Page 50 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

FAWN

We had spent the last five hours having sex or resting between rounds.

We’d done very little talking, but Titus had finally opened up about his family.

From what he’d told me, I suddenly had a whole new appreciation for why Nathaniel pulled away.

Dimitri was worse than I ever could’ve dreamed, and it was clearer by the second that I was way over my head.

I stood at the sink after our shower, staring at my reflection while running the blow dryer over my damp hair. Second shower of the day…at this rate, the water bill was going to stage a revolt.

Turning off the dryer, I brushed my hair out and grabbed my phone from the counter. I wasn’t glued to it the way some people were, but I hadn’t checked it since last night, and that was practically criminal in Steph’s eyes.

If she’d messaged me and I didn’t respond soon, she’d be knocking down the door with a SWAT team, or worse. She’d drag them in behind her, demanding proof of life. The girl was a full-blown drama queen…but I loved her for it.

There was a message from Steph, but that wasn’t what grabbed my attention. A text from an unknown number was waiting. My finger hovered, as I debated wanting to know what came after the word Remember… .

I knew who had sent the message. Taking a deep breath, I opened it.

Unknown: Remember what you were told. It would be a shame if all that information found its way onto social media sites.

Shit.

Not bothering to look at anything else, I set my phone down like it had burned me and stared at it while chewing on my nails.

What the hell do I do now?

I told myself that it was time to be brave, and if I didn’t start now, then when? If I didn’t talk to Titus now about what his father was doing, he would be far more hurt when he found out later. I was certain he would find out at some point.

But what if he can’t keep George safe?

A soft knock at the door had me jumping like Titus had sounded a blow horn instead of the soft rap.

“Fawn, you okay in there?”

I met my stare in the mirror, and the image in my mind was divided between the scared teen I used to be and the woman that I was now. The message was clear…this was a crossroads, and I needed to make a choice.

Swiping my phone off the counter, I opened the door to Titus leaning against the door jamb, in nothing but black sweatpants.

Lord, have mercy. My brain immediately misfired, all the gears screeched to a halt as my eyes roamed over the corded muscle, tattoos, and finally the worried look on his face.

“We need to talk,” I said.

“Hmm, no good conversation ever started with those four little words,” he said.

No truer words had been spoken.

Slipping past before I lost my nerve, I forced myself to look away from him before he distracted me completely.

“What’s wrong?”

I sucked in a deep breath. “I wasn’t completely honest with you,” I said, beginning to pace his room. The door was open, and the dogs were scattered between the bedroom and the hallway. They lifted their heads as if they were tuning in to what I had to say. Great…more judgment.

“About?”

“The dinner with your father the other night.”

Titus chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy one. “This doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t have anything to do with a photo, does it?”

“What photo?”

I stopped my pacing and stared at him. Titus walked over to his phone on the nightstand and picked it up. Even though I was more nervous than I’d been a second ago, I marched over to him.

He held it out, displaying a snapshot from the night Dimitri and I had dinner. His father had his hand on top of mine and was smiling. It looked like we were out having a very intimate meal, more like a date.

“Who sent this to you?”

“Who do you think,” Titus asked.

“Your father?” He nodded, and I swore a blue streak as I tossed his phone onto the bed. “Tell me you don’t believe I was on a date with him?”

“I didn’t. But what do you want to tell me?” He placed his hands on my shoulders, and it was only then that I noticed my body trembling with rage. “You can tell me. Whatever it is.”

“Tell me something first. How…how safe is George from outside threats?”

Titus’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of threats?”

I swallowed hard. It was now or never.

“Your father believes I’m in the way. He told me that I needed to leave the house and you, and never look back.

In return, he bought me property, put a million dollars in a bank account, and prepaid my tuition for the rest of vet school.

But if I don’t do what he wants, then he’ll go after George and… ”

“And what,” Titus asked, his voice low with a very dangerous edge.

Looking away from his face, I stared at my feet.

