Bitter Heat

by Mia Knight

  She walked out of the library with her coffee cup in hand and entered the massive kitchen that had its own fireplace. She refilled her cup and grabbed a protein bar. Once she was back in the library, she climbed the stairs to the second story, which she had claimed as her office. She told Thea to take some time off in the hopes that being completely alone would prod her muse.

  She tapped her pencil on the empty page again. She was following the same routine that had churned out two bestsellers. Coffee, write in her journal to cleanse her mental palate, sketch out some ideas, then write. But nothing happened. Her fingers didn’t type. They hovered over the white keys, immobile. For the first time in her life, there were no words. Words were the only thing she had been able to count on, and now even they had deserted her.

  She forced herself to type. She wrote even though she knew the words on the screen would be deleted. It wasn’t right. Nothing was right, and she didn’t understand why. There was nothing to worry about. She had a home, no financial worries, and things were better than they had ever been with her sisters. Last week, Ariana, Rami, and the kids came out for the weekend, and they had a great time. Colette had texted her a couple of times and even called her once to see how she was doing. There was no word from Roth. He couldn’t contact her, but still… Neither Colette nor Ariana brought him up, and that was good. If only she didn’t have to deal with him in her story, everything would be peachy.

  When her eyes crossed from staring at the unmoving cursor, she sat back. She was having the worst case of writer’s block ever, and she didn’t know how to snap out of it. The pressure of producing something that would please fans without selling her soul in the process made her temples pound. The character was her, but it wasn’t. She should be able to separate the two, but they were intrinsically linked.

  Her gaze strayed to her father’s massive desk on the lower level. God, she missed him. Colette was right. She got the best of him. She had kept her word and visited him frequently. It took years to build a relationship and learn to trust him, but it was one of the best things she had ever done. Repairing her relationship with her father healed wounds she didn’t even know she had and made a huge difference in her work. Last year, as his health declined, she moved in. Surprisingly, they had developed a routine she had come to love. In the mornings, they met in the library. He worked at his desk while she went to hers on the second level. He’d bark at her if he didn’t hear typing. Her father might not understand or approve of her work, but he saw the effect it had on others. In the end, he supported her, and that was all that mattered.

  She visited the kitchen once more, this time for a bottle of water and a granola bar. She snagged her jacket and beanie and pulled both on before she walked outside. The chill invigorated her as she walked along the lake. The historic estate was a turn-of-the-century masterpiece set on a peninsula of three acres overlooking Tuxedo Lake. The house was built in the early 1900s and had been given modern updates while keeping the original design intact, which made it look like a castle. As a child, she imagined herself as the princess and wondered when her Prince Charming would save her. Ford wasn’t a bad choice, but he hadn’t asked her to marry him. In fact, he hadn’t even proposed. Her father told her she would marry him and that was that. She liked Ford well enough. She had grown up around him and considered him a friend. She had been pleased to find out he would be her husband. Arranged marriages weren’t out of the ordinary in her world, and she was eager to start another life. She had hoped she would fit in better with the Baldwins than her own family, but then Roth came along. He was the first person to express interest in her. He pursued her, and she fell like a ton of bricks for him. Foolish girl.

  One-hundred-year-old trees towered above her. Leaves drifted around her as she trudged over the crunchy piles. She passed the two-bedroom guesthouse and continued along the empty, narrow, winding road. Every time she walked, she considered getting a dog, but she knew herself too well. She traveled whenever the urge took her, and it wouldn’t be fair to the dog if she was constantly taking off. Maximus had accompanied her on her last trip. His mobility hadn’t been as good, and she could see daily tasks were becoming a struggle. She was planning to cut back on travel and be at home more in case he needed her. The morning she found him face down in the kitchen still haunted her. She sucked in a breath and walked faster.

  She had lived in Tuxedo Park for most of her life and loved watching the seasons change. The village had never lost its magic for her. The estate was valued at eight million, a paltry sum for her sisters or father. She would have tried to negotiate with her sisters to keep the estate, but there was no need. She now owned it.

  When a truck passed, she waved and got a honk in return. She sipped water as she walked, trying to find inspiration in the smell of the leaves, the colors of fall, or the sound of the birds chirping in the trees. Nothing worked. How could it be that she had everything and nothing at the same time?

  Maximus hadn’t left her a letter. He probably thought giving her an inheritance was enough, but she would have valued a personal goodbye more. Why hadn’t he?

  Wasting time was a sin in her father’s book, and in this, they agreed. She was a fucking writer, and she just had to push through. Whatever came out would have to do.

  She jogged back to the house and plopped in her chair. She put her hands on the keys and forced her fingers to move. Words appeared on the screen. She paused, erased, and replaced those words with others. When those words didn’t do the trick, she opened the thesaurus for inspiration and typed more. She stared at the screen, listed some ideas, threw her pencil, spun in her chair, and swore.

  It was close to eight o’clock when she heard the front door slam. Only a handful of people had the gate code, so she looked toward the open library doors and waited. Thea appeared in a dressing gown with a coat over it.

  She got to her feet. “What’s going on?”

  “Where’s your phone?”

