Page 184 of Titus

He extended his hand, and I shook it.

“We’re here on orders from Mr. Hawk.”

“Thank you,” was all I could manage.

Marcus motioned toward the two men beside him. “This is Luca Moretti.” The dark-haired man nodded respectfully. “And this is Ethan Cross.” The blond man did the same.

“We’ll be staying with you until Mr. Hawk returns.”

The words landed like a punch… until Mr. Hawk returns.

“I appreciate it,” I finally answered.

Marcus studied me and looked around the room behind me carefully, noticing that I hadn’t done anything to prepare to leave since Titus was hauled out of here like a newly captured fugitive.

“Allow us to help you retrieve your and Mr. Hawk’s belongings before we leave,” Marcus said, then the men walked into the cottage while I stepped aside for them.

I turned to follow but was stopped when another vehicle came around the curve of the road.

Marcus glanced toward it. “Are you expecting anyone?” Luca questioned.

“No.”

“It appears Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Monroe informed their wives about this,” Marcus said, instantly knowing who the Range Rover belonged to.

Thank God, I thought, needing to see a friendly, familiar face… something other than military-grade security and federal agents.

“Thank you,” I said, acknowledging Marcus before the men moved into the house.

“Jesus Christ, babe,” Avery said while she and Nat walked toward me.

I sniffed, removing the last traces of my earlier crying.

“Don’t you dare try to act tough with us,” Nat said, the first to reach me and embrace me. “My God, what a fucking situation.”

“Are you okay? After I heard what happened, I told Jim we were coming up here no matter what,” she said. “His security detail woke him up this morning with the news. I knew we needed to come once we found out the FBI was on their way.”

I returned the hug Avery offered. “I’m so glad you guys made the drive,” I said. “You didn’t have to, but it means so much to me.”

“You’re insane to think we wouldn’t, honey,” Nat said, her eyes roaming the inside and toward where Marcus had just approached.

“Ms. Veléz⁠—”

“Holy shit,” Nat said, her eyes falling on the man. “Aren’t you a cold, sweet slice of watermelon on a hot Sunday afternoon?” she teased, then looked at me. “Lord knows, if Titus gets locked away, at least⁠—”

“Nat!” Avery elbowed her friend in the arm. “I know this is out of the norm for you, but can you at least act like we’re in the middle of a shit show?”

“Right,” Nat eyed me. “Let’s get your shit packed up and get the hell out of here.”

The girls rushed past me as I turned to Marcus. “Sorry about her,” I cringed.

“It’s nice to see a smile on your face, ma’am,” Marcus said. “We have everything packed. If you prefer to drive with the ladies, we will bring the Jaguar back to its garage.”

“Yes, thank you.” I couldn’t imagine having to drive anywhere feeling the way I did now.

“We’ll be following behind,” he said. “As you may know, we are extremely good at remaining in the shadows and going unnoticed. We’ve accompanied you and Mr. Hawk on most of your outings together. If you’ve only recently become aware of his security presence, then I’d say we’ve done our jobs well. Moving forward, you can expect the same level of protection.”

“No kidding,” I said. “You were following us at the beach?”