Thorn’s mother called me again.

I never listened to her voice mail, so I didn’t have a clue what she said. She must be furious with me, even if it seemed like Thorn was the one who left. Avoiding conflict wasn’t in my nature since I always met my challenges head on. This wasn’t me at all. On top of that, I respected Liv. She’d been like a mother to me. I didn’t want to cut her out like this, not give her an explanation when she deserved one.

Without knowing what to expect, I answered, “Hey, Liv.”

“Titan?” Her emotion was at an all-time high. She wasn’t in tears, but she was audibly distressed. “I called you a week ago.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you back.” I didn’t make an excuse for avoiding her. I was obviously deflecting her, and we both knew that.

“I don’t understand what’s going on. Last time I saw the two of you, everything seemed fine. And then I hear this story on the news…that Thorn left you for some ho. I don’t understand…”

“Have you spoken to Thorn?”

“He won’t take my calls.”

I knew he was avoiding her because he didn’t want to listen to her disappointment. He was definitely a mama’s boy. Always had been. It was one of the reasons why I loved him. He treated his mother so well, but he also put his foot down when she crossed a line. He managed to establish his space in a respectful way. “It’s been hard for both of us. He just needs some space right now. He’ll call you when he’s ready to talk.”

“Titan, help me understand. Why would my son do this to you?”

I gripped the armrest of my chair and felt the flood of guilt drown me. This was entirely my fault. Liv thought her son was an asshole, when it was completely untrue. How could I let her continue to think that? “It’s more complicated than that. I know Thorn looks like the bad guy in this, but he’s not.”

“It sure seems that way. And I raised my son better than this.”

Another bomb of guilt. “Liv, you raised the best son in the world.”

“How can you speak so highly of him after he dumped you like that?”

I wanted to tell her the truth, but I knew Thorn didn’t want that. “We had more problems than met the eye. Don’t judge Thorn for what’s happened. I’m responsible for a lot of issues. I don’t want you to think less of him when he doesn’t deserve it.”

“But you’re like a daughter to me, Titan…”

I didn’t expect the tears to well in my eyes so quickly. I had a soft spot for his family, always had. They’d made me feel welcome when I was alone in the world. They’d made every holiday feel special. They’d made me a member of their family from the moment they met me. “You’ve been like a mother to me, Liv. But please give Thorn the benefit of the doubt. I love him very much. Always have and always will.”

---

I struggled with my decision all day. I went back and forth, growing scared and then chickening out again. I wanted to call Thorn, but I suspected he wouldn’t answer. He would reject me like he promised he would.

I couldn’t face that heartbreak.

So I texted him. Your mother called me a few times. I couldn’t avoid her forever, so I answered. She’s upset about the breakup, but I told her I was responsible, without giving any details. You should call her.

As I expected, he didn’t text back. I was used to seeing those three dots light up immediately once I contacted him. He used to be readily available at all times. It didn’t matter what he was doing, he always made time for me. He could be in the biggest meeting of his career, but that didn’t matter to him—not when it came to me.

The dots never showed up.

And now I missed them more than ever.

---

Jessica’s voice shattered my thoughts. “Titan, I have Mr. Vincent Hunt on the line for you.”

Now when I heard his name, I didn’t tense in dread. I didn’t prepare myself for a threat or something worse. With every private conversation I had with him, I saw a new side to his character. He was a ruthless shark in a business world, but in my eyes, he was just a father who struggled with parenting. “Thank you, Jessica. Patch him through.”

The light turned on, and I took the call. “Hello, Mr. Hunt. How can I help you?”

“Please call me Vincent.”

I didn’t know anyone else who was on a first-name basis with him. It made me feel special when I shouldn’t. “Of course. How are you?”

“Hungry. Will you have lunch with me?”

I hadn’t expected anything specific when he called, but I certainly didn’t expect an invitation like that. I didn’t have an answer because I still didn’t understand the request. As much as I wanted to ask why he wanted to see me, I didn’t want to be rude.

