Wanted: A Bad Boy Romance (17 page)

The last time I sat in this
chair, I was confessing to a crime I intentionally committed.

This time is different.

I’m being accused of something I
didn’t do, and I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to get myself out of this.

I’m a man. If I did the crime,
I’ll ‘fess to it and take my punishment. But I’ll be damned if I take the fall
for some other asshole.

“It’s a set up.” I realize how
cliché I sound, but this whole thing feels like a fucking movie. Only it’s real
life. There’s a very real chance these guys are about to pin Thad McHenry’s
murder on me, and I’d be delusional to think I’m going to be walking out of
here anytime soon.

“Do you know Thad McHenry?” A new
detective says. This must be the bad cop coming in to ask the same questions the
good cop asked. I know this strategy. They want to see if I keep my facts
straight. Any deviation from what I said an hour ago will raise a red flag to
them.

Lucky for me, I know exactly what
I said. It’s not hard to keep the fact straight when you speak the truth.

“Yes,” I say. “I knew of him. He
was interning with my parole officer. We met once. Briefly.”

“Were you home last night?
Between the hours of two AM and seven AM?” he asks, pressing his pen into a
tiny tablet of paper.

“Yes and no,” I say, slinking
back into my chair.

I fought last night. A last
minute gig Kyle set up yesterday afternoon. He waved another fat stack of cash
in my face and I took the bait.

“Right. That’s what you told my partner,
but you refuse to tell him where you were. You understand how that looks,
right?”

If I tell them I was at a bar,
fighting illegally, I’ll be sent back to prison. If I don’t tell them where I
was, I’ll secure my spot as suspect number one.

I’m two seconds from asking for
an attorney, a move I know makes me look guilty. And fuck, I cannot afford a
good attorney right now.

This entire thing is a goddamn
set up and I know it. I just don’t know why. Or who would’ve set me up.

“You’re the only Titan registered
as a resident in this town. You have a history of assault. The suspect in the
Ramirez case was wearing a shirt identical to the one you’re wearing right
now.”

I hunch forward, running my thumb
along my brow. “Yeah. All signs point to me. I get that. But it wasn’t me. I’m
telling you that.”

“All you have to do, Titan, is
give us your alibi.”

I’m cornered. Caught in a trap.
Either way it goes, I’m looking at spending some more time locked up like a
caged animal for something I didn’t even do.

There’s a knock at the door, and
the detective jerks his attention that way. A second later he slaps the table
and rises.

“I’ll be right back.” He leaves,
the door slamming behind him. The clink of a lock fills the cinderblock room.

This is some bullshit.

The tick of the clock marks the
minutes that pass, each one slower than the one before.

My mind is filled with a hundred
different scenarios. Not having control over this moment – over my fate
– is pure fucking hell.

The clink of the lock and the
sweeping of the heavy door
sends
my heart into my
chest for a second.

“Titan,” the detective says.
“You’re free to go. For now.”

I’m confused, but I don’t say
anything. Instead, I collect myself and follow him down the hall.

And then I see her.

Jordana.

I don’t know how she knew I was
here. I don’t know what she said or what she did. But I swear to God, this
woman –
my
woman – is the
best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I fight my excitement for the
sake of playing it cool, and head out the front door with her.

We don’t speak until we get to
the car.

“Titan,” she says, her eyes
filled with worry and traces of doubt. She’s so fucking gorgeous in the
morning, in the natural light. Her beauty is a stark contrast to a shitty ass
day like today. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know who did it. But I
know it wasn’t you.”

“How do you know?” I ask.

“I know your heart. At least I
think I do. You wouldn’t kill someone over what Thad did to me. You’re a smart
man. You don’t want to go back to prison, and you sure as hell don’t belong in
there.” She worries her lip. “And you want to be with me. I mean, I think you
do. You wouldn’t throw that away.”

She’s right.

“What’d you say?” I ask.

