She stared at him, at the way he sat so still, so infuriatingly composed, as if none of this—her pregnancy, the life growing inside her—mattered. And maybe to him, it didn’t. Maybe he truly believed that nothing had changed. But for her? Everythinghad.
“You really don’t get it, do you?” she whispered. “This isn’t just about me anymore. It’s not just about you. We created something—someone—Titus. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
His jaw clenched almost imperceptibly. Ashift, subtle but there. “And yet, youkept it from me.”
Jazz let out a slow breath, frustration knotting inside her. “Because I was scared! Ididn’t know what to do, what to say. And after the gala, after everything that happened there, Ineeded a moment to figure it out.”
“A moment.” He echoed the words, rolling them over his tongue as if testing their flavor. “And if I hadn’t found out, how long would that moment have lasted?”
She hesitated. The truth burned on the tip of her tongue.Idon’t know.Because deep down, part of her feared that knowing would make him colder, more distant, not softer like she had foolishly hoped.
But that wasn’t the whole truth. Because even now, even as she tried to justify it, asliver of guilt twisted inside her. She had been afraid—afraid of how this would change them, afraid of giving him another reason to pull away. But was that the real reason she had kept it to herself? Or had she wanted, just for a little while longer, for this to be something that was only hers? Something untouched by hisworld? The truth was, she wasn’t sure. And that terrified her more than anything.
“I wanted to tell you,” she admitted, voice softer now, the anger giving way to something raw, something unguarded. “But I was afraid of how you’d react. Iwas afraid that if I told you, you’d turn it into a problem to solve instead of what it is—amiracle.”
Titus dragged his hands over his face before pinning her with those impossibly dark eyes. “You think I don’t understand what this means? You think I don’t already know what this changes?”
“Then show me!” she snapped, taking a step closer. “Because all I see right now is a man who’s pretending like he doesn’t give a damn that he’s going to be a father.”
Something in him snapped. One second, he was sitting there, impassive, unreadable. The next, he was up, moving, closing the space between them so fast she barely had time to breathe. His hands caught her hips, fingers digging in, pullingher close
“You think I don’t care?” His voice came rough, edged with something raw, something she hadn’t seen in him before.
The heat in his eyes sent a slow pulse through her, tightening around her chest. Jazz sucked in a breath, her body tensing at the force of his presence, the sheer strength of his emotion pressing against her like a physical thing. She wanted to step back, to create space, but she couldn’t. His grip on her hips was unyielding, and worse—she wasn’t sure she wanted to moveaway.
A part of her, the logical part, screamed that she should, that she needed distance, clarity. But the other part—the one that had always been drawn to him, to the fire and fury and impossible depth of him—held her there. His hands were firm, reassuring, and despite her frustration, despite everything between them, warmth spread from where he touched her, unfurling low in her belly. It wasn’t just anger keeping her locked in place. It was something far moredangerous.
Then, after the briefest hesitation, his hands shifted, sliding lower, tracing the gentle curve of her stomach. His touch lingered, uncertain for the first time, as if he needed a moment to absorb the consequence of it—of her, ofthis.
A slow breath left him, his fingers flexing slightly before settling, palms warming against her skin. His touch wasn’t rough or possessive this time. It was reverent, careful, like he was searching for the truth of what lay beneath his hands.
Jazz sucked in a breath, her body rigid, unsure of what to do with this version of him. This wasn’t the Titus who commanded. And that unsettled her more than she wanted to admit. Because if he wasn’t the man who dictated every move, who always had the upper hand, then who was he? And more importantly—what did this mean forthem?
A part of her wanted to believe this vulnerability made him safer, more reachable. But another part, the one that had always kept her guarded,whispered that this was even more dangerous. Because this was the side of him that could make her fall all over again. This was something else entirely—something unguarded, somethingraw.
“This changes everything,” he murmured, his voice a fraction rougher than before. “More than you even realize.”
Her heart pounded, her fingers trembling at her sides. “Titus—”
His thumbs traced slow, deliberate circles just below her navel. “You think I don’t care? That I don’t feel this in my fucking bones? Iknew before you told me, Jazz. Ifeltit. Ijust needed you to say it.”
The air between them thickened, electric, charged with something neither of them could afford to name. His hands didn’t leave her stomach, but they hesitated for the briefest moment before moving—up, around her waist, pulling her flush againsthim.
A shiver ran through her, though she wasn’t sure if it was from the warmth of his touch or thegravity of what was happening between them. Her body stiffened, instinct fighting against the part of her that wanted—needed—to surrender to this moment. Tohim.
But when his breath brushed her temple, his hold steady, the tension inside her fractured, leaving something exposed and unguarded in its place. For the first time in what felt like forever, she let herself lean into him, her fingers stroking before they found purchase against his chest. His breath was warm against her temple, his body solid, unrelenting. And suddenly, she wasn’t sure if she was trembling from his nearness or from everything unspoken betweenthem.
Jazz sucked in a breath, her fingers grasping onto the fabric of his shirt like an anchor. Was she reaching for something solid in the storm of emotions crashing over her? Or was this surrender—the moment she let go of the fight, of the doubt, and allowed herself to need him in a way that terrifiedher?
“Then show me how much this means to you.”
Thatwas all ittook.
Titus moved fast. His mouth crashed against hers, no hesitation, no restraint. It wasn’t soft, wasn’t searching—it was possession, pure and unfiltered. Abattle of tongues and teeth, rough and consuming, like he was trying to brand her with every stroke, every desperate pull of breath between them. The tension that had coiled between them for so long finally snapped, giving way to something frenzied, somethingwild.
He kissed her like he was proving something, like he was branding her from the inside out. And God help her, she kissed him back just as fiercely.
Her back hit the wall before she even realized they were moving, his hands sliding up her sides, fingers tracing every curve like they were mapping her body. Her nails bit into his shoulders as she arched, desperate for more, for something that wasn’t slipping through her grasp.
