I didn’t want to leave Stratosphere.

But seeing Titan every day was far worse.

Just looking at her made my jaw clench. Just smelling her perfume made my shoulders square in an act of hostility. I was angry with her for the decision she made, but I also resented her.

In addition to that, I was devastated.

I spent the first week in a blur. I stayed in my penthouse and watched a lot of TV. I hit the gym longer and harder than usual. I bought a new plane because I thought that would make me feel better, but the excitement wore off in about five minutes.

Now that my most prized possession had been taken from me, I had nothing to live for.

I didn’t care how high I was on the Forbes list anymore. I didn’t care about my expensive cars, my international real estate, or any of my other assets. There was no one to impress anymore. To all the other women in the world, I was still a stacked billionaire. They wanted me as much as they did before.

I was so miserable over Titan that I didn’t think about my father once. He did something terrible to me, and I didn’t feel an ounce of revenge. The only person I was upset with was Titan. She shouldn’t have caved to a madman like him. She should have taken my hand and declared our love for the whole world to see.

But she didn’t.

Now I was back to my empty life, back to my superficial and meaningless existence.

But I was also different. My relationship with Titan changed who I was. It made me a better man, but now that she was gone, I was also more bitter. I had unresolved anger that I couldn’t defuse.

I blamed all of my unhappiness on her.

She did this to me.

I should give it more time, but I was in a rush to move on. So I went out on the town with Mike and Pine. There was booze, women, and music. I had a woman on my lap in the club and another one tucked into my side with my arm draped over her shoulder. They were there to celebrate a bachelorette party, but they were eager to party with us.

I wanted to be photographed.

I wanted Titan to see it.

I wanted to hurt her for hurting me.

After enough drinks and conversation, Mike and Pine broke off with their dates for the evening.

So I took my girls back to my place. With my arms around their waists, I escorted them outside and into the back of my Mercedes. As I hoped, lots of pictures were taken.

Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the anger, but I turned into a spiteful man. I wanted to hurt the woman I loved because she refused to love me. I wanted to show her I was done being her dirty little secret. Other women would kill to be on my arm in public—but she never wanted me.

We headed back to my place. Their hands gripped my thighs, their mouths were on my neck.

I kissed one. Then I kissed the other.

All I thought about was Titan.

Every time I tried to think about the threesome I was about to have, my sexual thoughts turned back to Titan. I imagined the last time I made love to her, how she told me she loved me while I was buried between her legs.

That was the only thing that got me hard.

My driver pulled up to my place, and we were about to get out. The girls were excited, clawing at me to get my jacket off so they could pop open my buttons and get to my bare skin. They were down for anything, even a tag-team blow job.

But I knew what would happen if I went upstairs with both of them.

Nothing.

I would watch them make out for a little while but then get bored of it.

I knew I was doing this for the wrong reasons.

And that made me an ass. A pathetic one.

Eventually, I would be ready to fuck around again. But right now, I was just as in love with Titan as I ever was. The idea of being with another woman didn’t sound appealing. I wasn’t even aroused because I was too sad and bitter to feel anything similar to desire.

So I said goodnight to the women and had my driver take them home. Then I went to my penthouse.

Alone.

---

When I saw the picture and caption as one of the top stories on Google, I immediately regretted what I’d done.

My arms were around both of them, and I was grinning like I was having the time of my life. Inside, I was devastated and heartbroken, but to anyone looking at the photograph, that didn’t seem to be the case.

I knew this would hurt Titan.

Deeply.

What the fuck was I thinking?

My first instinct was to call her and tell her it was just a mistake. I wanted to tell her I went home alone that night. I didn’t even jerk off. But then I realized it didn’t matter. Whether I called her or not, it didn’t change the situation.

She wasn’t mine anymore.

This was what she wanted.

So I never made the call.

Natalie spoke to me through the intercom. “I have Vincent Hunt on line one.”

Did this asshole ever quit? “I got it.” I picked up the phone and hit the button. “What do you want now? You want my bank account information? Sure, let me get it for you. It’s 9-3-4—”

“Looks like you took me seriously. It was a smart move because I wasn’t bluffing.”

“Of course you weren’t,” I said coldly. “But you shouldn’t be proud of that.”

Vincent didn’t have a response to that.

I was sick of my father’s bullshit. I knew I’d started this feud by giving that interview, but I wanted the war to be over. “Titan is gone, and she’s never coming back. I’m miserable, so you can give yourself a pat on the back. There’s nothing you have on me anymore. So let’s go back to pretending the other doesn’t exist. I miss those days.” Before he could say anything else, I hung up on him.

I never wanted to hear his voice again. The only time I ever wanted someone to mention him to me was the day he died.

And I certainly wouldn’t go to his funeral.

Natalie spoke through the intercom again. “Sir, I have—”

“Never put Vincent Hunt through to me again. Do you understand?” I was being a dick to my assistant when I shouldn’t be, but piece by piece, my life was falling apart.

“Yes…sir.” Natalie cleared her throat. “But I have Thorn Cutler on the line…can I patch him through?”

Now that was a twist. The two of us had nothing to say to each other now that Titan was gone. What could he possibly have to say to me? “Put him through.”

“He’s on line two.”

I hit the button. “Thorn, how can I help you?” Thorn and I had our ups and downs. We disliked each other, then liked each other, and then disliked each other again. The only thing I did like about him was his loyalty to Titan. She would always have him, and that made it easier to let her go. There was always someone there to protect her.

“What the fuck is your problem?”

Both of my eyebrows rose. “Excuse me?”

“Titan called me in tears after your little stunt. Could you be a little discreet? Do you really need to display your sex life for the whole fucking world to see? She just started going to the office again, and now she’s back at home again.”

I’d already felt like shit the second I saw the picture. Now I felt like the biggest douchebag in the world. There was no excuse I could give for my stupidity. I was just bitter and pathetic. The idea of her crying just made me want to stab my hand with a pen so I could punish myself.

“Hello?” he snapped. “You there, asshole?”

“She hasn’t been working?” I hadn’t noticed that detail until I replayed what he said in my head.

“No. She stayed home all week. I was there with her. She couldn’t even shower, let alone go to work.”

Her misery made me happy, but that was only because I was just as devastated. It made me feel less alone. It made me feel like what we had was real.

“And now you’re fucking anything that moves again? Wow, that’s classy.”

“It’s not how it looked…”

“Shut the fuck up. Don’t give me that bullshit. I’m glad I talked her out of being with you. So many times, she thought about giving it a real try, but I always talked some sense into her. Looks like I was right for doing so. You’re a lying piece of shit, Hunt. If I ever see you in person, I will punch you in the goddamn face—”

“I didn’t sleep with either of them. I kissed them, but that was it. I did it because I wanted to hurt Titan…after the way she hurt me.”

“Absolutely pathetic.”

“I know I am…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’m just as miserable as she is. I don’t know how to cope with it.”

“Even if I believed you, which I don’t, it still wouldn’t make me hate you less.”

“I—”

“If you have any respect for Titan, keep it quiet.” Click.

The line went dead.