Page 34 of Avenging Azalea

“Ah…I see. You don’t want to talk about her with me. I just don’t understand why you think you’re protecting me. Your engagement photo is everywhere with more information than you’ve ever offered to share.”

Fawn ate the last bite of her croissant and stood up to leave. I reached out and grabbed her arm. The sexual tension spiked as our eyes met, and I quickly let go before I dragged her into my lap.

“Fawn, it’s not like that. Sit down, please. What would you like to know? I hate this distance between us.”

My phone rang, and Vera’s name glowed on the screen. Worst timing ever. Fawn looked at the phone and then at me.

“You know…you’re right. I think it’s better if we keep our distance on this topic, at least for now. Thanks for breakfast,” Fawn said, taking her coffee with her as she left.

Fuck!

Snatching my phone, I answered it and tried to rein in my anger.

“Hello?”

“Titus, hi. It’s Vera.”

“I know,” I said, still watching Fawn disappear down the hall.

“So, the naked pictures may have been a bit premature. I’m used to men wanting me for my family’s money and my looks. They never appreciate me for my business acumen. I guess I wanted to impress you, and I realize that may not have been the way to go.”

“I appreciate the apology, and I understand why you did it. But you’re right, I’m not that guy.”

I left out the part where if it had been Fawn, it would’ve been a whole different story.

“Did you just call to apologize?”

“No…I actually want to ask you for a favor.”

Her voice was tentative like she wasn’t sure how I was going to respond. For the love of God, the universe was really testing me lately.

“Depends on what it is,” I said.

“Oh…right, sure. I get that. Of course.”

Getting up, I refilled my spiked coffee and added an extra shot before sitting down and preparing myself for Vera’s request. By her stuttering response, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

“As it turns out, I’ll only be in California for a couple of weeks after returning from the UK. I’m scheduled to fly to France and then on to Russia. I hope that you’ll come with me for that much shorter trip. There’s a fashion show in Paris with the designs from my latest collection, and then I’m visiting family before relocating to America permanently.”

There wasn’t enough Irish Cream in the world to fix this problem. Rubbing my forehead, I closed my eyes as a headache began to throb behind my eyes.

“It may seem like a lot to ask when we’ve only known one another for such a short time, but the show is extremely important to me. Everyone in the fashion world knows I’m engaged and will be expecting my fiancé to be by my side for the event. Besides, I’d like you to meet my sister and brother before the wedding. If you’re agreeable, I want them both to be part of the wedding party.”

“You want me to go to France and then to Russia with you? For how long?”

“Ten days total.”

I’d attended major events like this a few times, and the thought of all those photographers made my skin crawl. Most men would be ecstatic to be arm candy for a supermodel millionaire heiress, but not me. On top of that, leaving the house—more specifically, leaving Fawn for that long—bothered me.

You need to get used to this shit. This is the life you chose when you took Ronan’s place on the chopping block.

“Okay, I’ll go. I’ll show my face. But Vera…I will not stand and be photographed for hours. If you’re planning anything of the sort, you can forget it.”

“I can handle the cameras.”

Sighing, I sat back and reminded myself why I was doing this in the first place.

“You have a deal.”