Page 83 of The Betrayal

“You’re dead to me,” Titus growls, shoving me back a little harder, catching me off guard.

“Fine, that’s fine,” I shake my head, rage coursing through me now, but I can’t help but feel the hurt of Titus’s words. Slicing through my heart with a sword. Bloodied and wounded, I knew I wasn’t going to recover from this one.

Dead to him.

After everything we’ve been through.

“I never want to see you again!” his tone is sharp.

“Bit hard seeing as we work together.”

“Then I’ll leave,” and Nate’s head pops up over his computer.

Silence fills the room.

Both of us are angry. Chests rising and falling.

Sadness simmers my anger for a moment as Arizona pops into my mind.

“Do you know what Arizona thinks?” I pause, his angry gaze meets mine. “She thinks you don’t love her anymore. That’s why she hasn’t contacted you.”

“What?” Titus’s voice softens, his eyes locked on mine, and he looks as if the wind has been taken from his sails.

“Yeah man…” I pause, running my hand round the back of my head, my whole body aches. “She thinks you’re not going to love her anymore and feels like she is going to be replaced and left behind…” I pause, swallowing the large lump. “Just like her mom left her…”

Titus stumbles, falling back into his office chair, mouth a gape and shocked.

“That’s what she thinks?” and I can hear the defeat in his voice.

“Yeah man,” I repeat and tuck my hands into my pockets and we all just stare at Titus.

“Shit, I didn’t… I mean… fuck,” he scrubs his face with his hands.

“You did what I’ve done to you, sort of, in a nutshell.”

Nearly slipped up.

Fuck.

“Sorry?”

“Went away, got married, come home and sprung it on everyone…”

“Yours was plastered all over socials.”

“My bad, we had no idea…” it was the truth. We didn’t.

“Also, wasn’t your daughter I married, was it?” He seethes.

“No, but it was mine,” the gruff British accent that belongs to Xavier floats through the office and I bite the inside of my lip to try and stop the laugh coming out. Xavier continues forward and slaps Titus on the back, hard.

“Isn’t that right Titty?”

And he sighs, rolling his eyes.

Xavier continues forward and sets up camp in my office.

Not ideal.