Page 55 of Titus

“Am I late to some kind of⁠—”

“Nah, your timing’s perfect,” Wyatt continued casually, swirling the drink in his glass. “We were just talking about Titus getting rejected before you came in with the plans Bree rejected.”

Alex looked at me, fighting the urge to join everyone else smiling at the table. “Rejected… you?”

I didn’t respond.

A slow, almost amused smirk tugged at Alex’s mouth as he leaned back, folding his arms. “Who’s the first woman to turn down Titus Hawk’s advances?”

“That super sexy event planner,” Wyatt answered for me.

“Not just any,” Spencer added, tone dry. “The one he wanted to hire for himself. Somehow, he managed to fumble that shit.”

That had Alex’s full attention now.

He let out a quiet breath through his nose and shook his head once. “You offered money?”

“Oh, yeah, three or was it four times her usual amount?” Wyatt barked out a laugh. “He literally threw money at it and still fucked himself somehow.”

“I increased the offer beyond that,” I said flatly.

Alex’s brow lifted slightly. “And?”

“She said no.”

“Why?” Alex answered.

“Seems like that’s the half-a-million-dollar question,” Spence laughed into his drink.

“Try eight hundred and twenty-five thousand,” I said, downing the last of my bourbon.

I leaned forward, resting my forearms on the table, my gaze dropping briefly to the plans before lifting again.

“Why the fuck would an event planner turn down that outrageous amount of money, on top of the notoriety it would bring her for planning one of your events?” Alex asked.

“Simple. She’s booked.”

Wyatt scoffed. “That’s not why.”

Spencer’s voice cut in, quieter now. “Well, you did something to drive her off. Did you try to come on to her?”

“Nope. I expected she would follow up with me the next morning, but I didn’t hear from her for a week… and that was after I reached out.”

“Oh shit,” Colton’s head snapped up, and he laughed. “This is why I told you to let the finance department handle hiring her.”

“I understand that, but I need to work closely with her, gain her trust, and get into the mind of that weasel, Christian Jameston.”

“Is that honestly what this is about?” Alex said, reclining further back in his seat. “Because everyone at this table knows we can backdoor that man’s business and get any information we need. Hell, Jim isn’t this fucking concerned about the man.”

“When I don’t trust a man who declares himself my enemy?” I answered. “I prefer doing everything myself.”

“And at the rate you’re going, chief,” Spencer said, “homeboy is gonna have your business infiltrated before you can even get the planner involved so you can gain her trust.” He said it as if he were revealing the main plot of a story.

“I just handled things wrong with her,” I said. “I’m used to people falling in line and being under my control, and to using money to make my offers that much sweeter for them. This one?” I half laughed. “She turns her nose up at that shit.”

Alex and Wyatt both folded their arms and seemed to be studying me or holding back a one-liner, knowing I was at my limits with this conversation.

“Well, it appears you don’t like to lose control or get your pretty little ass rejected,” Alex said.