Chapter 63
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
I walked out of the elevator and toward the private seating my staff had arranged for my friends and me.
Goddamn, it felt amazing to be here. Not just because I was free, but because the weight of uncertainty about my future had lifted. Now, for the first time in weeks, I had a bright outlook on the future.
I paused when my eyes fell on Catalina. She was seated between her sister and Natalia, engaged in an animated conversation with Sienna Morales, the high-profile attorney, who sat across from her alongside Ash and Avery.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she moved effortlessly between conversations, laughing at something one of them said.
Before today, I would’ve taken this scene for granted—the simple pleasure of watching the woman I loved enjoy time with her friends—but not anymore. Today, I was smitten by her beauty, her lovely energy and smile, and by my resolve never to find myself in a situation where I might lose her again.
I had plans for this woman. Real plans. The kind I’d never imagined making. Still, I didn’t want to scare her off. She had said she loved me, but I wasn’t entirely sure her feelings were as strong as mine.
Instead of moving hard and fast, I wanted things to move forward at a gentle pace. Having her wake up in my arms every day since I’d been out of that place was enough.
For now.
“Well, if it isn’t the man himself,” Jim said, standing and walking toward me.
I met my good friend with a firm handshake and a clap on his arm. “Good to see you again, Mitchell,” I said.
“I swear to God,” he said, shaking his head, “I almost lost hope in the middle of that legal rat maze.”
That’s when my eyes drifted to Mark. He wore loose-fitting tan linen trousers and an untucked white linen shirt, sitting casually with his arm draped over the back of a chair, looking more like he belonged on a terrace in Mykonos than in my hotel.
Part of me was shocked he was wearing loafers instead of sandals.
“I don’t think any of us can thank this guy enough,” I said, nodding in Mark’s direction.
“No shit,” Jim said.
“And here I imagined you were banging lonely women all over some island where you ended up bartending in a hut,” I said as Jim and I approached the table.
“You sorry son of a bitch,” Mark replied as he stood to greet me.
“Well, I might still be a son of a bitch, but I can promise I’m not a sorry one anymore,” I said, shaking his hand and pulling my old friend into a quick one-armed embrace.
I stepped back and gripped his shoulder.
“Goddamn, it’s good to see you. My brother told me how you got the information.
I can’t thank you enough for bringing it to us personally. ”
“Well,” Mark said, giving that usual sly look he wore before smarting off with a joke, “I did consider letting you sit in there and stew for a while longer to pay you back for that time you stole Gabriella from me on our ski trip to the Alps.”
I chuckled. “Damn, that was a long time ago.”
“Too long,” he said with a smile. “Seriously, man. I’m glad it helped.”
“I am too,” I grinned. “Coming out of hiding had to be worth it.”
He laughed. “Well, like I said, there was much to consider before bailing your ass out.”
“Well, well,” Collin said, joining the group, “if it isn’t the man who became an internet sensation after sailing his yacht across the high seas, only to find himself wearing an orange suit a few weeks later.”
I shook Collin’s hand before taking the empty seat next to him and Jake across the table from Jim, Sebastian, and Mark. “Good to see you, and the suit was gray, not orange.”
He shook his head. “Forgive me. I imagined all those places had some form of a universal dress code.”
I smiled at his mockery of the prison system. “You and me both.”
I glanced up, my eyes meeting Catalina’s sparkling ones, and could only smile at her beauty.
She gracefully raised her glass to her lips and smiled back at me.
Then my heart damn near stopped when she mouthed the words I love you before her attention was stolen by whatever conversation the ladies were having.
I already knew this evening would keep us on opposite sides of the room until our friends finally called it a night, which was why I’d called her on the way here. Tonight, I planned to make up for every minute spent apart when we were finally alone in my penthouse suite.
And if everything went according to plan, I intended to ask if she would seriously consider moving in with me.
The thought should’ve terrified me. Six months ago—hell, six weeks ago—I’d have called any man insane for rearranging his entire life around a woman.
Yet here I was, looking across the rooftop at Catalina, and all I could think about was how right it felt to see her in my future.
“So, that’s a yes, then?” Jake said with a laugh.
“Huh? Yes, of course,” I said, having no idea what he’d asked of me.
