Page 74 of Bitter Secrets

“Are you getting anything to eat?” she asked as she stared straight ahead.

“No.” He shrugged back his sleeve to glance at his watch. “I won’t have time for more than a cup of coffee.”

“Oh.” She nixed her plans for a burrito. “What happened with your meeting?”

“The person I was supposed to meet got stuck at another meeting.”

“Somewhere near here?”

“No, in Baltimore, but he’s making his way here now.”

She stared at him. “How…?”

“Helicopter.”

“Oh. Of course.” Why do a two-hour drive when one could fly in a fraction of the time?

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I’ll get a dirty chai.”

She glanced at him in time to see his eyes narrow into slits.

“A dirty what?”

His suspicious tone made her throw her head back and laugh. It was amazing how even the most stern demeanor crumbled when certain words were tossed around, however innocently.

“Don’t get excited,” she advised as she patted his arm. “It’s just a shot of espresso mixed into tea.”

When he looked down at her hand on his arm, she let it fall away. It was a good reminder that although she was delighted to see him again, she knew next to nothing about him. He wasn’t some random dude on the street, but he also wasn’t one of her childhood playmates.

“Grab a table.”

She blinked at the gruff order until she saw the wisdom in that. The tables were being claimed faster than they could be wiped down. She managed to snag a table by the door. It was the highest traffic area—not an ideal place for conversation. But, if their interaction at the party was any indication, Roth wasn’t a talker anyway, which begged the question… why had he asked her to get coffee with him?

She hooked her bag over the back of her chair, and turned to watch as he stepped up to the front counter. The barista took a step back before she got a hold of herself and came back to the register, so she could take his order.

Her leg bounced. She resisted the urge to look around to see if she recognized anyone. There was no basis for the guilt simmering in her gut. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. Roth had time to kill before a meeting and offered to buy her coffee. Nothing could be more innocent. They would say their pleasantries, maybe engage in some mundane chitchat, then he would rush off to his meeting, and she would never see him again. Even as she tried to rationalize, she knew Dad would shit a brick if he knew what she was doing. She lifted her chin. But he didn’t, did he? He didn’t want to hear from her, and didn’t want anyone else contacting her either. Besides, what was the harm in a cup of coffee?

As Roth joined those waiting for drinks, she noticed even the men edged away from him. Roth seemed oblivious to this, pulling out his phone and scrolling like any university student, but there was no way he would be mistaken for one with his massive bulk, which was clearly that of a full-grown man. He had more in common with Dad who didn’t make time for frivolous things like getting coffee unless it was intertwined with business, and despite her family connections, she was just a college student and not worth the time of someone like him. Then again, Roth wasn’t like the men she had grown up around. He was a self-made man, which made him a foreign entity. Roth was one of the rare few who managed to break through that glass ceiling. It was easier to maintain wealth by passing it from generation to generation, rather than amass it in one lifetime, as Roth was doing. So many things had to fall in line for that to happen, but the stars aligned for him. The elite didn’t take kindly to someone entering their realm without their consent, especially if they didn’t follow their rules.

Roth scowled at his phone. Bad news? Had his colleague arrived earlier than anticipated, or had his meeting been cancelled? Nothing pissed Dad off more than a last-minute rescheduling. Roth looked up when his name was called. He picked up their drinks and made his way to her. When he paused on the opposite side of the table, she waited for him to make some terse apology and walk out the door. She watched, a tad bemused, as he laid down a napkin in front of her and placed her drink on top of it.

“Thank you,” she said as he sat across from her, dwarfing the small round table and chair. She picked up her drink and popped the lid, so it could cool.

“I should be saying that to you.”

She stopped, mid-blow. “Sorry?”

He speared her with those striking black eyes that made her stomach do somersaults.

“Langdon offered me a deal,” he said.

It took her a second to process that, and then she straightened, nearly spilling her drink.

“That’s fantastic! I was hoping you would connect with someone.” She waved her hand. “It would have been ideal if you could get in with Dad or Warren, but there were other powerhouses in the room and Don’s doing amazing things.”

“Why’d you do it?”

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