Her Titans by Genevieve Jasper

Madelaine

6

I wake up in a dark and unfamiliar room, with sunlight peeking around the curtains. My phone is charging on the bedside table so I reach over to check the time. Nearly lunchtime already, I never sleep this late. There are also around a hundred messages from Lia so I call her back straight away, not bothering to get up first.

"Lai?!" she answers frantically.

"Morning," I mumble, my voice rough with sleep.

"Thank God, I thought you'd been murdered. I tried to get Atlas to drop you at mine but he was having none of it."

"It's fine, I'm still alive so far. Doesn't sound like it's them out to get me anyway."

"Yeah, Atlas filled me in. What the fuck? What are you going to do?"

"Right now? I don’t know. What’s the first step of getting your life back together when everything you own is gone?" I ask her, slightly melodramatically but I feel like it’s justified.

"Shopping?" Lia asks hesitantly.

I smile at the turn in her tone, melancholy to cautiously hopeful in the blink of an eye. "Yeah, that seems right."

"I’ll meet you at our coffee spot in an hour?"

"Perfect, this is why I love you."

"One of many, many reasons."

I laugh again and hang up, already feeling lighter. I reluctantly heave myself out of the massive bed I've found myself in and pad over to the curtains, pulling them open. The view is incredible, it's like I've woken up in a national park. Were we still in Ironhaven? I didn't recall driving for that long last night but I wasn't in the right frame of mind to be paying much attention. I don't remember much at all between the flames and waking up just now.

I spin slowly, taking in the stunning room which full of different textures in natural beiges, creams, and bright whites. I collect some clothes that I'm hoping were left for me and don't belong to someone else and wander into the bathroom, emptying the huge tub and admiring the rest of the marble and gold fixtures. A memory invades my brain, of Atlas running it for me full of scented bubbles before feeding me as he tried to get me to relax. Was that right? It seemed real but he didn't seem like that kind of guy. How much damage could shock do to your brain?

I push those thoughts aside and get ready, making a mental note of what I need today. I figure two weeks worth of clothing and toiletries, some work makeup, shoes, and underwear should cut it. This leads me to thinking about actual errands I need to run and my head begins to swim. I message Jason and ask for tomorrow off, calling in a favour and apologising for the late notice. He replies quickly, saying he hopes everything's okay and that he has good news for me when I'm back.

I venture out of the room and wander along the hallway towards the sound of someone moving around. The doors are all shut down here but as I reach the end it opens up into one big space. The lobby and front door are to my right, and on my left is a huge open plan kitchen diner. The whole back wall is glass that looks over a large patio area with a pool. Wow. Where am I?! The kitchen itself is all white with a huge oak dining table opposite, a counter with bar stools sitting between the two areas. The source of the noise is an older lady unloading a dishwasher.

“Good morning, Miss,” she greets me. “Would you like anything to eat?” She doesn't appear to be surprised to see a strange woman wandering unescorted through the house.

“I’m good, thank you. And Lai is fine,” I reply with a small smile, still taking in the gorgeous surroundings.

“Lucy,” she replies and offers me her hand, which I shake. “Are you sure I can’t tempt you? These are just about finished.” She pulls out a dish of baked eggs from the oven and my mouth waters.

“They do smell delicious," I admit. "Do you know where Atlas is?”

“He left for lunch already,” Maxton replies from behind me, making me jump.

“Oh, thanks.”

Lucy puts two plates on the counter and excuses herself. I guess she took my admission as a request.

“How are you feeling?” Maxton asks as he sits down next to me. Suddenly I feel awkward in this space. He obviously feels at home here, is this his house? I feel self-conscious, being alone with this handsome guy. He's huge, both in muscle (which you can tell is stacked even through his shirt) and in height. I’m only 5’6 so the difference was about eight inches in my heels, but he bears down on me now that I’m barefoot. He's definitely the tallest of the three. I am wildly attracted to him, with his eyes almost black against his deep brown skin, and his black shaved faux hawk seems to beg me to run my nails through it. This attraction was okay when I thought I was flirting with a stranger at the bar, but now I know that he’s Atlas’s friend, I feel weirdly guilty. Added to the fact that he isn't flirting back, just keeping an eye on me like a child, I bristle internally.

“Better this morning, now I've got plans to sort my shit out.” I start my breakfast, not wanting to talk anymore, but moan when I taste the first bite. This food is incredible. Screw the Hummer, hiring Lucy may now be at the top of my life goals.

Maxton clears his throat next to me, “Need any help?”

“No, I’m good, thanks. I’m about to Uber into town to meet Lia. I just wanted to thank Atlas before I went, but can you pass the message on?”

“Jeremy will take you,” he says, getting up and leaving before I can argue. I finish my breakfast and he returns while I’m washing my dish.

“I don’t need Jeremy to take me, I can Uber just fine.”

“Jeremy’s there for security, he also conveniently happens to have a car.”

“Why would I need security?” I ask, whipping round.

He shrugs. “You can chat to Atlas when you get back.”

“I’m not coming back. I'll just grab a hotel room for the night, then I’m arranging something more permanent tomorrow.”

“Atlas won't want that. And like I said, he wants to speak to you.”

“Then Atlas can come to me. Unlike some people I know, I don’t follow his commands,” I say with a pointed look.

“Fine,” he replies as if he’d rather be doing anything other than having this conversation. “You can have that argument with him, but Jeremy is still taking you.”

I concede with a nod because his mention of security freaks me out slightly with the memories from last night filtering back to me, but I won’t admit that to him. I run back to the room, grabbing my phone and bag from last night. It looks odd with this casual outfit I've been provided, or maybe accidentally stolen, but it has everything I own left in it. That currently encompasses my bank cards, ID, and keys to a burnt down house. Wow, let's not focus on that, now is not the time to panic.

