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Her lips twitched as she put the security coordinator she inherited from her father on speaker as she pulled dishes from the cabinets.
“You take too many risks. You can’t do that anymore. It’s not safe.” Sunny sighed. “I know you need time, but you can’t take off like that. You ditched them at a boutique and then turned off your phone so we can’t track you? Do you know who you are? Dammit, Jas, you’re going to cost me my job. Lyle’s been on my ass since you disappeared. He fired me, by the way, so thanks for that.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. She would deal with Lyle when she got back.
“I hope you’re okay. Let me send at least one guy to you. Or better yet, let us pick you up. Call me back.”
If it wasn’t for her father’s death tossing her back into the spotlight, there would be no need for bodyguards. Not only was she trying to cope with her father’s death, but she also had security in her face asking her for a daily schedule. She felt suffocated and trapped, which was why she ran to Colorado for a damn break.
Not surprisingly, the next voicemail was from Lyle, her brother-in-law.
“I don’t know where you are, but when you come home, I’m going to beat the living daylights out of you,” Lyle snapped. “Fuck, Minnie, this isn’t a game, and you can’t take off anymore. If you’re emotional or whatever, go see a therapist or go to a fucking spa. Don’t take off without telling us. You can’t even shoot me a fucking text? I’m in fucking Amsterdam. I’m up to my ass in meetings. You don’t think I have more important shit to worry about? Fuck.”
She could hear voices and ringing phones in the background and imagined him pacing as he spoke to her.
“Colette told me about Max’s will and how she reacted. I didn’t know. We need to have a family meeting.” He sighed. “Call me back the minute you get this. I’m worried about you, you little shit. I love you.”
She was a teenager when her oldest sister Colette married Lyle. He was from the right family, a tycoon in his own right, and a brasher version of her father. But, unlike her father, family meant something to Lyle. Even while they were estranged, Lyle kept in touch with her. He wasn’t afraid of her father and was one of the few who knew about Thalia Crane and was proud as fuck of her. He had an appreciation for art that was lost on her sisters.
Deciding to take pity on him, she called as she bit into her sandwich. He picked up in the middle of the first ring.
“I’m going to kill you.”
She munched loudly in his ear and said nothing.
“What the fuck is that?”
She grinned. Nothing like a big brother to make her want to act like a bratty younger sister. “Hello to you too.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“I’m still in the States.”
“You know you put us through hell.”
She doubted her sisters cared that much, but she didn’t feel like arguing. “I’m fine.”
“Stop saying that. We all know you aren’t. How the fuck can you be after what he dumped on you?”
“Well, I am now.” A night of dirty sex could do miracles on one’s outlook on life. “I’ll be back in New York soon.”
“How soon?”
“Sometime today, I think? I’m not sure yet.”
“How can you not know—?” He stopped himself because he didn’t want to know the answer. “Fine. Do we need to brace ourselves for anything?”
She flipped a sandwich in the pan. “Like what?”
“Whether you shaved your head, got a face tattoo, or decided to get drunk and strip in a public place?”
“No.”
Roth wasn’t one to kiss and tell. No one would find out about this. Once they left, they would cease to exist for one another. He would go back to being king of the business world, and she would go back to being an anonymous writer.
“Colette and I will host a family dinner tonight. We should talk before you run off to the country.”
He knew her so well. “Fine.”
