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“From what we’re seeing, yes,” Jim said.

“And you truly believe Titus had no idea he had inherited this?” I asked Jim again.

“Yes, I believe that one hundred percent. Titus is ruthless, but he’s not crooked. He has no need to be,” Jim insisted. “Titus wasn’t even old enough to know about any of it,” he continued. “Colton and Wyatt said that whenever Titus discovered any wrongdoing his father had committed, he did everything he could to make it right with the families involved.”

Jim’s lips tightened. “When their mother was on her deathbed, they said Titus assured her that her husband’s sins were known and that he had done everything he could to make them right. He wanted her to die in peace with that. Unfortunately, these secrets were buried far deeper, and Jameston became obsessed with tracing the shell companies Titus never even knew his father had created.”

“Unless his father told Lowell Jameston about them at the time,” I said.

“That would be the only reason those two idiots knew anything about Herbert owning those companies and about Titus never knowing for himself,” Jim said.

“Jesus,” I said.

“Our thoughts exactly.”

“Will they release him on bail?” I asked, knowing that if Titus were at least out, he would definitely know where to start clearing his name.

“Unfortunately, he’s the poster child for a flight risk,” Jim said. “I believe they’ll keep him detained for fear he’ll use his aircraft or hide in homes overseas. He could disappear off the face of the Earth in minutes if he wanted to.”

“I don’t think he would do that,” I said.

“No, but convincing the feds that Titus has a teddy-bear heart while facing charges that tell a different story makes it highly unlikely he’ll walk out of there until his name is cleared.”

“Goddammit,” I said, trying to think of a solution. “Perhaps I can talk with the Valdéz family. I mean, they were like a family to me when I was young. That’s got to count for something, right?”

“It couldn’t hurt,” Jim answered.

“Right. Well, I need to get working on that then, unless there’s anything else I need to know right now?” I said, grateful there might be something I could do to help.

“Nothing else as of now,” Jim said. “I will make plans to visit that family overseas with you, if you are willing.”

“Yeah, I might need a translator for all the legal stuff I don’t understand in your world.”

Jim let out a soft laugh as I rose, preparing to leave.

He stood with me. “I’ll be in touch as soon as my legal team has everything prepared for us when we meet with the family.”

“What about Christian Jameston?” I said before leaving.

“Don’t worry about that one,” Jim said. “Men like him die tripping on their swords in wars like these all the time.”

I smiled at the thought. What a fucking nightmare. I had to get out of here and clear my head.

The next step in all of this—and hopefully one that could help Titus—was to contact my mother, a woman I hadn’t spoken to in years.

We really didn’t have a relationship to speak of, and given the narcissistic parent she was to my sister and me, it was healthier that way. However, Titus was in trouble, and my mother could easily get me an appointment to meet with the family. They respected her more than anything, and I just had to hope she cared enough to at least do that for me.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

By the time I made it home, my head hurt. Not from crying or exhaustion. My mind was simply overloaded, trying to process everything happening right now.

I needed to call my team to let them know I would be terminating the lease on our new space because there was no way I was going to be in the same vicinity as those Jameston fuckers, much less continue running a business there.

Everything was relatively calm at work right now anyway. Most of our usual events were being held overseas, and since I’d opted to stay stateside for the summer, we all pretty much knew we had the season off.

Until Titus brought his yacht out here, of course, but what the hell did that matter right now? That floating resort was probably being watched like everything else seemed to be in Titus’s world.

Amelia and Jessica had enjoyed their time on the yacht so much that they decided to extend their vacation and head to Carmel for a few more days, and I couldn't have been more relieved by their decision.