I didn’t cry anymore because there were no tears left to shed.

It was done.

I lost my friend.

The TV was on in the living room, and the news story played over and over. Reporters dissected Thorn’s announcement until there was nothing left to discuss. “Thorn Cutler made a surprising announcement today when his team stated he and Titan had ended their years-long relationship overnight. Just a few weeks prior, he proposed to Tatum Titan with a gorgeous ring. With tears in her eyes, she said yes. This comes as a surprise to all of us, and it’s left more questions than answers. What exactly happened?”

I grabbed the remote and changed the channel. There was a game on, and I’d much rather stare at that than listen to the world discuss my fake relationship. Thorn’s mother called me once, but I didn’t answer. She left a message, but I was too much of a coward to listen to it. I had no idea how Thorn wanted to handle the news with his parents, and since we weren’t on speaking terms, I couldn’t ask.

My phone rang, and Hunt’s name popped up on the screen.

I should be happy right now. I should feel my heart sprout wings the second I saw his name on the screen. My guard was down, and my heart was open to him—so were my legs. But it difficult to feel something other than sorrow. Thorn meant just as much to me—in a very different way.

I answered. “Hey.”

Hunt’s masculine voice sounded even deeper on the phone. I couldn’t see his handsome face, so my listening senses were heightened. “Hey, baby.”

Baby. I loved hearing that name. It was soothing all the way down my spine. I never wanted him to call me Titan again, not when I meant something more to him than I did to everyone else. “Hey…” Now I was repeating myself like an idiot, but I didn’t have the grace to correct myself.

“I want to see you.”

Now that the news was out, there was nothing holding us back. Even if Vincent wanted to unleash those pictures, the story wouldn’t break until the morning. What we did tonight wouldn’t change the outcome of our future. “I want to see you too. But honestly…I’m pretty down. I’m not pleasant company.”

“You were never pleasant company,” he teased.

A pained smile formed on my lips. “I don’t want to start our relationship this way. I want you to know that I’m happy…I am happy. But I’m also absolutely miserable right now.”

“I know, baby. So let me be miserable with you.”

He always knew the right thing to say.

“I’m in the lobby, standing in front of your elevator. I’m coming up whether I’m invited or not.”

“Then why did you call?”

His smile was obvious through the phone. “Wanted to be a gentleman.” He hung up.

I was still in my clothes from earlier that afternoon. My heels were abandoned in the middle of the floor, standing upright with utter beauty. I loved shoes as much as clothes, but after wearing them all day, I couldn’t handle them anymore. An Old Fashioned was on the table in front of me, but I wasn’t ashamed to drink it. I still drank. I just hadn’t lost my control over it.

The doors opened and he stepped inside. He wore a thick black jacket to fight the winter cold. He peeled it off and hung it by the door, in dark jeans and a long-sleeved V-neck underneath. It looked wonderful against his fit body, hugging his ripped muscles in all the right places. His jaw was cleanly shaven, which was a slight disappointment. Beard or no beard, he was utterly sexy. But I liked the way his stubble rubbed against my soft skin when he kissed me.

He joined me on the couch, his eyes invading my appearance. They looked over my body, spending the most time on the hollow of my throat. Without placing a single hand on me, he could devour me like a wild animal. After months of screwing him, I thought I would get used to this behavior. But I never did.

His hand moved to my neck, and he leaned in and kissed me softly on the mouth. It was a gentle touch, full of love and affection. While the sexual intensity was there, he didn’t push it on me. He restrained himself instead, knowing I wasn’t myself tonight. He moved his lips to my forehead next and placed a kiss there.

He could make me feel so loved with an action that was so simple.

I looked into his mocha-colored eyes and suddenly felt warm in spite of the raging winter right outside my window. For just an instant, I felt safe despite my shattered heart. It gave me a brief moment of hope, that I would get through this somehow.

His fingers trailed behind my ear where he tucked in my hair. Then they slid down my arm slowly until they settled on my thigh.

“I’m happy that you’re here.” I knew he was staring at the sadness in my eyes and seeing a woman who had fallen apart. I wasn’t jumping into his arms and letting him carry me to the bedroom. “I’m sorry that I’m not showing it better.”

“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “When you’re sad, I’m sad. That’s how this is going to go for the rest of our lives.”

My eyes softened, and I rested my hand on top of his.

“But I’m sleeping here tonight. And tomorrow night. And the night after that…”

A smile tugged at my lips. “I assumed.”

“But I won’t make a move on you tonight. I can tell your mind is somewhere else.”

“I’m sorry…” I broke eye contact and looked at the ground. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wonder if it would have been better if I’d just stayed engaged to Thorn. But I know that would have made me more miserable in the end. When I go over my choices, I wonder if there’s something better I could have done. But I don’t see another alternative.”

“Because there is none.” He squeezed my hand.

“That makes me feel better, but only slightly. I’ll never get over losing Thorn. I know it’s hard to understand. He’s been a crucial part of my life for so long. He knows me better than anyone else. It’s like…losing a piece of myself.”

