Page 9 of Titus

As Nat and I left the building, more excited than when we had entered, I couldn’t help but think about that little girl inside me who knew one day she would grow up to be more than just the daughter of the chef working for the wealthy. She would command the events for which they hired the chef.

And here I was, leveling the fuck up in life. This is what I busted my ass for with event planning, and this is exactly why I never gave up on anything I set my heart on.

CHAPTER THREE

I woke up to the silence I expected every time I stayed on the top floors of the hotel I owned in downtown Los Angeles. My hotel, Horizon, was not only filled with my lavish touches—from the soil imported for the trees planted out front to the exclusive rooftop lounge for elites that costs five hundred thousand dollars just to join and ten thousand a year to maintain—but it was this particular floor that had the most of my personal touches added to it.

The windows that replaced all exterior walls of the building were designed to completely block out the sounds of Downtown LA. No sirens, no traffic hum—just serenity enveloping me in the comfort of the suite I chose to stay in when I wasn’t retreating to my place in Pacific Palisades.

Then, the reminder from last night pulled her leg up over my bare torso, her nails gently gliding up and over my chest, while she curled further into the spot where I lay on my back and focused on the sleek lines of the ceiling in my bedroom.

I glanced down at the stunning blonde, her bright blue eyes examining mine and already pleading for more of what I gave her last night. My eyes returned to the ceiling, recalling last night’s gala while her moist lips and tongue softly moved along my side. I could feel the desire for more already heating up between her legs.

Those feelings would end abruptly once she realized exactly what accepting my invitation meant—me needing a woman in my bed for my pleasure alone. And the truth was, I was already satiated, no longer needing anything more from a woman—body of a goddess or not.

My mind drifted back to last night—to the Jameston’s brokerage gala where I’d met her. Fuck, what was her name again? Presley? Pamela? Who gave a shit? It’s not like I had any intention of seeing her again.

I glanced at my phone, buzzing and lighting up as if the building were on fire.

Three texts, and the first was from my brother, Colton.

Colton: We have a problem. That brokerage from last night? Call me.

I smirked. Only Colton led with zero useful information after insisting there was a problem with the company from the gala. I know rumors were already flying about me attending. The company was in direct competition with the brokerage firm owned by my associate, James Mitchell, and his VP’s wife, Natalia Monroe.

They all probably thought I would betray my loyalty and use the new, emerging company in this area. But that wasn’t the case at all. I was simply there watching this East Coast firm move into the West Coast, believing it would explode and dominate the real estate market with funding from old money.

The trouble was, the Jamestons had no idea the fire they were playing with. Just because the East Coast wealth was theirs didn’t mean the West Coast could be as well. I knew that long before I decided to develop my interests on the West Coast. James Mitchell was the billionaire CEO who owned Southern California, and even a powerful and strategic man like me knew not to compete with him. At first, it was about keeping friends close and enemies closer with Mitchell and Associates. But once I really got to know Jim Mitchell, my respect and trust in him grew as if he were a brother.

That said, if I had entered this territory like this brokerage firm from the East Coast was doing, I would have failed. So, that’s all I was doing—figuring out if these cocky bastards were respecting the companies that dominated this location or trying to overrun them.

And with Jameston’s PR woman practically humping my side, I’d already gotten everything I needed. Her eagerness to get close to me last night made it effortless. She handed over every inside detail without realizing exactly what she was giving away.

Colton’s paranoia could wait. I needed to get my ass down to Mitchell and Associates, clear up any misconceptions, and make sure they knew exactly what Jameston Brokerage was planning. Then it was back to Hawk Enterprise in Newport Beach to approve the final walkthrough with the builder and inspectors on a building that better be cleared for move-in by next fucking week, or I’d be firing the entire crew.

I set my phone down, untangled myself from the woman beside me, and headed toward my bathroom.

“Room service will be here in twenty minutes. Give the concierge whatever order you’d like before you go,” I told her.

“Wait,” she said, prompting me to stop and turn around.

She ran her palm over the black sheets, “You don’t want to finish what⁠—”

“There’s another bathroom across the living area,” I informed her. “You can shower or bathe if you’d like. I’ll have the driver sent for you in two hours.”

“So that’s it?” she spat in disgust.

I turned, fully exposing my naked body without caring how it affected her. “You made it very clear that you understood how the circles I ran in worked,” I said flatly.

“Well, I do, but for some stupid reason, I thought you were different,” she said. “What you said to me last night?”

A faint smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. “Solo palabras, preciosa,” I answered her quietly.

“What the hell does that mean?” she answered, her frustration no longer swayed by my Spanish accent or seduction.

“It means, merely words, beautiful,” I said with a wink, then slipped into my massive bathroom where I would wash away every trace of having devoured a woman’s body the night before.

I wasn’t a complete bastard to the women I slept with. I made sure every ounce of pleasure the female body was meant to feel was felt—sensations they’d likely never experienced before. Any woman I took to bed felt worshipped while she was with me. And I never once forced anything or demanded they join me just to satisfy an appetite that would be gone by morning.