Page 27 of A Very Titan Christmas (Titan #14)

Twinkling white lights curled around the beams of Tinsel and Toys.

It was as if Silverberry Ridge’s picture-perfect toy store had been decorated with fairy garland strung by Santa’s elves.

Festive music floated over the gaggle of kids who wore their finest, most adorable outfits that sometimes matched the attire of their teddy bears.

The teddy bear tea party never failed to put smiles on faces—except for those of Bryce and Roman.

Rachel made sure not to include their serious faces in the background of the photographs she snapped. She photographed Mayor Fowler’s grandkids with their teddy bears and settled beside Eloise and her friend. Their gossip was flowing too hard and fast for them to notice Rachel had joined them.

She focused the viewfinder of her camera and noticed that Bryce wore a serious expression. Then she registered that Eloise and her friend were discussing one’s grandchildren and the other’s lack thereof.

Rachel tried not to pay attention to their conversation, refocused on Bryce and Roman, and then tried to ignore their serious faces.

They hadn’t been so serious when their co-workers arrived, but something had changed today.

Bryce wouldn’t say anything before the tea party started.

Now that it was almost halfway over, whatever bothered him had worsened.

She breathed in the scent of warm sugar cookies and honey-sweetened mint tea.

Her phone buzzed, and Rachel checked the screen as discreetly as she could.

The text wasn’t from Bryce, explaining his brooding mood, but from Kimberly.

Rachel’s heart jumped. That morning, she’d sent her editor a more developed draft and included a folder of photos for her to peruse.

It had been hours since she hit send, and every minute Kimberly refrained from writing back, Rachel had sunk further and further into a tailspin. The draft missed the mark. The pictures failed to show the magic.

Rachel swiped open the text message.

Kimberly: Wow.

Her heart jumped again, and the quickening tattoo of her pulse increased as the three little dots bounced on her screen as Kimberly typed.

Nervous but not worried, she felt her excitement grow, as if Frosty the Snowman had snapped his stick fingers to announce all would be okay—at least with her article. Her draft was suddenly as interesting and exciting as she could’ve sworn it was when she’d sent it to Kimberly.

Kimberly: It reads like magic. So inspired! Whatever has you writing like this, hang on to it. I love the playful details.

Rachel dropped the phone back into her bag and could feel a smile that reached from ear to ear.

“Well, look at that pretty face.” Eloise leaned across their little table, set with the cutesy frills of a teddy bear tea party: bite-sized finger sandwiches, tiny cookies, and miniature-wrapped present decorations that matched the linens.

She placed her hand on her friend’s forearm and explained, “Rachel’s boyfriend is that big, hulking man in the corner.

I haven’t seen her smile this much in years. ”

The two women fell into a conversation that Rachel ignored after hearing more about the possibility of grandchildren. Not even that would temper her cheerfulness over Kimberly’s feedback.

But Rachel did sneak another glance from the plush teddy bears of every size to Bryce.

He and Roman were huddled together. Their expressions made her uneasy.

She wished to hear what had them so worried.

She wasn’t being nosy. They were upset about something that she suspected had to do with her or her family.

The front door jingled with sleigh bells. A collective sound of gasps interrupted the children’s laughter as Mrs. Claus, played by the owner of Tinsel and Toys, waltzed in by the life-sized nutcrackers. Rachel grabbed her camera in time to snap a picture.

Kids jumped out of their seats. Parents pulled out their cell phones to take photos, and the lovely Mrs. Claus greeted everyone with a cheery hello and handfuls of candy canes.

Rachel jumped into action and gently herded kids with candy canes from Mrs. Claus to an open area stacked with pillows and mats.

“Time for a story,” Mrs. Claus called. “Take a seat. Oh, yes, with your teddy bears. Everyone have a seat on a pillow. Snuggle close.”

It took longer for the kids to settle than Rachel had expected. Still, Mrs. Claus was unfazed and patiently waited until every child was comfortable and had their teddy bears where they wanted them. Then she held up The Night Before Christmas. The room filled with oohs and aahs.

After she took another photo, Rachel moved to a corner table near the toy train set that ran circles around a miniature snow village. She kept Bryce and Roman in her line of sight. Something was absolutely going on, and she was going to find out what it was.

They lingered against the wall and swept their gazes continuously from the front door to the back exit while maintaining a deep conversation. She crept over to them. “Hi.”

Roman raised his chin.

“Hey, Rach.” He didn’t mask tension well. “What’s up?”

“Is something wrong?”

She got a quick “nope” from both tight-lipped men, who were lying to her face.

She felt eyes watching her and glanced over her shoulder.

Her mom and her friend.

Of course. Eloise bounced her eyebrows up and down as if a series of ridiculous faces might propel Rachel and Bryce into the back room, where he could get her knocked up with a grandchild.

