Page 63 of Titus

“Rough day at the center?” I asked, aware that Avery managed a well-funded, carefully curated shelter for women who were victims of domestic abuse.

“If you call not eating all day a rough day,” she responded after placing her and Ash’s martini order, “then yes, it was a pretty shitty day.”

“Perhaps we should order some food for the table,” Brooke offered.

Avery met her polite smile. “Won’t be necessary…”

“Av went through an In-N-Out drive-thru, ordered, and ate two double doubles,” Ash said with a laugh.

“Holy shit,” Amelia said. “Where do you put all of that?”

“Avery, Ash,” I gestured to my sister. “You haven’t met officially yet, but this is my sister, Amelia, who is staying with me for a while. Amelia, these are Avery and Ashley Mitchell.”

“Oh, sisters?” she asked.

“Not by blood,” Ash returned sweetly. “Marriage.”

“They snatched two of the hottest billionaire brothers in the neighborhood,” Brooke said. “Damn, I remember when those boys were the talk of the town.”

I laughed. “Aren’t they the reason that whole ridiculous Billionaires’ Club branding got started for their group?”

“Yes,” Sienna said. “What was the saying? If you were lucky enough to screw one of them, you were part of their billionaires’ club?”

“Something like that,” Ash said with a laugh. “And God, was it hell being the one who settled down the first wild child of the bunch.”

“Jake was a situation,” Sienna said before looking at Avery. “I believe your husband, Jim, called me multiple times to help get the paparazzi off his ass while he was trying to make an impression on his adorable future bride.”

“That was you Jim was working through?” Ash questioned. “God, it was so long ago that I forgot how that documentary about that hospital pretty much screwed all those Playboy doctors over.”

Avery finished a long sip of her martini. “You’re still Jim’s favorite attorney to work with because you take zero bullshit in this industry,” she sighed. “But alas, you wouldn’t take him up on his offer.”

“What offer was that?” I asked, aware that Avery and Ash already knew my friends Sienna and Brooke from various galas and our casual hangouts just among us women.

Avery smirked at me. “He wanted to hire her exclusively as his lead attorney for his legal department.”

“Sound familiar?” Sienna asked me.

“Before or after Av came into his life?” I asked, knowing I was out of the gossip loop.

“Before,” Avery said with a laugh. “And I believe it was Sienna who set the man straight at the time.”

“Well, when you’re a billionaire with women all over the world,” Sienna said, “it’s not really a good look, especially for a businesswoman who is trying to keep her name and reputation intact.” She looked at me again.

“Why does everyone keep directing this at me?” I asked.

“Because back when my husband was the type who never believed he would settle down, he was playing games like the ones Titus appears to be playing with you,” Avery answered.

“I truly don’t understand why this is making everyone’s roundtable discussions these days,” I said, more annoyed that Titus was indirectly causing a scene with his persistent bullshit because I had told the man to get in line.

“Well, that’s simple, gorgeous,” Avery smiled at me. “You’ve gotten this man’s attention, and I believe everyone is more amused by you not giving him his way than by anything else.”

“He really is a good guy,” Ash said, defending him.

“To his friends, I’m sure,” Sienna added. “In business and relationships, he’s a ruthless bastard.”

“And that will conclude this discussion,” I said with a laugh. “Now, speaking of Jim and how you managed to reform his player side,” I looked at Avery. “You were also a single mom when you met him, right?”

“That’s right. When we met, I was single, jobless, with no hope for the future, and I ended up meeting Jim and fucking for a week in his castle in England to keep my mind off my druggie ex,” she said with a laugh. “Yeah, I was definitely not just a single mom when I met him, but a reckless one, for sure.”