“My past,” I said softly. “Dimitri somehow found out about everything that was done to me says he has a file on it. He’ll humiliate me with you and everyone else. He threatened to release the information on social media.”

Titus’s expression was calm, but his eyes were murderous when I risked a glance.

“I didn’t tell you because he said if I did, then the info would go out. I would never see my brother again, and I could kiss everything and everyone I loved goodbye. Besides, you were still marrying Vera at that point, and…ugh, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.”

Placing my hand on his chest, the tears started to well.

“I never wanted you to find out what was done to me. Never. To see one hint of pity would be more crushing to all the progress I’ve made than even being forced to leave here.”

Titus looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry, please don’t be angry with me. You’re right…your father is terrifying and very convincing.”

“I’m not angry at you, Fawn. I’m trying to calm down, so I don’t drive to his house and shoot him in the head.”

Titus opened his eyes and locked on mine.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened to you until you’re ready. But there is one thing I’ll demand, and it’s non-negotiable.”

“Okay…what?”

“I want the name of anyone who ever touched you. Don’t argue with me. Don’t ask what I’m going to do. Just give me the names.”

Shame rippled through my body, and I looked away, breaking our stare.

“How do you know there was more than one?”

“I just do. Will you give them to me?”

Sadly, I remembered every name and face.

I remembered their smell and how they touched me.

How I wanted to vomit and sometimes did.

How I had bruises all over my body and still went to school and pretended that I was just like every other student when really…

I was being trafficked. Whored out by my stepfather.

Titus tipped my chin up, and my lower lip quivered.

“What if you don’t want me once you know?”

“My precious Little Bird, part of me has always known. Your terror-filled screams in the middle of the night spoke for you even when you had no words. I love you no matter what. I’ll stand by you no matter what.

Believe me when I tell you that my father will never touch one hair on your head or your brother’s. That is a promise.”

Titus released my chin, and I wrapped my arms around him, letting myself cry tears of joy and pain that had been twisted inside of me and pushed down for too long. The sobs tore through my body as I clung to the man who had stepped into my life by chance and set me free.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Let it out, Little Bird. Shatter. Scream. Cry. Let every piece of yourself break in my arms. I’ll hold you through it all,” Titus said, his voice dropping low as he kissed the top of my head.

“I was so worried that you would see me as this ruined thing. You kept me on this pedestal and treated me as if I were precious. It was selfish, but I’d never felt so special, and I didn’t want to lose that or you,” I admitted.

“You don’t understand. I want your pain.

I want your rage. I want every broken and bleeding part of you because it means I have all of you,” he said, his voice guttural as he held me tighter.

“I love you in a way that should scare us both. You’re mine, Fawn, and there isn’t a force in this world or the next that’s going to take you from me. Not without going through me first.”

I exhaled slowly, my entire body surrendering to the trembling. It was as if that one breath had carried the weight of everything, and I’d just let it go. Titus didn’t flinch. He didn’t look away. He held me and told me he loved me no matter what.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I rose to my tiptoes and kissed Titus hard.

I had no idea what twist of fate had brought this amazing man into my life, but I was never letting go.

My fingers slid gently into his hair, and he groaned into my mouth.

I was anchored to him, not out of need and desperation like I’d once been. But by choice. Love.

I chose him, and he chose me.

Breaking the kiss, I soaked in all that was Titus, including the kindness of his soul that was wrapped in a wall of steely muscle.

“I didn’t think anyone would ever look at me like you do…and not turn away with disgust,” I whispered. “You didn’t just take my pain, Titus. You made space for it within you.” I shook my head, trying to find the words that I wanted to say. “You make me feel like I’m not broken…like I never was.”

He touched our foreheads together.

“That’s because you weren’t. Your wings had been clipped, and you’d forgotten what it was to fly until you came here. The rest you’ve done all on your own.”

“I can never repay you for all that you’ve done,” I said.

“That’s the thing, Little Bird, you already have.”

My breath shook as I breathed in. “Okay…get me a pad of paper and a pen. I’ll tell you.”