Everyone in this room was lying to Rachel or wanting something from her, but Rachel just wanted to reread Kimberly’s text messages. At least that would make her feel good. There would be a better time to pester Bryce.

“Excuse me.” She slipped past the men.

Bryce turned to follow her down the back hallway.

“I don’t need an escort to the bathroom.” She knew that Titan Group posted people in front of the store and probably in the back alley. She gave Bryce a quick kiss. “Be right back.”

The back hallway smelled of cardboard boxes. The overhead fluorescent light flickered. She dipped around the corner, past the bathrooms, and stepped into the back office to reread Kimberly’s text a hundred times without interruption.

Rachel pulled out her phone and sat on an old, worn chair that creaked as she slid it away from the untidy desk covered with empty candy cane boxes. As she swiped the screen open, she heard low, serious voices filtering through the paper-thin partition that divided the office from the rear exit.

She ignored them—but only for a moment. Something prickled under her skin, and she leaned into the conversation.

“…if Boss Man finds out…”

Who was Boss Man? She could make out only bits and pieces of their conversation.

“…my money’s on their inner circle… Gag orders…”

They were betting? And what was the gag order about? Rachel slipped her phone back into her bag and inched closer to the partition, certain the voices belonged to Cash and Jax. Perhaps this was why Bryce and Roman looked so serious.

“…Rachel and Mrs. Porter…”

Her pulse hammered. She’d been mentioned in the hushed conversation. It absolutely had to be a version of the conversation she’d witnessed Bryce and Roman having. Rachel padded as quietly as she could to the partition and pressed her ear against it to eavesdrop.

“I don’t know, man. Accidental or not, it doesn’t matter. We have a problem if they can’t hush this up.”

She stepped back, and her elbow bumped into a metal shelf. The resulting metallic clatter made her cringe. She froze. The men’s conversation went silent. Footsteps approached. Cash and Jax appeared at the office doorway.

“Hi,” she said sheepishly. There was no reason for her to be this close to the partition other than to eavesdrop on them.

“Hey, yourself,” Cash said from under a cowboy hat that couldn’t have been more out of place. “Need something?”

She crossed her arms. She could pretend to be doing some volunteer task—and look like a complete liar—or she could demand answers. “Is there a problem with the summit?”

“That’s not something we can discuss,” Jax said.

“Give me a break. I’m not a kid.”

“No one said you were,” Jax offered carefully.

“This whole summit has been one giant secret.”

“Not just from you,” Cash explained.

“Bryce and Roman are acting like something’s wrong, and you two are talking about gag orders and some kind of boss. What? Like a mafia boss?” Her mind raced with possible answers.

“No,” Cash said, something almost like relief crossing his face. “Boss Man. Our boss. Jared Westin. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“You said gag orders. And my name.”

Bryce’s voice came from behind her. “Rachel.”

She turned. “What’s going on?”

Worry darkened his eyes. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Why don’t you come out here and—”

“What is this stupid summit about? And why are all of you whispering like there’s a problem?”

“Any problem is being handled, and you don’t need to worry.”

“It’s not being taken care of by the four of you. You’re sitting around gossiping.”

None of the men looked pleased at her description.

“You’re safe,” Bryce said in a placating way that only irritated her. “That’s what you need to know.”

Rachel tried to parse his words. “Safe? As in, I’m in some danger?”

No one spoke. And that silence said more than an answer could.

“What the hell is happening?”

His jaw flexed. “The information about what parties are involved in this security summit was supposed to be classified. There was a leak.”

She shook her head. “You know what’s really annoying?”

No one took the bait.

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. “Why would my father host some top-secret classified summit in my hometown before the holidays and not tell me? No one said anything about this until well after I arrived.”

They remained as silent as they’d been when she asked if she was a target. Her dad had secrets. Her mother was obsessed with having grandchildren. What was happening to them? Her eyes narrowed at Bryce. “How long have I been a target?”

“I didn’t say you were. In this kind of situation, everyone is always a potential target. We have nothing specific.”

She chewed the inside of her mouth and thought about how she had needed Bryce to fool her mother, but she hadn’t thought about how Titan Group might have used the fake relationship to their advantage.

Had they been playing her as much as she was playing Eloise?

Rachel’s time alone with Bryce said absolutely not, but studying how the men awkwardly withheld information, she couldn’t discount the concern completely. “Fine.”

“Fine?” Bryce repeated.

“Yeah. Fine.” She turned and scooted past him. She’d reread her text from Kimberly later when the churning in her stomach settled.

“There’s one thing I know,” Cash muttered under his breath when he thought she couldn’t hear him. “When a woman says fine like that, you, my friend, are fucked.”