He came closer, walking with one hand in his pocket. He scanned the room ahead, looking for whomever he was meeting that afternoon.
Without thinking it through, I rose to my feet to intercept him. I didn’t have any expectation for a friendly greeting. The most he might do was look at me. But he wouldn’t stop to say more than a few words to me.
But I wasn’t thinking.
His eyes turned to me, and his look immediately sharpened as he recognized my features. He obviously hadn’t spotted me until that moment, and he couldn’t control his surprise. For just an instant, there wasn’t the indifference he usually gave me. There was some kind of emotion, some kind of reaction.
He stopped when he was a foot away from me. His other hand moved into his pocket, and a scowl slowly started to form on his face.
I was in the middle of a lunch meeting, but Kyle didn’t seem important anymore. One of the two people who meant the most to me was standing right in front of me. I’d do anything to hug him, to know he was my friend. “Hey…” I couldn’t fight my expression and the way it fell. I couldn’t keep the sadness out of my tone, not even in Kyle’s presence.
Thorn turned to Kyle and shook his hand. “How are you, Kyle?”
“I’m well. And you?”
“Never better.” He turned back to me, ice-cold. “Titan.”
I wasn’t the recipient of a handshake. All I got was the cold shoulder as he walked off and headed to his table.
It took me a moment to recover, a moment before I found my seat again. I was aware of some people watching me, curious how my first public encounter with Thorn would go. I faced Kyle again.
He looked at me with sympathy, clearly thinking about everything he’d read in the headlines.
I cleared my throat. “I can get products on the shelf as early as next month.”
6
Hunt
I was sitting in my office when Titan called on my cell phone.
I quickly ended the call I was already having just so I could take it. There wasn’t a business opportunity lucrative enough for me to make her my second priority. She wasn’t my wife, but she felt like family.
The rest of the world could wait.
“Hey, baby.” I turned in my chair so I could look out the window and see the overcast sky. It was a cold afternoon in the city, and the forecast anticipated a bit of snow.
“Hey…”
That simple word told me everything. “What happened?”
“I was having lunch with Kyle when Thorn walked in…”
This wouldn’t end well.
“He walked by my table, and I stood up to greet him. He said hello to Kyle but ignored me…then walked off.”
He was already hated in the media. Ignoring Titan in a room full of people didn’t sound like smart publicity. But he obviously didn’t care about that, and neither did she. All she wanted was her friend back. I knew Thorn felt the same way, even if he wouldn’t admit it. “I’m sorry.” I meant those words deeply. They seemed so hollow, an automatic response to sad news. But I meant them every single time I said them to her. I just wished there were something better I could say.
“It doesn’t get easier. It only gets harder. I miss him more every day.”
If I weren’t so secure in my relationship with her, I might be jealous. But she loved me in a way she’d never loved anyone else. She picked me over him because she couldn’t live without me. She walked away from a safe and convenient relationship to give our intensity a real chance. “I know you do.”
“I have to do something.”
“What?”
She never gave me an answer. “I’m sorry to bother you at work. I know you’re busy, Diesel.”
“Never too busy for you,” I whispered into the phone. “You can call me for anything.”
“I know…I just don’t want to abuse my power. I’ll see you later.”
I wanted to keep her on the phone a little longer, but my silence wouldn’t help her. Sometimes my kisses and touches did the trick, distracted her so she would stop thinking about her pain. But I couldn’t do that now. “Alright. Love you.” I always held my breath as I waited for her to say it back. I was never afraid she wouldn’t repeat the phrase, but I also anticipated how it would make me feel.
It made me feel special.
“Love you too.”
“Sir.” Natalie spoke into the intercom. “I know you told me to send Vincent Hunt away if he shows up, but…he’s refusing to leave.”
It’d been a few days since my last conversation with my father. I thought it over a lot, thinking about it while I watched TV on the couch or washed my hair in the shower. I assumed the ball was in my court, and if I wanted to speak to him, I would decide when and where.
I guess not.
“You can send him in, Natalie.”
“Alright, sir.”
I quickly finished the email I’d been writing and sent it off just as he walked through the door. Back to his aura of natural intimidation, he disturbed the air around him, bringing in silent strength that blanketed everything in his vicinity. He had no reason to be hostile with me, so this was normal with him.
I knew that was how I was with other people too.
He approached my desk with both hands in his pockets. He looked at me straight on, wearing an expression so similar to mine it was strange.
I rose to my feet so we were level with each other. I didn’t extend my hand to shake his. Too soon.
“Hey, Diesel. How are you?”
The phrase was so casual, I almost didn’t believe it came from him. Most of his greetings were silent threats. It caught me off guard and took a few extra seconds for me to come up with words. “Good. You?”
He didn’t answer. “I came by to see if you wanted to have lunch.”
