Page 9 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Eight

FAWN

Titus was quiet tonight. I watched him as I picked at my dessert.

He was never a huge talker, and he was trying his best to act normal, but it felt like a massive void had opened between us.

I had no idea why. It was like an elastic band had been cut, and I was just waiting to be hit with the broken end.

I shifted uncomfortably under the weight of the silence.

“Thank you for the meal. It was perfect, and the strawberries are incredible,” I said, eating a forkful of the delicious cake.

Titus’s mouth twitched, and his eyes lifted from his uneaten dessert. My heart pounded in my chest unchecked. Normally, a glance like that made me blush. Instead, it chilled me to the bone.

“I’m happy you enjoyed it,” he said, picking up his glass of wine.

“You didn’t like it,” I asked, nodding to his plate.

“It’s perfect. I’m just not hungry tonight. I’ll have Chef wrap it up and save it for later.”

“Are you feeling okay?”

He folded his hands on the table and stared at me. I swallowed hard, feeling as small as I had the first time we met.

“You still love to ask a million questions.”

“I’m not sure that’s a habit I’ll ever break,” I teased and smiled.

“No, I suppose not. I prefer your curious mind. It’s part of your charm.”

I blushed and looked down at my cake. Titus hadn’t said that I was the most stunning girl in the world, but it felt like it.

“We should probably talk, though,” he said.

“Do you mind if we wait until after the movie? I’m really looking forward to it,” I said, desperate to hang on to my nerve for what I had planned.

He smiled wide. “You’re right. It’s your birthday. You call the shots.”

“Perfect, I’ll meet you in the movie room. Do you mind pouring me a glass of wine?”

His eyebrow lifted. “You’re not twenty-one yet.”

Heat raced throughout my body with his teasing.

“I know, but we’re not in public, and you just said that I call the shots. One glass won’t hurt, and I promise not to tell,” I said, standing.

He laughed, and I fought not to shiver.

“Tossing my words back at me…I see how it is. Alright, I’ll bring you a glass.”

“Thank you, I’ll be right back.”

The nervous shaking didn’t start until I got to my bedroom.

I tried breathing deeply to calm myself down, but the jitters had me on the verge of panic.

Grabbing the outfit from my closet, I walked into the bathroom to freshen up and moisturize every square inch of my body.

I didn’t dare look in the mirror until I was totally dressed.

The perfume that Titus had gotten me for Christmas was the perfect addition, and then I let my hair down so that it fell around my shoulders.

Ready to face the future I wanted, I turned around to look.

“You can do this. Be the sexy woman you are,” I said to my reflection as I channeled my inner Steph.

Walking out of the bathroom, my higher-than-usual heels snagged on the rug, but I managed to catch myself before falling face first.

“Jesus, that would’ve been great. Break an ankle or something.”

Shaking it off, I smoothed my outfit and made sure the tie on the silky robe was secure.

Just as I opened the door, my phone buzzed. I was going to ignore it, but it buzzed again and again like it was angry, and then it rang. What the heck? Steph’s name flashed on the screen. She knew what I was planning tonight, so it had to be important. I quickly answered.

“Oh my god, Steph, are you okay?”

“Hey, have you been on your phone at all?”

“No, I left it in my room. I didn’t want anything distracting me tonight. Why?”

“Shit….”

“What?”

“Have you tried seducing him yet?”

I closed my door. “No, I was just about to head down when you called.”

“Okay, good.” I looked at my phone, not believing my ears. “Whatever you do, don’t do it.”

“Don’t? But…you were practically stripping me naked and throwing me at him yesterday. What happened?”

“I don’t know how to say this.”

“Steph, you’re freaking me out.”

“He’s engaged.”

The world fell out from under my feet, and I stopped breathing. I heard her wrong.

“What did you say?”

“I’m sending you the article.”

My phone dinged, and I opened the attachment. It was a picture of Titus and a stunning woman I’d never seen before. I took a deep breath and read the announcement.

Titus Mikhailov and Vera Vilanova Engaged

The business and fashion worlds are abuzz as this dynamic duo announces their engagement. How they have managed to keep it under wraps is as surprising as the pairing itself, but there is no doubt that the merger will produce great things.

There was more to the article including a picture of each of them, but I couldn’t keep going.

“Are you okay, Fawn? I’m so sorry. I wish I knew what to say. Do you want me to come over,” Steph asked, and I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me.

“No…I just need to be alone right now.”

“Fawn…please….”

