Page 119 of Avenging Azalea

Shit.

Not bothering to look at anything else, I set my phone down like it had burned me and stared at it while chewing on my nails.

What the hell do I do now?

I told myself that it was time to be brave, and if I didn’t start now, then when? If I didn’t talk to Titus now about what his father was doing, he would be far more hurt when he found out later. I was certain he would find out at some point.

But what if he can’t keep George safe?

A soft knock at the door had me jumping like Titus had sounded a blow horn instead of the soft rap.

“Fawn, you okay in there?”

I met my stare in the mirror, and the image in my mind was divided between the scared teen I used to be and the woman that I was now. The message was clear…this was a crossroads, and I needed to make a choice.

Swiping my phone off the counter, I opened the door to Titus leaning against the door jamb, in nothing but black sweatpants. Lord, have mercy. My brain immediately misfired, all the gears screeched to a halt as my eyes roamed over the corded muscle, tattoos, and finally the worried look on his face.

“We need to talk,” I said.

“Hmm, no good conversation ever started with those four little words,” he said.

No truer words had been spoken.

Slipping past before I lost my nerve, I forced myself to look away from him before he distracted me completely.

“What’s wrong?”

I sucked in a deep breath. “I wasn’t completely honest with you,” I said, beginning to pace his room. The door was open, and the dogs were scattered between the bedroom and the hallway. They lifted their heads as if they were tuning in to what I had to say. Great…more judgment.

“About?”

“The dinner with your father the other night.”

Titus chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy one. “This doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t have anything to do with a photo, does it?”

“What photo?”

I stopped my pacing and stared at him. Titus walked over to his phone on the nightstand and picked it up. Even though I was more nervous than I’d been a second ago, I marched over to him.

He held it out, displaying a snapshot from the night Dimitri and I had dinner. His father had his hand on top of mine and was smiling. It looked like we were out having a very intimate meal, more like a date.

“Who sent this to you?”

“Who do you think,” Titus asked.

“Your father?” He nodded, and I swore a blue streak as I tossed his phone onto the bed. “Tell me you don’t believe I was on a date with him?”

“I didn’t. But what do you want to tell me?” He placed his hands on my shoulders, and it was only then that I noticed my body trembling with rage. “You can tell me. Whatever it is.”

“Tell me something first. How…how safe is George from outside threats?”

Titus’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of threats?”

I swallowed hard. It was now or never.

“Your father believes I’m in the way. He told me that I needed to leave the house and you, and never look back. In return, he bought me property, put a million dollars in a bank account, and prepaid my tuition for the rest of vet school. But if I don’t do what he wants, then he’ll go after George and…”

“And what,” Titus asked, his voice low with a very dangerous edge.