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She couldn’t maintain her sour mood in the presence of such joy. “I’m glad.”
“I have a great job, meet interesting people.” Sarai patted her hand. “And get to visit beautiful places. I’m living the American dream!” When Roth growled in sleep, Sarai’s eyes widened playfully before she leaned forward to whisper, “Did you always know?”
“Know what?”
“That he would be who he is today.”
She retracted her hand. “No.”
She knew Roth would be successful. He had ambition and a mind for business, but so did everyone in the upper echelon. He had been on the rise when she met him, but a part of her wondered if he would be the titan he was today if her father hadn’t forced him to work harder than anyone else.
To think that when she first met him, she thought he needed help… She suppressed a snort. She was honest in Colorado when she said she hated that he was from her father’s world. Men like her father, men like Roth, they lived for work and money. She wanted more than that. She wanted alife. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with a waiter or taxi driver? That would have made life simpler.
Sarai gaped at her. “You didn’t know and left Ford Baldwin for him?”
It was her turn to look away. “I didn’t care about the money. I still don’t.”
“But your father left you an inheritance, right?” Sarai held up both hands when Jasmine gave her a cutting look. “The papers mentioned…” Sarai gave her a guilty smile before she waved her hand. “I’ll just wait and read about it in the books.”
Why her inheritance should be on public record was beyond her. Thank God her inheritance wasn’t big enough to hit any Forbes lists, which were only interested in billionaires. Roth had been listed on international lists, but with his move back to the States, he would rank in the top twenty of the richest people in the country. She mentally crossed her fingers and hoped Forbes had already made their cursed list and wouldn’t include him this year. That issue always sold the most copies. Everyone wanted to know who the richest people in America were to emulate, target, and model their careers after. Lyle and Rami would be on that list, two or three spots away from each other, as they had been since they married into the family. Marriage kept business ties strong and although her brothers-in-law were in different industries, they still had some overlap and mutual acquaintances and mirrored each other’s success.
She shot a scathing look at Roth. If a magazine editor decided to include Roth, she knew they wouldn’t be able to resist mentioning her name and combining their fortunes. Fuck. Interest in her and her sisters was just starting to decline after the high-profile attendance at Dad’s funeral. Aside from the fact that Lyle and Rami were prominent and influential, Colette and Ariana’s mothers had shown face and made quite the spectacle. Colette’s mother was the heir to an oil fortune and on her third marriage, while Ariana’s mother, a former supermodel that had gone into movies, had drawn the eyes of Hollywood. Roth was capitalizing on the publicity wave with their wedding announcement. He wanted to proclaim his return to New York so everyone who ever wronged him would quiver in their boots.
She looked back at Sarai, who was giving her a speculative look. “What?”
“Do you know which actress you want to play you when your books are made into a movie?”
She felt a flash of panic sear through her chest.“No.”
“Do you know who will play Rex?”
“I don’t want my series made into a movie,” she said adamantly.
Sarai blinked. “Why not?”
Because then, she would have to come out of the closet and everyone would realize that what they assumed was fiction was actually real. Her broken family life depicted on-screen along with her and Roth’s sex life? Not only that, it would feature the other men she’d taken to her bed since. No, it was better for all concerned if Thalia Crane remained the author of some fictional series that sold reasonably well. She wasn’t interested in shooting to the moon. What she had was more than she ever dreamed, and it was enough for her. If mainstream success had been a goal, she wouldn’t have turned down the publishers who offered to put her in bookstores, airports, and newsstands. She needed everyone to believe it was just a book and not her real life.
“It’s something you should think about. You’re featured regularly on some prominent lists. It won’t be long before someone approaches you for film rights,” Sarai said, oblivious to her inner turmoil.
Jasmine glared at her. “How do you have time to watch my stats when you’re the personal assistant forhim, have flights at three in the morning, and non-stop work?”
“I’m hyper.”
“No shit. Instead of focusing on me, what are we going to do about you? What’s your next step?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you want to be his personal assistant forever?”
“What else would I be?”
“Anything you fucking want.” She spread her arms. “You want to live the American dream, right? You should try to knockhim”—she jabbed her thumb at Roth—“off his throne. Now,thatwould be the American dream. Become the rival of your old boss.”
Sarai’s mouth fell open. “That…”
“Yes?”
“That sounds awful.”
