Fever (Breathless #2)(53)

“It’ll make me happy to think of you in a cushy apartment having a good meal and staying warm.”

She threw herself into his arms and hugged him fiercely. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as he hugged her back.

“I’ll miss you, Jack,” she choked out.

And she realized it was true. Even as she knew his shortcomings. Even as she knew all they’d endured and the fact that she’d struggled to ensure they had food and that he had money for the demons that drove him. Guilt crowded into her mind, heavy and suffocating. How much had she contributed to his addiction?

All she knew was that she couldn’t tell him no. Not after all he’d done for her, all he’d suffered for her. A part of her had known that if she hadn’t come through, he would have turned to other, more dangerous methods to get what he needed and she hadn’t wanted that. And yet somehow it hadn’t mattered. He had borrowed money. Money he hadn’t been able to repay.

She frowned as she started to duck into the cab. “Jack?”

“Yeah.”

“You said the money was taken care of. How did you pay them back?”

Fear paralyzed her. What had he done?

He shrugged and started to swing the door shut. “I don’t know. When I went to see them about an extension, they said the debt was paid. I’m not going to argue with them. I just want you safe and away from here.”

She sat numbly as he shut the door and then he stepped back, disappearing into the darkness. Her throat closed in and she nearly flung open the door and ran after him because she feared this would be the last time she saw him.

The cab started forward, preventing her from doing just that. She stared back as long as she could before they merged into traffic.

She bowed her head and clutched her arms tightly around herself in an effort to alleviate the swelling grief.

The city passed in a blur of traffic lights, Christmas decorations, honking horns and stop-and-go traffic. She wasn’t aware they’d arrived until the cab driver gave her a gentle prompt.

“Ma’am? We’re here.”

She yanked herself from the melancholy surrounding her and sat forward, digging hastily into her pocket for the fare.

“Thank you,” she murmured before opening the door and stepping into the cold.

She hurried toward the apartment entrance only to be met by the doorman, who looked hugely relieved.

“Miss Willis, thank God.”

She didn’t register him saying anything else but her brow puckered in confusion at the idea that he would be relieved. He ushered her toward the elevator and as the doors closed, he already had a cell phone to his ear.

She dragged herself into her apartment—her apartment. She felt like a fraud. Seeing Jack tonight brought home the fact that she didn’t belong here. She didn’t fit into this world. She certainly hadn’t earned this. She didn’t even have a job.

How long could it possibly last? Until Jace got over his current infatuation? She still wasn’t sure what it was he saw in her or why he’d bother. Not when there were only too many women more than willing to take her place.

If there was one thing she’d learned in the past week when she and Jace went out, it was that there was no shortage of female interest. And the women were understandably shocked that Jace would be with someone like Bethany. Not that they knew anything of her circumstances, but it was very clear that she wasn’t even close to his socioeconomic status. For all practical purposes, Jace was slumming.

She winced even as she sagged onto the couch, not even bothering to take off her coat. She was still cold, even within the warmth of her apartment. Cold on the inside, the kind simple heat didn’t thaw.

She laid her head back against the cushion and closed her eyes. She should call Jace. He’d probably been trying to reach her. But in a really stupid moment, she’d forgotten her cell phone here at the apartment. She’d been so intent on sneaking away from Kaden and Trevor that she’d left it here on the counter.

Flinching ahead of time at the dressing-down she’d receive, she pushed up from the couch to go in search of her phone. She needed to at least text Jace to let him know she was okay.

More guilt surged over her. Now, back at the apartment, realization settled in at just how irresponsible and selfish she’d been. Jace had been nothing but kind to her. And she hadn’t even taken her phone so he would know she was all right. Maybe it had been subconscious to leave the phone because Jace would have started blowing it up the minute Kaden reported her absence, and she would have felt even guiltier about ignoring his calls.

She found the phone, just where she’d left it, on the bar in the kitchen. She flinched when she saw the sheer volume of missed calls and texts. From Jace. From Kaden. From Trevor.

She pushed it away, not even wanting to look at them, but she still had to let Jace know she was okay.

With a sigh, she reached for it again just as the door burst open and Kaden and Trevor surged into her apartment. Startled, she dropped the phone and took a hasty step back before she fully registered who it was.

“Thank God,” Kaden muttered. “Are you all right? Did anyone hurt you?”

She mutely shook her head, her eyes wide at the look in Kaden’s and Trevor’s eyes. Then without another word, Kaden yanked up his phone.

“Mr. Crestwell. Yeah, I got her. She’s back at her apartment. Looks okay. I haven’t had a chance to question her. I knew you’d want to know. Okay. I’ll see you shortly.”