Page 31 of Titus

Sure, maybe she didn’t like me now, but that’s because I challenged her and she’d only met the business side of me. However, she hadn’t yet met the side of me that I’ve kept hidden from her until tonight.

“My bet is that Titus gets his teddy-bear heart shattered in this little game he is trying to play,” Spencer added with a smile.

“Trust me,” I grinned back. “I’m not one to cry over a woman. Heartbreak is something I will not experience.”

“I think you’re playing with fire,” Jim added.

“I’m not playing at all. I’m ensuring my business is safe, my name remains clean, and my empire untouched. A fiery woman like she has shown herself to be? Well, I’m sure heartbreak is something Cat Veléz won’t ever experience either.”

“Here’s to watching this hot-shit fuckery unfold,” Collin said, raising a glass at the table.

“I hope this isn’t the woman fate has sent your way and that you don’t ruin it by starting shit off like a CEO jackass,” Jake said, raising his glass.

“I will say,” Wyatt started, “it would be nice to watch my brother learn what love can do to a man.”

“This isn’t love,” I reminded all of them. “It’s business.” I looked at Spence. “Didn’t you do the same thing? Faked a marriage or some stupid shit?”

Spencer clinked his glass to mine. “Yep,” he chuckled. “Fortunately, though, I didn’t lie to her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just because you all have found your perfect other halves in interesting ways, does not mean I am headed down the same road. I have no time for emotions of any kind to run my life.”

While all the men laughed at the table, I chose to ignore them. There were bigger problems at hand than the fact that I was having this conversation around married men who also would’ve done this before they’d met their wives and were apparently changed overnight.

Shit like that didn’t happen in my world. I wasn’t looking for it, and I didn’t want it. I enjoyed having any woman I wanted, whenever I wanted, and then moving on to the next. Settling down with any woman I dated was not something I saw myself doing.

Talking about falling in love? Having a life partner? God help me, that wasn’t who I was. I ran a global empire, and it didn’t get built by having a wife at home, pissed off because I was never there with her.

Who could settle down with one woman, anyway? I mean, obviously, I was sitting around men who did, but what kind of boring life was that for a man who had everything?

I needed to get these thoughts out of my head and focus.

I’d already instructed my staff to prepare dinner at the house and arranged for the helicopter to bring Catalina to me, which meant it was time for me to leave. I wanted to make sure everything was exactly as I’d envisioned before she arrived at my most sacred space… my home.

CHAPTER TEN

Considering it was our first day in the new office, I had to say I was impressed by how smoothly everything had come together in the first two hours. After the initial chaos of my team and me settling in and adjusting, I finally managed to catch up on emails and confirm two new events for next week.

However, it would be dinner with Titus tonight that would determine whether I could continue with my usual routine of scheduled events. I honestly had no idea what I’d done to earn that man’s interest in virtually claiming me as his personal event planner.

Before agreeing to anything, I needed to know whether working exclusively for Titus Hawk would strengthen my company—or quietly limit everything I’d built.

“Hey,” Amelia said, sitting on the sofa with a box of Chinese takeout in her hand. “I got dinner.”

I smiled at her. “You look much better tonight,” I said, walking toward her and leaning down to give her a quick hug. “How was your day?”

“Really good,” she said. “Thank you for calling the movers to get my stuff out of the apartment. I’ll pay you back.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I said, pulling off my heels. “Let’s just continue to get you settled in and moving forward. You’re a strong woman, and I’m proud of you for making the decision to completely remove yourself from that man and that place.”

“If I stayed, I knew I would just fall into a depression,” she said, her features darkening. “So, I’m so grateful I had the courage to leave and start over somewhere else.”

I smiled at her, “Me too.”

“Quick, go change, and then we can eat Chinese takeout and watch America’s Got Talent together like old times,” she said excitedly.

“That sounds so enticing, but I’m afraid I’ve got a late meeting with a potential client tonight.”

“Ah?” she said after slurping up the noodles she’d just eaten off her chopsticks. “Who’s the lucky billionaire this time?”