Page 45 of Titus

He smiled, “That no one rejects you and gets away with it.”

I turned back to the ocean. “Perhaps,” I answered. “But as I said earlier, our father made one critical mistake...” I turned back to Wyatt. “He tried to control something that required respect. I’m merely respecting the woman’s wishes.”

“Why do I get a weird sense that you’re comparing this woman’s fiery, bold spirit to our mother’s?”

“Because that’s exactly what I’m doing, and by knowing where our father fucked it up, I’m altering course with this woman and this type of strong personality.”

Wyatt looked at me as though I had opened a book and was explaining devil worship to him.

“You realize you’re playing with fire, right? Especially now that you’re comparing her to our mother…”

“No. I’m adjusting my approach with the woman by understanding what will work to get closer to her.”

I could see Wyatt’s confusion, but I was done explaining it to him.

I picked up my cell phone, pulled Spencer Monroe up in my contacts, and clicked his name to dial out.

“Hawk, how can I help?”

“Unless you know what charms Catalina Veléz, I believe the only one who can help me is your wife,” I answered with a chuckle.

“Jesus Christ, man,” Spencer said with a hint of humor. “Now you want to fuck my wife to try to get into a⁠—”

“Easy, hermano. That’s the last place my mind is right now,” I smiled. “I need a favor. I need Nat to send over anything she knows about Catalina Veléz.”

“As in what? Her favorite places to eat? Hobbies? I’m unsure what angle you’re trying to take after the woman turned you down.”

“The woman did not turn me down,” I said, more defensively than I’d intended.

“Okay, let’s pretend she didn’t and cleared her schedule for you next weekend…”

He paused, and I frowned.

“How do you know about that?” I questioned.

“I was at the event she was coordinating when your desperate ass made a fool of yourself. How else would I know?”

“She told you this?”

“Yes.”

“While she was working her event?”

“Yes.”

“While she should’ve remained professional, she chose to socialize with friends while working?”

“Yes, those friends being the ones who hired her to plan and orchestrate the event,” he answered. “Is that a problem, or is it just your bruised ego speaking to me now?”

Interesting.

“It’s not a problem at all,” I answered. “I do appreciate that I took up space in her mind when she should have been focused on work.”

“She was insulting your cocky ass if that helps?”

I chuckled. “Nevertheless, I was in her mind and in discussions with friends.”

“Most would see that as rejection,” he answered.