We returned to my penthouse, and the second we were away from prying eyes, I slipped off my heels and tossed them across the room. I wore uncomfortable heels all day, every day, and I didn’t want to wear them a second longer than I had to.

Diesel came up behind me. “Why don’t you ever wear flats?”

“I don’t like them.”

He peeled off his jacket and draped it over the back of the couch. “I’m sure you’d be more comfortable, though.”

“I don’t care about comfort.” Image was far more important. None of my skirts or dresses would look nearly as good if I weren’t wearing a gorgeous pair of shoes. They showed off my calf muscles, made me a little taller, and gave me an extra jolt of attitude.

Diesel untied his tie and placed it on top of the jacket. He came to me next, his handsome face so gorgeous that I wanted to feel the chiseled lines of his jaw with my fingertips. “I had fun tonight—because I was with you.”

“Me too.”

His hands gripped my waist tightly, his thumb pressing over my ribs. “I’m glad things are okay with Thorn. I thought about it every day. I talked to him about it on multiple occasions. I’m glad he had a change of heart.”

As if a slab of stone had been lifted from my chest, I could finally breathe easy again. Thorn was a constant in my life, and without him, I didn’t know who I was anymore. He knew me when I was nothing, and he never changed his opinion of me even when I became something. He had always been genuinely happy for all of my successes. If anyone ever tried to tear me down, he had my back. He was family to me, the only person I had in the entire world. “You have no idea how much better I feel…”

At that same moment, the elevator beeped as it ascended to my floor.

It was Thorn.

Diesel released a quiet sigh before he pulled his hands away. “I’ll head back to my penthouse for the night. I’m sure you guys have a lot to talk about.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay, Diesel.” He could stay as long as he wanted. He could stay in my bedroom and watch the game while Thorn and I talked in the living room. He’d been staying with me for so long it was hard for me to imagine him not being there.

“I know.” He kissed me on the cheek. “But I’ll give you guys some privacy. I should make sure my condo is still standing anyway. Someone could have robbed the place weeks ago, and I’d have no clue.” He gave me a soft smile before he grabbed his jacket and tie from the couch.

We walked to the elevator and watched the doors open to reveal Thorn. Dressed in the same suit he’d worn to the gala, he stepped inside with his hands in his pockets. It wasn’t quite the same as it used to be, the comfortable casualness we used to share. It was still tense, like our relationship hadn’t reemerged just yet.

Diesel gave me another kiss before he stepped into the elevator. “Love you, baby.”

My eyes met his. “I love you too.” I watched him until the doors were shut and he was hidden from view. The second he was gone, a small weight returned to my chest. The idea of sleeping alone sounded unappealing. I was used to sharing everything with this man. A single night apart sounded like too much.

Silence stretched between us now that we were alone together. Thorn looked at me like he didn’t know what to say. Not speaking for weeks had put a strain on our relationship that neither one of us could deny.

“Thanks for coming.” I broke the silence and walked to the door. “Can I get you something?”

“My usual is fine.” He moved to the couch and took a seat.

I came back with two glasses, a scotch for him and an Old Fashioned for me.

He took a long drink before he returned the glass to the table.

I sat on the other couch and held my glass between my fingers. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course,” he said quietly. “Diesel didn’t have to leave.”

“He wanted to give us some privacy.”

He stared down at his glass before he took another sip.

After another serving of silence, I started the conversation. “What made you change your mind? Was it the interview?”

“It was part of it.” He stared across the room toward the entryway, not making direct eye contact with me. “When I saw that interview, I was still mad. I was mad that the whole thing had happened. I still haven’t spoken to my mom about it…don’t know what to say to her.”

I’d put a wedge between Thorn and his family, and that made me feel terrible. “I think you should just tell her the truth, Thorn. I can do it for you if you want. It would explain everything a lot more than the different versions she’s seen on TV.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But I think it would hurt my parents to know I lied to them about something so big…”

“It’s better than all the lies they’re hearing now.”

He bowed his head and gave a slight nod. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“We can do it together. I don’t mind. I don’t want your parents to hate me. I love your parents.”

“They could never hate you, Titan,” he whispered. “They love you too.”

His words swept over me, bringing a powerful sense of relief. I’d always considered them to be extended family. Losing them was just as hard as losing Thorn. Liv had always been like a mother to me. “Should we talk to them, then?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’ll have to do it soon so they’ll stop calling.”

“How about tomorrow?” I asked.

