And she saw it. The shift. The instant the passion dimmed and reality set backin.
The warmth in his gaze dimmed, then the fire between them flickered and died. Her body continued to pulse with the aftershocks of pleasure, but her heart clenched as realization set in. This wasn’t a beginning. It was an ending
She could feel him pulling away, locking something inside himself, shutting her out. And for the first time, she wondered if she had ever truly had him at all. His grip loosened, the desire that had driven him moments ago now cooling into something distant.
Her stomach twisted. For a heartbeat, she wanted todeny it, to pretend she hadn’t seen it. But she had. And it left her hollow.
Titus pulled away first. Not roughly, not dismissively—but with purpose, with finality. Jazz instinctively reached for him, fingertips brushing against his skin. For a second, she hesitated, the warmth of him still lingering, still calling to her. But then she caught herself, the tension in his body registering just as he pulled away. The distance between them had already begun, even though neither of them had moved. Her breath hitched, realization dawning like a slow-moving storm.
He was already retreating, pulling back into himself, into that place she could never quite reach. Asecond ago, he had been everywhere—his hands, his mouth, his body fusing with hers in a way that left no room for doubt. But now? Now, he was gone, even though he remained right in front of her. Like he was already fortifying himself against whatever came next. Like he was preparing to do what he always did—put distancebetweenthem.
Titus sat up first, reaching for his discarded pants without a word. The air felt different now—cooler, heavier. Jazz swallowed hard, pushing herself up, wrapping an arm around her middle as if she could shield herself from the sudden emptiness settling between them. He didn’t look at her. Didn’t reach for her. Just fastened his belt and ran a hand through his hair, like a man already shifting back into a different gear.
A cold prickle of unease skated through her. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t even fully processed the importance of what had just happened between them, and yet something in the air had shifted, an almost imperceptible change, a chasm stretching between them, separating him from her.
Then, his phone rang.
The abrupt sound sliced apart the silence, cutting through the charged air between them. Jazz flinched, the abrupt noise jolting her out of the haze clinging to her. Instinctively, she snatched up her dress, holding it in front of her like a flimsy shield. But themoment her fingers gripped the fabric, she realized it was practically ripped in half, torn from the frenzy of their hands and mouths just momentsago.
A sudden awareness of her own vulnerability settled in. But even as she pulled the fabric across her chest, her gaze remained locked on Titus, watching, waiting, as the distance between them grew wider with every second of his silence. Titus didn’t react at first, only staring at the screen for a long, unreadable moment before answering. He listened, saying nothing, his expression giving away nothing. But Jazz felt it—the way the air around him seemed to quiet, the way his entire body went unnervingly motionless.
Finally, he disconnected the call, his fingers lingering on the device for a fraction too long. His jaw tightened, the muscle ticking once before he snapped his features into an impenetrable face. Ever so carefully, ever so precisely, he set the phone down on his desk. The silence echoed through the room.
For the first time, Jazz felt utterly and completelyexposed. Not just physically, but in a way that left her ripped open and vulnerable—like everything she had just given him had been for nothing.
When he spoke, his voice was calm. Too calm. The tone rough and unreadable.
“Which shall we discuss next? Your visit to the Feds or Vex?”
Chapter 12
“I CAN EXPLAIN.”
Jazz’s voice was unsteady, but Titus didn’t move. Didn’t blink. He just stood there, back straight, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against his desk, his mind a storm beneath the surface.
Anger burned low and steady, abitter contrast to the cold pressure of betrayal settling deep in his gut. First, the Feds. Now Vex. And finally discovering his assets were frozen. She had gone behind his back—walked straight into the fire—and now, the flames were licking at both of them. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to demand answers or if his fury would snap the moment she spoke. But one thing wascertain—this wasn’t a puzzle to solve. This was a reckoning.
“Start talking,” he said, his voice barely restrained.
She swallowed hard, clearly struggling to find the right place to begin. “I had a doctor’s appointment to confirm my pregnancy. Idrove myself there. I—Ididn’t want anyone to know where I was going.”
“Why?” His voice was quiet, but tight, laced with an edge that made her stomach twist.
“Like I said… I wanted to confirm the pregnancy with the doctor before I told you.”
Her voice came quieter now, and Titus saw it—the way she pulled in on herself slightly, as if she could shrink away from the force of his stare. She sat on the plush rug, nothing but her torn dress clutched against her chest, as if it could shield her from his fury. But what was the point? He’d just had her—completely, utterly—but now, as he stood over her, unreadable,she looked more vulnerable than he had ever seenher.
A strange tightness formed low in his gut, but he shoved it aside. Vulnerability meant nothing in his world. Vulnerability was leverage. And right now, his wife was exposed in every possibleway.
She gripped the ruined dress tighter. His gaze swept over her, but not in possession—not like before. Now, his stare assessed, stripping away the layers she tried to hold onto, peeling her open until she had nowhere to hide. And in that moment, as her breath hitched and her fingers twisted and tangled into the fabric like she was holding onto something slipping away, he knew—
She’d just lost something she didn’t even realize she still held onto—trust, certainty, the belief that what they had was unshakable. And it was completely, utterly his fault. He saw it in the way her fingers trembled against the fabric of her dress, the way her breath came shallower, as if she were trying to hold onto something slipping through her grasp. And yet, he had tolet her loseit.
Because if she didn’t, she would never walkaway.
“Why?” he repeated. “Why did you need to confirm it before you told me?”
She tucked a long strand of tangled golden hair behind her ear. “Because it’s life-altering news, and I needed to be sure before I dropped something like that on you. After everything that happened at the gala, I—Ididn’t want to add to the chaos unless I knew for certain.”
