Page 26 of A Very Titan Christmas (Titan #14)

The snowstorm had delayed Titan Group’s arrival, but now, they were descending upon the Silverberry Ridge Resort en masse.

Jared stood at the entrance of the main lodge—where his children had disappeared into—with his arms crossed, thinking it was a wonder Titan had actually gotten up the mountains with its entire crew.

Their arrival had been delayed for days until the small private airstrip and mountain roads could be plowed.

Luckily for them, Vermont handled this kind of snow far better than Virginia.

Virginia hadn’t received as much snow, but the entire commonwealth had been bracing for the blizzard of the century.

Now, he watched for his team’s arrival, standing on the ramp just outside the warmth of the resort lobby while his wife waited in their snow-blasted, sand-and-salt-covered SUV with the heater running on high.

The Christmas commotion was officially beginning.

He enjoyed playing Santa Claus with his family and friends, although he didn’t broadcast that information.

The Winters crew was first to park, and tiny Mia popped out like a jack-in-the-box, ready to meet their arriving caravan like a holiday cruise director. She rushed by. “Love the scarf, Boss Man.”

He thought it was a festive touch as he grumbled, “Don’t slip and fall on your ass.”

Colby Winters threw one arm in the air in greeting as he unloaded his dogs from the back of their vehicle and tried to coax them to take a walk. Jared needed to walk Sarge, but neither the dog nor Sugar seemed ready to venture into the cold.

The electronic door whooshed open and closed behind him, tinging the air with the scent of cinnamon and cloves. Mia returned almost immediately with the keys to the cabins.

“Mr. Grumpy Pants.” She gave him a look as if she were about to scold a child. “Don’t move. I have something for you.”

“Did it look like I was going anywhere?”

Mia clung to the railing as she returned down the ramp to the parking lot, got something from the SUV, and returned with a Santa hat. “Put it on.”

Jared snorted. “Not a snowball’s chance in—”

Sugar opened the door of their idling SUV. Her cherry-red lips pursed, and her eyebrows arched as if to warn him he wouldn’t get any action if he didn’t put on the hat.

He groaned but snatched it from Mia. “Ho, ho, ho. Everyone happy with me?”

A moment later, a smiling Sugar was nestled back inside the warm vehicle, and Mia was cooing over Jared in the hat like he was a toddler in the snow for the first time. “Take it down a notch, you little Christmas elf.”

She clapped her gloved hands as Jax’s wife, Seven, pulled into the spot next to the Winters’ vehicle, followed by Beth behind the wheel of a large SUV with Nicola in the passenger seat, their kids peering out windows that had been rolled down.

“Let the fun begin,” he grumbled.

“You love it, and you know it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, though she was right. He did.

Behind him, the lobby doors whooshed open again.

“Dad?” Asal squeezed between him and Mia.

“We found a big patio on the other side of the lobby. There’s a fire and s’mores, and that’s where we’re all going to be.

” She caught sight of Nolan and Bianca jumping out of Seven’s car and waved them over. “Hey, we’re making s’mores.”

The teenagers disappeared.

The Garrisons and Harts spilled out of their vehicle in a burst of winter coats and excited chatter. Kids sprinted toward the drifts of snow and let snowballs fly. Dogs barked. Confusion unfurled.

He loved every second. Mostly.

Winters moved to Jared’s side. They stepped back to let Mia coordinate with Nicola, Beth, and Seven, and he noticed they wore matching earrings of bells and holiday lights that jingled and clinked when they moved their heads.

Mia provided lodging logistics, and each family soon had its cabin assignment, keys, and a map.

Rocco and Caterina cruised into the parking lot as Beth and Nicola pulled out behind Seven.

A minute later, the same scene unfolded again as Brock and his family drove up.

The Savage boys descended upon the snow for a quick snowball fight.

Rocco moved next to Winters, and Caterina met with Mia about their cabin.

“They’re all wearing the same earrings,” Winters pointed out.

“Noticed that.”

Rocco ducked when a snowball came his way.

Bishop, Locke, and Brock joined Rocco, Winters, and Jared. The six of them watched the ladies with their matching, noisy earrings.

“Why isn’t Sugar getting out of the car?” Winters asked.

