Page 102 of Bitter Confessions

“He’s out of town for the day.” She cleared her throat. “By the way, I’m sending Christmas gifts for you two.” When Johnny protested, she snapped, “Just accept it, or Roth will do more than just pick up the tab at our next meal!”

She enjoyed her talk with Johnny, but it didn’t last long enough. When darkness fell, she called Roth again. It went straight to voice mail. She messaged Mo and Johan, asking if they knew when he’d be flying back. They said they’d contact his security. Hours passed.

Roth stepped into the penthouse just after one in the morning. She was so tired she thought she was hallucinating, but his curt, “You should be asleep,” made her jerk to attention.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, relief overpowering worry.

“Of course.”

“You never called me back,” she said as she set her laptop aside.

“It took longer than expected.” He regarded her with a stony expression that was far too reminiscent of the old Roth. The urge to put her hands on him and coax the man she’d spent the past few weeks with to the surface was all-consuming, but she stayed where she was.

To combat that sinking feeling in her belly, she gave him a small smile. “I wish you’d told me you were going to Los Angeles. I would have come with you.”

“I couldn’t afford the distraction.”

Her smile vanished. She’d heard that before.

“I went against my judgment today by informing you of Ariana’s relapse. If I were in the city, I would have dealt with her myself.”

“Dealt with her how?”

“By firing her. I need Colette back in her position as CEO.”

Colette would return to work in a heartbeat, but as Lyle’s words trickled through her mind, she said, “Lyle wanted Colette to take at least six months off.” When his expression darkened, she added, “Polara just made two months. If you could?—”

“I don’t give a fuck about their private lives or how old the baby is. All I care about is the state of the company and whether your sisters are capable of running it.”

“Polara.”

“What?”

“The baby’s name is Polara,” she said quietly.

He held her gaze as he said, “Like I said, the only thing I care about is the company.”

The heartless businessman was back.

“You promised,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed. “I promised to save Hennessy & Co. and allow your sisters to buy back their shares once the company is restored so they’re majority shareholders. How I accomplish that wasn’t part of our negotiations. The best chance of saving the company may be to replace them with someone else.”

He didn’t care how his business dealings would impact her relationship with her sisters. All he cared about was the bottom line—saving the company. She did too, but she’d assumed he’d save her sisters in the process. She saw them as a package deal. Roth didn’t. Her sisters’ initial fears of being ejected from their positions were now a distinct probability, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“Ariana handed over the pills she got from her dealer and is going back to therapy,” she said.

“Once an addict, always an addict,” he said derisively. “Now that she knows I have a man watching her, it’ll only make her more adept at concealing her habit.”

Although her thoughts had run along similar lines, she still believed in her sister. “I think she can?—”

“I don’t care if she does or not,” he cut in coldly. “She’s a liability. So is Colette. My money and reputation are intertwined with a drug addict and a woman who’s allowed herself to be a pawn of her fucking father and grandfather. I should have fired them from the start instead of trying to work with them. It’s more effort than it’s worth.”

This was the uncompromising businessman Lyle and the rest of Wall Street admired. Unbending, unforgiving. He didn’t accept weakness in others and wouldn’t let it stop him from doing what he deemed necessary. Of course, Roth knew Colette’s grandfather, Cecil, had deliberately sabotaged her. And it hadn’t made a damn bit of difference to him.

She scooted to the edge of her seat. “Maybe I can?—”

“You aren’t involved in this. I said the company doesn’t exist for you, and I meant it. How I handle your sisters is none of your concern.” He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture that was weary and aggravated. “Keeping up my end of the deal has required more than I anticipated. Tens of millions more, and time I can’t afford to waste. I’ve shown your sisters more leniency than I have anyone else. They’re hindering other ventures that have far more at stake.”

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