Arranged love

“Titan, we had an agreement,” I hear Bones say.

“You fucking knew the entire time.” I shove his face into it one last time, ignoring him. Then I push him away from me where he falls to the floor.

Blood covers the window where I slammed his face into it. “He promised … to take care of her.”

“How could you?” Emilee whispers, watching him.

“I did what I had to do,” he says, rolling onto his side and sitting up.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“At the expense of me?” She sniffs.

“They were going to kill me,” he growls, hugging his side.

“And he fucking used me!” she shouts, walking around the table. “For Mom. She needed me …”

“She was a whore too,” he spits up at her.

Bones jumps to his feet and grabs her arms, stopping her. The door to the conference room opens, and Luca enters, followed by Nite. Nick hangs his head and sighs.

“It’s a party.” Grave snorts, downing more Pedialyte.

“Thought you would want to see this.” Luca throws a stack of papers on the table.

I walk over and pick them up, skimming over them. I begin to laugh. “Boy, did you fuck yourself. Five point two million dollars.” I whistle. “That’s a lot of money to have stashed away when you owe a couple of million.” I throw the documents in front of him on the floor. “You couldn’t touch it, though, because you put it in your wife’s name. But she didn’t know about it, did she?” I quirk a brow.

He just stares at the papers while blood drips from his busted lip.

The dates show the account was opened six months ago. “You knew that she and George were sleeping together, and you needed a way to hide money. From your ex-wife and your business partner. But then you had to go into hiding when you faked your death. Meaning no contact with the world. Not even Nancy. So you had no clue that she had died. You were too busy in New York living the single life. And why would George inform you of her death? He was getting everything you ever had.”

“Stop!” He slams his fists down on the papers.

“Am I warm?” I ask

“Where did you find these?” Bones asks Luca.

“We caught a break. Titan had found an account number when going through his study after the break-in. I found that they belonged to an offshore bank account. It took me a while because I was looking for his name, not Nancy’s.”

“Is there anyone that you haven’t used?” Emilee asks softly. Pure defeat in her blue eyes. I hate that he’s hurt her so much.

He looks up at her but doesn’t answer.

She yanks her arms in Bones’s hold, and he lets her go. Her watery eyes look from his to mine. And without another word, she exits the conference room, choosing to walk away from him.

I kneel next to him. “You’ll never hurt her again, Nick.” I can’t take the chance of him harming her. Em is mine. We will start a family of our own someday, and I won’t allow this sorry son of a bitch to put my children in harm’s way. He has to go. Bones was right, he and I have an agreement on that situation. I slap Nick on the shoulder. “Be careful what you wish for.” And then walk out and after my future wife.

EMILEE

I get off the elevator and march into the Royal Suite.

“Em?” I hear the door shut behind me.

I ignore Titan and make my way to his room. My eyes catch site of his balcony, and I shove open the sliding glass door and walk out onto it. I suck in a deep breath of fresh air.

“Emilee?” Titan sighs.

I spin around to face him. When we woke up this morning, he asked me if I trusted him. After what he did for me last night, there was no way for me to say no. He then informed me that he had a meeting today, and he wanted me to attend it. I had no idea that it was going to be with my father. “What, Titan?” I ask, angrily wiping the tear from my cheek.

“I’m sorry.”

I chuckle at that. “You did nothing wrong.”

“I’m sorry you had to hear that.” He walks over to me and pushes a strand of dark hair behind my ear.

“No, you’re not,” I say.

“You’re right. I wanted you to see what he did to you. How he put himself first. You needed to know what kind of person he truly is.”

I always thought he was a saint. A man who had everything in the world. A reputable business. A loving wife. How many people had he used? How far would he have gone if Titan wouldn’t have intervened last night? “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, Em.” He cups my face. “I hate to see that look on your face. And I hate that he wasn’t the man you thought he was.”

I reach out, grip his shirt, and pull him toward me. “Titan …”

“Yeah, Em?” His eyes search mine.

“I love you.” I say the words that I’ve never told another man. I have no regrets or second thoughts. This man is the one for me. And I hold my breath, hoping that he feels the same about me.

He brings his lips to mine. “I love you too.” Then he’s kissing me.