“No shit?” he responded with a humored expression. “Really?”
“How large, though?” Collin said as my eyes moved to the men around the table wearing sympathetic grins.
“Are the rumors true?” Mark Aster questioned.
“What the hell are we talking about? What rumors?” I answered as Sebastian laughed into his drink.
“The rumors that the male G-spot is in his ass,” Mark said with a laugh as Sebastian and Jim nearly choked on their drinks.
“What the fuck?” I answered, looking between Jake, Collin, and Mark, unsurprised that their minds went there at the mention of jail. “Jesus Christ. Is this genuinely what you people discuss when I’m not around?”
“And you thought they were bad before you went in?” Jim said with a laugh. “Having this dipshit join their bullshit,” he pointed a thumb at Mark, “has only made them worse.”
“I think it was the other way around,” Sebastian said, smiling at his brother. “Mark was the angel of the family before he met Jake and Collin.”
“Are you idiots having threesomes now?” I teased Collin.
“Why wouldn’t we?” he answered, sipping his scotch. “Look how cute he is.”
“His casual, laid-back way of looking at life keeps things exciting in the bedroom,” Jake added while I rolled my eyes and looked at Mark.
“You’re seriously hanging around these two?” I arched an eyebrow at him. “No one warned you?”
“Well, I’m already the black sheep of the family. I figured, why the hell not?” Mark said, taking a sip of his mojito.
I shook my head, knowing that the three of them together over drinks would inevitably become an official public nuisance if the rest of us didn’t police their asses.
“Subject change,” I said, looking between Mark and Sebastian. “How are your parents dealing with your return?”
“How do you expect?” Mark answered, taking another drink.
“They asked Mark to return to the business and work alongside me,” Seb answered.
“And?” I eyed Mark.
“No,” he said resolutely. “I have absolutely no desire to return to that bullshit.”
I nodded. “I heard you’ve been in business for yourself,” I said, taking my bourbon from my staff after they approached. “Good for you.”
“It’s excellent for me, good friend,” Mark answered.
“Perhaps Colton and I should do the same for ourselves,” Wyatt said, walking up with Colton. “Leave the family business and all the bullshit that comes with Herbert Hawk to Titus and just walk the fuck away…”
I smiled at my brothers as they joined us. “Your sorry ass wouldn’t last five days trying to start a business overseas.”
Mark laughed. “Five days?” He eyed Wyatt, sitting next to him. “They wouldn’t last five minutes sharing a room with some bastard while trying to figure out where their next paycheck was going to come from.”
“I wouldn’t be sharing a room with a bastard, hermano,” Wyatt said. “My rooms are only meant to be shared with a lovely senorita or two.”
Colton chuckled. “I would never walk away from this,” he said. “I’m not trying to walk away from everything we busted our asses to build after the old man died.”
“No shit,” I nodded toward Colton, then looked back at Mark. “How long are you going to be in the U.S.?”
“About another week, and then I’ll take off,” he said.
“What? So soon?” Sebastian questioned, glancing around the table as if seeking permission from someone.
“Am I missing something?” Mark asked his brother as all eyes fell on Sebastian and his strange response. “I mean, John won’t miss me as much as he’d miss you…”
“It’s just…” he paused again. “Forget it.”
“What is it, Seb?” Jim questioned.
Sebastian looked at me, then back at Jim, then over at Mark. “We can just talk about it later.”
“Like hell you will,” Jake said. “You can’t just sit over there, looking like the cat that ate the canary, and think we’re not going to ask questions.”
“It’s just something Darcy wanted to announce, and perhaps I was just shocked that Mark was leaving in a week,” Sebastian said. “She’s visiting her parents right now, and I don’t feel right saying anything.”
I watched my good friend Sebastian, who was usually a hard-nosed bastard, and noticed that he seemed lighter tonight… softer somehow.
There had been a significant change in the man after he started dating his wife, but at this moment, it was clear that something was different, and I knew it wasn’t because his long-lost brother was at this table or because I was free from detention.
Jim sat back and smiled at him. “Goddammit,” he said as if he pulled the information out of Sebastian’s thoughts. “Congratulations, man.”
“Wait,” Sebastian said. “What? How did you know?”