  She looked around. “I have no idea. Why?”

  “Colette and Ariana have been trying to reach you.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “They said they need you in New York. Sunny’s sending a car for you.”

  Her heartbeat sped up as she picked up on Thea’s worry. “Did she say anything else?”

  “No, miss.”

  By the time her ride arrived, she had torn the library apart. She had looked under every paper, taken off every couch cushion, and looked in every drawer but still came up short.

  “What are you doing?” Thea asked.

  “Looking for my phone.”

  She gave up and walked into the kitchen for aspirin and a peppermint tea for the road. She opened the microwave to nuke her water and paused when she saw her phone on the glass plate. When had she put her phone in the microwave? It was completely dead, no surprise. She answered her phone for the first two weeks. There were calls from attorneys, accountants, and her sisters. There were also legal documents to sign and figures to discuss. With her sisters’ help, the process wasn’t as painful as it could have been. They took care of her apartment in Chelsea after her things were delivered to the estate. With her preoccupation with her book, it wasn’t surprising she’d lost track of her phone.

  She didn’t bother to change out of her tracksuit. It was late, she was tired, and it sounded urgent. Maybe it was baby related. She ducked into the SUV and plugged in her phone to charge it.

  After she’d returned to Tuxedo Park, she convinced Lyle that she didn’t need security on the estate. No one was admitted into the village without permission from a resident. With less than one thousand people in the community, nothing went unnoticed. Lyle didn’t like it but had finally agreed. Sunny had withdrawn her men and told her to call her whenever she needed an escort, which worked better for everyone. She could write in peace without having guards patrol the grounds and call for security if she left Tuxedo Park.

  Once her battery had enough juice, she turned it on and immediately
called Ariana who didn’t answer. Neither did Colette. She frowned and messaged them in the group text.

  Me: What’s going on?

  While she waited for a response, she went on social media as Thalia Crane. She waded through the messages and notifications. Everyone was excited, sending well wishes, waiting… She reassured them that she was on it, all the while mentally gnashing her teeth. She had no idea what the damn book was about.

  Ariana: Are you on your way?

  Me: Yes. What’s going on?

  Ariana: We’ll talk when you get here. We’re at Colette’s.

  The cryptic messages were odd, but she wasn’t too worried. If it were a real emergency, they would tell her to come to the hospital. Her mind switched back to the book. She sifted ideas through her mental strainer and came up with nothing. She synced her manuscript to her phone and spent the rest of the ride butchering everything she wrote that day. By the time they pulled up to Hennessy Tower, she was beyond aggravated. She was completely lost and had no idea what she was going to do. Her deadline was looming, everyone was expecting a great ending, and she had nothing but a blank screen. This time, she wasn’t in the mood to act cool, calm, and collected, so it was a good thing no paparazzi were around.

  During the elevator ride, her fingers tapped restlessly on her thigh as she counted the words in a sentence she couldn’t get out of her head. She repeated the sentence three times before Colette’s grand entry hall appeared before her. Eager for a distraction from her work, she strode into the penthouse and rounded the corner into the grand living room.

  Her sisters stood in front of the fireplace. Ariana had a hold of Colette’s hands and was speaking to her urgently. When Ariana caught sight of her, she stopped talking, and they both turned. A bolt of fear rocketed through her when she saw Colette’s tear-streaked face.

  “What’s going on? Is it Polara?” Jasmine asked as she rushed forward.

  Colette didn’t answer. She just stood there with tears slipping silently down her face.

  “What?” Jasmine demanded and pressed her hands over her tummy. “Is she okay? What happened?”

  “It’s not the baby,” Ariana said.

  Her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked somber as if someone had died.

  “What the hell’s going on?” she demanded. “You’re freaking me out!”

  “I’ve made a horrible mistake,” Colette whispered.

  “Mistake? You?”

  Colette gulped back tears. “An awful mistake. I don’t know what to do… I didn’t want you involved, but I don’t think there’s any other way, and I…”

  “You what?” she snapped impatiently. “Spit it out, Colette!”

  Colette stared at her through weary, defeated, and shame-filled eyes. “He’s going to destroy us,” she whispered and swayed.

  Jasmine wrapped her arms around Colette before she fell. With Ariana’s help, they settled her on the couch. Colette grabbed her arm in a death grip.

  “I have no right to ask, Minnie, but I don’t know what to do. Please help me.” Her voice was raspy as if she was suppressing a scream.

  “I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”

  “It’s Roth,” Ariana said.

  Her heart skipped a beat. “What about him?”

  Colette was completely spooked and almost incoherent with panic.

  She squeezed Colette’s knees to get her to focus. “Talk to me. Tell me what happened.”

  Colette turned her face away as if she couldn’t bear to meet her eyes. “Two years ago, I decided to make some investments Dad didn’t approve of. I did it despite his warnings. They fell through, so I invested more to make up the difference, but we didn’t profit from those either.”

  Jasmine glanced at Ariana who stared into the fire with a troubled expression.

  “I lost so much money that I sold some shares. A year after, more investments fell through, so I sold more…” Colette swallowed hard and shook her head. “I was such a fool.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “He bought the shares,” Colette whispered shakily.

