Page 104 of Titus

I looked up at him just as the wind pushed through his dark hair.

“Well, if it helps,” I said with a smile, “I am impressed by this side of you.”

He grinned. “That is good to know,” he answered. “How interesting. You and I grew up in the same world, around the same people, and somehow⁠—”

“Never met?” I laughed. “I’m sure we did. You were probably some spoiled brat running through the villa because the nanny wanted you to take a nap.”

He chuckled as if I’d just called out a truth. “No,” he answered. “My father never allowed us boys to attend those events until we were in college, so we likely never met. I was referring to the fact that we grew up nearly the same way but turned out to be wildly different people.”

“That’s the damn truth,” I said, trying to keep the mood light and genuinely liking this side of the man. “So, I have a question for you.”

He looked over at me. “Anything.”

“Okay,” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re a man who appears to have it all and who lives a truly fortunate life.”

“Yes. However, it didn’t stem from a lack of effort or from showy material things…” His voice seemed softer and smoother now.

“So in all of that, for the man who has it all,” I said in a silly, dramatic way that made him chuckle quietly.

“I wouldn’t say I have it all,” he tried to playfully say back, “but I do have everything that money can buy.”

“And having all that,” I acknowledged, “what makes you truly happy?”

He stopped for a moment, relaxed further back in his chair, and looked out at the waves rolling in as if they held his answer.

“Happiness is an interesting emotion,” he said. “Before my father decided my brothers and I could no longer spend our summers in the south of Spain with my mother’s family, I think those were the days when I truly felt happy.”

“How old were you?” I paused when he glanced back at me, and I couldn’t tell what the hell he was thinking. “When you weren’t allowed to go anymore?”

“Sixteen. My brothers were fourteen and twelve.” He glanced back out to the ocean. “One day, we’re playing in the surf, and the next thing we knew, our lives revolved around schooling, meetings, investor dinners, image, discipline, and structure.”

“So, the last time you were happy was when you were a teenager?” I said in absolute shock.

“No,” he smiled at me in a lazy, sexy way. “It was a few nights ago when a woman who once hated my presence took me to a fish shack,” he chuckled. “And then, of course, wanted to spend the day casually with me.”

I couldn’t help but feel awful that it seemed his life had been nothing but business and domination since he was sixteen. Shit. He was learning ledgers while I was just hoping I would pass my driver’s license test.

“I’ve silenced you with my pathetic life,” he chuckled.

“I wouldn’t call it pathetic,” I answered. “I do feel sad for you, though.”

“What is the saying? Never feel sorry for a man who owns a plane?” he said with a laugh. “Don’t waste your time pitying men like me, preciosa. By the time we feel lonely, we’ve already become dangerous enough to survive it.”

“You say things like that so confidently that it makes me wonder how long you believed them,” I said, arching my eyebrow at him.

“Am I wrong? Do you pity us upper elites who find joy in the less emotional things in life?”

“I do,” I answered him. “Obviously, since I have one foot constantly in your world, I see that all you people do is perform and never truly enjoy the extravagant things your wealth has brought you.”

“You intrigue me, Catalina Veléz.” He stood and extended his hand to me. “Care to join me for a walk on the beach?”

“I would love that,” I said, taking his hand.

I should’ve instinctively pulled my hand away when he interlaced his fingers with mine and kept holding it as we walked down toward the wet sand. But I didn’t. Instead, I leaned into the moment, inhaling the salty ocean air, feeling the warm breeze kiss my face, all while being with a man who was as mysterious as he was intoxicating to me.

Interesting. A man capable of buying anything in the world had forgotten how to simply live in it.

“What do you think about⁠—”