He stared at the other side of the room as he considered it. “Yeah, that sounds good. They’ve been in town ever since we broke up publicly.”

“Alright.” I took a drink before I set the glass aside. “So, what changed your mind, if it wasn’t that interview?”

Thorn stared at his hands as he rubbed them together. “Actually, it was Vincent Hunt.”

That was the very last thing I expected him to say. I thought it could have been a dream, something Diesel said, or just his own misery. I didn’t know Vincent had even spoken to him. “What?”

“He stopped by my office the other day and told me he regretted not speaking to Diesel for so long. He said he would do anything to get that time back. He’d held on to his pride and stubbornness far longer than he should have. He warned me not to make the same mistakes, not to throw away a friendship with a remarkable person. I guess those words went straight to my heart, made me think about my future without you in it. It made me sad…and that’s when I knew I needed to let this go. Your decision hurt because of the impact it had on my life, but I do understand it. And of course, I forgive you. I should have let it go sooner than this.” He finally turned his expression on me, his eyes remorseful. “I’m glad it’s not too late.”

“Thorn…it’s never too late.” I left my couch and took the seat right beside him. My arm hooked through his, and I rested my head on his shoulder, the scent of his cologne entering my nose. We had never been overly affectionate, but his touch was so nice. “I’m so glad you’re back. I’ve been so lost without you. I’m happy with Diesel, but your absence left a pain in my stomach that I just couldn’t get rid of.”

“I was lost too.”

“I never want to lose you again. This is for life.”

“I know it is.”

I lifted my head off his shoulder and looked at him. “I’m sorry it had to be this way. I really didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I understand. Diesel is the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. You were put in a difficult position. No matter what choice you made, you lost someone.”

I was grateful he was being so understanding. “My interview really changed the narrative. I feel like people are sympathetic to both of us now. It didn’t hurt your reputation or mine. I think everything is going to be fine.”

“I think so too. You did a great job with that.”

Because I didn’t have any other choice. I had to get it right to save my friendship with Thorn.

“So…Diesel is the one?” He looked down at me with his blue eyes, no judgment present.

I nodded. “Yes…he is.”

“You’re going to marry him?”

We hadn’t talked about it, but I knew it was coming. “Yes.”

“And you’re sure he didn’t betray you?”

Even without any proof, I’d never been more certain of anything in my life. “Yes.”

Thorn stared at me a few seconds longer before he turned away. “Then that’s enough for me. If you believe him, then I believe him too.”

“Thank you. Vincent, Diesel, and I have been talking about it. We think it’s Bruce Carol. Vincent offered to help us get the information out of him.”

“So, Vincent and Diesel are on good terms now?”

“Well…they’re getting there.” I hadn’t told Thorn any of this because we hadn’t been speaking. “Vincent has been trying to make things right with Diesel. It’s taken a while because of their history, but I know it’ll happen eventually. It’s hard for Diesel to trust him, and I can’t say that I blame him.”

“Neither can I.” Thorn reached for my hand and held it. “I know we aren’t going to be husband and wife. But that doesn’t mean we can’t spend our lives together.”

“You’re right.”

He gave me a soft smile, his eyes full of emotions he never showed anyone else. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He rose from the couch and straightened his tie.

“Sure…unless you wanna hang out for a bit.”

“You don’t want to go after Diesel?”

“No. I can always do that later.”

His smile widened. “Then I’d love to.”

---

It was our first time spending the night apart, and after lying in bed and staring at the ceiling for an hour, I realized I wasn’t going to get any sleep. I didn’t want Diesel just because of the sex.

I wanted him for him.

I wanted to sleep on that hard chest and feel it rise and fall. I wanted to feel the warmth from his large body as it filled the sheets. I wanted those strong arms to wrap around me while I slept, protecting me against everything in the cruel world.

I didn’t want to sleep in this bed alone.

I finally got out of bed and pulled on a change of clothes before I walked downstairs. My driver was ready to go in ten minutes, so he took me down a few blocks until I was outside Diesel’s building. The streets were fairly quiet for a Saturday night, so it was unlikely anyone would see me. My hair was pulled back and I didn’t have any makeup on, but I knew Diesel didn’t care. Whether I looked my best or my worst, he still saw me exactly the same way.

I hit the code in the elevator and rode it to the top floor. The doors opened to his living room, where only a few lights were on. He must have gone to bed. I took off my shoes and left my jacket by the door before I walked down the hallway.