“It’s all over your face. Jim looked the same damn way the night he and Avery found out she was expecting,” Jake added with a laugh.
“That, and you completely gave it away with your Darcy has an announcement story. Married folks don’t have many tricks up their sleeves when it comes to announcements, you know? ”
That’s when Sebastian’s eyes sparkled, his smile widened, and he raised his glass. “You guys are worse than gossiping women,” he laughed. “Yes, Darcy is expecting. Twins!”
“Twins?” Mark said. “Congratulations, man. That’s amazing news.”
Sebastian nodded. “She wants to inform the ladies herself,” he said, then looked at Mark. “I’m just a bit bummed that you planned to leave so soon. Selfishly, I wish you’d stay a while longer before disappearing now that we have babies on the way.”
“While I love that you’re a dedicated family man now, brother,” Mark raised his glass to Sebastian, “I can’t just walk out on my life over there.”
“What do you mean? You walked out on the other life,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
“More like, ran away from the other life,” Mark confirmed with a laugh.
“I get it.” Sebastian nodded. “Just come fucking visit every now and then,” he said with a smile. “You don’t get to come out of hiding just to save this dipshit’s ass,” he nudged me, “and then fall off the face of the earth again.”
“I’ll do what I damn well please,” Mark said, clinking his glass to Sebastian’s. “But if it means anything, yes, I’ll visit more. I’ve got to make sure those kids like me better than John, anyway. The Best Uncle Ever competition is gonna get ugly, just so you know.”
“Jake and I are over here with broken hearts, and all you care about are some stupid babies?” Collin teased.
“I’m sure your wives will keep you company while I’m gone,” Mark teased.
We fell into more ridiculous conversations, and it felt damn good to talk about nonsense after my mind had been locked up for the last two weeks, running scenarios and fearing my uncertain future.
It was the perfect way to end the night. Well… a perfect way toward the perfect ending I had planned with Catalina.
Three hours later, Catalina and I were walking into my penthouse suite.
“Care to join me on the balcony?” I asked her.
“I’d love to,” she said, her smile unwavering since hearing earlier today that I was exonerated.
“Give me a moment,” I said, turning to find the remote for the outdoor stereo. I switched on the music and selected the same song I’d had the cellist play the first night she joined me on the yacht—Bésame Mucho.
I clicked the button that electronically opened the wall of windows, allowing the evening breeze to flood into the suite.
“Come,” I said, her eyes glassy as she quietly followed me to the pool area, where lit candles in hurricanes flickered all around.
My staff had truly outdone themselves by accommodating my requests to ensure my entire balcony was covered in lit candles, with champagne and glasses waiting.
I pulled her into my arms for a slow dance, our eyes never leaving each other. “Do you remember this song?”
She smiled. “Of course I do,” she said. “It was the song we first danced to.”
“And I first kissed you soon after,” I said.
“Yes,” her arm ran up my side. “Are you going to kiss me again?”
“I’m going to do more than kiss you, mi amor,” I said with a soft laugh. “But before that, I want to ask you something…”
I paused when her eyes widened. I stopped our dance and brought her knuckles to my lips.
“I’m not expecting you to say yes, as I know it’s very fast,” I began, my eyes never leaving hers. “But I would love for you to consider moving in with me. You and your sister are both welcome. More than anything, I just don’t want to waste another day without you waking up by my side.”
She smiled as tears filled her eyes. “Do you realize this is dangerously close to a marriage proposal?”
I grinned, taking both of her hands in mine and kissing the backs of them. “I do, but this is not a marriage proposal, preciosa, as I know it is too fast for that.”
She reached both of her hands to my face. “You’re the best man I have ever known. Do you know that?”
“Only when you tell me,” I answered.
“Then I’ll gladly tell you every morning that I wake up with you,” she beamed. “Yes, I would love to spend my mornings and evenings in your arms, Titus Hawk.”
Before another word was spoken, I cradled her face in my hands and captured her lips in a kiss.
I kissed her slowly, gratefully. The woman who somehow walked into my life and turned it upside down.
The woman I’d nearly lost.
The woman I planned to spend every possible morning beside.
For the first time in a very long time…
My future looked exactly the way I’d always hoped it would.