Lunch? With Vincent Hunt? Last time we spoke, I agreed to leave the door open. I agreed to give this relationship a chance before shutting the door on the opportunity altogether. But I didn’t expect him to come by and ask me to lunch like everything was normal.
We were anything but normal.
I hesitated in my answer, unsure what to do. I hadn’t eaten yet because I’d been too busy working. Taking a break for food sounded nice, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go out with my father like the past was behind us.
It wasn’t behind us.
My father stared at me as he waited for me to come up with an answer. “I’ll accept no for an answer. Just thought I’d stop by because I just finished a meeting across the street.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets and adjusted his watch. “Maybe next time.” If he was hurt, he covered up his reaction well. He gave a slight nod before he turned to the door.
Something gnawed at my stomach, a wave of guilt I shouldn’t even feel. He was the one who’d made me suffer just a month ago, but now I felt terrible for turning the man down. Watching him try to have a relationship with me made me feel like shit for denying him. “I can spare thirty minutes.”
My father instantly turned around, still wearing the exact same expression as before. “That’s great. What are you in the mood for?”
I sat across from my father at a table in the corner, our drinks in front of us and our entrees on the way. Like the other night, he was staring directly at me, giving me his full focus as if nothing else in the room mattered.
Kinda reminded me of the way I stared at Titan—but different.
My father ordered a scotch even though it was barely past noon. He had always drunk a lot, at least, after my mother died. He drank wine with dinner, but most of the time, he preferred hard liquor. He reminded me of Titan in that regard. His tolerance had built up until the level of being legally drunk had no effect on him.
I stuck with iced tea. I’d told Titan not to drink so much, so I had to stop too—even if she wasn’t around.
Now it was quiet like the other night, awkward as hell.
Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to this. “Jax has broken into the solar energy
sector.” He made the announcement with no warning at all, beginning a conversation like it was strictly business. “He’s working with a few engineers from Stanford. They think they have a way to reduce the cost of solar panels by fifty percent.”
My eyebrows rose. “That’s an insane margin.”
“I agree. But he thinks they can do it.”
“Have they proven it?”
“In a few ways,” he said. “They’re still in the developmental stage. It was a risky purchase, but Jax has always been interested in clean energy. He’s even proposed a couple of things I can do for my companies all over the world, making them completely green with renewable energy. It’ll cost a lot up front, but it’ll save me money down the road. Science has always been his interest.”
Jax always naturally excelled at science and math when we were in school. I did well in my courses, but I had to work a little harder to understand the same things that came easily to him. Like me, he was quiet and intense, but he had a brain bursting with constant stimulation. He combined his interests in business and science for his corporate pursuits. “He’s a smart guy.”
“Extremely.” His voice held a tone of pride.
Did he talk about me like that too?
“What are you working on now?”
It seemed like this entire conversation would stick to our common interest—business. I was relieved we wouldn’t have another repeat of the other night. I couldn’t talk about my feelings anymore. “Titan bought me out of Stratosphere, and we’re planning on having me return.”
“That’s a strong company.”
“We made a lot of progress together. We both turned it around, and she has ideas that constantly amaze me. If the world knew how smart she really was, people would be even more intimidated.”
A slight smile came over his mouth. “I’m already intimidated.” My father didn’t hide his fondness for her. He seemed to adore her the same way he did Jax.
“She’s an amazing woman…” That didn’t even scratch the surface of who she was. She lived in a world where she had to work three times as hard to be respected, but not once did she let it get her down. She’d been through a lot for a woman so young, but she never let her past heartbreaks destroy her. She kept her head held high and kept going.
My father took a drink from his glass before he returned it to the table. “When are you going to ask her to marry you?”
It was a very personal question. So personal, I wasn’t sure if he even had the right to ask.
My father must have read my mood because he said, “It’d be a mistake not to.”
“I don’t know, honestly. It’s not the best time right now.”
He nodded slightly. “Because of Thorn.”
“Yeah…” Did she tell him about Thorn?
“She mentioned it to me. We both agree that the only thing that will make Thorn come around is if she does her own interview to take the spotlight away from him. It’s not ideal, but her friendship with Thorn is important enough that she’s willing to risk her reputation to get him back.”
I couldn’t keep a straight face because this was all new to me. “When did she say this?”
“A few weeks ago.” He kept his eyes on me as he took another drink.
“She never told me that.” I felt wounded that my father knew something about her before I did. Why would she tell him and not me?
“I’m sure she was getting around to it. Doesn’t seem like she likes talking about him.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I can’t believe she even told you.”
He shrugged with a slight smile on his face. “I think she likes me.”
I didn’t know what made me more upset, the fact that she talked to my father about it and not me, or the fact that she had a close relationship with my father at all.
My father dropped his smile as he watched my mood sour. “It wasn’t my intention to make you upset.”
“What exactly does she plan to say in this interview?”
