Fever (Breathless #2)(110)

Jace shrugged. “Hell if I know. I have Kaden and Trevor keeping an eye on things. What I don’t want is him showing up to see Bethany when none of us are around. I don’t trust him. Not after that shit he pulled.”

Ash’s brows furrowed. “What shit? Are you talking something specific or just his normal bullshit of popping in and out?”

“I didn’t tell you,” Jace murmured. “I’d forgotten you didn’t know all the crap that went down that day it all went to shit and I thought I’d lost her for good. Jesus. Talk about a total cluster f**k.”

“What the hell?”

Jace sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Jack showed up at her apartment when I’d taken her back by there on my way to work. I got a call from Kaden that Jack was there. So I go over there, only she’s no longer there and I find his backpack in her apartment and it’s full of drugs. We’re talking several Gs worth of shit.”

“What the f**k?”

“Yeah. That was my reaction too. So then Bethany comes home and I was an ass**le. Lost my shit. Said a bunch of crap I didn’t mean. Made her feel like she had nothing. She took off before I could stop her. So I spent the rest of the afternoon losing my mind because I couldn’t find her. Then I got a call that she was back at the apartment, only when I get there, she’d already bolted again. Then the doorman at my building calls to say that she’s at my place but she wouldn’t come in and she was standing in the f**king rain freezing her ass off.”

“Holy shit,” Ash murmured.

“Oh, it gets worse.”

Ash lifted an eyebrow.

“Yeah, apparently when I decide to be an ass**le, I go all the way.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah, I get to my place, relieved as shit that she’s still there. Only she’s standing in the rain, crying her eyes out and she tells me it’s over and that I’m bad for her.”

Jace had to break off and collect himself because the memory of that day still burned too bright in his mind. Of what he’d almost driven her to. It still had the power to knock him to his knees. He could have so easily lost her. All because he was so f**king obsessed with her that he lost all reason around her. His instinct was to hold too tight, to lay down the law and to completely take over.

“She was so upset by our earlier argument—and this I didn’t know at the time, but our good friend Jack, a man who’s supposed to care about her, had brought the shit she used to be hooked on to her apartment. A little gift for her, apparently.”

“Oh hell no,” Ash growled.

“She told him she didn’t want his shit but he left it there and so when she got back to her apartment after walking around in the rain crying her eyes out over the shit I’d said to her, she almost took a pill. Had it in her mouth, about to swallow, when she realized what she was doing and so she dumped the entire bottle down the sink.”

“Good for her,” Ash murmured.

“Yeah. She’s strong. She thinks she’s weak but she’s f**king fierce.”

“So what happened then?” Ash asked.

“She was so devastated by what she’d almost done that she went straight to my apartment to break things off. She was prepared to go back to her old life because at least then she knew who she was and what she was. She didn’t think she was good enough for me. And she couldn’t take the emotional strain of our relationship any longer.”

“Christ, man, that sounds heavy. I’m sorry.”

“Looking back, it was probably the best thing for us. It forced me to listen to her and I also learned about her past and the shit she went through and why she’s so f**king loyal to Kingston. But it was as hard as hell at the time and it still scares the shit out of me when I think of how close I came to losing her.”

“You’re in love with her,” Ash said quietly.

“Hell yes, I’m in love with her. Isn’t it obvious?”

“No, I mean she’s really it for you. I admit I had my doubts, but she’s the one, man. I’m happy for both of you. And I’m sorry I gave you such grief in the beginning. I owe Bethany one hell of an apology.”

Jace gave him a crooked grin. “Yeah, she’s it for me. I would have never thought it possible to fall in love with a woman as fast as I fell for her, but Jesus. It was like being hit by lightning. The best and worst feeling in the world. It’s no fun being this gone over a woman and feeling the uncertainty of knowing if I don’t play it just right I’ll lose her.”

“Yeah, no thanks,” Ash said sourly. “Guess I’ll be the only one remaining who adheres to the ‘play hard and live free’ motto.”

“Asshole. Just wait until it happens to you, man. Gabe and I will be laughing our asses off.”

Ash snorted. “Don’t hold your breath.”

“So what’s up with the family from hell? Why they still giving you shit?”

Ash sighed. “Don’t really want to talk about them. Ruins my day.”

Jace continued to stare at him expectantly.

“Just same old shit. Apparently the dear grandfather isn’t feeling well. He’s convinced he’s going to kick the bucket any day. Never mind he’s been saying this shit for years. And his wish is to have his dear, loving family with him on his deathbed. Mom and Dad are just worried that if I don’t come to heel they’ll be cut out of his will and so they’re on my back wanting me to come to family dinners and play nice with the rest of the clan. Self-serving leeches, all of them.”