His hand moved underneath my chin, and he directed my gaze to him once more. “He’ll come back.”

“You heard him, Hunt.”

“Diesel.”

My eyebrows rose.

“Don’t call me Hunt ever again.”

My hand slid up his muscled thigh, feeling his strength through the thick jeans. “Okay.”

“I know he’ll come back. It might take a few months, but he will.”

I didn’t want to latch on to hope when it might just slip away. “Why do you say that?”

“Love like that doesn’t just die. He’s angry right now, but once that pain settles, he’ll miss you. The guy killed someone for you…let’s not forget that.”

“Like I ever could…”

“He’ll come back, baby. I know he will.”

I was grateful Diesel was so supportive of me. Other men wouldn’t be so understanding. “I’m sorry if it seems like I talk about Thorn a lot. I know it must get old. I know it must bother you…”

“It’s never bothered me. I have nothing to be threatened by.” His hand slid over my neck as he looked at me. “You love me—and only me.”

---

We lay in my bed together, all the lights off and surrounded by darkness. The lights from the skyscrapers filtered through my tinted windows. At the touch of a button, the shades could come down and seal us in darkness. But I liked the way the lights trickled through the windows sometimes.

Hunt lay beside me, all muscles and all warmth. He was on his side, his head sharing a pillow with me. He hiked my leg around his waist and pressed our chests together. I was in one of his old t-shirts, treasuring it as a relic from our past.

His face was just inches from mine, and he kept looking right at me. As if he could see something more than just my gaze, he stared at me like the universe sat in the center of my eyes. His look was piercing and invading, but I liked being conquered by this man every way possible.

His veined forearm hooked around my waist, his fingers gently rubbing against the bare skin of my back underneath my shirt. Without sharing a single kiss, we exchanged so much passion. I could feel it in the limited space between us. I could feel it in his pulse. I could feel it in the way he looked at me.

We weren’t making love, but we almost seemed to be. His gaze washed over me like waves from the ocean tide. It reached every inch of my skin, even the nape of my neck. I felt overwhelmed by his presence, drowned in his possessiveness.

His masculine voice shattered the silence around us. “This is nice.”

“It is…”

“I want to do this every night for the rest of our lives.”

It was the most romantic confession I’d ever heard him make. “Me too.”

“Then we will.”

---

Diesel left when my alarm went off. He showered at my place then went back to his penthouse to change.

I walked him to the door and gave him a kiss goodbye. “Bring a bag next time.”

He smiled against my mouth. “I’ll bring more than that. I’ll need a dresser and half of your closet space.”

“Uh, I don’t know about that. I have a lot of shoes…”

He squeezed my ass with his big hand. “Then get rid of them.” He kissed me on the forehead before he stepped inside the elevator. “Love you.” He said it casually, just like every husband said to his wife before he went off to work.

It was nice. “Love you too.”

He watched me until the doors were closed and he was gone.

I went back into my room and got ready for the day. I didn’t dare turn on the news to see what happened next with Thorn. Maybe he’d been photographed with another woman already. Maybe the media had twisted the story in some other ridiculous way.

After I finished getting ready, I turned on the TV.

They were all covering the same story as last night, except Thorn had already been photographed with some woman in a club. He was grinning like an idiot with his arm around her shoulders.

There was no sign of Vincent Hunt’s pictures.

I turned off the TV, walked to the elevator, and then stopped in my tracks.

Vincent hadn’t leaked those photos yet, but I was certain it was only a matter of time. He was probably getting ready to do that right this minute. Once he arrived at the office, he’d have one of his assistants send them off.

There was nothing I could do to save Thorn and me.

But perhaps I could still save Diesel.

---

His assistant made me wait for fifteen minutes before she ushered me inside.

Vincent Hunt was definitely pissed. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his dark eyes looked black like drops of oil. He was seething in silence, his jaw clenched just the way Diesel’s did when he was ticked about something. Their striking resemblance allowed me to read him well even when he was just a stranger.

“Good morning.” I lowered myself into the chair facing his desk.

He didn’t have a greeting in return. His hands were together on his knee, and he stared at me like I wasn’t welcome in his presence. He always gave me respect even if he didn’t like what I had to say. But now that respect was gone.

“You’ve heard about Thorn and me.”

“Bits here and there.”

“Diesel and I have decided we want to be together—even if you do leak those photos.”

“Good to know. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a story to share with the world.”

It still shocked me how spiteful he was. He was so angry with his son that he couldn’t see straight. His hurt and love had blended together so well that he misinterpreted it for rage. He didn’t know how to digest his misery, so he sabotaged Diesel in every way he could—even though it wouldn’t make him feel better. “Thorn and I were really good friends.” Speaking in past tense still got me choked up, but I refused to show emotion in front of Vincent. “Our engagement was a business arrangement. When I fell in love with your son, it complicated things. I ended my relationship with Thorn because I knew I couldn’t live without your son. You can ruin my reputation all you want, but it’s not going to change anything. I intend to spend the rest of my life with Diesel—for better or worse.”

