Page 61 of Titus

“Yes?”

“Thank you for making that donation this evening. This event was quite unique and endearing. The stories the doctors told about their child patients were all very touching.”

“I agree, and because of the stories, I matched the entire night’s donations with one of my own. This foundation deserves every dollar they received tonight to further their cause.”

Shockingly, for the first time since I met the woman… she smiled at me.

“Well, aren’t you just the man of the evening, Mr. Hawk…”

Her eyes were softer, and her expression was warmer. Out of nowhere, a strange rush hit me hard enough to catch me off guard.

I didn’t want us to part ways, but I knew better than to push her.

“Maybe that is true, but that wasn’t my intention when I was matching donations tonight,” I said, stepping back. “Enjoy the rest of your evening,” I added, then turned and walked away.

Little by little, I would work to gain her trust. Tonight was just a step in the right direction. I wouldn’t allow my mind to go there with any romantic thoughts. I knew that wasn’t what this was about. This was about me proving a point that I wasn’t the man she imagined me to be. And I would do just that.

And for the first time in a very long time, I found myself wanting something money couldn’t buy.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The rooftop lounge where my sister and I met the ladies overlooked the Pacific. The view from where we were seated captured soft waves of black and gold. Candlelit tables flickered across low glass tables while the sound of the ocean carried faintly beneath the soft piano music drifting through the open-air promenade.

For the first time in days, I wasn’t working. There was no earpiece, no timelines, no demanding clients, and no disasters looming ahead. It was just drinks, ocean air, and the women who somehow managed to keep me sane through every chaotic season of my life.

“Well,” Brooke said dramatically as the server placed another round of cocktails onto the table, “after surviving an entire gala while being hunted by a billionaire, I think our girl, the gorgeous and talented Catalina Veléz, deserves a toast.”

I eyed her and sipped my glass of wine. “Please. No need to toast me for surviving any billionaire, whether they appear to be hunting me or not.”

Sienna lifted her martini without hesitation. “Well, word has it that Mr. Hawk has been quite persistent with you lately.”

“Word has it, huh?” I said, shaking my head. “May I ask where you’ve heard these words?”

Sienna shrugged and smiled. “You know how men of influence, such as him, are,” she said, eyeing me in that attorney-at-law way she had about her. “Let’s just say everyone is watching.”

“Well, they can tune out because there’s nothing to see,” I said, glancing over at my sister, who was taking a sip of her sparkling water.

Amelia smiled into her glass.

“Something amusing, sweetie?” I asked her with a smile.

“You just make me laugh sometimes,” she answered. “So what if some wealthy billionaire every woman wants is hunting you down? Enjoy it.”

“Leave it to my own sister to make light of all this,” I said with a chuckle of my own.

“I just think it’s harmless, especially since you’re not attracted to the man in the slightest,” Amelia answered, eying my friends, who were practically sisters to her.

“Feelings can come from anywhere,” Sienna answered, her brow arching sharply. She looked directly at me. “And that’s what’s dangerous about Titus Hawk. Whatever game he thinks he’s playing with you lately, everyone knows that man is the biggest player of them all.”

I raised my glass to the truth my friend had just spoken, “And that is why everyone can entertain themselves with gossip about the man hunting me. They’ll see this story grow cold and die soon enough.”

“As an attorney who represents men like him,” Sienna offered, “I should hope that remains true.”

Of my two close friends, Sienna was the exact opposite of Brooke in almost every way. We’d met in college after she verbally destroyed a professor during a business ethics debate and somehow still walked out looking polished.

Now she was among the most sought-after corporate and entertainment attorneys in Los Angeles, representing elite executives, celebrities, and billionaire founders. Years spent cleaning up the disasters wealthy men created had made Sienna deeply suspicious of men like Titus Hawk.

Honestly? I trusted her instincts.