Jeremy is waiting for me just outside the front door, standing like a sentry.

“Morning, Jeremy!”

“Morning, Miss.”

“Please, we’re going to be pals. Call me Lai.”

“Yes, Miss Lai.”

I roll my eyes but say nothing and a small smile appears on his lips. He walks me across the driveway to a closed garage with the Hummer pulled up out front. We jump in and I google the distance to the coffee shop, half an hour away. So we are still in Ironhaven. How they’ve got this much land in the city, I do not know. Messaging Lia to let her know we’ll be a bit late, I settle in for the drive, moving my mental shopping list onto a google doc on my phone. I’ll share it with Lia so we can divide and conquer in the shops, as I have a lot to get and not a lot of time with it being a Sunday. She knows my style better than I do most of the time, anyway.

We pull up to the coffee shop and I thank Jeremy. We’re in the high street, which is set out in a square and Jeremy offers to meet us at each corner to offload any bags. Have I mentioned that I love him? Maybe I’ll poach their entire staff at some point. I find Lia with both of our usual orders waiting at our favourite spot, two huge armchairs in the corner. She stands to give me an enormous hug and I hold on for a little longer than normal.

“You okay, Lai?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s just a lot to process.”

“True. But if anyone can handle it and come out thriving, it’s you,” she says with a reassuring smile. We finish our drinks and I catch her up on who the guys at the bar and on the platform with Atlas turned out to be. On the way out I grab an iced coffee that I’m pretty sure ends up being at least 50% sugar with all the cream and caramel I add. I have no idea what Jeremy drinks but hopefully this is a safe choice. We drop it off at the car for him, hoping he has a sweet tooth; we’ll be pals in no time.

“Okay, you didn’t tell me Jeremy is seriously hot. Is that a requirement to work for Atlas or something?” Lia whispers as we walk away.

I sneak a peek back through the car window and have to admit Jeremy is not bad to look at. His hair is dark, scattered with grey, and he definitely pulls off the silver fox look.

“You have met him before,” I remind her.

“Yeah, but I must’ve been too drunk or too tired to notice those muscles,” she says with a wiggle of her brows.

“I would’ve thought he was way too clean-cut for you.”

“I dunno, the military vibe is working for him. Although I am more than happy with my own tattooed bad boy.”

I shake my head and laugh at her, not wanting to delve too deep into how hot she found Jeremy or Caus, to be honest. We shop for hours, dropping our bags off at every corner, which really should be a service people provide. I would happily pay for that shit. I don’t even know half of what Lia has picked and we finally finish after being ushered to the tills in our last stop with three baskets full. We decide to stop for an early dinner so put our names down at a great little tapas place we both love. There’s a brief wait for a table, so we sit at the bar and order a round of drinks.

“Cheers to a successful trip,” Lia says, raising her glass. I grin at her and tap my glass to hers as her eyes glance over my shoulder and her answering grin gets even bigger. I turn around, curious, and find myself staring straight at Atlas’s pecs. Not the worst view, admittedly, but unexpected.

“Hi, ladies. Atlas,” he offers to Lia with an outstretched hand.

“Amelia,” Lia replies with a smile, shaking it. “Don’t mind me, I’m just popping to the restroom.”

I narrow my eyes at her retreating back. “What are you doing here?” I ask Atlas as he takes Lia’s vacated stool.

“You told Max I should come to you.”

“This isn’t what I meant, I’m a little busy.”

Ignoring my plea, he continues. “You’re not staying at a hotel tonight.”

“Last time I checked I was a fully grown adult who could make their own decisions, but thank you for your input.” I’m mature enough to recognise when I am cutting my nose off to spite my face. Yes, someone had set fire to my home yesterday, but I am still a strong, independent woman. Also, it was just too hard to believe that I’d actually been targeted. Me! What?! I’m a delight! How many enemies could an architect make, really? But being mature enough to recognise the signs was as far as I went, apparently. I was not about to right those personality flaws. “I’ve got stuff I need to do in the city tomorrow, anyway.”

“That’s fine, Jeremy can take you.”

“I’m sure Jeremy has much more interesting things to do than chaperone his best pal around.” I try not to chuckle at Atlas’s confused expression.

“He’s a fully trained member of our security team, second only to Max, so it’s one of those two, or Quinn.”

Not wanting to be alone with either Max or Quinn, I sigh, which Atlas must take as a concession. “Great, I’ll see you at home later.” When I open my mouth to argue further, he leans forward and cups the back of my head, kissing me until I can’t think straight. “Enjoy your meal,” he says, with way more coherence than I can muster right now and leaves before I pull myself together. Lia returns within a minute, clearly having watched most of that exchange.

“Call yourself a best friend, abandoning me with him?!”

“Oh please, you’ll be adding that to the list of reasons you love me soon enough,” she replies, smirking.

While we wait for the bill, stuffed with delicious food and more than a few cocktails, I go to Google hotels but find my phone missing.

“You didn’t pick up my phone, did you?”

“No, it was next to you on the bar when I went to the toilet,” Lia explains. “Maybe they’ve still got it up there?” Even as she suggests it, I know Atlas took it when he left. That controlling fucker, making sure I have to go back to him. I wouldn’t bother if I didn’t need it for my meetings tomorrow, but I have enough shit to sort out without adding shopping for a new phone to my list.

Lia and I leave the restaurant, hugging as we separate, and she heads to meet Caus. Jeremy is opening my door for me as I stomp towards the car, which is unnecessarily dramatic considering Atlas isn’t here to see me flouncing. It causes me to stumble and practically fall into the passenger seat. Maybe I had a few more cocktails than intended with dinner, but at this point of my weekend, they’re practically medicinal. Jeremy checks I’m okay before climbing in and we head back to the house.