He sighed, his tone heavy with regret. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“But you did,” I snapped. “So now finish it.”
“Alright.” He finished his drink and returned it to the table. “I told her she should tell the media that she fell in love with you, and while she loved Thorn, you were the man she couldn’t live without. Thorn became upset, like any other man would, and he lost control. It’ll distract everyone from Thorn and bring the focus on to her.”
“And make her look like a cheater and a liar.” My voice rose even when I tried to keep it down. “It’ll ruin everything she stands for. She has an untouchable image. This will destroy that.”
“I know. I warned her of that.”
“And she still wants to do it?” I asked incredulously.
He nodded. “We both think it’s the only thing that will make Thorn forgive her. She’d be proving to him that they’re still in this together, even if they’re apart.”
When it came to Thorn, Titan always turned emotional. Just an hour ago, she’d called me and had spoken with a heartbroken tone. She would never be truly happy unless she had both of us in her life again. “I don’t want her to ruin everything she’s worked so hard for.”
He nodded. “I don’t either. But Thorn means the world to her.”
Now my anger was no longer directed at my father. All I cared about was Titan and how much pain she was in. To even consider this was a suicide mission. “Fuck.” I rubbed the back of my neck as I turned my gaze out the window, wishing this nightmare would just end. My love for Titan was still a secret because of this bullshit. Titan didn’t deserve to have all of her hard work ruined because she wanted to spend her life with me. It wasn’t fair—at all.
My father didn’t flinch at my profanity.
“I can’t let her do this.”
“She’s not the kind of woman that you can let do anything.”
“I’m not letting her destroy her credibility over this. Thorn should forgive her because she deserves his forgiveness.”
My father gave me a look of pity.
I leaned back in my chair as I considered what to do. Once Titan did that, everything would be an uphill battle for her. I could protect her in a lot of ways, but my influence could only do so much. Besides, she wasn’t the kind of woman who needed to hide in my shadow anyway. She needed her independence, her own credibility.
Unless I took her place. “I’ll do it instead.”
“Do what instead?”
“I’ll give the interview.”
“And say what, exactly?”
“That I was the one who came between them. That I fell in love with her and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I couldn’t stay away from her, and I made her fall in love with me too. That way, I look like the romantic asshole, people forget about Thorn altogether, and Titan looks like a woman who was swept off her feet.”
“I don’t think that would have the same effect.”
“Why not?” I asked. “It gets the attention off Thorn.”
“But that doesn’t mean it’ll earn his forgiveness. I admire what you’re trying to do, and I find it even more admirable that you’re both so loyal to each other in every way possible, but it won’t mean as much coming from you. It has to be her.”
I bowed my head, the defeat washing over me. “She doesn’t deserve it…”
“I know. But their friendship means more to her than what the whole world thinks of her.”
“Maybe I can talk to him again.”
My father shook his head. “Don’t interfere with this one. This is about the two of them.”
I was definitely going to confront her about it at the very least. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.”
“I’m sure she will. Or maybe she was afraid you’d convince her not to do it.”
“And she’d be right. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“There’s one bright side to this,” he said gently. “Once the world knows her side
of the story, there will be no more hiding. You can finally have what you want, Diesel.”
That was the only good thing that would come out of all of this. I could have lunch with her whenever I felt like it. We could jog through the park together. I could ask her to be my wife whenever I chose. When we went to conferences together, I could hold her against my side so the world would know she was mine—and the women would know I was taken. “I suppose…”
The silence stretched on until the waiter arrived with our food. He placed the entrees in front of us before he walked off again.
I picked up my fork, but I didn’t have much of an appetite.
My father dug in, cutting into his chicken and taking a bite. He watched me eat, not having to watch his own movements to be precise. “I’ll say something to Thorn after she gives her interview…to give her a little extra help.”
I wasn’t sure what effect he could possibly have, but I was surprised he would even offer. “You would do that?”
“I would do anything for that woman,” he said simply. “I’ve always liked her, even before I knew about the two of you. She reminds me of your mother. It’s the way she carries herself…the way she talks. She has a natural strength and elegance that your mother always possessed. Something about her comforts me, I can’t really explain it. She seems confident that she’s going to be a part of your life for a long time. If that’s the case, I want to do everything I possibly can to make her feel comfortable. She doesn’t have a father of her own…perhaps I can be one to her.”
My fingers suddenly felt numb, and I couldn’t keep my grip on my silverware. I felt the utensils slightly slide against my moist skin. My father had been a great parent, even after my mother died. But once he pushed Brett aside, all of that changed. Titan had always felt lost without her father. I knew there was nothing she would love more than having someone make her feel like she had family. That was the reason Thorn was so important to her. “Thank you…” The best way to get under my skin was through Titan. Whether my father did that on purpose or not, it was effective. I wanted to give her everything she wanted, and I was willing to do anything to make that happen.
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