Chapter 50
CHAPTER FIFTY
It was the last day of our retreat, which had been indescribably amazing, and I’d already woken before Catalina.
I wanted so badly to stay here, holding her as she slept in my arms, listening to her peaceful heartbeat…
but my phone never alerted me this early in the morning unless it was something important.
And considering I’d been away from the company longer than at any point since taking over, I knew better than to ignore it.
With a reluctant sigh, I reached for my phone and checked the screen. It was Marcus Bosch, my chief of security. The timing alone told me this wasn’t a social call.
I carefully slid out from under the blankets and stepped onto the patio, quietly closing the door behind me.
The morning air was perfectly crisp, and the morning breezes hadn’t even picked up. Everything was perfectly still and serene. Somewhere in the distance, birds moved through the trees as the first light of dawn crept across the mountains.
For a brief moment, everything was normal, then I answered my phone.
“Talk to me.”
Marcus didn’t bother with greetings. “We have movement.”
I leaned against the stone railing. “Define movement.”
“A federal task force departed Los Angeles at approximately half-past four this morning.”
Fuck. My jaw tightened. This wasn’t good, and not just because federal agents were moving.
Because Marcus had spent the last six weeks tracking unusual inquiries connected to my father.
The kind of inquiries most people never notice, such as requests for archived financial records, old property transactions, dormant holding companies, and conversations with individuals who should have remained buried in the past.
It was nothing substantial or actionable, but it was just enough to make experienced people uncomfortable.
The ultimate problem had been that nobody had been able to determine where any of these inquiries were leading. Marcus was fucking stumped, and my legal teams were just as perplexed by their findings. Even Jim and Spencer’s investigators ran into the same dead ends.
It was as if someone had deliberately buried whatever they were looking for beneath layers of misinformation and missing records.
If I had to guess, it was probably another mess left behind by my old man—some precaution he’d taken to conceal whatever bullshit he’d been involved in while running the company.
There was no use in giving any of that thought now, not while federal agents were on the move. The question was… why?
“What’s the destination?” I asked.
“We’re ninety percent certain they’re on their way to you.”
A slow breath escaped me. The remaining ten percent chance that they weren’t coming for me existed only because Marcus hated being wrong.
I watched as Catalina shifted beneath the blankets. She had one hand tucked beneath her cheek, completely unaware that federal agents were driving toward us somewhere between Los Angeles and Montecito.
“How many vehicles?”
“Four.”
Three days ago, I would’ve called this bad timing, but today it felt personal.
“What are we looking at?”
Marcus was silent for long enough to tell me he already knew the answer.
“Whatever they’ve built, it’s tied to your father’s history with the company.”
My eyes closed briefly.
Fucking son of a bitch.
Of course this shit was tied to my bastard of a father. He was the only one in the family stupid enough to conduct business as if he were above the law.
If I were brutally honest with myself, I’d been waiting for someone to attempt this for twenty years. Not because I’d done anything that warranted federal agents knocking on my door, but because nearly everything my father had done while building this company… had.
The reason I knew I was now someone’s target was simple: powerful men create powerful enemies. Unfortunately for me, some of those enemies never learned the difference between the man who committed the sins and the son who inherited the consequences.
“Any indication who pushed for this?”
“Nothing concrete.”
“I want your opinion, Marcus.”
Marcus didn’t hesitate. “Christian Jameston, possibly his father as well. The timing is far too suspicious.”
My grip tightened around the phone. It was the same conclusion I’d reached weeks ago.
Everyone knew the man had been circling my businesses like a vulture for months, and despite Jim and me both having our security teams, tech departments, investigators, and attorneys all looking into it, none of us had been able to figure out where the bastard planned to nail me.
Turns out, the leech had found something to grab onto, and now agents were on their way to retrieve me.
The funny thing was, all my concern over the bastard who’d been fucking with me had somehow led me to the only woman I had ever loved. I half-smiled at that reality.
“Is Jim Mitchell aware of the agents on their way?”
“Yes, sir.”
Out of all of us, Jim probably hadn’t slept more than four hours a night since the inquiries into my company started.
“And?”
“He’s already arranging meetings with our teams.”