“I told them I was with you last
night.” She sighs, reaching up to brush a strand of hair off my forehead. “I
told them we’ve had an ongoing relationship since you were released.”

“But your internship…”

“I’m willing to sacrifice my
internship if it means you’ll be free. I couldn’t live with myself if you were
sent away for something you didn’t do.”

I’m amazed by her faith in me. No
one looks at me the way she does, with hope and optimism. She might be Mary
fucking Sunshine, but she’s my Mary fucking Sunshine.

“You really believe in me,” I
say.

She nods, biting her lower lip. I
lean down and crush her mouth with a kiss. This woman lied for me. She became
my alibi. She caught me as I fell. No one else would do that for me.

Shit, if I had half a brain about
me I might wife her right here and now.

“I didn’t do it,” I whisper, my
fingers tangling in her dark curls.

“I know,” she says. “Titan, I
know.”

My mother calls me the next
morning.

I’m sure she’s worried sick.

I didn’t come home last night.
Instead, I stayed with Titan, not wanting to leave his side in case he got
swept up in something again. Someone framed him, and my main priority right now
is finding out who would’ve done it.

“Hello?” I answer Mama’s call on
the third ring.

“Jordana, where on God’s green
earth are you
?!
”

“I’m fine, Mama. I stayed with a
friend last night. I should’ve called you. I’m so sorry.”

“You better be sorry, girl.” I
hear the anger in her voice. Sober anger sounds much different than drunken
anger. There’s less sadness in it. More rage. “I was
worried
sick! How do you think I felt when I woke up this morning and your car was
gone?”

Probably the same way she felt
that morning Jerome didn’t come home.

“I’m sorry.” I offer another
apology, as if it could possibly calm her down.

“Where are you? Who are you
with?” she asks. “And I drove by your intern site this morning. Your car wasn’t
there. I know you’re not at work, Jordana, so don’t even try to lie.”

I’m perched on the edge of
Titan’s bed, the door to his bathroom ajar as thick billows of steam escape.
He’s showering. We hadn’t talked about telling our parents, but I’m not sure I
have a choice now.

“I stayed with Titan,” I blurt.
My face winces, my eyes jamming tight.

I’m met with silence on the other
end.

At least, for
a minute or two.

“Uh, what did you say?” she asks.
“I don’t think I heard you clearly. Did you just say you stayed the night with
Titan? As in Lewis’ son?”

“Yes, Mama.”

She laughs. She thinks it’s
funny. I hope that’s a good thing.

“Oh, no,” she says. “Naw. Naw.
Naw.”

“We’re close friends, Mama,” I
say. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Have you been screwing him?” she
asks.

My cheeks burn. Never in a
million years did I ever plan to discuss my sexual life with my mother.

“I said we’re good friends,” I
repeat.

“You must think I was born
yesterday. You must think you’re so damn clever, sneaking around at night,
running over to his apartment like you’re smarter than everyone.” She huffs,
and I can just picture her with a hand on her curved hip and a jaw hanging to
the floor. “You lost your damn internship, didn’t you, Jordana?”

“I’m going to, yes,” I say. “I’m
turning in my ID and resignation today.”

“There goes your whole damn
future. There goes four years of college tuition. Right down the drain. You’re
paying me back every last red cent, you understand me?”

“Yes, Mama.”

In my defense, she’s being
entirely too dramatic, but I’m not about to tell her that.

“You need to get your things and
go,” she says. “Come by and pick everything up. You’re not staying here
anymore. You’ve lost your damn mind, Jordana. Who do you think you are? Hooking
up with your future stepbrother and throwing away your good reputation and your
education like that?”

She rambles on, but I tune her
out. Instead I focus on the glimpse I catch of Titan’s naked body in the
bathroom mirror. He runs his palm along the fog, clearing it up before securing
a white towel around his waist.

The sight of him makes me smile.

Knowing he’s mine makes all of
this worth it.

“Mama, I’m going to let you go,”
I say. “I’ll be by to pick up my things sometime this week.”

