Page 114 of Avenging Azalea

I had so much to be grateful for and to celebrate. Yet, still, something inside me ached. A dark spot lingered on my heart like a stain I couldn’t wash out. A sickness that refused to leave unless I carved it free with my two hands.

If I wanted to be with Titus—really be with him—I couldn’t keep hiding from my past. I had to face it. All of it. And I would have to tell him the truth, even the parts so ugly I could barely say them out loud.

But could I do that? Could I really be that brave? Could I tear open the wounds I’d spent years trying to bury, and trust that he wouldn’t recoil when he saw them?

I didn’t know.

Deep down, beneath the fear, I understood one thing clearly…if I wanted any chance at forever with Titus, it had to start with the truth.

The dogs barked, letting me know a visitor had arrived. I jumped up and trotted down the hall to see who was here, since Titus’s note said he was in a meeting. When I got to the top of the stairs, Titus had beaten me to the door. He opened it, and I froze. Dimitri stood on the other side like Death dressed in a tailored suit. He was polished on the outside, but cold and deadly underneath.

It wasn’t that I’d forgotten about him. I couldn’t. But I’d let myself believe that with Titus’s engagement off, the threat he carried would fade with it.

But I was wrong.

Dimitri stepped inside with a slow and deliberate grace that was just as threatening as the rest of him. The moment his eyes met mine, fear slithered around my throat like a noose, tightening with every breath I took.

His gaze was the same glacial blue I remembered from that night at dinner, calculating and utterly devoid of warmth. A cool sweat broke out all over my body. Hatred clung to Dimitri like a second skin, simmering just beneath the surface, and I couldn’t help wondering what made him this way. He looked away like I’d been dismissed.

“Son, we need to speak,” Dimitri said, voice quiet, but still managing to feel oppressive.

Then he looked at me again, and my stomach turned to stone. This was about me. It had to be.

Titus stepped closer to Dimitri, and as large a man as Dimitri was, his son towered over the top of him. That should’ve been comforting, but it wasn’t. I never wanted Titus in the line of fire for me. I wished…God, I wished I could disappear into the wall, into the floor, anywhere that wasn’t here.

“If this is about yesterday, then you can forget about trying to convince me to take Vera back. It’s not happening.”

“Titus, that show your brother put on doesn’t get you out of the contract you signed,” Dimitri said, and I held as still as the breath in my chest.

“Actually, it does. It states that if Vera steps out of the contract and has intercourse with anyone other than me before our wedding, then I have the choice to cancel it. I chose, and I won’t be going back on the decision.”

“Son….”

“No,” Titus growled.

Unlike last night, the sound was harsh and angry. It wasn’t even directed at me, and I swallowed hard and took a tiny step back.

“Solve your problem another way. I won’t be used as a scapegoat by you and Mr. Vilanova.”

I had no idea what he meant by that, but it was obviously part of the reason he’d agreed to marry Vera. “I had a valid reason to cancel the contract, everyone saw it, no one can deny it. So, if that is all you came here to say, then get out of my home. I’m in no mood for this shit.”

Dimitri glanced up at me once more, and it felt like a threat or maybe a warning.

“We will revisit this conversation in a few days when you have had time to calm down,” he said as he turned to leave.

“No, we won’t,” Titus said.

If Dimitri heard, he pretended not to and walked out with Titus slamming the door behind him.

Grumbling under his breath, Titus looked up at me, and his eyes softened.

“Good morning, Little Bird. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Walking down, I stared into his eyes and had to ask. “What did you mean?”

“About what,” Titus asked, his knuckle tracing my jaw.

I sucked in a deep breath. “The contract. You said that if Vera stepped out before the wedding, you could cancel.”