His bedroom door was open, and all the lights were lit. He lay there, the sheets bunched around his waist. His hard chest was chiseled, even when he was asleep.

I took off all my clothes except my panties and crawled into bed beside him.

My weight shifted the bed, and it caused his eyes to open. He looked at me, and after a second, he recognized my face. A smile stretched on his lips, and those powerful arms wrapped around me the way I liked. “You couldn’t make it one night?” he asked in his deep voice, heavy with testosterone and arrogance.

“I guess not.”

He smiled and pulled me into his side. “Me neither.”

---

I sat beside Thorn in the restaurant, my legs crossed and my back perfectly straight. I hoped my photograph wouldn’t be taken right now, especially when I would be joining Thorn and his parents. Hopefully, observers would see the situation for what it was—that I was still close to Thorn.

My nerves didn’t usually get out of control like this. I was always calm and steady no matter the circumstances. But now my stomach couldn’t settle, and I had the urge to jiggle my knee. I was about to tell my former almost in-laws that all of this had been a lie.

How could they possibly take that well?

“Nervous?” Thorn turned to me, one hand resting on the table.

“No. Why?”

“You look nervous.”

“I don’t look like anything.”

He grinned. “Even when you wear a blank expression, I can tell when you’re nervous.”

“How?”

“Your eyebrows are slightly furrowed.”

I forced myself to relax, and when I felt the tension release, I knew he was right.

He grinned wider. “Told ya.”

I playfully slapped his arm and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Our relationship seemed to be back to what it used to be. I was happy, I could actually cry.

“Go to Diesel’s last night?”

“Yeah. I tried to sleep on my own, but I just lay there.”

“You just lie there even when he’s there,” he teased.

I slapped his arm again. “I do not just lie there.”

He chuckled. “Is that why you look so tired today?”

I shrugged, a smile on my face.

When Thorn smiled back, it seemed genuine. “What now? The world knows you’re together, and the media seems to be responding to it well enough.”

“He’ll come back to Stratosphere. We made a great team.”

“I don’t mean professionally.” Thorn was in a black t-shirt with dark jeans, looking like a different man when he was dressed casually. He was much softer when he wasn’t in a suit, the veins on his arms more noticeable. He had the kind of boyish smile that melted the hearts of everyone around him. “Romantically.”

“What’s next?” I asked. “Happiness.”

“I mean, are you still going to marry him?”

“I hope so.”

“You haven’t talked about it?”

“Not really.” We spent most of our time just being together. Talking wasn’t always included. We’d talked about getting married when we had our different arrangement, but now that it was just a real relationship, it wasn’t so straightforward. “I think we should wait awhile so it doesn’t look like I jumped from one engagement to the next, but if he asked, I’d say yes.”

Thorn faced forward again when he saw his parents approach. “Here we go…”

Liv wasn’t her usual bubbly self. She looked grief-stricken, like someone had died rather than just broken up. Thorn’s father had a hard expression, looking pissed rather than hurt. Liv sat down, thudding into the chair like anchors were tied to her. “After all this time, I get a text message asking for us to meet you?” Like a mother about to scold her child, she was already at the top level of anger. “A text message?”

Thorn kept the same expression, doing his best not to add fuel to the fire.

Thorn’s father continued to stare.

“Well,” Liv hissed. “What the hell is going on? One moment, you two are happy. And then the next…I don’t even know what happened. Thorn, straighten this out now.” She turned to me, her eyes furious but not full of hate. “You better not have hurt my son, Titan. I don’t care how much you mean to us. This is my baby and—”

“Mom.” Thorn held up his hand, silencing her. “Let me talk, alright?”

I took the insult well because I’d been expecting a lot worse.

Liv was quiet, but she was practically shaking.

Thorn continued. “There’s something I have to tell you guys. It’s gonna be a lot to take in, and let me apologize beforehand. I lied to you…and I know I shouldn’t have. It was the wrong thing to do.”

“Lied about what?” Liv asked.

Thorn glanced at me before he kept going. “Titan and I have never been in love. While we love each other a great deal and we’re very good friends, our romance was fabricated. I wanted a wife to have children, and she wanted a husband she could trust. We both wanted to have our physical relationships outside the marriage—”

“Are you gay?” Liv blurted.

Thorn was much more patient with her than he ever was with anyone else. “No. Neither is Titan.”

“Oh…” Liv’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “If neither one of you is gay, then what do you need a fake marriage for?”

