Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“Are you sure?” I asked Catalina before we went any further.
“No,” she laughed softly, “but I know I want this…”
That’s all she had to say to give me the permission I needed to push her back against the wall of my office windows.
Below us, the lights of Newport stretched across the harbor and along the horizon. I’d wanted her from the moment we started back and she’d grown more flirtatious in the car. I’d only teased her with the idea, never once believing she’d actually take me up on it.
Until she did.
Her jeans came unfastened easily beneath my hands, as if I’d spent the entire night imagining doing this while we ate dinner.
Her soft moans kept me quiet, wanting nothing more than to hear every sound she made.
Her nails slid through my hair when my lips returned from her hardened nipple, the same one that had tempted me all night beneath the silk camisole she wore.
Goddamn, she was as delicious as she was sexy.
I reached down, dipping my fingers into her silky, wet entrance, feeling her clench as if she’d been starved for this.
“That’s it, mi amor,” I said, running my tongue along the side of her neck and gently drawing her earlobe between my lips. “Is it too much?” I asked, hearing a soft whimper escape her.
Her fingers aggressively fought with the buttons of my shirt. “I want you inside me. Now.” Her lips went to my chest, sending a bolt of energy surging through me.
Fuck.
“Titus.”
Jesus Christ.
Never once had I been this rushed with a woman. Never once had I desired a woman so badly that I was losing all sense of control.
“I want to taste you,” I begged as she freed me from my trousers and briefs.
“No,” she said, her hand tightening around my cock. “I want you inside me.”
No one controlled me in the bedroom. No one. And somehow, I was at Cat’s mercy. I didn’t want the moment to fade, to lose this or her. I would rather have been at home, not here in my damn office, but I knew there was a chance she’d change her mind by the time my chopper landed.
I bent my knees while steadying her against the wall. She wrapped her leg around me, answering my presence at her hot entrance.
This was really fucking happening.
I pushed her harder against the wall—then reality slammed into me.
Steam. Cold marble. And empty arms.
A muttered curse slipped out as water streamed down my chest, and I braced one hand against the black tile, trying to catch my breath.
This was an all-new level of pathetic for a man like me. Absolutely fucking pathetic, in fact. Because no woman had ever gotten this deep into my head before, and somehow, Catalina Veléz had managed it without even being here.
I stepped out of the shower, more frustrated than before the release, knowing I needed to get through this day of long meetings, only desiring to have the beautiful woman in my arms.
I’d never been this fucking attached to anything. Would this even be called attachment? Perhaps I was possessed.
It had to be. I rarely dreamed, and when I did, they were usually memories of childhood, of my father, or of something buried so deeply it clawed its way back into my subconscious. Never a woman. Never Catalina Veléz.
And honestly, I had no idea what the hell to do with that. Except to get rid of it in the shower this morning, and that didn’t even help.
Fuck.
All it did was cause me more frustration. Maybe I needed to start working out again. There was far too much built up in my system, and I needed to fully release it.
I should’ve been happy that she wanted another day out together, just the two of us. Something I refused to believe was only gratitude for what I’d done to help her and her sister. That should’ve been enough for me.
But, no. It obviously wasn’t.
I was indeed fucked if I couldn’t get this out of my system. Everyone would see me as some wounded dog in this mental state, and I would not be the butt of everyone’s jokes today.
What made matters worse was that I was trapped tonight, having drinks with the guys—my brothers, my associates, and whichever of Saint John’s surgeons decided to invade Horizon tonight. That meant there was a very high possibility that Jake Mitchell and Collin Brooks would be there.
Goddammit.
If those two clowns realized Catalina Veléz had gotten into my head, I’d become the evening’s entertainment before the first whiskey hit the table.
That wasn’t going to happen.
The last meeting of my day should’ve been simple.
Instead, I was already irritated before the investor even stepped onto the executive floor.
Maybe it was because Catalina Veléz had filled every goddamn thought in my head since waking up.
Maybe it was because I was operating on two hours of sleep, or perhaps it was because of a shower fantasy so humiliating that I intended to pretend it never happened.
Or maybe because men with too much money often walked into Hawk Enterprise believing wealth automatically made them intelligent.
It didn’t. And it seemed that all day, my brothers and I were here to remind them of that fact.
Elizabeth opened the boardroom doors smoothly. “Mr. Richard Lawson and his partners,” she announced, introducing the last group of tiresome investors we were meeting with today.