The tears began to fall as I hung up, and the sobbing was ripped from my throat in a gasp. I couldn’t see as I stumbled across my room to the bathroom and locked the door. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. Of course, Titus would marry someone like her.

My reflection in the mirror made me want to rip the sexy outfit off my body and burn it.

This was so embarrassing. What was I thinking?

My stomach flipped, and I felt ill. That was why he was acting so strange and why he said he wanted to talk.

He was going to tell me his wonderful engagement news, and here I was, ready to prance into the room wearing lingerie.

How oblivious am I?

Gripping my stomach, I collapsed beside the toilet and cried so hard that I choked on my sobs.

I’d gotten used to pain years ago and thought I could handle anything, but nothing could’ve saved me from this feeling.

Even being the biggest skeptic of them all didn’t prepare me.

With each beat, my heart was crushed a little more.

I’m such an idiot.

TITUS

I tapped my wine glass, lost in thought.

No matter how I practiced saying the words, it always felt like someone was pouring acid down my throat.

Nothing was going to make this better, and as soon as the movie was over, I needed to tell Fawn before it was posted all over the place. She should hear it from me.

I looked at the large clock on the wall. What was taking Fawn so long? She had been up there for half an hour. Setting down the glass, I walked out of my home theater and up to Fawn’s room, but the door was closed.

“Fawn,” I called out as I knocked softly.

There was no answer. She wouldn’t just fall asleep. On alert now, I pulled my gun. I opened her door, looking for any sign of a struggle, but nothing was out of place, and her balcony looked secure.

“Fawn?”

I walked deeper into her room and spotted the light under the bathroom door. Putting the gun away, I got closer, only to hear muffled crying. What the hell was going on?

“Fawn?” I called out.

“Yeah?”

Her voice was strained, and I knew that sound all too well. I’d never forgotten the pain-filled sobs from the night I found her at the bus stop.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m not feeling great. Too much rich food, I think.”

She was lying to me.

My first instinct was to kick the door down and kill whoever had made her cry, but I had a horrible suspicion that I would need to look in the mirror for the culprit.

“May I come in?”

“No, don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She made a small gasping noise, and my hands gripped the doorframe.

“What about the movie?”

“We can watch it another time.”

Fawn never missed anything related to her birthday or Christmas, even Thanksgiving.

The first year she lived here, I’d made everything a huge deal, especially her birthday.

Since then, it had become her favorite day.

I loved making her smile and letting her know she was special.

When my phone buzzed, I knew it was the worst-case scenario.

Pulling it out of my pocket, I swore under my breath as I stared at the engagement announcement.

“Fawn….”

“I’ll be fine, really. I just need to shower and sleep.” She was close, and I looked down to see her shadow under the door. “It’s been a long week. I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m up to talking tonight.”

Knowing that marriage to another woman was inevitable didn’t make it any easier. I’d never meant to hurt Fawn. It was wrong to love her when my duty was to protect her, and yet my heart didn’t care.

“If that’s what you really want, then I’ll go.”

She sniffled, and just when I thought I couldn’t hate myself more, the sharp knife-like pain lancing my heart told me otherwise.

“Um…yeah, that might be for the best. Thanks for dinner. It was wonderful.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered and pried myself away.

Walking away from Fawn was no different than walking the plank.

I knew that the moment I stepped outside her door, it was over.

Not that there had been anything going on between us, but the possibility was dead.

The look in her eyes, which told me she felt the same way I did, would disappear.

I was desperate to hang on to that look… to hang on to her.

But that wouldn’t happen. Fawn was too good at hiding her emotions. She would smile and say she was happy for me because that was who she was. I’d never known anyone devoid of malice until she came into my life. She was kind, thoughtful, and selfless.

Pulling the jewelry box from my jacket pocket, I placed it and the card down on her nightstand and ran my hand across the lid.

“You deserve to fly, Little Bird.”

Just before I shut the door, she started crying again. I had to get out of here, now. My dogs sat in the hallway staring at me with the same accusatory glare like they knew I’d just hurt their favorite person.

“Don’t look at me like that. I had to. Don’t you understand?”

They tilted their heads, but their expressions never changed. I was the asshole, and didn’t I know it. I quickly reopened Fawn’s door and pointed. The dogs filed inside, but Bella looked back at me. Her intelligent eyes said it all…I was an idiot.

Fuck.

I marched down the stairs, waving off Naji and the guards when they jumped up to follow and slammed the front door behind me. Getting into my car, I revved the engine and tore down the driveway. But there was no escaping this. No more than I could escape my last name.

I might have helped set my Little Bird free, but in doing so, I put myself in the cage and locked the door.