“Well…” Thorn paused as he tried to figure out how to word it.

“I gave up on love.” I wanted to give Thorn some time to come up with a suitable answer, so I took the lead. “I had a bad relationship when I was younger, and I didn’t believe in men anymore. I wanted a husband who would love me unconditionally, who would never hurt me, and would be a great business partner. Thorn and I are very close, and I knew he would be a great father. Since he’s my best friend, I thought he would be the perfect man to spend my life with.”

Liv’s mouth shut and her eyes narrowed. She didn’t seem confused anymore, simply surprised. Thorn’s dad still listened to the discussion, absorbing everything like a sponge.

Thorn added to the conversation. “I…I’m not really the kind of man who wants to settle down with a woman. I’m more… I like to be free.” There was no easy way for a son to say this to his mother, that he preferred one-night stands with various flings. That he didn’t do romance or commitment. He just wanted to fuck—simple as that. “But I do want a family, so I thought Titan and I could start one. We could be great partners and great friends. But I would retain my freedom to still enjoy the things I like.”

Liv covered her mouth, clearly unsure what to say.

His father was speechless too.

“I’m sorry I lied,” Thorn continued. “I lied to the whole world, and I lied to you. The reason it came apart was because Titan fell in love with someone else. We were already engaged and it was a complicated situation, but she decided she couldn’t live without him. So don’t get angry with Titan. She did nothing wrong. I’ve seen other women, and she’s seen other men. There was no cheating. Titan and I got into an argument about it and didn’t speak for a while, but we’re still as good of friends as we were before. We may not be getting married, but she’ll always be a huge part of my life.”

Liv finally looked at her husband, a silent conversation passing between them.

I didn’t know what they would say in response. It was a delicate situation, an extremely awkward one.

More time passed. More silence.

I looked at Thorn, and he looked at me.

Finally, Liv Spoke. “Thorn…I don’t know what to say.” The disappointment was written all over her face. She didn’t need to say it. “This is a shock to your father and me. This entire time we thought you loved Titan—”

“I do love her,” Thorn said. “Just not romantically.”

“Even so,” Liv said. “I don’t know why you felt the need to lie about it. You could have told us the truth, Thorn.”

“I didn’t think you would understand,” Thorn said quietly. “It was easier to let the world believe we were in love.”

“Thorn, if you want a family, why don’t you fall in love and start one?” his mother asked.

Thorn clenched his jaw as he considered what to say. “I…I’m not interested in love. I know that’s hard to understand, but I’m incapable of it.”

“You are not incapable of it,” she countered. “You’re a wonderful man, Thorn. We couldn’t be prouder of you. You have a heart that’s so big and beautiful.”

“You just haven’t found the right one,” his father said. “But when you do, you’ll know.”

Thorn didn’t argue again, knowing they would never understand the way he felt. “Anyway…that’s the truth. I’d like you to keep it to yourselves. It’ll be a lot easier for us this way. And you have no reason to be angry with Titan. She’s still my closest friend. She’s still family to me.”

“Of course,” his mother said gently. “We’ll always love Titan even if she’s not your wife.” Liv looked at me, the motherly affection back in her expression. “So…Diesel Hunt, huh?”

It was nearly impossible for me not to smile when his name was mentioned. “Yes.”

“That is one good-looking man,” Liv said with a laugh.

Thorn’s father shot her a glare. “Is he now?”

“I’m just saying…” Liv brushed it off. “And his father…they don’t make them like that anymore.”

Thorn cringed. “Mom.”

“Hey, it’s something to think about,” Liv said. “At least you’ll know Diesel will still be a good-looking man when he gets older.”

I had no doubt he would be a beautiful man for a very long time. His touch would always send shivers down my spine, and I would always need him. When we were old and gray, that attraction might dwindle, but we would love each other on a much deeper level. “I’m sure he will be.”

“Do you like him, Thorn?” Liv asked. “He seems like the strong and silent type, but that’s not a bad thing.”

Thorn nodded. “I do like him. He’s a good guy.” It didn’t seem like he was just giving the answer I wanted him to. It seemed like he meant it.

“We would love to meet him, Titan,” Liv said. “Make sure he’s good enough for you.”

I’d always been jealous of Thorn for having both of his parents in his life. Having the unconditional love of a guardian was something you couldn’t put a price on. But when they showered me with the same parental love, I felt like I was part of their family. “You guys will love him.”