Page 126 of Bitter Confessions

“Was there a scene?”

She clasped her hands in front of her. “I tried to walk away, but...”

“But?”

The spot on her arm where Tucker had grabbed her throbbed. Thankfully, she was wearing long sleeves, so no marks would show.

“He blocked my way.” She rolled her shoulders before she set them back. “He wanted to have his say.”

“Which was?”

Tucker’s words banged around in her head. The confrontation with Tucker lasted less than five minutes, but it had ruined every other positive interaction she’d had this evening. And that was before she learned Lyle had been rooting for Hennessy & Co.’s downfall along with her father’s enemies. If Lyle convinced Colette to walk away from Hennessy & Co., her agreement with Roth and her sacrificing a year of her life was all for nothing.

“Jasmine.”

“Tucker said you’re gunning for him,” she said.

Roth was silent for a moment and then asked, “What else?”

You make me sick. The twelve courses she consumed began to churn in her stomach, but she ignored that and said, “There are quite a few dignitaries who want to meet you. I think it’s worth seeking them out and spending time with them if you’ve concluded your other business.”

Before he could respond, two men approached. She fell back to Roth’s side and fiddled with her sleeve, where she’d tucked the business cards.

“Roth, I wanted you to meet my brother, Benji.”

She fixed a bright smile on her face, but when both men studiously ignored her, she relaxed a little, realizing she didn’t need to be involved in this performance. Roth said very little. Normally, she’d step in, since the men were uncomfortable with Roth’s one-word replies, but she was too rattled to intervene. In fact...

When she tried to slip away, Roth’s hand flashed out to stop her.

“Have you met my wife?” Roth interjected.

The men stopped rambling, blinked, and switched their attention to her as if they hadn’t noticed her standing there. She wanted to tell Roth not to do business with them on principle—they would be a social liability and were either deliberately being rude or saw women as inferior.

“No, I haven’t,” one of the men said, obviously baffled by the abrupt change of topic, and extended his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Jasmine,” she informed him with a sugary sweet smile.

“Jasmine,” he repeated and stepped aside so his brother, Benji, could shake her hand as well.

“If you’ll excuse us.” Roth didn’t wait for their assent before shuffling her off. “After I speak to Christoph Braun and Amos Faulkner, we can leave.”

She took a bracing breath. The night was almost over. To settle her nerves, she snagged a fresh glass of champagne.

Even though they moved on the fringes of the ballroom, Roth couldn’t take more than five paces without being stopped by someone. As Roth was waylaid by a CEO of a crypto firm and founder of the world’s biggest hedge-fund firm, she tried to tune into the conversation, but it was going right over her head. Being hypervigilant for so many hours had taken its toll. Her brain had reached capacity, decided it needed a break, and promptly went offline without her consent.

As she drained one glass of champagne and reached for another, Roth palmed her back. She wasn’t sure if he wanted her input in the conversation or if he wanted her to interject so they could move on. She couldn’t do anything more than sip champagne and smile vacantly as she escaped in her mind, since she couldn’t do so physically just yet.

She knew her broken engagement had ruined her father and Parker Baldwin’s partnership. That had been flung in her face many times, along with the fact her father had lost millions. What had never been discussed was the extent of their feud, or that her dad had retaliated when Parker cut business ties. No one had relayed that Parker passed. She didn’t want to believe it was from the stress of their feud, though that’s what Tucker wanted her to believe.

Tucker also believed she “broke” Ford. That couldn’t be true. Ford had been fond of her, but they hadn’t loved each other. They were inching up to friends but had never quite made it. The fact she’d hurt him at all filled her with sharp regret. He didn’t deserve that. He’d been so kind; the perfect gentleman. She’d hoped he wouldn’t suffer any long-lasting effects from the scandal, but apparently, he’d hadn’t just left the country, but the business world altogether. She couldn’t picture Ford as a farmer. Had it been a secret desire of his that he hadn’t shared with her, or was he so humiliated by her betrayal that he felt he couldn’t show his face in society?

She came to when Roth moved them through the crush. She hadn’t heard him utter his farewells before moving on.

“What else did Tucker say to you?” he asked.

What everyone else already knew, apparently. That she was a slut, ruined everyone’s lives, and was here because of Roth, not because of any personal achievements. “Do you know what Christoph Braun looks like?”

“No.”

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