Page 61 of Bitter Confessions

She’d expected a diplomatic, evasive answer and wasn’t disappointed. “I see.”

Sarai squeezed her hand. “Regardless of what comes, he’ll take care of you. Just trust him.” As Sarai’s phone trilled, she pulled it out of her pocket and downed the last of her drink. “I have to head back.”

“You want a ride?”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

They returned their plates and dumped their trash. Impulsively, Jasmine swung by the counter. When she made her way back to Sarai with a brown baggie, she shook it.

“Warm cookies for Roth.”

Sarai grinned and linked arms with her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him eat a cookie.”

She hadn’t either, but... “How could he resist these?”

Sarai playfully bumped her with her hip. “If you give them to him, I’m sure he’ll eat it. You should come by and say hi. And by the way, you still haven’t told me which designer you want to hire for your office.”

“No,” she said as they left the warm, dimly lit coffee shop for the noisy, freezing outdoors.

“No, what? You didn’t like any of their portfolios?”

“I don’t need an interior designer. I’m just going to order a desk and a chair. That’s all I need.”

“Roth wants you to have a comfortable office, not a depressing cubicle.”

“Roth doesn’t always get what he wants,” she said, raising her voice as Sarai rounded the car to get in on the opposite side of the Bentley.

“Do you not know your husband?” Sarai asked as she strapped herself in.

“He can’t force me to get an office designed.”

Sarai gave her a long look before shaking her head and pulling out her phone. “You make a fuss about the strangest things.”

Jasmine glared at the front seats, where either Mo or Johan snickered. “Really, guys?”

“Your post is trending,” Sarai announced.

“What post?” Jasmine asked before remembering her book recommendation for Ballad of Deception. “Trending in a good or bad way?”

“Good.”

She pulled out her phone to see for herself and was shocked at how many comments there were. As expected, there were more than a few who’d ignored the point of her post and were demanding a release date for her next book. There were also quite a few haters. Those she blocked without hesitation. People were entitled to their opinion of her and her work and were free to leave a review or discuss her to death in groups or message boards, but she drew the line at someone spewing insulting comments in her group simply to create discourse or because they wanted attention.

She replied to comments and was thrilled to see many readers had already read Ballad of Deception. There were quite a few interesting theories about the direction of the second book.

“Did you hear about this?” she asked Sarai, who didn’t look up from her phone screen.

“Of course. I’m in every discussion forum there is.”

“How the hell do you have the time when Roth has you working fourteen-hour days?”

“It’s down to almost twelve, with actual days off, thanks to you.” Sarai reached over the console to pat her shoulder. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to us.”

“I agree,” Johan said from the passenger seat.

For the second time in an hour, she blushed. The same sense of belonging she felt when she was with Johnny and Aleixo engulfed her. Her father’s security had treated her like a parcel they wanted to deliver and be rid of as quickly as possible. None of them had tried to get to know her. Mo and Johan filled the role of concerned uncles even though they couldn’t be much older than Roth. She didn’t feel stifled by them despite them shadowing her every step when she wasn’t locked up in one of Roth’s residences. The urge to lean forward and wrap her arms around Johan was strong, but she resisted. She’d enjoy their companionship while it lasted. Hopefully, after the year was up, they’d want to remain friends...

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