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I stopped touching her simply because I didn’t want her to wake up. She needed rest and to see her sleeping so peacefully wasn’t something I often witnessed. I laid back down on my side of the bed. As I stared at the ceiling, I couldn’t believe how drastically my life had changed in a single week.
Hell, really even in just a few days. I’d gone from being a perpetual bachelor to now committing myself to the only girl I’d ever loved. I cared about a few of the women I’d dated over the years, but not enough to make a commitment. I thought once or twice that I should, but I never could, and would let those women go. Now, it all made sense.
I was still in love with Harper despite the lies coming from my lips.
Because I loved her so much, I would do anything in my power to keep her safe. Being a Titan, I not only had the money to keep that promise, but I also had the power. We were a secret society one might say when it came to the methods we used to protect what was ours. We were recognized... idolized... and even feared. I’d use my position to make sure no other harm came to her. I’d meant what I just said to her. I’d give my own life up to protect hers.
My thoughts turned to her cousin, Jayson. He’d mentioned me being in possession of something, but I had no idea what he was talking about. Knowing I might have to make a trip to the jail to find out, I would deal with that later.
Right now, I needed to make sure I did everything I could to make Harper drop this suicide mission, and start building a life with me. It would be not only the life she deserved, but the one we had planned for years before the world ripped it away in a nanosecond.
I forced my eyes closed, and it wasn’t long before Harper put her soft hands on me. I opened my eyes and blinked, unaware of how late it actually was. I scrambled upright and heard the sound of my alarm going off.
“Thank fuck,” I cursed, then grabbed the damn cellphone to turn the notification off. After, I scrubbed my hands down my face.
“I didn’t want to wake you, but I heard the alarm—”
“I’m actually glad you did. We need to leave for the airport soon.”
She dropped the sheet draped around her, then scooted over to the edge of the bed. I saw her reaching for her shirt, and I touched her arm to still her. “We just need to pack our things. I’d already reached out to the front desk and they will be shipping my father’s belongings to Chicago for me.”
I’d made a call to the concierge after she’d first gone to sleep, and they assured me that everything would be sent to Chicago. We now didn’t have to worry about trying to transport it with us on the plane.
The last thing I wanted was to have to try to balance those awkward boxes as we rushed to our gate. The airports had been busier than usual, not only because of the recent holiday, but the terrible weather that seemed to come in waves. Washington D.C., was slated to get a bomb cyclone in the next few days, and I would be glad to be back home before any of that hit the area.
Harper didn’t seem upset about the items needing to be shipped rather than returning with us, and I hoped it was because she had truly given up this paranoid fantasy of sorts where her uncle was some serial murderer killing others so he could hold on to an inheritance. While the man might very well have stolen it out from under her, he wasn’t powerful enough to do the things she feared. It seemed as if she had truly accepted that, and it boded well for us as we looked toward a future together.
When I glanced back over at her, Harper was nearly dressed. I stretched languorously, wishing I was in my own bedroom because I would strip my girl naked and lose myself inside of her for the next hour or more.
Eventually, I forced myself to get up and once dressed, I made sure everything was put back into the boxes, then I started to gather our things. I had started to stuff my clothes into the suitcase when I encountered a hard box. I pulled it out and shook my head. She had put the cufflinks I had given to my dad on Father’s Day inside.
I pushed them further into the suitcase, then finished packing it before looking over at her. Harper had hers ready and it wasn’t long before we were on our way. We got to the airport on time, and once we were seated in our seats, I sent a message to Noah.
I asked him to get my car from Union Station, then provided him our flight times. I knew he would be excited to see Harper again, and he would also be thrilled with her decision to stay. I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips. I pressed a kiss on it, then we prepared for takeoff.
HARPER
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
THREE WEEKS LATER
It’d been the fastest three weeks ever, but some of the best I’d ever experienced. I still couldn’t believe that I was back in Chicago in the world I’d grown up in. I was close once more with friends like Noah and Charlie, and they both welcomed me back into the fold as if I had never left. I’d also met other Titans, and after giving Gabriel a hard time, I had come to enjoy spending time with Callum, Daxon, and Romeaeus, who preferred to go by Romeo, as well.
Two of the three Titans were football players, another was now a college professor, and the last owned a psychiatric firm. They were all as successful as Gabriel, and it was no surprise they all hung out in the same circles. For a decade, I’d been floundering, knowing I didn’t belong in Portland, and that was because my life was here in Chicago.
I was still smiling as I held up various swatches of fabric and shook my head as each one fell short of my imagined design. So far, working virtually had been going great. I’d bought a lot of materials I often used and had set up studio space in one of the unused rooms in Gabriel’s penthouse. It’d been going great, and I’d be ready for this consultation next week as soon as I narrowed down some last minute details.
“We want something Bohemian,” Annie had told me over the phone on our last call. “Bohemian Chic, actually.”
I could do this. I had worked with others like her, and in Portland, it was one of the nation’s self-proclaimed ‘hippie havens.’ The state could tout the same as the city, and the eclectic tastes sometimes made my job a bit more difficult.
I heaved out a frustrated sigh as the materials and colors just didn’t work together as I’d hoped.
I was going to be here all night at this point. I shook my head, then grabbed my cellphone. After glancing at the time, I grimaced. I didn’t have much longer before I needed to stop for the night. There was a charity bash downtown, and it would be the first official Titan event I would attend on Gabriel’s arm. It would benefit the inner city schools. I was nervous about the attention bashes like this usually brought, but also excited. I had been looking forward to this night all week.
“Fuck, I need to get this done.” I picked back up a swatch of grass-like linen, closed my eyes and tried to imagine a space I would find this in.
“Harper,” Gabriel called to me from the doorway.
