Roth's coming to dinner

She was putting on a sultry brown lipstick when Roth reentered the bathroom, pants undone and buttoning a fresh shirt. He went to his vanity, which was opposite to hers. She rubbed her lips together and watched him in the mirror as he tucked his shirt into his pants and then zipped. He brushed his teeth, ran a comb through his hair and beard before he turned and headed for the door.

“I’m ready when you are,” he said.

She whipped her head around. “Excuse me?”

He paused. “Aren’t you having dinner with your family?”

“Yes.”

He tugged on his cuff. “Then, so am I.”

She straightened. “I thought you had back to back meetings all day.”

“It’s Thanksgiving.”

“But you…” she sputtered and then shook her head. “I don’t think my family expects you. They’d understand if you had to work.“

“I canceled my last appointment, so I could attend.”

She opened her mouth to ask how he knew what time dinner was before she realized what a stupid question that was. “You think paparazzi will be waiting in the cold to see if you attend Thanksgiving dinner with my family?”

“No.”

“Then why…?”

He closed the distance between them and planted one hand on the vanity and the other on the back of her chair. “We’re married.”

“I know that.”

He cupped her chin and raised her face, so she couldn’t evade his piercing gaze. “You don’t want me to go.”

“I didn’t expect you to, since you’re so busy.”

“I said things were going to be different this time around.”

“But…”

He kissed her before he straightened. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine.”

She gaped at his retreating back. The last time he and her family were together, he choked Thea. If her run-in with Lyle in Portugal was an indicator of what to expect, this dinner was going to be tense and uncomfortable. With what she now knew about Ariana’s addiction, the intimate details of Rami’s past, and Colette’s bad business deals, she wasn’t sure how she was going to interact normally. Her plan was simple, though. She was going to do what she always did—focus on the kids and try to ignore the adults. That was the main reason she was looking forward to this. She was dying to see how much Polara had grown, and couldn’t wait to see Kye and Bailey’s reactions to their gifts. Adding Roth to the mix, though, meant all bets were off. Should she text her sisters that he was coming to dinner or did they assume he would? She considered inviting him to Thanksgiving dinner, but had expected him to turn her down. Roth didn’t do family shit and had even tried to dissuade her from sending birthday gifts. Why would he bother with a holiday dinner with her family? Then again, he had to keep up appearances. Lyle would expect it after the show she put on in Lisbon.

**This is a raw draft of Bitter Confessions. Please do not share or distribute.