Three men entered the room, dressed in tailored luxury worth more than most people made in a year. And yet, I wasn’t impressed.
Wyatt glanced up from his phone by the windows overlooking Newport Harbor, while Colton remained seated at the opposite end of the table, reviewing financial projections for Hawk Crown Reserve.
None of us bothered standing.
“Gentlemen,” Lawson greeted, with the kind of confidence usually carried by men who’d never actually built anything.
I motioned casually toward the chairs across from us. “Let’s get this over with.”
The investors exchanged subtle looks before sitting, already offended, which was the point of my response.
Lawson folded his hands on the table. “First, let me say that my partners and I are very excited about the vision for Hawk Crown Reserve.”
“We know,” Colton answered flatly, not looking up from the reports in front of him. “That’s why you’re here.”
Jesus Christ. I almost smiled but kept my composure.
Lawson continued carefully, “However, given the Maldives situation and recent market instability surrounding private island acquisitions, we believe adjustments should be made to reflect increased risk exposure.”
Here we go again.
Wyatt leaned back slowly in his chair. “Ah,” he sighed. “So, this is the part where you try to leverage a rumor into a larger ownership stake.”
Lawson smiled tightly. “Well, I wouldn’t put it that way.”
“I would,” Colton answered calmly.
The room went quiet. I leaned back slowly in my chair, studying Lawson long enough to make him shift uncomfortably beneath the silence settling across the room.
Weak men usually filled the silence quickly. Powerful ones like me let it suffocate people first.
“The problem with investors,” I said calmly, folding my hands on the black marble table, “is that most of them mistake proximity to wealth for understanding how it’s actually created.”
Lawson’s jaw tightened slightly.
“Now, had you approached this meeting with more respect,” I continued evenly, “you would’ve realized that Hawk Enterprise withdrew from the Maldives before the leak became public.”
None of them spoke after I relayed that fact.
“Which means,” Colton added casually as he reviewed projections, “the island was already dead to us before brokers started inflating its valuation.”
“Tsk, tsk.” Wyatt smirked by the windows overlooking the harbor. “You attempted to leverage a project we’d already walked away from.”
Lawson straightened slightly. “With respect, gentlemen, market perception continues to affect investor confidence.”
That was almost laughable.
“Investor confidence?” I questioned calmly. “No. You mean weak investors react emotionally to headlines. An investor who’s serious and not interested in wasting my time? They recognize strategic repositioning before everyone else catches up.”
They remained silent as I slowly stood from the table and walked toward the towering glass overlooking Newport Harbor.
“Hawk Crown Reserve was not designed for mass luxury,” I continued. “It’s being built for individuals wealthy enough to disappear from the world.”
I turned slightly toward them.
“The vision is simple. Privacy. Isolation. Exclusivity,” I smiled faintly. “The Maldives became too visible.”
I watched their lips twist as they realized the damn leak hadn’t damaged us. Instead, it refined the entire project.
“Which means,” Wyatt added lightly, “you gentlemen walked in here negotiating against an outdated vision.”
“So…” Lawson’s composure finally cracked slightly. “You already secured another location.”
I calmly adjusted the cuff of my black suit. “Seychelles,” I answered simply.
Colton smirked slightly at the immediate look on their faces, because they knew exactly what that meant. Seychelles positioned us as ultra-elite and significantly more long-term value.
“We’re restructuring investor access accordingly,” I continued. “Unfortunately, this means we’ll be reducing outside participation.”
Lawson blinked. “Reducing—”
“Yes,” I interrupted evenly. “You asked for more equity.” I held his gaze calmly. “So I decided you no longer deserved it.”
I almost heard one of the men gulp.
Jesus Christ, even Wyatt looked entertained now.
“You’re removing us from the project?” Lawson asked.
“No,” I answered calmly. “I’m removing anyone who mistook Hawk Enterprise for a company desperate enough to tolerate opportunism.”
I eyed my brothers, both of whom were trying to hide their amusement. This was the shit I’d been dealing with all fucking day. Bastards coming in here as if I were desperate for their money.
Even if I were, I would never show it.
“We were unaware—”
“Gentlemen,” I said, cutting Lawson off, “I’ll reconsider, but only on the condition that if you hear another rumor about my company or me, you’ll correct it immediately.”