Free TITAN by Kate Stewart Page B

to handle
this one.
    He heard laughter again but this
time louder and harder along with other voices and more laughter.
    This time he got up, almost pissed,
to see who was making her laugh like that.

Chapter 9
     
    “So by the time we reached customs
we were so fucked up none of us could speak!” Jessie said, bursting into
laughter.
     
    By the time he reached the room, he
heard Onyx start in on another road tale.
    He couldn’t believe it, every
single one of his crew was in the lounge room, surrounding Jordy, swapping road
stories, and she was eating it up.
    It was as if she wasn’t bothered at
all that he was doing his best to be a prick.
     
    The whole room stopped laughing as
soon as Tite walked in. His face was stone cold and serious and he looked like
he was in a rage.
    “I don’t pay you motherfuckers to
entertain my guests!”
    He grabbed Jordy’s hand, almost
yanking her off of the couch and said, “Come on, we are leaving.”
    Jordy let him lead her away and
looked over her shoulder, trying to save face, saying, “Bye guys, and thanks
for the stories!”
    Titan jerked her arm a little,
surprising her, making her walk quicker toward the front door.
    “Tracey, I am out. Unless Ben
calls, I am out of town until Monday. If he calls, tell him to hit me up
mobile.”
    She barely had time to give him the
okay when the front door closed.
     
    “Tite, what’s wrong? You almost
fucking jerked my arm out of socket!”
     She was scared.
    What the hell could she have
possibly done to make him so angry?
    “Those motherfucking clowns never do
what they are supposed to.” He continued to mumble and curse something
inaudible. Jordy couldn’t tell if she was the ally or the enemy at this point.
She decided to play it safe and save her words.
    “SO, you like stories, huh?” he
said, shutting her door and jumping into his side without waiting for a
response.
    “Once upon a time there was a guy
named Phillip who was young and stupid and he fell in love with this beautiful
brunette and married her, they loved each other and tore each other apart for
as long as they could stand it. Then one night Tite goes into his studio and
sees his wife fucking his manager. Then he got a divorce. The End.”
    Jordy sat there for a long silence.
She had known about his ex-wife.
    Tite put everything in his songs,
he poured his heart out at times, it seemed, but you never really knew which
songs were true and which ones he was playing around. She knew he had switched
managers.
    She knew all about the divorce. She
just never put the two together and she was fascinated. She kept quiet. She
knew his hostility would eventually go away, and he wasn’t mad at her, this
much she knew.
    Was he jealous?
    No way! He was jealous!
    This guy was a total mystery.
     
    She wasn’t upset that he didn’t try
to comfort her last night when she cried, truth be known she wasn’t that type
of girl, she didn’t need constant attention from any man. She knew it was one
of the good things about this whole arrangement. She didn’t need to be cuddled
or told she was loved or even the little things like holding hands. It wasn’t
something she wouldn’t do and of course it didn’t bother her, she just didn’t
need it.
    Tony held her hand all the time.
    Poor Tony, she hoped he would find
someone who erased her memory completely. A twinge of guilt tugged at her as
she studied Tite’s face. It was a good thing to keep from Tite, too, she
decided. It would make her seem stronger, less needy.
    She would keep this from him for
her advantage, but because he felt so strongly about women and deceptions and
didn’t seem to trust anyone, she decided she would never lie to him.
    No matter what, she wouldn’t lie.
     
    “Did you look at the ring?” he
asked, out of nowhere.
    “Yes,” she said, very matter of fact.
    “Did you try it on?” he asked,
irritated.
    “No, I just looked at it. It’s
still on my counter,” she said, as if she was offering some