I nodded. That was all I needed to hear. Jim handling it in my absence made me hopeful.
“Colton and Wyatt?”
“They’re reporting to Mitchell and Associates right now,” he answered. “I assured them I would handle everything with you, report back, and dispatch additional security detail for them.”
I continued watching as Catalina slept, wrapped in the blankets, unaware that the weekend she’d finally allowed herself to enjoy was about to come to an abrupt end.
It was everything I couldn’t protect her from.
Fuck me. My chest tightened, and it wasn’t because I was worried about myself. It was because of her.
“Marcus.”
“Sir.”
“If this goes where we think it’s headed, I want you and a couple of your men here with Catalina.”
“We’re already on our way, sir.”
“When do you estimate arrival?”
“Two hours, sir.”
I nodded.
“Perfect.” That would put him here shortly after whoever else decided to show up.
“What are your instructions once we arrive?”
I looked out toward the mountains, watching the sun rise and knowing these were the final moments of peace I was likely to get.
“If they arrest me, your priority becomes Catalina.”
“Understood.”
Without going into detail, Marcus knew exactly what that meant. He was to protect her, get her home, and have men watching her and her sister in my absence, mainly to keep her out of the crossfire.
If she reported to work, then Christian-fucking-Jameston would be met by my men, ensuring he came nowhere near her or her team’s offices.
“Very well,” I said, then ended the call and slid the phone into my back pocket.
For several moments, I stood there alone, listening to the quiet, knowing it wouldn’t last.
Finally, I turned and walked back inside. Catalina was still curled up beneath the blankets, sound asleep.
I almost woke her, but she looked more at peace than I’d seen her since the day we met. Instead of interrupting her peace, knowing I had at least an hour left to hold her before I was ripped away from her, I climbed back into bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist.
It may have been selfish, but if this was going to be our last peaceful moment for a while, I wanted it to be this. Not handcuffs, federal agents, or accusations.
Just me holding her while she slept.
She immediately moved closer. Instinctively trusting me without even opening her eyes.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. But when the past catches up to a family with a father like mine, peace rarely lasts.
The knock came just after Catalina had woken up and walked into the bathroom. It wasn’t a polite knock. It was the three hard knocks used to ensure they woke you up if you were asleep.
Every instinct I possessed immediately sharpened. I’d had only moments after Cat woke to fill her in on what I knew and to tell her that my head of security would be caring for her in my absence.
She only fell silent and hugged me, but the distance between us returned, as expected.
What the hell was she supposed to think? Until very recently, she saw me as a man who wouldn’t have surprised her if he’d made headlines for being arrested for some shady shit that happened within his company.
Fortunately, she seemed resolute in assuring me that she believed this was bullshit. She was solid in every aspect of her life, and she wouldn’t take this at face value. Facts would prove that I was not guilty of whatever these people wanted to put me away for.
With one more knock on the door, Catalina stepped out of the bathroom, her eyes red, not from crying but from trying not to.
The woman who rarely allowed anyone to see her fall apart had clearly spent the last several minutes locked behind that door, fighting a battle she couldn’t win.
I saw all of it in her eyes in that moment: fear, confusion, and heartbreak. All of it sat plainly across her beautiful face.
For several seconds, I couldn’t move, speak, or think. Suddenly, none of it felt real. For me, it had nothing to do with the agents, the warrants, or the accusations. Instead, it had everything to do with her.
I’d spent months earning that woman’s trust. Months proving I wasn’t another disappointment she’d survived before me. Months convincing her that loving me wasn’t a mistake.
And now, fucking agents with badges were standing outside, prepared to destroy all of that in less than five minutes. The realization hit harder than any prison cell ever could.
Her arms wrapped around her stomach, protecting herself. The sight nearly brought me to my knees because I already knew that Catalina Veléz wasn’t afraid for herself. She was afraid for me.
And somehow that made this infinitely worse.
“Titus…”
The way she said my name broke something inside me. It wasn’t because she doubted me; it was because she believed me. She believed I was innocent, and she was still terrified.
If I could have traded places with her in that moment and shouldered every ounce of that fear myself, I would’ve done it without hesitation.