Page 90 of Bitter Secrets

“Always.”

“I know some couples like that. It’s their version of foreplay.”

She scowled. “It has nothing to do with foreplay. It’s because he’s an ass.”

“But youlovehim,” Penelope sang, reminding her so much of their childhood that her rancor began to fade.

“He’s not an easy man to love.”

“If you can’t love him, then no one can.” Penelope tapped her arm and pointed at a store sign up ahead. “You have to see this place! You’re going to find everything you need.”

As Penelope pulled her along and Mo and Johan followed in their wake, her friend’s words knocked around in her head, along with something Roth had said on their wedding night.

You gave me what no one else has. You accepted me for who I am. You chose me when no one else did.

She accepted him because he allowed her to believe he was someone he wasn’t. He didn’t show her what was beneath that veneer of cool control until she surprised him in London. That night, he gave her a taste of his true nature, which was enough to snap her out of her delusions and walk away from a marriage that had always been a pretense anyway.

She listened with half an ear as Penelope spoke to the salesclerk, who looked her up and down before nodding decisively and leading them across the store.

Roth didn’t want her love and had never acted like he did. He didn’t lie in that respect. It was Jasmine who had deluded herself into imagining something that had never been there to begin with. He never once said the word. Maybe Kaia was right and he wasn’t capable. Whatever he saw in his childhood scarred him so badly that he shut down his emotions and permanently stunted them… Or, he really had antisocial personality disorder and there hadn’t been anything to develop in the first place.

Roth saw people as things to manipulate for his gain. She was a useful tool and plaything that had escaped before she turned a profit for him. This time, he was going to get his money’s worth, and then he would move on. To view him as anything but an unprincipled, devious enemy would be emotional suicide. He would use any vulnerability against her. All he wanted was her lust and obedience. She couldn’t help the first, although she was going to do her best to expunge his effect on her, but there was no way in hell she would do the second if she could help it.

CHAPTER10

She stepped back from the mirror to take in her new outfit. She wore a burgundy turtleneck sweater tucked into a mid-length black leather skirt and thigh high open-toe boots. Apparently, Daiyu wasn’t the only one who knew what looked better on her than she did. It was simple, but dressy enough for a dinner with the Davies and Baldacci clan.

She and Penelope had so much fun shopping that they lost track of time, and now she was running late. She came back to the penthouse, expecting to run into Roth, but he was nowhere to be found. She fluffed her loose curls, grabbed the new designer clutch Penelope talked her into buying, and hurried down the hallway. Johan was waiting patiently, hands clasped in front of him. Neither said a word as they made their way to the elevator. It wasn’t until they were crossing the lobby that she broke the silence.

“Where is he?”

“He had to take care of some things. He’ll meet you there,” Johan said.

She ducked into the back seat and folded her hands on her lap as she tried to control her nerves. Having dinner with the Davies would have been a pleasure under other circumstances, but Roth’s presence changed everything. Why had he accepted William’s invitation? According to Penelope, Roth declined every personal invitation, so why attend this gathering? There had to be an ulterior motive. Maybe Roth wanted additional information from William and Frederick that he couldn’t get with others around? He wouldn’t befriend her father’s friends just to ruin them, would he?

Her leg bounced as Mo navigated the congested streets. She didn’t know what to expect. The bastard kept pulling the rug out from under her. He shocked the hell out of her at the restaurant with that over-the-top kiss. His gall knew no bounds. Clearly, he expected to carry on as if his revelation that he used her was inconsequential.

She shifted restlessly as her temper spiked, suffusing her with stifling heat. She wanted to fight, but she knew how that would end. He, the victor, and she, the wounded loser. Part of her wanted to know exactly what he had orchestrated and how deep his manipulation ran, while the other part of her wasn’t sure she could handle it. It happened years ago. It shouldn’t matter…but it did.

She was relieved when the car stopped in front of William Davies’ luxurious townhouse. She emerged from the car and was grateful for the slap of cold that cooled her temper. She paused on the sidewalk and took in Chapel Street, which was a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace. Not much had changed. She had come here a handful of times. William had convinced her father to let her sleep over on two separate occasions. Penelope had featured in some of her best childhood memories, and today, they fell into a rhythm that years apart couldn’t destroy. For a few precious hours, she forgot about the mess that was her life and played dress up and shopped with a friend like they were teenagers instead of adults with a tremendous amount of responsibility on their shoulders.

Even though there was no chance of her being mugged on this street, Johan escorted her to the townhouse steps and waited at the bottom as she rang the doorbell. When the door opened, it took her a moment to realize the imposing man filling the entrance was the butler.

“Oh, hi, I’m Jasmine,” she began, but there was no need for further explanation since the butler was swept aside by William.

“There you are!” he boomed with an unlit cigar tucked into the corner of his mouth. “Come in!”

She walked into the entrance hall and was immediately engulfed in warmth. The smells wafting from the kitchen below made her mouth water. The entrance hall hadn’t changed. The oval mirror she coveted as a little girl was still hanging, but… Her eyes flicked up to the ornaments suspended overhead.

“You know we’re big on Christmas around here,” William said as he took her coat. “If Janis had her way, the house would be decorated all year round.”

She walked forward and stopped in the entrance of the drawing room, which had a massive Christmas tree with presents already stacked beneath the lowest branches. People lounged in front of a black marble fireplace decorated with garlands and stockings. She barely had time to register that none of the adults’ presents were the size of a football player before something slammed into her middle. She staggered back and looked down at a little boy who couldn’t be older than five. The red hair was a dead giveaway.

“Well, hello there,” she said.

The boy’s eyes flared comically wide. “You talk funny!”

“Teddy, that’s not polite.” William tried to sound severe, but failed miserably.

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