Page 17 of Titus

“Hawk,” he said, approaching me as if he and I had history.

“And you are?” I answered, not giving the man the satisfaction.

“Oh, forgive me,” he practically mocked, and extended his hand. “Christian Jameston, you were my idol growing up as a kid.”

In this business, if you were good—and I fucking was—you could read an enemy before they even became one. That’s why I chose to stare at his hand rather than shake it.

“Interesting,” I answered. “I’m sure I was only in college when you were a boy, so how you’d find a way to idolize me is beyond me.”

“Well, you know,” he said, eyes flicking briefly over the men in my company, though it was clear he wasn’t here for them. “You slept with any and every heiress you wanted,” he added, but his smile didn’t quite reach his dull blue eyes. “So, I studied everything you did. I wanted that life. And that’s why my father’s giving me the keys to rebuild our family name out here.”

Jim stayed quiet, simply studying the man, as did the rest of the group.

“Then I presume Mr. Mitchell should be worried that someone who’s modeled himself after my brother is now out here trying to rebuild his family name?” Colton said evenly.

Jim and Spence both chuckled while I watched the man’s expression harden.

“I wish you the best of luck,” I said, already knowing I’d need to dig into how this family clawed its way back to the top and why this kid was staring at me as if I’d personally insulted his bloodline.

“Oh,” he said, stopping me just as I started to turn back to my drink, “and keep Presley out of your bed, or this gets a lot more personal than it already is.”

I smiled faintly and turned back to him. “You might want to put a leash on your lady if you’re worried about that, and reconsider making threats toward me, or this will be the last opening event I allow you to host on the West Coast.”

“You Spanish assholes think you own the world, don’t you?” he snarled, eyes flicking between my brother and me.

“Think?” I let out a quiet chuckle, looking at Colton’s amused expression. “Colton, do you think we own the world?”

“I don’t think we own the world,” Colton replied smugly, shaking his head.

“I also don’t think anything of the sort,” I agreed before turning my attention to Christian again. “I know we do.”

“That’s all about to change,” he said.

My eyes narrowed. “You’d best walk away right now before you foolishly ignore my warning and issue another careless threat. If you’re angry that I gave your woman a night she will never forget, you might want to reconsider whether she was ever really yours. Now, get the hell out of my face.”

I turned my back to him, daring him to do something stupid, but kept my attention on Jim, understanding we now had a fucking enemy and a potential problem to contain. A jealous, reckless man like Christian wasn’t a threat now, but he was the kind that could become one if left unchecked. That was why his father had never thrived in this world. They were foolish to provoke those they considered enemies.

Christian’s first mistake was showing his cards…to me. All because he was jealous that his girlfriend was a woman who’d proved her worth to me by sleeping with me after I fed her a handful of pretty words over cocktails. It’s also why I wasn’t concerned any longer about the Jamestons being on the West Coast. You didn’t go into business with vendettas against men like Jim and me and survive to tell the tale.

So, I could say with ease that, just from this confrontation alone, any concern we had about this family was no longer valid.

My only concern now was Cat. She stood across the room in easy conversation with the women, that same self-assured smile on her face, the same reason she was here likely tied to my financial team paying her five hundred thousand to run an event.

That’s where I was going to start.

I would acquire the building she was leasing under a different name and make sure she knew she was renting from me. So, in the end, all the money I’d paid her would come back to me anyway.

Was that petty? Yes. Did it irritate me to see her so self-assured, like we needed her more than she needed us? Absolutely. And that was exactly why I was doing it. That, and because when Christian inevitably found out, he’d realize he’d just turned a quick profit off a man who ran him out of Newport Beach.

It was an ideal two-birds-one-stone situation. And once they learned not to fuck with me or my empire, I could get back to what mattered—expanding the luxury villas Jim had confirmed he’d be joining me on yesterday.

Life was always good, especially when people were reminded exactly who they were dealing with.

CHAPTER SIX

The quiet was the first thing I noticed when I walked in. It wasn’t a lonely silence but an intentional quiet. The kind you create when the rest of your life doesn’t give you any. And in my world? Until I walked through the doors of my pristine home, I didn’t get this reprieve. This reset.

I slipped off my heels at the door and carried them by their straps as I crossed the hardwood floors of my place in Corona del Mar. My nerves were already unwinding, as if I’d just walked into a high-end spa to escape the madness of the outside world.