Vincent must have read my mood. “No tricks. Just want to get to know you a little better. You’re the one who said you’ll be my daughter-in-law someday.”

I did say that.

“I have a table at Dorian’s. Will I see you there in fifteen minutes?”

I felt deceitful meeting Diesel’s father without telling him, but I wasn’t hiding anything either. If Diesel asked about it, I would tell him. “I’ll see you there.”

---

The hostess must have been expecting me because she greeted me before I even completely stepped through the doors. “Mr. Hunt is waiting for you.” She walked in front of me and guided me to the private table he had in the rear of the restaurant. It wasn’t close to other guests, allowing for a private conversation in confidence.

He had the same aura as his son. He was hard and calloused, a muscular man with the fitness of a horse. Like a fine wine, he’d aged well. He still possessed obvious charm, handsomeness, and clear sex appeal. Whenever I saw him with a woman in her twenties, it didn’t surprise me at all. Vincent Hunt got as much tail as his son.

He watched me with the same coffee-colored eyes, sitting with square shoulders and a straight back. He rose from his chair with elegance before he greeted me. Instead of kissing me on the cheek like Thorn did, he shook my hand.

I thought it was appropriate.

“It’s nice to see you.” He gripped my hand with obvious strength, the veins on the surface of his hands looking like prominent webs. He didn’t give me a smile, but his dark eyes seemed gentler now that he was looking at me.

“You too.”

He maneuvered behind me and pulled out my chair for me.

Didn’t expect that. “Thank you…” I didn’t need a man to pull out my chair for me, especially during a business meeting. But I knew this didn’t exactly fit into that category. I took the action as a compliment, that he was treating me like a lady rather than a rival executive.

He sat down again and took a sip of his wine.

It was the first time I’d interacted with Vincent Hunt out of the office. Even in a change of scenery, he still seemed as threatening. He had a hard jaw like his son, piercing eyes, and a set of shoulders that would make professional fighters uneasy.

Diesel might hate his father, but they were so much alike.

“Do you like wine?” he asked.

“I do.”

“Red or white?”

“Both.”

He gave a slight smile. “You have good taste.”

The waiter arrived at our table and took my drink order.

I ordered an Old Fashioned instead. While he was there, we also ordered our meals. I had a salad, and Vincent ordered chicken breast with greens. The waiter disappeared, taking the menus with him.

Vincent kept his hand on his glass as he watched me, the same unblinking stare that Diesel wore all the time. “Is that your drink?”

“Usually.”

“Excellent choice.”

“I’ve been trying to cut back. It’s been getting easier.” I had no idea why I told him that. It was unnecessary information, one of my truths that didn’t put me in a good light. But then again, it didn’t matter whether Vincent Hunt liked me or not. I didn’t care about his opinion.

“May I ask why?”

“Diesel said I drank too much.”

“And do you agree?”

I nodded.

He swirled his wine before he took another drink. “I’ve used it as a crutch as well. Most people have.”

Instead of judging me, he shared his two cents. That was unexpected.

“What’s Diesel’s drink?”

“He has a few. Scotch on the rocks with a twist. Red wine. And he’s become a fan of Old Fashioneds since he met me.”

He nodded. “He and I have similar tastes.”

The waiter returned with my drink and set it beside me. It was only noon and far too early to drink at this intensity, but I was having a serious lunch and I could use something good to calm the nerves.

Vincent returned to staring at me. He had no problem looking at people directly, even if it made them uncomfortable.

I was the same way, so it didn’t bother me one bit. “Tell me about yourself,” he said.

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything you’re comfortable sharing with me.”

I drank from my glass as I watched him. “Will you tell me things about yourself?” I’d rather have an open dialogue than an interrogation.

“Of course. If you’re interested, that is.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

He drank from his glass again. “Despite what people may think, I’m not that interesting.”

“I’m not either.”

“I don’t agree with that. Even before I knew Diesel was fascinated with you, I respected you. You handle business with grace. Even when the competition is sexist and jealous, you don’t let it get to you. You work ten times as hard to reap the same rewards. You’re a woman who turned a few pennies into billions. As the richest woman in the world, you’re definitely interesting. It’s very difficult to impress me, but, Ms. Titan, but I’m very impressed by you.”

