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“I’m not trying to humiliate you. I want to help. Whatever you need to get past this... If you need someone to go with you to appointments, someone to call at two in the morning, to watch the kids for you, whatever. You tell me, I’ll do it.” Her eyes stung with furious tears. “Damn it, Ari, this has spiraled out of control. If you were capable of doing this on your own, you would have kicked the habit long ago. Let me help you.”
A tear slid down Ariana’s cheek as she whispered, “I can do this.”
Jasmine sighed but relented. “You’ll tell me if you can’t do this on your own?”
Ariana gave a militant nod.
“It’s a miracle Roth let me talk to you. I don’t think there’ll be a next time. Do you understand?”
Ariana nodded and then tugged back her sleeve to look at her watch, which was flashing. “I’m late for a meeting.”
“We’ll give you a ride back.”
“We?” Ariana said warily.
“My security.”
Ariana glanced back as Mo came up behind them. Color rushed back into her cheeks as she faced forward again. “This is mortifying.”
“It seems all our secrets are being exposed. Be grateful yours hasn’t gone public yet. Colette couldn’t keep her troubles about Hennessy & Co. under wraps. Dad told you my pen name, and Roth?—”
“Was blackmailed,” Ariana said succinctly, but she sounded more thoughtful than critical. “Is that still a mystery?”
“Yes.” She hoped Ariana wasn’t foolish enough to investigate Roth in the hope of discovering his secret, since he’d revealed hers. If Roth chose to expose Rami’s past, it would shatter Ariana’s world. Her temples pounded as all the ways her family and husband could destroy one another passed through her mind.
As if Ariana were following a similar mental path, she asked, “Has he been keeping tabs on all of us?”
Was there any point in denying it? “Yes.”
Ariana shivered. “I guess it’s a good thing he’s on our side.”
“You didn’t think that on Thanksgiving.”
“No, I didn’t,” Ariana agreed.
When Johan pulled up to the curb, Jasmine rounded the car to sit behind the driver’s seat. Ariana called her secretary to inform her she was running late. Jasmine stared out the window. She thought she’d feel better with things out in the open, but nothing was resolved. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe one conversation would magically fix everything. If addiction were easy to overcome, it wouldn’t have progressed to this point. What if Ariana spiraled even further and got better at hiding her addiction? Did Ariana deserve the benefit of the doubt and more time to get her addiction in hand, or should she alert the rest of the family from the get-go? But if she involved the family, how would she explain how she caught Ariana in the act? Sooner or later, it would come out that Roth was monitoring all of them. They were more likely to fixate on that instead of dealing with Ariana.
Her heart sank. Was the past about to repeat itself? Would she have to choose between her family and Roth again? There was no competition. She’d choose him, knowing she’d have no one once they parted. What if her family decided to gang up on him? Would they put him in his place, or would he crumble their empires?
“You knew at Thanksgiving. That’s why you asked if I had skeletons in my closet,” Ariana said suddenly.
She didn’t take her eyes off the view. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you throw it in my face then?”
“I wanted to, but like you said, it had no bearing on our discussion at the time. And you have a right to decide who’s around your kids.”
“That doesn’t apply to you.”
Her sister still didn’t get it. She and Roth were a package deal. Although he’d tolerate Ariana’s antics, she wouldn’t expect him to endure such disrespect.
“Colette said you won’t be joining us for Christmas.”
“It won’t be the first time,” she said in a voice that sounded as dead as she felt.
“The kids will be disappointed.”
“I’ll make sure to deliver their presents ahead of time.”
