Page 98 of Titan

“Yes.”

The look in her eyes told me she didn’t believe me, but I wasn’t lying. Everything was okay. She was here, my beautiful girl, who brought me far more solace than she realised. It was all I needed right then.

“Gil…”

“I’m fine. I promise.” I leaned towards her and pressed a chaste kiss to her mouth. “I have you.”

The way she blushed at my statement made me smile.

“We should be more worried about him.” I nodded at Edric. “Has he been glaring at her the whole time?”

Theia glanced at Edric, then across the room at Verona, who was laughing at something the person she was with said.

“Pretty much. He’s been complaining too. Said she has no right to judge him when she doesn’t know him, and other less than polite things about her.”

Shaking my head, I poked Edric’s arm. He whipped his head around to me.

“Oh, you’re back. Good. Can we leave yet?”

“We’re on a boat. How do you expect us to get off until this is over?”

His face soured.

“Fuck.”

“Maybe you should stop glaring at my cousin and mingle.”

He waved in Verona’s direction.

“And have her think she’s right about me? Fuck no.”

Theia let out a snort, which only made him give her side eyes.

“I didn’t think talking to people qualified you as a fuckboy. And why do you care about what Verona thinks?”

“Because she’s wrong about me, Gil.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I refrained, knowing he would only get even more irate if I did. Edric hated it when people got the wrong impression of him. People didn’t often take him seriously because of his appearance and the way he conducted himself. He might be laid back and liked to crack jokes, but it didn’t change the fact he was loyal to a fault and smart too. If I hadn’t thought he was capable, I wouldn’t have made him my underboss. He’d proven his worth by finding Alvin for me. Now we were monitoring Devlin Clarke, not that it had got us anywhere yet. Edric was determined to get to the bottom of this shit with my cousin’s missing shipments. He’d find something, eventually. Then we’d make our move.

I’d kept Nino up to date with matters. He was keeping a low profile, not wanting to arouse suspicion with Dino and Gian, but he was glad I was getting somewhere. It meant this shit might be over soon.

“She can say whatever she wants. Doesn’t make it true.”

He didn’t respond, merely turned his attention back to my cousin. Then I did roll my eyes and looked at Theia.

“He’s not going to let that go anytime soon,” she murmured.

“No. I’ll have to keep an eye on it. Verona has never had any tact, nor does she hold back. Best way to deal with her is to give it right back. That’s how you earn her respect.”

“Is that why she didn’t give me shit over what I do?”

I brought her closer to me, pressing my body against hers.

“Mmm, you weren’t afraid of her. Edric’s problem is he didn’t fight back, but maybe he’ll learn that lesson in time.”

Theia didn’t look entirely convinced, but I knew my cousin well enough by now. Verona didn’t suffer fools lightly. The reason she still had it in for Ari was that she felt slighted by her, even though Verona had been the one to start it. Hopefully, the two of them would work their shit out in time. I doubted it, though. Verona held grudges like nobody’s business.

“Well, I hope so, mostly for your sake.”

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