“She might’ve underestimated the temperature when planning her outfit.” Jared had tried to warn her, but that had gone about as well as Jack Frost advising Saint Nick on the naughty and nice list.

The door behind him whooshed again, and Senator Porter’s aide rushed out, cell phone in hand, seemingly oblivious to the arctic temperature. She focused on Mia. “Everyone’s here! You must be Mia.”

Jared watched the young aide get folded into the group of Titan women. After she exchanged pleasantries with them, somebody directed her to him.

“The senator is ready to meet with you, if you’d like to come with me,” the aide said.

He met Sugar’s gaze through the side window of the SUV, and she acknowledged with a resigned lift of her chin that she would have to get out of the vehicle long enough to scurry around to the driver’s side. He gave her a little salute, and she blew him a kiss.

Mia turned to the men. “Are you all coming?”

“We’ll meet with the senator.” Jared siphoned off Winters, Rocco, and Brock then yanked off the Santa hat and turned to address more of his men.

“Locke, Bishop, find Bryce and the team and touch base. See what’s going on.

Parker and Lexi won’t be here until later, so if we need anything that we haven’t already hauled in, they’ll have to bring it. ”

“This way,” the aide directed him.

Jared and his three teammates followed the aide into a lobby done up for the holidays.

He gave the lights, ribbons, and trees a once-over and decided this place worked well for their holiday gathering.

He didn’t like last-minute changes, but everything about the lobby—and probably the rest of the resort—said family and fun and passed his muster.

They walked past the check-in desk and through the main seating area, which was in front of an oversized hearth and had an adjoining coffee shop.

Then they were back outside at an outdoor area that must be the spot Asal had mentioned.

A stone pathway opened to a large patio overlooking the mountains and—beyond the s’mores and firepit, past the Adirondack chairs and picnic tables—a commotion caught his attention. Laughter. Squeals. Music.

Boots crunched on the sand on the stone path, and then the gaggle of teenagers stopped what they’d been doing. They stared at the adults as though they’d interrupted something. Just as quickly as the teenagers had stopped, they returned to their activities as though their parents didn’t exist.

“What are they doing?” Jared asked.

Asal, Clara, Violet, and Bianca had dropped their heavy coats in a pile and were dancing. Sorta. Mimicking each other’s moves. Nolan and Ace held cell phones and raced around them, zooming in and out at different angles.

Jax squinted. Rocco snorted.

Winters sighed. “Good to know it’s not just our girls randomly dancing at the strangest times.”

“Some comfort,” Jax muttered.

The music blared. The girls synchronized their footwork.

“Are they summoning a yeti?” Rocco asked, half-serious. “Casting snow spells?”

“Worse,” Winters muttered. “TikTok videos.” He turned to Brock. “I’m surprised Kelly and Jess aren’t in the mix.”

“Had they known, they would’ve been.”

Jared slowly stepped back as if their group had stumbled upon a minefield.

“Mr. Westin?” the aide called, realizing their group had fallen behind her.

At the sound of his name, the girls froze mid-spin, and they all cringed and groaned, their actions as synchronized as their dancing had been.

“Back away slowly,” Jax murmured. “Like we were never here.”

“Mr. Westin? Would you like to come this way?” The aide waited for them to join her.

Jared and his men complied.

Giggles erupted behind him.

The Titan men followed the senator’s aide away from the main lodge and toward a conference center as Jared tried not to think about how much he hated social media.

It was as fake as the phony relationship between Bryce and Rachel Porter that Titan Group had been forced to work into its security plan.

Jared guessed his meeting with Senator Porter would clue him in as to whether or not Bryce and Rachel had been able to pull off the charade.

*

Bryce had never been asked to meet with Senator Porter, and he hadn’t seen the senator since the dinner at the Porters’ house.

Now, he was summoned. The timing of the summons coincided with the arrival of his boss and other members of Titan Group, and Bryce didn’t know if this meeting was more of a formality or, with the summit looming, if changes would be made to the security plan.

On top of that, a concerned voice at the back of his head whispered that he was being called to the principal’s office after spending days snowbound in Rachel’s cabin.

No one would have briefed the senator on Bryce’s location during the snowfall, but that didn’t stop gossips—specifically, Eloise—from talking.

He rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to think about where he’d been—and what he’d been feeling—for the past few days, and walked into the conference room. Jared and Senator Porter were already there, casually chatting.

