I sat on the couch wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I knew Titan would be going to sleep soon, and I would stay awake most of the night watching the silent TV or looking at her. But I’d much rather be beside her than anywhere else in the world.
“How’d it go with Ms. Alexander?”
He stared at her for a moment before he released a quiet sigh. “Not well.”
Titan never panicked in any situation. She could be losing all of her businesses, but she would still remain calm. I’d only seen her lose her temper once—and it was justified. Even when a gun was pointed at her face, she thought logically to solve the problem. That was one of the reasons she was the powerhouse she was now. “What happened?”
“I made the offer, but she wouldn’t look at it. She said she only wants a partnership—not your money.”
“What else did she say?”
“That’s it,” Thorn said. “The conversation was short. I told her to reconsider, but she refused. Then she got up and left.”
Titan turned to the TV, her face stoic as she considered everything she’d just learned. Her lips pressed together tightly, her chest rising and falling at the same pace. “I would talk to her myself, but I’m in no condition.”
“Honestly, I don’t think even you could change her mind, Titan. This woman…” He shook his head slightly as he thought about it. “She knows exactly what she wants. She’s not going to change her mind. We either have to fold or let her walk away.”
She turned back to him. “Thorn, everything I know I’ve learned from you.”
He held her gaze, his blue eyes unblinking.
“Change her mind, Thorn,” she said. “Offer her more money.”
“How can I offer her more when she wouldn’t even look?” he questioned.
“Then you don’t make her look,” she countered. “You tell her the number. Then you keep going up until she changes her mind. I need her business in order for this to be a success. Unless I acquire her or run her out of business, my goals will never be reached. She’s reputed to be one of the brightest scientists of our generation. I need her to cave, Thorn.”
He held his impassive gaze, listening to her without giving anything in return.
“I’ve already invested billions into this company,” Titan said. “This is the second piece I need for complete domination.”
Thorn didn’t move. “Having a partnership is out of the question?”
“I don’t do partnerships,” she said firmly. “You know that.”
His eyes moved to my face before they turned back to her.
“That’s different,” she countered. “He’s going to be my husband. He’s the one exception.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the way she referred to me. Her one exception.
“I’ll talk to her again,” Thorn said. “But I’m telling you, this woman is different. You haven’t seen her. You don’t know what she’s like. Honestly, she reminds me a lot of you. She’s tiny, but her presence takes up the whole room. She knows what she wants, and she won’t settle for less. For her, it’s not about money. It’s about making a difference. I think this is a battle you won’t win.”
She stared at him, her gaze hardening just the way it did when she was in a meeting. “Then you win it for me, Thorn.”
The next three days passed by slowly.
I was anxious for the doctor to give her permission to go home. Not only did I want her all to myself, but I wanted the final obstacle to be overcome. If the doctor said she was free to go home, then that meant she was truly okay.
We would get through this.
The worst of it was over.
“Diesel.”
I loved hearing her voice, no matter what she was saying. She could speak in a different language, and I would enjoy just listening to her. It wasn’t just the deep and sexy sound of her voice; it was the fact that she was the woman I loved. No one else could soothe me the way she could. Every day we were in that hospital room, she was the one comforting me—not the other way around. “Yes, baby?” I turned my gaze on her, seeing her sit with the sheets pulled to her waist.
“You should get to the office today. I know you have stuff to do.” She constantly pressured me to go back to work, to get back to my regular routine because the work was piling up. All my meetings were rescheduled, and everything I’d been working on was halted.
“I couldn’t care less about work, baby.” I hadn’t thought about it once since this tragedy had happened. All I cared about was the woman beside me. Money didn’t matter to me anymore, not when I had this brilliant diamond in my life.
“Diesel, I’m going to be okay. I’m going home tomorrow.”
“Doesn’t matter. As long as you’re in here, I’m in here too.”
Her eyes tightened with emotion, and a small smile stretched across her lips. “You’re sweet, Diesel. But you really don’t have to stay with me.”
“I know I don’t have to.” I looked into her beautiful green eyes, getting lost in their vibrant color. I loved staring at them every morning and every night. They were beacons that guided me to happiness every single day. “I want to.”
Her team of doctors finally gave her permission to be discharged from the hospital. She was still on pain medication, along with a serious strain of antibiotics. She wouldn’t need physical therapy because her injury hadn’t jeopardized her mobility. But she was still required to get lots of rest, to spend most of her time in bed, and schedule follow-up visits to monitor the wound in her chest.
She still had a long road ahead of her until she was back to normal, but everything would be easy in comparison to what she’d already been through. My woman was the strongest and fiercest one in the entire world. She killed the man who
