Page 59 of Avenging Azalea

“If you mean Nathaniel, then yes. But before we touch on that topic, I need to talk to you about something important to me.”

My father eyed me as I unbuttoned my suit jacket and took a seat.

“How do you do it? You’re always so fucking calm.”

I smirked. “Someone has to be.”

“True enough. What do you want to talk about?”

“You’re not going to like this conversation any more than the one you had with Nathaniel.”

Father gulped down the coffee on his desk and then stood up to get another from the machine in the corner. He topped it off with a shot of whiskey.

“Don’t judge me,” he snarled. “I feel you staring.”

“Just wondering if you were going to offer me one.”

“I’m trying to figure out how to keep my empire from falling apart, so excuse my poor hospitality,” Father snarled, but put on another cup. “You can doctor it yourself,” he grumbled, sitting down on his leather sofa. “I assume you’re angry with me, too?”

“That goes without saying. We’ll have a conversation about the stunt you pulled that almost got an entire branch of your family killed, but not today.”

I stood up and wandered over to make my second coffee of the morning. Caffeine was essential today after not sleeping a wink. Even after the freezing cold shower, it had been impossible to rest. As soon as I closed my eyes, all that filled my mind was Fawn. The taste of her lips…the feel of her body against mine and the knowledge that she was just down the hall.

Pushing the thoughts aside, I grabbed the mug and joined my father on the couch.

“Alright, out with it. What do you want to talk about?”

There was no point in beating around the bush.

“I can’t marry Vera.” Father choked on his coffee while I continued. “I know what I promised, and I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

“Why?” He growled at me.

“The why doesn’t matter. Something has come up, and I cannot continue with this arrangement. I’ll speak to Mr. Vilanova and explain that⁠—”

“No,” Father said, cutting me off.

My eyebrow raised. “No?”

He put his coffee on the side table and leaned back into the couch. I was reminded of how he treated business colleagues as he assessed me.

“I can’t let you back out, Titus. I’m sorry, but there are extenuating circumstances surrounding this merger. This is an iron-clad contract.”

“Nothing is iron-clad, you taught us that. I will not play this game with you. Tell me exactly what is going on, or I’m out. I’ve given everything to this family, the business, and you, but I’m drawing a line in the sand without an explanation.”

“I can’t tell you,” he said.

I took a sip of my coffee, set the rest aside, and stood.

“Well then, I guess you better talk to Ronan again. Good luck with that.”

Turning to leave, I got halfway to the door when Father swore under his breath.

“I can’t give you all the details, but we need this marriage to protect both families from the Curators.”

Slowly, I turned around to stare at my father.

“The Curators? What the fuck did you and Mr. Vilanova do?”