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“My lineage had connections to the Marshalls. The idea of those letters in someone else’s hands makes me shudder. This is a matter of family pride,” Mr Rouse snarled. As his voice rose in decibels, I held the phone away from my ear.
“Mr Rouse, I understand. But I don’t know how many times I can tell you, I’m not removing those papers,” I said firmly.
“How about I offer ten per cent over the reserve price?”
A brief laugh escaped me.
“The answer is no. Mr Rouse, we’re going around in circles, so your best bet is to bid on Friday.”
“I’ll destroy you,” Mr Rouse shrieked down the phone.
I sat up straight, my eyes staring out of the window.
“Mr Rouse, you may try, but my reputation is one of the best appraisers in the business and trying to ruin it will work against you. In fact, I may now pull the letters…”
Mr Rouse interrupted me. “Thank you. I’ll send the money over at once.”
“Excuse me, I hadn’t finished Mr Rouse because I might remove the correspondence and publish them myself. I do not respond well to blackmail, nor do I enjoy threats. If you want those letters so much, I suggest you bid on Friday. Have a good day,” I calmly told the irate Mr Rouse and hung up the phone.
With a sigh, I sank back in my chair and rubbed my temples. Penny had gratefully checked in on me as things became heated on the phone, taking away my dishes once I nodded everything was fine. Picking up my half-finished hot chocolate, I sipped it, my mind whirling.
“You eat today?” a voice rumbled from behind, and my body tensed.
“Why would that matter to you?”
Jett moved around the armchair and sat down opposite.
“Need to eat, kitten,” Jett replied, leaning back, and stretching those long legs of his out. As usual, Jett looked good, wearing a black tee and faded black jeans. He had on heavy motorcycle boots, a silver chain from his belt to his pocket, and his cut.
“What I do is not your concern,” I said coldly. I stifled the part of me that yelled, ‘Yippee, sex god in front of me, jump him!’ Entirely inappropriate, that train of thought! Jett raised his eyebrows.
“Disagree there.”
“No disagreement. Since you called me a cunt, I’m no longer your burden.”
I heard a gasp, glanced over my shoulder, and witnessed Zoe scurrying away. Irately, I looked back at Jett and saw a flash of guilt, and then indignation crossed his face.
“Fucked up,” Jett replied.
Yes, you did. I silently agreed.
“Yeah, you did. You knew I was inept, shy, and struggled to explain myself, that I’m afraid of social situations. Jett, you ignored that and thought I was judgemental. In your self-righteous anger, you cut me off every time I tried to explain. And then finally, you called me a cunt.” I stood up and looked down at Jett.
“Kitten,” Jett drawled.
Angrily, I narrowed my eyes.
“Goodbye, Jett. Luckily for me, I choose not to be around you, the stick up your ass or the chip on your shoulder.” With great dignity, I turned on my heel and walked away. Irritated, I heard Jett get to his feet and come after me. Jett gently, this time, took my elbow and spun me around.
“C’mon,” Jett said with a slight grin, which, damn it, made him hotter.
My temper sparked, which it tended to do with Jett lately!
“Is that how you do it? Insult and hurt someone and think a smile will make everything better? God, what a mistake I nearly made with you.” I fought the two parts of me, one that wanted to curl into a ball and die and the other that desperately wished to jump Jett’s bones. Jett bruised me with his cruel words. Jett called me a cunt. How was I supposed to recover from such a nasty curse word?
“Fucked up. If you can’t forgive me, you’re not what I thought you were.” Jett rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, and my gaze narrowed, and I bit hard.
“Ah, I see. You can insult and belittle me, and I’m meant to get over it and forgive you?” I poked a finger in Jett’s chest, and his eyes flashed. “Jett, you hurt me with those words. You treated me no better than a piece of shit on your shoe. Now because I won’t fall at your feet, that makes me a bad person? Someone you don’t want to know? You twatwaffle! How about I slander one of your brothers and seriously malign them? And then tell you that you must forgive me or you’re not the guy I believed you were.
