Page 109 of Titus

Waiting nearby beneath the glowing exterior lights was my black Rolls Royce Cullinan, with my driver already holding the rear passenger door open for us. This was any other typical evening for me. Earlier today was not. Driving myself around in a car I hadn’t driven in four years? Unheard of.

But that wasn’t what was on my mind right now. Not the chopper, not the ease of having a driver waiting to take us to Jake and Ash’s place. No. Somehow tonight, the only thing I found myself focused on was the woman stepping beside me into the warm Malibu air.

The crashing waves below the cliffside property blended with low music drifting through Jake and Ash Mitchell’s outdoor terrace, while the warm breeze moved through the massive tropical oasis they casually called a patio.

Patio my ass. The thing looked like a luxury resort hidden along the coastline.

Palm trees wrapped in soft lighting swayed around multiple fire features as the infinity pool disappeared into the ocean beyond. Expensive outdoor furniture surrounded oversized stone fireplaces, and somewhere behind me, Jake and Collin argued over whether some piece of machinery was necessary for the OR.

I barely heard any of it. Instead, I watched as Catalina stood on the terrace near the outdoor fireplace with Ash, Avery, Natalia, and Darcy.

And somehow, my entire fucking focus remained there.

I took another drink of my beer while pretending I wasn’t openly watching her.

The woman wore black linen pants tonight with a soft, oversized sweater that slipped off one shoulder every time she laughed. The firelight caught in her dark hair while her gold jewelry reflected warm flickers of light each time she moved.

She was a perfect portrait of Spanish beauty. Catalina Veléz most assuredly possessed the kind of beauty that distracted a man against his will. The dangerous kind of woman no one warns you about. The kind that slowly worked beneath your skin until, suddenly, you found yourself moving yachts across oceans and pretending it had absolutely nothing to do with her.

“What’s got you looking so tortured over there?” Jake asked, walking to sit across from me on the sofa.

I smiled at him but didn’t respond. Unfortunately, that only encouraged him.

“Something about golden sunsets in Malibu, eh, buddy?” Collin said, clapping me on the back and sitting next to me. “Is that what you’ve been quietly gawking at for the last twenty minutes?”

“I’m just sitting here,” I answered calmly with a hint of a smile.

“And apparently writing love songs in his head,” Collin continued.

I slowly lowered the beer from my mouth. “Do surgeons ever stop talking?”

“No,” Jake answered immediately. “Especially when you CEOs start acting emotionally compromised.”

“It’s truly the highlight of our lives,” Collin said dramatically.

I exhaled. “Glad life has become such a bore. You’ve found joy in watching me drink a beer and watch the sunset.”

I watched Jake and Collin exchange subtle looks before rolling my eyes and ignoring the men I knew would give me hell about this until I fucked it up somehow and was crying into my bourbon on a lonely Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for them, they wouldn’t get to experience that because I had no plans to mess this up.

I looked back toward Cat just as she threw her head back, laughing at something Avery said.

That damn laugh was becoming a serious issue for me. It did something strange to my chest every time I heard it, something that felt gravely close to peace.

“She’s good for you,” Sebastian casually said from the chair beside mine, scrolling through something on his phone.

I looked over at him.

The bastard didn’t even glance up.

“Based on?” I questioned.

“The fact that you haven’t checked your phone in twenty minutes.”

That made me pause. He was right. Normally, my attention remained split among emails, investors, market movements, and global operations. Constantly. Yet tonight? I couldn’t remember the last time I’d looked at anything besides her.

That realization somehow felt far more dangerous than comforting.