I kept a straight face even though his words touched me. Not all successful men complimented my achievements. Sometimes they questioned them, assuming there was a man standing behind me in the shadows. Sometimes people attributed my success to luck. And worst of all, some people thought I slept my way to the top. “Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome,” he said. “I didn’t have any daughters, but I imagine if I had, they would be just like you.”

Another compliment.

“My son has made a lot of stupid choices. You’re definitely not one of them.” He brought the glass to his lips and took a drink while he kept his eyes on me. He studied me like a painting in a gallery, examining all the subtle features that couldn’t be spotted right away. You had to be patient before the nuances became apparent. “You were close with your father?” he asked.

“Very. He was all I had.”

“Would you mind telling me about him?” He shifted his position in his chair and came closer to the table, giving me even more attention than before.

“He was a painter. So he was always chasing jobs. The winters were always hard. The summers were difficult because I hardly saw him. He was the hardest working person I ever knew.”

His eyes remained trained on me, hanging on to every word.

“He was a poet as well. Sometimes he wrote short stories. His dream was to be a published writer. He said he would be rich one day and make all our problems go away. But then he was diagnosed with cancer…and he died shortly afterward.”

Vincent’s expression didn’t change, but his shoulders stiffened.

“I bought a publishing house just so I could publish his poems. The sales aren’t amazing, but we sell a few copies every day. The business is dying because it’s becoming obsolete. Keeping it isn’t profitable at all. In fact, I lose more money every year. But I’d rather make his dream a reality—even if he isn’t here to see it.”

It was the first time Vincent dropped his gaze that afternoon. He looked at his glass before he took a long drink. Then he refilled it from the bottle sitting there. Perhaps the intimacy was too much. Perhaps the heartbreak was obvious on my face. He stared at the glass for another moment before he looked at me. “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t change anything. I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything to you…but I’m sorry.”

I heard the sincerity in his tone and saw the same emotion in his eyes. “I know you are.”

“When I lost my wife…” His eyes drifted away, and he shook his head slightly. “I never really got over it. I think about her every day. Every morning, I wake up alone and wish she were still beside me.”

Anytime I spoke about my father, it was with heartbreak. But hearing Vincent speak of his wife made my heart break in a different way.

“I understand how you feel, Titan. Just want you to know that.”

My fingers wrapped around my glass, but I didn’t take a drink. I let the silence stretch on between us, growing bigger and deeper. We both thought about the ones we loved, those we lost far too soon. “That was how I met your son. He wanted to buy the publishing house from me, but I refused to sell.”

The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “I’m sure he didn’t like that.”

“No.”

“And I’m sure he didn’t stop until he got what he wanted.”

“You’re right. But I never sold it to him.”

“And I’m sure that’s the moment he fell in love with you.”

A soft smile came over my lips. “I’m not sure when it happened, honestly.”

“How long has it been?”

I counted back to the first time we met. “About seven months.”

“You kept it a secret for a pretty long time, then.”

“Yeah, we did.”

He rested one hand on the table, his high-end watch reflecting the lights from the ceiling. “May I ask why you were publicly involved with Thorn?”

“I already answered that question.”

“You said it was a business relationship. But that doesn’t explain why you wanted to marry someone for convenience instead of love. I’m very biased, but I would choose love every single time.”

Just like Diesel, he had a soft spot deep inside his chest, a side he never let anyone see. “I’m sure you heard that story about my abusive relationship…”

He nodded. “But I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“I gave up on love after that. I gave my heart to someone who didn’t deserve it, and as a result, I vowed never to put myself in that situation again. Love was something I never felt after that, so marrying Thorn didn’t seem like a sacrifice. But when I met Diesel…everything became complicated.”

“I’m glad Diesel changed your mind. There are a lot of scumbags out there, men who shouldn’t be allowed to call themselves men. But there are a lot of great men who would do anything for the woman they love. They’d rather die than let a single tear fall down her cheek. When we’ve been hurt, the hardest thing to do is trust again. But once we do, we realize there’s much more good than there is bad.”

