerked her around to face him. Their breaths came out in white clouds and clashed in the air between them.

“You owe me, Jasmine.”

Something inside her snapped, and a moment later, he jerked back. Belatedly, she registered that her palm was throbbing and realized what she’d done. His dark skin wouldn’t show her handprint, but the promise of retribution in his eyes confirmed that she had struck him. She didn’t fucking care. After a hellish day of fear and worry, his bullying had pushed her over the edge.

“I owe you?” She was so furious, she could barely speak. “I-I broke off my engagement for you! I got disowned and didn’t speak to m-my family for years because of you! I gave upeverythingfor you!”

She wasn’t aware that she grabbed fistfuls of his coat or that she tried to shake him as she unraveled.

“You married me for my name. Youusedme.”

Her voice broke as the past filled her with mortification and pain. A tear spilled down her cheek, but she was too pissed off to care that she was revealing a hole in her shield to a man who preyed on weakness.

“The only reason you held onto me was to spite my dad. You two were caught up in this battle that had nothing to do with me, so I left. You skyrocketed after the divorce. You’re the mogul you always wanted to be.”

She looked at her hands bunched in the rich fabric of his overcoat and dropped them.

“I don’t owe you shit, Roth. You cost me everything.”

She brushed her sleeve over her cheek and once again, reached for the door handle. A firm tug on her jacket told her he wasn’t giving up.

“We’ll finish this at the cabin,” he said without inflection.

“There’s nothing to finish,” she told the frosted window.

“Your tears say different.”

“It’s been a long day.”

“You can rest when we get there.”

She turned her head and glared at him through her tears. “I don’t want to be around you.”

“Tough shit.” He put the truck in gear. “Buckle up.”

Chapter 2

The small Colorado town was closed up for the night. The streets were deserted, and there were hazy orange halos around the streetlights as the storm attempted to swallow everything in its path. She adjusted the vents even though the air wouldn’t get warm enough to take away the chill in her bones. Kaia’s old truck might have an engine that was still going strong, but that was all it had in its favor. The vehicle sorely lacked the creature comforts like heat and comfortable seats. She pulled up her hood and angled her body away from him as they left behind all signs of civilization and headed out on the open highway.

She rested her forehead against the chilly window and closed her eyes. Her impulsive trip to Colorado was turning into a disaster. She couldn’t say it was a complete flop since she had saved Kaia’s life, but any hope of gaining a scrap of inner peace about her father’s untimely death had vanished. Roth’s proximity riled her, reminding her how gullible and naïve she’d been.

Did he bribe you to leave me?

---