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“Patched things up with him, did you?” he asked softly.
“None of your fucking business,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Oh, I think it is.”
She wasn’t prepared for the hand that wrapped around her throat or the way he pulled up so she was forced to her tiptoes. Her heart careened into her throat as she gripped his massive wrist with both hands.
“You think I forgot what he did to me?”
His clinical tone made the hairs on the nape of her neck stand up.
“That was seven years ago.”
His impassive expression melted into one of savage fury. “He kept at it until the day he fucking died.”
She didn’t want to believe it. “No, he—”
His fingers tightened around her throat, stopping her denial. He leaned in, so close that their lips were mere inches apart.
“Are you calling me a liar, princess?”
The vicious energy pouring from him made her temples throb.
“If you don’t let me go, I’m going to scream.”
“Do it,” he invited with a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sure your sisters would love to see our names linked together in the media.” He leaned in and pressed his lips against her ear. “You’re not in New York with your bodyguards or your family to hide behind. You’re in Colorado in the middle of a snowstorm with nowhere to go. Don’t push me.”
The threat combined with his hot breath gusting over the shell of her ear made her shiver. His beard scraped against her cheek as he pulled back. His proximity, the firm hold on her throat, and the resolve in his expression scrambled her thoughts. She was no match for him, and the satisfied gleam in his eyes told her he knew it. As she tried to think of a way out of this, her eyes dropped from his and landed on the scar on his upper lip. The beard covered another scar on his cheek, but she could still see the tail end of it peeking out on the underside of his jaw.
“Did he bribe you to leave me?”
Her gaze flew back to his. “What?”
A muscle clenched in his jaw. “Did he promise to give you your inheritance if you left me?”
She was so stunned, she couldn’t even answer. She watched turbulent emotions play over his face and saw the flash of impatience before his fingers tightened around her throat.
“Answer me,” he said, words laced with menace.
Her nails dug into his wrist. His hold on her throat was just shy of bruising. He wasn’t hurting her. Yet.
“Fuck you, Roth.” He played her so badly that even now, the shame of knowing how gullible she had been ate at her. He wanted to rehash old times? Screw him.
“I’m not playing, Jasmine. Answer me.”
She punched him in the chest. There wasn’t much power behind it, but she still expected some reaction. He didn’t give her one. He just watched her with eyes that belonged to a grim reaper. She wanted to scream in his face and knee him in the balls, but it was impossible with the way he was holding her.
“No, he didn’t bribe me,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Then why?”
“I don’t want to talk about this!”
“You will,” he decreed. “No one’s here to save you from me.”
“I left you because I refused to be a pawn anymore!”
“Is that what you think?” he asked as his eyes moved over her face.
