Fever (Breathless #2)(31)

She stirred, ready to defend Jack, but Jace tightened his hold on her. A warning to remain silent.

“Don’t even go there, baby.” His tone was ice. So forceful that she instantly obeyed. “Don’t dare defend him when what he did was indefensible.”

She sagged against him, closing her eyes once more. She turned her face into his chest, clutching at him with both hands.

“How much does he owe?” Jace demanded.

Bethany pulled away only enough that her words wouldn’t be distorted. “F-f-five thousand dollars.” It may as well be a million. Five thousand dollars was as impossible as ten million dollars.

“I thought I could try peddling,” she said, nearly choking on the words. “I’ve seen others do it and they make decent money. I only have a week though, so I’d need to work hard. So maybe you understand now why I can’t move into your sister’s apartment.”

“Oh f**k no.”

Jace exploded, his body suddenly pulsing with tension. He sat straight up, carrying her with him. He pulled her away so she stared him in the eye and he was angry. Very, very angry. His face reddened and his lips were white from pressing together so fiercely.

“You’re done. Finished. You aren’t setting foot back on the streets again. You’ve lost your ever-loving mind if you think I’m going to let you walk back out there with those f**kheads gunning for you.”

The blood drained from her face. “They’ll hurt Jack. I can’t let that happen, Jace.”

“You leave Jack to me,” he bit out.

She shook her head, hysteria rising. This situation was fast getting out of control and she had to stop it now. She bolted upward before Jace could haul her back down and she took hasty steps backward so he didn’t reach for her.

“I have to go,” she blurted. “Thank you. For everything.”

And then she turned and ran, praying the elevator would open immediately.

Chapter twelve

Jace lunged for Bethany, but she just slipped from his grasp and made a mad, erratic dash toward the elevator. Damn female didn’t even have shoes on. Where the f**k did she think she was going?

The elevator door opened immediately and he surged ahead, arm outstretched to prevent the doors from closing. He missed by two inches.

He wanted to beat his head against the f**king wall. Instead he picked up the phone and called down.

“This is Jace Crestwell,” he said calmly. “There is a woman coming down the elevator. She has no shoes on. Under no circumstances are you to allow her to leave this building. I’ll be down as soon as the elevator reaches my floor again.”

“Yes, sir,” came the crisp answer.

Satisfied that Bethany wouldn’t escape, he punched the call button for the elevator and stewed while he waited for it to come back up. And as he waited, he processed everything Bethany had had to say.

He was facing an uphill battle. Bethany didn’t think she was worthy of him. Which was laughable. He was no goddamn saint. He and Ash had f**ked their way through half of Manhattan and for no other reason than they wanted to.

How the hell could he judge Bethany for using sex as a coping mechanism when he’d essentially done the same thing? And Bethany had certainly had a harder life than Jace. She at least had an excuse. Jace couldn’t say the same.

The elevator doors opened and Jace hurried on, jabbing the button for the lobby with his thumb.

The situation with Jack was trickier but not insurmountable. All he had to do was keep Bethany out of it and make damn sure she was safe. Over his dead body would she rush in to save f**king Jack. She hadn’t said it, hadn’t admitted it, but he’d seen the knowledge in her eyes. The crushing sadness that accompanied the realization that she’d been betrayed by someone she loved and trusted.

Jack had thrown her to the wolves. The ass**le had used her as a guarantee for money he never intended to pay back. Jace was besieged by the urge to go hunt the f**ker down and exact some old-school justice.

When the elevator finally arrived on the first floor, Jace hurried out, looking left and right for sign of Bethany. To his relief, she was sitting in the corner of the lobby, the doorman and the security guard flanking her.

A smile quirked his lips when he saw that she was holding a Styrofoam cup of coffee and that the doorman had engaged her in light conversation. As if seeing a barefoot woman fleeing a building in winter was an everyday occurrence.

Her gaze flickered over him when she saw him approach and fear brewed in the brilliant blue depths. He felt sucker-punched. She was afraid of him.

“Bethany,” he said in a calm voice. “Let’s go back up now and leave these two gentlemen to their work.” Then to the two men he said, “Thank you both for seeing to my Bethany. I wouldn’t want her out in the cold dressed as she is.”

“No, of course not, sir,” the doorman said briskly. Then he smiled warmly at Bethany. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Willis. I hope to see you again soon. If you ever have need of anything, do not hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, Roger,” she said with a smile.

Jace lifted one eyebrow. He’d lived here for some time and he’d never had the occasion to know the doorman’s name. He was ashamed of that fact now, given that she’d learned Roger’s name in less than five minutes.

The security guard gave Jace a short nod and then smiled in Bethany’s direction before returning to his post. Bethany sighed and rose, thrusting the cup toward Roger.