I smiled, touched by his optimism. He seemed too intense to feel anything positive.

“My son and I have disagreed about a lot of things, but I raised him better than that. You never have to worry about that with him.”

“I know. He’s a good man.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I’m actually quite proud of him…even though I’ve never told him.”

I wished Diesel could hear this himself. I could relay the message, but it wouldn’t be the same coming from me. “You should.”

His eyes shifted away, taking in the rest of the restaurant. “He doesn’t care, Titan. And I don’t blame him.”

“He does.”

“You must have told him about our last conversation. What was his response?” He looked back at me.

“To be honest, he was pretty quiet.”

Vincent couldn’t hide the disappointment in his gaze.

“But I think it meant something to him. I think we just have a lot of work to do. Even if the sentiment is there, there’s so much damage that it can’t be fixed overnight. But I truly believe there is hope.”

“I’m not so sure,” he said with a sigh.

“How about you ask him to lunch instead of me?”

“And you think he’d show up?” he countered.

No. “Probably not. But if you ask a few times, he’ll eventually say yes.”

Vincent sighed in disagreement.

“You need to start with Brett first. Make things right, and then Diesel will let his guard down.”

“Like I said, Brett doesn’t need me. I can promise you he has no interest in a relationship with me. I’ve never been a father to him.”

“He doesn’t have a mother or a father,” I reminded him. “You’re all he has.”

He tapped his fingers against the surface of the wood as he continued to look around the restaurant.

“What happened with Brett?”

“I’m sure Diesel already told you.”

“I want your version. You seem like a compassionate man. Why were you so cold to Brett?”

“My version is his version.” He turned his gaze back to me, looking hostile. “I did everything he’s accused me of. I didn’t treat Brett the same way I treated my own sons. And I never considered him to be a son.”

His harshness surprised me, especially after all the heartfelt things he’d said. “Why?”

He drank his wine again, taking so long it didn’t seem like he was going to answer me at all. He finally set the glass down and licked his lips. “Every time I look at Brett…I’m reminded that my wife loved someone else before me. After she was gone, I saw her face in him every single day…but I didn’t see myself. It pained me to know she had spent time with someone else, that we could have had more time together if we’d met sooner. I never overcame my jealousy. It never had anything to do with Brett…and I treated him badly because of it. It was wrong of me, and I won’t make excuses for it. I know my wife is in heaven because she was the most compassionate woman that ever lived…and she’ll never forgive me for what I did.”

His explanation wasn’t a justification of his actions. But at least it made sense. “You can’t take back what you did, but you can change things. Talk to Brett. Start a new relationship.”

“Like I said, he doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“How do you know unless you try?”

He shook his head. “We don’t have a connection. We have nothing in common. He’s older than my sons. He doesn’t need me for anything. He has his own life now. He’s a very successful man, so he’s doing just fine.”

“You loved his mother, and he loved her. You have a pretty profound connection.”

He didn’t argue with that.

“I think you should try, Vincent. I can help. But the question is…do you still want nothing to do with him?” Whatever his answer might be, I still wanted to help him heal his relationship with Diesel. But I needed to know exactly what I was dealing with.

He stared at his wine for a long time before he answered. “I do. I want to make things right for my wife…to make sure her son has family. And I would like to get to know him. How can I not care about someone who has my wife’s eyes?”

My hands loosened on my glass as the relief flooded through. “I’ll talk to Brett and get him to have lunch with us.”

“He’ll say no, Titan.”

“Then if I have to trick him, I will.”

He wore a sarcastic smile. “I’m sure that will go over well.”

I had to bring these men back together. I had to give Diesel something he didn’t realize he needed. I knew his battered relationship with his father haunted him. When he turned angry and aggressive, I knew it bothered him down to his core. Those feelings of rage only remained because he had unresolved issues.

“Thank you for helping me, Titan. Your time is valuable, but you’re spending it on me.”

I smiled. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”