Gambled - A Titan Novella by Cristin Harber Page A

she doesn’t have a home to go to after my funeral?”
    A tiny smile cracked across Jared’s face, but he shut it down with a foul glare. “We’ve been through years’ worth of fighting side by side. And shit, I get the do-anything-to-save-your-girl concept.”
    The explanation for not executing Brock was about as close to a heart-to-heart as Jared would ever have. My turn… what to say? “I knew that you’d get to Sugar before anyone hurt her.”
    “Maybe you did. Maybe you didn’t. That’s not the point.”
    “So what is?”
    “Titan. Our team. We’re fuckin’ family.”
    The reminder was a twisting knife to his gut. “Yup.”
    “But the house is a goner. That pretty truck of yours is too.”
    Such a Boss Man thing to do. Brock almost had to laugh.
    Jared blew out through clenched teeth. “I needed to destroy something before I came here to scoop your ass up. Otherwise, maybe you would be dead right now. We aren’t even. But we’re as good as we’re going to get at the moment.” He growled. “And I need to thank you. You took the kill shot when I couldn’t. For everything you screwed up on our last job, you also saved Sugar’s life. Thanks.”
    Brock stood there, nothing to say. He never expected a thank you and wasn’t sure he deserved one.
    Jared marched toward the driver’s door. “What’s your problem? Get in the damn Rover.”
    He pivoted toward Boss Man. “This has been too simple. I mean, hell, man. I deserve worse.”
    “Well, get in the car. You’ll have Sugar to deal with soon enough. She might not want you dead, but she does want five minutes with you. Alone. Death might be the easier option.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
    Calming her nerves, Sarah sipped her strawberry daiquiri while she and Sugar lounged by the pool. They’d put Bethany on a private jet back to her parents earlier, and it was time to unwind. If she could. But Jared had been gone for hours, and anxiety whispered awful thoughts to her.
    Sugar plopped on the lounge chair next to her. “Always wanted to come here on vacation. Think we’ll stay a few days.” She narrowed her gaze at Sarah chewing the end of her straw. “Relax. They’ll be fine. Both getting Brock out safely and working out their man crap.”
    “Maybe.” She gnawed on the straw, took another long sip, and gnawed again. She needed to focus on something entirely different. The men would be fine. Working herself up wouldn’t help a thing. “I think I’m going to find a job when I get home. Assuming Brock and I work out some details. No idea what he’s going to do, but the girls and I aren’t hiding anymore. They’ll be in school, I’ll be… doing something.”
    Sugar swallowed a huge gulp of her drink. “Yeah, about that. When you say home , it might be more figuratively than literally.”
    Sarah raised her eyebrows. “What’s that mean?”
    “Jared blew your house up. Big-time. Huge explosion. Ka-blam-ie.”
    “ What? ” She choked over her daiquiri. “He did what? ”
    “Sorry, chickadee. Boys will be boys and all.”
    Sarah started laughing. She couldn’t stop. Her life was insane. Their existence was completely ridiculous.
    Sugar frowned. “It’s not really funny. I’m being serious. I tried to stop him but—”
    Sarah put her hand out to shush Sugar. Tears streamed down her face. It is that funny .
    “Sarah, are you okay? Don’t crack up on me.” Sugar put her drink down and clapped in Sarah’s face. “Oh my God, I’m going to have to call Mia or something. Snap out of it.”
    She tried for a breath, but it turned into a snort. Then she started laughing all over again. It felt great.
    Sugar covered her mouth. A bright lipstick-covered smile peeked out from behind her fingers. Then she laughed too. They laughed and drank and laughed some more.
    Finally, Sarah shook her head. “I hated that house. I didn’t want to go back there anyway. Starting new will be awesome. New house. New school. Hell, new marriage.”
    A pool