Greetings were exchanged. Hands were shaken. Bryce surmised that this gathering had nothing to do with him and Rachel, but that didn’t make sitting with Rachel’s father and Boss Man more comfortable.

“Let’s get Parker on the phone.” Jared reached for the speakerphone set up in the middle of the table. “Parker Black’s our tech expert. His wife is a professor at MIT,” he explained to the senator, “and they won’t bring the family here until she finishes grading exams for the semester.”

Parker came on the line. “Let me patch in the senator’s detail,” he said, and other voices came over the line. “All right. We’re all here. Rhonda, give us an update.”

Rhonda, one of the women Parker had added to the call, offered a situational assessment of the summit participants.

Representatives from two countries had arrived under the cloak of the snowstorm at the same private airstrip that Titan Group’s jets had used.

Any members of the press who had traveled with the representatives were under a gag order.

Uninterested in the politics of rare earth minerals and metals, Bryce semi listened and waited for the updated threat assessment.

It didn’t take long, and the list was concise.

The classified nature of the talks helped.

While the summit wouldn’t focus on polarizing topics like war and weapons, it would result in incredibly lucrative deals for both private citizens and their respective countries.

Most people wouldn’t care about this summit, but there were very wealthy players in the rare earth metals and minerals industry who would be furious to be excluded from the discussions.

Whoever left with a signed deal could essentially start digging for barrels of money.

Bryce’s assignment wouldn’t change. It was all Rachel, all the time, which was fine by him.

Snowbound, they’d ignited flirtatious sparks into a full-fledged wildfire.

Bryce couldn’t get enough of her—and he wasn’t ready to think about what would happen between them after Christmas.

That the concern had even come to mind was eye-opening.

He had fallen for her.

Again.

But this was different. They were adults with real-life experiences and real-world responsibilities. That didn’t change how he felt, though.

He loved her.

The meeting wrapped up. Dazed, Bryce had barely noticed. His feet felt clumsy as he pushed out of his chair.

“Bryce,” Jared said, “give me a minute. Alone.”

Well, hell. That was enough to clear away the fog. There wasn’t much that Boss Man would want to talk about privately other than the woman occupying Bryce’s thoughts. “Yeah. Sure.”

The room emptied, and Jared gestured for Bryce to retake his seat.

Tension crept up his spine. He didn’t know Jared Westin well enough to guess what he thought about faking the relationship at Rachel’s request and then keeping that information from the paying client.

Bryce assumed Jared’s opinion wouldn’t be welcome news.

Jared cracked his knuckles and leaned back in his chair. “Relationships can be a real fuckin’ pain in the ass. They have good points.” He frowned as if considering all he knew about them. “Sugar would chew my ear off if I said anything otherwise, but they’re messy.”

Bryce nodded. “If you’re talking about the fake one with Rachel—”

“They’re a distraction.”

He nodded and agreed. This fake relationship was very much not fake anymore, and the level of distraction was exponentially increasing.

“When there’s a beautiful woman with whom you’ve had a past,” Jared continued as if it pained him to have this discussion, “it’ll be messy if you’re not careful.”

“I’m being careful,” Bryce said. Had one of his teammates blabbed about where he’d spent the last few nights? He couldn’t see Roman, Cash, or Jax doing that but didn’t know what had prompted this little talk.

Jared worked his jaw. “The thing is, the known security risks are low. But they only stay low while no one knows anyone is in Vermont.” His tone got sharper. “The second some big players find out they’ve been excluded from the summit, the threat level will significantly change.”

“I understand that.”

“Don’t get distracted from the end goal.” Jared pushed himself away from the table. “Are we on the same page?”

“Absolutely. I’m completely focused on Rachel.”

“Rachel’s safety. That’s what you meant to say? Right, buddy?”

He felt his color rising. Jared didn’t seem like one for semantics.

Was he concerned Bryce wasn’t doing his job properly?

A couple weeks ago, he’d been happy to work with Titan Group.

He’d fallen for the job at the same time he was falling for Rachel.

Joining Titan felt more like joining a brotherhood than joining an ordinary company.

This was a job he needed to keep. Bryce nodded.

“I’m focused on the assignment. It has my complete attention. ”

“I bet.” He slapped Bryce on the back. “All right. Get back to work.”