  “Who…?” Her blood turned to icy slush in her veins. “No, he didn’t.”

  “He did.” Colette’s lower lip trembled. “Roth has a controlling share in Hennessy & Co. I sold some shares to separate partners thinking I could always buy them back. I thought I’d have time… I didn’t think he of all people would buy them, but he has, and I don’t know if it’s a hostile takeover, but what else could it be? He hates us, right? Especially after what Dad did to him.”

  Colette sounded more like a lost and frightened child than a badass CEO. Jasmine didn’t know what to say. Roth had a controlling share of Hennessy & Co? Why?

  She looked toward her brother-in-law’s office. “Where’s Lyle?”

  “No!” Colette surged to her feet. “He thinks I can’t handle it, but I can! I just need more time.”

  Jasmine followed her sister who paced with her hands over her mouth as if she was going to be sick.

  “Colette, calm down. This can’t be good for the baby.”

  “Lyle would tell us to bow out, and I can’t do that.” Colette put her hands on her shoulders. “I know I have no right to ask, but he won’t speak to either of us. We’ve called his office, tried to make appointments… Today, I sat in the waiting room. I said I would take any time he had, but he refused to see me.”

  “She came home two hours ago,” Ariana said, voice uncharacteristically tight.

  The thought of Colette, pregnant and desperate, sitting in the waiting room all day heated her blood. That fucker. What game was he playing?

  “I don’t know what else to do, Minnie. Could you talk to him?” Colette asked.

  Jasmine opened her mouth, closed it, and then said, “I have no sway over him. I don’t even know if he’ll talk to me.” And she had blocked his number.

  “You were married to him,” Ariana said as she put an arm around Colette and led her back to the couch. “You saw him in Colorado. That counts for something.”

  Not to him.

  “Did he say anything about this the last time you saw him?” Colette asked as she rubbed shaking her hands over her stomach.

  “No.” He hadn’t said a damn thing. All of this had been set in motion while they were at the cabin, she was sure of it. Even as he was fucking her, he was planning to go after her family. Her stomach rocked with shame and fury. She thought she was the one using him when it was the other way around. Again. He managed to get another pound of flesh from her, and she allowed it. Her throat itched with the need to roar in frustration. He was always one step ahead of her, always pulling the strings…

  “I don’t know what he plans for Hennessy & Co. I don’t know how he convinced the other partners to sell. I don’t know what’s going on. We can’t lose control of our own company,” Colette said anxiously, scooting forward until she was on the edge of her seat. “Dad entrusted me with it. He believed I could handle it, and I…”

  She smacked her chest as her face crumpled into one of abject helplessness. Roth had shattered Colette’s confidence and was in the process of breaking her spirit.

  “I can do this,” Colette said fiercely. “I know I was an idiot. My pride got in the way. This company is everything to me. It’s my life, our children’s birthright. I can’t—I can’t lose this.”

  She stroked Colette’s hair back as her throat closed up. “I’m sorry.”

  “What are you sorry for? This is my fault.”

  No, the blame lay on her shoulders. The only reason Roth was targeting Hennessy & Co was because of her. Maximus destroyed Roth’s businesses in the hopes of showing her that Roth was using her for her name. But Roth hadn’t given in and had gone overseas to rebuild his wealth to come back and ruin them.

  The way her sisters were staring at her made her heart gallop in her chest. They were looking at her for help. They thought she could fix this, that she could somehow alter his course but… Roth might
desire her, but nothing came before business. She had learned that lesson five years ago. If he cared for her, he wouldn’t go after her family, he wouldn’t have gotten a vasectomy, and he wouldn’t have left her behind. He had done all of those things and more. But there was one thing he hadn’t factored in.

  “I can buy the shares back,” she decided.

  It took her less than thirty seconds to make up her mind. She might not be involved with Hennessy & Co, but it was her family’s legacy. Knowing how much her family had poured into it, knowing that it was recognized and respected worldwide, she would sacrifice just as much as her sisters to protect and maintain it, even giving up the millions she had inherited a month ago.

  Colette jerked. “That’s not why we asked you here, Minnie. Just talk to him. We want to negotiate with him.”

  If he wanted to negotiate with her sisters, he would have done so. He wanted them at his feet.

  “Just get him to meet with us, Minnie,” Ariana urged.

  She rubbed her throbbing temples. “I can try.”

  Colette dropped her face in her hands. “This is all my fault.”

  “It’s not.” The pressure Colette was under to yield amazing results would drive anyone insane. The fact she was a woman in a male-dominated field and also the daughter of a legend didn’t help matters. She had no doubt Colette would recover… if Roth didn’t destroy her first.

  Jasmine looked around the empty penthouse. “Where is everybody?”

  “Rami and Lyle are traveling. I have a nanny with the kids,” Ariana said.

  “Does Lyle know about your money troubles?” she asked as delicately as possible.

  Colette’s spine straightened. “No, he doesn’t. I don’t want him to think I can’t handle this on my own. He has his own businesses to worry about. This is mine.”

  “If he ever finds out that you didn’t tell him, he’s going to be pissed.”