Page 35 of The Dante (Those (Damn!) Texas Dantes #1)

Titus glanced at their hands, at the twin phoenixes marking them both. Aslow, knowing smile tugged at the corner of his lips, something almost triumphant in the way he looked at her. “Dante Brands,” he said, voice low. “Fitting, isn’t it?”

She sighed, brushing her thumb over the ink. “Yeah. It is.”

“I played them, Jazz. Imade them believe they were breaking me when, in reality, Iwas maneuvering them exactly where I needed them to be. But none of it meant a damn thing if it cost me you.”

And how, despite all of it, despite knowing it had to be done, he had never hated himselfmore.

He could feel it in the way Jazz’s breath hitched slightly, in the way her fingers stilled against his palm. He had laid it all out—the web of deception, the traps he had set, the way he had turned every threat against itself.

He had known the Feds were watching, known Vex was getting reckless. So he gave them exactly what they wanted. The illusion of a man unraveling, acriminal operation on the verge of collapse. He let them believe they had found the cracks, let them think they had brokenhim.

But the truth? He had been leading them the whole time, feeding them just enough to keep them focused on the people he needed to implicate—Vex, the corrupt politicians, the men who thought they could use him as a scapegoat.

Jazz shifted beside him, propping herself up on her elbow, studying his face. “How the hell did you even pull everything off?”

Titus let out a slow breath, aslow, knowing smile tugging at the corner of his lips. So, she hadn’t realized how much her sister had helped him. Practically from the beginning, if he were honest. He decided to drop a hint. “Had a little help from a friend.”

Her brows drew together. “Lily?”

He didn’t confirm. Didn’t deny. Just gave a slow shrug, his expression carefully neutral. “Some things are better left unsaid. It wouldn’t be smart to name names at this point.”

Jazz stared at him for a beat, then let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. “Unbelievable.”

His smile widened slightly. “Effective.” Every wiretap, every leaked document, every planted financial record had been meticulously placed to ensure that when the hammer fell, it landed on them, nothim.

And it had worked. His enemies had been taken off the board, the Feds left grasping at ghosts while he walked away clean. But it was all a waste—the power, the victory—if it meant losingher.

Then, in a near whisper, she said, “I was going to stand by you.”

Titus went still.

“Even if you went to jail.”

His grip on her hand tightened.

“Even if we lost everything.”

His chest ached, adeep, crushing weight settling over his ribs, making it hard to breathe.

Guilt. Relief. Love. It all warred inside him, tangled so tightly he couldn’t separate one from the other.

He had spent so much time preparing for the worst, convinced he had lost her, that hearing those words now—knowing she had never wavered—undid him in a way nothing else could.

It felt like a slow-burning fire in his lungs, an unbearable pressure he couldn’t shake, as if her words had broken something inside him he hadn’t realized was still intact.

He had known she was loyal. Had known she was willing to fight for him.

But this? Hearing it? Feeling the truth ofit?

It wrecked him.

His free hand found hers, thumb rubbing slow circles over her knuckles. He spoke, his voice low, almost broken. “You shouldn’t have had to make that choice.”

Jazz finally lifted her gaze to his, her voice firmer now. “I didn’t have to. Iwanted to.”

And that was it. That was the moment he finally let himself believe.

Titus swallowed hard, feeling the words forming before he could stop them.

“I love you, Jazz. Ialways have.” His voice was raw, unguarded—nothing like the man he had been before she’d come into his life.

“Even when I had to let you go. Even when I made you believe I didn’t love you. It was always you.”

That was the moment the last wall between themfell.

Titus held her gaze, his thumb rubbing slow circles on her skin, anchoring himself to her. His voice was quiet, but unshakable. “I don’t deserve you. But I love you. Ilove you with everything in me.”

Jazz’s eyes shone with something deep, unwavering. “I love you too, Titus. That was never going to change. Is never going to change.”

His throat tightened. He brushed a knuckle along her jaw, his touch reverent. “But you were always mine, just as I was always yours.”

She didn’t argue. Didn’t deny it. Because they both knew it had always beentrue.

After a moment, she tilted her head, searching his eyes. “Where do we go from here?”

Titus didn’t hesitate. “From here, we build something new.”

Jazz raised a brow, teasing now, aglint of something lighter in her expression. “Everything legal and aboveboard?”

For the first time in what felt like forever, Titus laughed.

Low, husky, filled with something that tasted a lot like release—like the burden he’d carried for so long had finally begun to lift.

It wasn’t just relief. It was disbelief, exhaustion, and something dangerously close to happiness, all tangled together in a way he didn’t know how to unravel.

“Oh, of course. All legal and aboveboard.”

Jazz narrowed her eyes, knowing better. “Titus...”

He grinned, leaned in, his voice a whisper against her lips. “Mostly legal.”

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling now, the last of the darkness between them lifting.

The room felt different—lighter, warmer, like the past had finally loosened its grip.

Titus’s hold on her hand tightening just slightly, as if he, too, could feel the shift.

Something solid. Something real. Something theirs.

And for the first time, they could finally move forward—together.

But wait! What happens when Lily runs up against the Dante family Enforcer? Don’t miss a minute of the passion between Lily and Zane in The Enforcer!