He hadn’t moved an inch, his hostile gaze still burning holes into my skin.

“So, I’m going to be your daughter-in-law someday.”

“First, I’d have to have him as a son—which I don’t.”

I was grateful Diesel would never hear that comment. I’d take it to the grave. “I know you love Diesel. You can backpedal all you want, but I already know the truth.”

Aggressive silence.

“You have a chance to take a step forward in the right direction.”

“I have nothing to say to that arrogant asshole.”

“You don’t have to say anything at all,” I said gently. “But you can do something that will mean a great deal to him.”

Vincent Hunt watched me with the same dark expression Diesel sometimes gave. It was guarded but absorbing at the same time.

“Diesel would do anything for me. So, if you hurt me, it hurts him more. If you release those photos, people aren’t going to care about him as much as me. People will question my integrity and my credibility. Women see me as a role model, and soon the people who once looked up to me will call me a whore. They’re getting a version of the story that’s inaccurate. You’re sending my reputation to the grave, making me serve a sentence for a crime I didn’t commit. If you publish those photos, Diesel will never forgive you for it. He’ll hate you for the rest of his life. But if you don’t publish them…it’ll mean something to him. It’ll change the way he thinks of you. It’ll give you a chance to make things right between you…eventually.”

Vincent Hunt shifted his gaze away, thinking about my words without letting me see his reaction. He kept his hands on his knee, his fingers shifting slightly in their hold.

“Take the first step, Vincent. Call him and tell him you won’t publish those photos.”

He rubbed his jaw, his thick stubble grown into a full beard.

“It won’t happen overnight, but your relationship will start to change. You’ll leave the door open for reconciliation.”

“You’re forgetting that I already crossed a line by obtaining the photos to begin with. I purposely went out of my way to blackmail my own son. I’ve taken a company away from him, and I threatened to ruin your life if he didn’t cooperate. Why the hell would you want Diesel and me to work things out? You should despise me, Titan. Any self-respecting person would.” He looked away, staring at the other window inside his office. His jaw tensed and relaxed as he rubbed his fingers across his chin. He hid his vulnerability the same way Diesel did, bottling it up inside.

“I don’t despise you, Vincent.”

He shifted his gaze back to me.

“I can’t justify your actions, but I can understand them. You love your son, and you’re hurt that he turned his back on you. He hurt your pride and broke your heart at the exact same time. You don’t know to handle that, and your wife isn’t here to help you. You’re lost. I see it when I look at you.”

His voice erupted as a whisper. “You don’t know me, Titan.”

“Then correct me if I’m wrong.”

He only gave me his silence.

“I know it’s complicated. If it weren’t, I could sit the two of you down and have you talk it out. But this is going to be difficult. You need to start somewhere, and I think this is where it should begin. Don’t publish those photos.”

He stared at me hard.

“Diesel is just as angry as you are. I can barely get him to talk about you without him storming off. He has a lot of issues he needs to take care of. But beneath all of that, he just wants you to be his father.”

“He said that?”

I couldn’t lie to him. “No. But I know that’s how he feels.”

Vincent put up his guard again.

“Which means you also need to make things right with Brett. Not right this second…but eventually.”

“He’s a grown man and doesn’t need me. I doubt he wants anything to do with me.”

“You’d be surprised. Every person needs their parent—no matter how old they get.”

“You never explained why you’re doing this,” he said quietly. “You’re going out of your way to reunite me with my son, but I don’t see what you get out of it.”

“I don’t get anything out of it,” I said honestly. “But I love Diesel, and I want him to have his father in his life. My father has been dead for ten years. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him. The both of you are still alive and healthy. Every minute you’re angry with each other is a wasted opportunity. I don’t want Diesel to wait until the last minute and live in regret. I don’t want both of you to wait until it’s too late.”

If Vincent took my words to heart, he hid it. He kept up the same stone face as he did before. He blocked me out just the way his son did when he was angry. He wouldn’t let me cross a line, and I suspected he wouldn’t allow anyone to. “You remind me of my late wife.”

That was the last thing I’d expected him to say.

“And Diesel reminds me of myself. I loved her the way he loves you. I saw the way he looked at you from across the room…and it reminded me of the way I looked at her as she walked down the aisle toward me.”

It was a precious thing to say, and he chose to share it with me. He spoke so plainly, but there was a hint of emotion in his eyes. “I apologize for ever for jeopardizing your relationship. That was wrong of me.”

An apology from Vincent Hunt. I’d never thought that was possible. “I accept your apology.”

He gave me a slight nod. “I’ll consider your advice.”

I took that as a dismissal. I’d done the most I could under the circumstances. I had chipped away at his stone wall, but there were still feet of concrete to get through. I had to quit while I was ahead. “Goodbye, Mr. Hunt.” I walked to the door.

“Titan.”

I turned around and faced him, unsure what he might say now.

“My son is a lucky man.”