She stole a glance sideways, her pulse stuttering against her ribs. Titus sat beside her, his posture completely still. No tension. No sign of guilt or anger. Just that same composed, impenetrable exterior that made her want to grab him by the collar and shakehim.
She turned away abruptly, pressing her lips together, forcing down the rising wave of nausea and betrayal twisting inside her. Her pulse thundered in her ears, and she fought to keep her breathing even, to not let the emotion clawing at her throat spill over. Every part of her wanted to lash out, to demand an explanation, to scream that this wasn’t the man she married. But she couldn’t. Not here. Not now. Not with her unborn child pressing heavily on her heart, areminder of everything she had to protect—even fromhim.
She couldn’t do this now.Couldn’t unravel in the middle of this car with the driver three feet away and astorm of unspoken words swirling between them. She had to hold it together. At least until they gothome.
Because right now, she wasn’t sure whether she was more afraid that Titus had lied to her—or that he hadn’t.
HE COULDfeel her unraveling besidehim.
Jazz hadn’t said a word since they left the event, but she didn’t have to. He could hear every unspoken thought, every doubt, every piece of hurt crackling through the tense silence between them. He could see it in the way she held herself—rigid, restrained, as if she was barely keeping from lashing out. And beneath that tension, he could sense something else—something deeper, morefragile.
Fear.
Not just for herself, but for something more, something unspoken that flickered behind her eyes. He saw the way her fingers ghosted over her stomach, the way she clutched at the fabric of her dress like she needed to steady herself. He didn’t understand it—not fully—but it was enough to know that whatever she was holding back, whatever fear had wrapped itself around her, it wasn’t just about Vex. It was aboutthem. Their future. Her trust in him. And the knowledge that she was doubting him now, after everything, gutted him, burning a pain in him he couldn’t afford to feel..
Because he couldn’t give her what she needed. Notyet.
And she should have everything she needed. She had every right to it. Titus Dante didn’t bow to anyone. He didn’t compromise, didn’t yield. He had built his world making others bend to him, just as his father had—never the other way around.
And yet tonight, she had watched him do exactly that. She had seen him remain silent while Vex spokeas if he owned them both, as if their future had already been decided. And Titus had let him. He hadn’t argued. Hadn’t corrected him. Hadn’t done a damn thing to stopit.
He had waited for that flash of ruthlessness to rise in himself, the hard-edged response that had always made him untouchable. But he had forced it down. Because this was part of the game. Part of theplan.
He needed Vex to believe he had the upper hand, needed him to feel secure in his so-called command. Titus had let the man talk, had let him claim his victory, because the moment Vex thought he had won, he would become predictable. And predictable men were easy to destroy.
But Jazz didn’t knowthat.
She had watched him let Vex take the lead, had seen him stay silent, and now she was sitting beside him in this car, stewing in doubt, believing he had caved. Believing he had given herup.
He couldn’t tell her thetruth. Notyet.
And that was the part that shattered him the most. Not the silence, not the burden of his own deception, but the way she had withdrawn. The way she no longer trustedhim.
He had thought he could play this part, let Vex believe what he wanted, buy himself time. But now, sitting beside her, feeling the burden of her silence like a blade against his throat, he wondered if he had miscalculated. If, in trying to protect her, he had done something far worse. If he had broken something between them that could never be repaired.
He had always believed, even in the worst moments, that he would protect her. That no matter how dark things got, he would never let anything truly harm her. But now? Now, as he sat in silence, letting her believe the worst of him, the burden of his deception crushed him.
Vex had been led into a trap constructed of his own egotism. Titus had orchestrated that moment with precision, had let the man talk unchecked, had allowed him to weave the illusion of control. Butin doing so, he had let Jazz see something that had never existed before—his silence in the face of a claim he should have ripped apart. And that silence had cost him something. Something fragile. Something vital.
He couldn’t tell her it was a game. Couldn’t reassure her that the real victory was his to claim.
So now, he sat in the quiet of the car, letting her stare out the window, letting the anger and betrayal build, knowing that she wouldn’t look at him. Knowing that if she did, she would only see a stranger.
The truth was a luxury Titus couldn’t afford. Not yet. Not with Vex watching. Not with the Feds circling. Not when everything was about to snap into place, and the only way to keep her safe was to let her believe the lie a little longer.
So he let the silence stretch. Let her rage build. Let her believe he had betrayed her, because the alternative was worse. If she knew the truth now, she’d try to fix it. She’dtry to protect him—and that was something he could not allow.
She turned away from him, her breathing unsteady. He clenched his jaw, his fingers flexing against his thigh. He wanted to reach for her, wanted to tell her that everything she was thinking was wrong, that she was the only thing in his world that mattered.
But she wouldn’t believehim.
Not tonight.
So he did the only thing he coulddo.
He sat beside her in silence.
THE SECONDthey stepped through the front door, Titus moved. He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t wait for the storm to break between them. He was done watching her slip further away, done letting the silence stretch like a chasmneither of them knew how to cross. Before Jazz could take another step, before she could turn away from him again, he swept her up into hisarms.
