Page 44 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Thirty-Four

TITUS

TWO WEEKS LATER – NATHANIEL’S WEDDING

The wedding had been beautiful despite Ronan and Father showing up when they were not invited.

Savannah—trying to keep the peace— had said they could stay, but Nathaniel looked like he was ready to pull his gun and kill them both.

Father, in his usual, ‘I do whatever the hell I want’ fashion, had invited the whole Vilanova family.

So an entirely new table had been set up to accommodate them.

Humiliation did not begin to describe what I felt on my mother’s behalf. She looked like she would’ve left if this occasion had been anything other than her son’s wedding.

The reception had been stunning but not overdone, and the meal had been out of this world.

Father had wisely decided not to get up and speak, and left that to Mother.

The entire time, all I could think about was how I wanted to do this with Fawn, but she was sitting at home alone while I was here with someone else. How had I gotten myself into this mess?

Vera grabbed my hand on the table. I stared at it and then at her as she laughed and chatted with her sister. She was acting like any other couple would, and yet her touch made me want to recoil.

“It won’t be long until we are celebrating your wedding,” Mr. Vilanova said from beside me.

“Yes, not long now,” I said, parroting his statement.

“Have you given any thought to where you want to have the honeymoon?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I was leaving that up to Vera. I’m good with wherever she wants to go,” I said, leaving off that I’d rather not go at all.

Pasha laughed and grabbed my shoulder.

“Smart man, you already know how to make a woman happy.”

I smiled and gently tugged my hand out from underneath Vera’s to grab my wine glass.

It was tempting to swipe a whole bottle.

I’d really been hoping that Paul would call back and tell me it had all been a huge misunderstanding and that my father and Mr. Vilanova were cleared of any suspicion.

If that had happened, I would’ve canceled the wedding immediately.

There was technically still time, but now that Fawn was moving out this week, it felt different.

Like I was staring at the sands in an hourglass quickly slipping away, and there was very little left. Once it was gone…so was my chance.

“Attention, everyone…we have a last-minute addition to the evening festivities before the dancing starts. The happy couple has put together a slideshow of pictures from childhood until now,” the DJ said, and I looked up at the head table.

I hadn’t known that they were doing this, and Nathaniel didn’t seem to know either, from the look on his face. Our mother must have put this together.

The lights dimmed, and the far wall transformed into a massive screen as the laptop and the projection turned on.

“I’m going to the bathroom before the dancing starts,” Vera whispered in my ear, and then kissed my cheek. I nodded as she stood.

The wall flashed To: Nathaniel and Savannah, but what came next gripped the room in a fist of disbelief. Vera hadn’t made it two strides from the table when the video began to play. She whipped around at the sound of her voice.

There, for all the guests to see—including her parents, brother, and sister—was Vera and my brother Ronan. It was from earlier in the day at the church, and he had her bent over the altar, fucking her from behind while she moaned loudly.

“This is so wrong,” Vera said.

“Don’t worry. I dipped my dick in the holy water. I’m cleansing you of your sins,” Ronan said, and everyone gasped. A few women fainted and fell off their chairs.

“God, you feel so good!”

“Call me Father,” Ronan ordered. “Tell me to fuck you hard.”

“Fuck me hard, Father! Harder! Yes, just like that, you’re so fucking good, Father.”

In what felt like a slow-motion moment, that had nothing to do with Vera instigating it, every head in the room turned to look at her at the same time.

“Are you a naughty slut?”

“Yes, Father, I need to confess,” she moaned and then screamed as he picked up the pace. “I’m a slut! I’m your nasty little slut. Fuck me harder, Father!”

All hell broke loose at once. Vera screamed and yelled to turn the video off.

Pasha burst from his seat beside me and marched to his daughter, calling her a disgrace to the family.

Mrs. Vilanova began to cry. Father jumped up, yelling at Vera and Pasha about what a humiliation they were making of the Mikhailov name.

My mother sat across the table, unable to hide her amusement.

When she looked back at me, she covered her mouth and laughed.

Guests either continued watching the show like it was their new favorite porno or jumped up and marched out.

I sat there in shock. What the hell just happened?

The sound of laughter had me looking up at the head table.

Nathaniel was roaring and doubled over. I’d never seen him laugh so hard, and in the chaos, a small smile began to tug at my lips.

Savannah didn’t look as happy about the sudden turn of events at her wedding, but even she was laughing as she watched Nathaniel nearly fall off his chair.

I scanned the room, my eyes searching the shadows, and there he was, on the far side of the large banquet hall. Ronan stood leaning against the bar, looking as proud and arrogant as ever.

We locked eyes, and I smiled. Ronan raised his glass to me as he nodded.

He’d made a spectacle that no one could deny and gave me all the reason I needed to cancel the wedding.

There were families from all over the world here tonight, and all of them had seen the sex tape that not even the DJ seemed to want to turn off.

Thank you . I mouthed, feeling for the first time in a very long time like my brother was not just out for himself.

Ronan stuck his neck out for me, and I wouldn’t forget it.

I slowly stood, the weight that had been on my shoulders since I’d agreed to marry Vera broke free and dropped to the floor like shackles and chains.

Calmly, I stepped up to the trio still screaming at one another and tapped Pasha on the shoulder.

Pasha, Vera, and my father looked at me as I did up my suit jacket. “The wedding is officially canceled. Have a good night.”

Vera grabbed my arm. “No, Titus, please let me explain.”

I jerked away. “Don’t touch me. There is nothing in this world that could explain this away. We’re done. Don’t call me, text me, or show up at my house or my work. This farce is over.”

Marching for the exit, I couldn’t get to my car and freedom fast enough, and I knew exactly how to celebrate. From one blink of time to the next, I’d been set free. My brother had come along with a sledgehammer to smash the lock off the cage.

Wheeling out of the parking lot, I floored the car and raced for home as the blood sang through my veins.

I hit call on my saved numbers, and Naji answered first ring.

“Please tell me it’s true?”

“You already heard,” I asked, and chuckled.

“Are you kidding? I heard it live. The guys there couldn’t resist calling the rest of us when the video started,” he said.

“Yes, it’s true, and the wedding to Vera is off.”

“Thank fuck for that. No offense, boss. I would never have left your service, but I really didn’t like her. There was something sketch about her.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I can’t even describe the relief. Listen, I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything, name it.”

“Make sure Fawn doesn’t leave, or randomly move out tonight, or go on a date with some other asshole. I’m done with all the bullshit and obstacles. Fawn is mine,” I said.

Naji laughed.

“About fucking time. I thought you two were never going to get together. I’ll make sure Fawn stays put. She’s in the den watching a sappy movie with all the dogs.”

God, that image made me smile. My heart always knew that Fawn was meant to be mine from the first time I looked at her as woman and not the kid that needed my help.

Even though I tried to resist, it was no use, I could no longer deny the love that permeated my soul with life. Fawn was mine, and my heart was hers.