She doesn’t mean half the things
she’s saying. She’ll calm down. She’s a good woman, a sweet, kind,
loving
woman. She’s just upset that she didn’t pick up on
any of this before. But how could she? Drinking until she passes out every
night.

I can only hope this will be a
wakeup call to her.

Titan emerges from the bathroom,
a half-smirk on his sexy face.

“Who was that?” he asks.

“Mama.” I sigh. “I told her.”

His smile fades. “Oh, yeah? How’d
she take it?”

“Not well. Wants me to get my
things and move out.” I gather my hair in my hands, draping it over my
shoulder. “She’s just being dramatic.”

“Huh.” He cocks a head. “I always
thought she liked me.”

“Not when you’re screwing her
only daughter,” I laugh. “Apparently.”

“I’d apologize to her, but I’m
not really sorry.” He struts past me, leaning down and stealing a kiss. I drag
my finger down his damp, muscled arm. My body craves his weight on me once
more, but it’s only been an hour since our last round. I’ll give him time to
recharge.

“So I’ve been thinking,” I say.
“We need to find out who’s behind all this. Who would have any reason to set
you up?”

He collapses in a chair by the
window, raking his fingers through his wet hair.

“I’ve racked my brain, Jordana,
and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out who would have it out for me.”

“
Who
all
have you associated with since you’ve been out?” I ask.

“Just you and the guys at the
shop,” he says. “I thought maybe Kyle, but I’m worth too much to him. And KJ’s
not even an option. He’s a scrawny little thing who can’t think straight half
the time. He’s a simple guy.”

“Maybe it’s someone you fought?”
I propose. “Maybe you humiliated them and they wanted to set you up? Take you
down? This is why you need to stay away from those underground fighting rings.”

“Should I get a pen and some
paper?
You about to lecture me?
Do I need to take
notes?”

“I’m being serious, Titan. No
more fighting, okay? Please. It’s over.”

He blows a long breath past his
lips and meets my gaze. “Yeah. I was leaning that way anyway, but fine. It’s
over.”

I smile, standing up and
strutting toward him. I crawl into his lap, straddling him, and hook my arm
around the back of his neck. His clean scent fills the air, mixing with fresh
air from his cracked window.

The towel covering his lap begins
to move, and the outline of his bulge appears.

“Oh, hello.” I grin.

He reaches, yanking off the towel
and revealing his perfect cock in all
it’s
engorged
glory. I’m still in nothing but a white t-shirt from last night. It’s all too
convenient.

I scoot up on his lap, rising up
and lowering myself onto him. He fills me, his hands gripping my hips as I rock
back and forth. Yanking off my t-shirt, I press my breasts against his warm
skin.

It doesn’t matter that we’re
right next to the window.

I’m fucking Titan, and I want the
world to know I’m his.

His hot lips press into my flesh,
leaving a series of searing kisses along my collarbone and trailing up the
underside of my jaw. My eyes close as I enjoy the pressure, pleasure, and pain
cocktail between my thighs, and my lips find his once again. He takes my lower
lip between his teeth, biting and releasing, and my breasts bounce as our
bodies glide.

“You’re mine, Jordana,” he growls
softly. “Everything about you. Your body, your mind…I own it. No one else can
have you…”

I don’t argue. His stark
declaration only serves to make me hotter, wetter. I bounce harder, his words
playing on a loop inside my head.

Yes…yes…yes…

I am his.

I belong to him.

I am wanted.

Titan Blackstone wants me.
Nothing else matters.
I’ll go to the ends of the earth to
make sure his freedom is secured, because in the end, his freedom is my
freedom. Titan freed me of a life of oppression, a life of living someone
else’s dream and fitting into someone else’s box of ideals.

If he’s locked up and sent away,
it’ll be the end of me. The end of this beautiful, freeing life I was just
beginning to fall in love with.

We belong together. I’ll protect
that until the day I die.