Page 51 of Jace
“Why are you telling me all of this now?” I ask. “We’ve been best friends for a year; you could’ve trusted me. You could’ve told me.”
He exhales, softening. “Same reason you didn’t tell me about the bribe. I worried you’d judge me.”
“Judge you because your father is Bratva?”
“No, judge me because if I get the chance, I’m gonna fucking kill him.”
He turns to go upstairs, and I don’t dare ask; kill who?
His father or my ex?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JACE
I enter the throne room,announcing, “Vivian knows.”
“You think?” Grant tosses a red gummy bear in the air, catching it with a chomp.
But Nash gives me a rare smile. “Happy for ya, man.” He knows how much I’ve wanted her.
“Think it was her ex following you?” Sire scratches at a stain on his tie. Looks like a baby’s spit-up.
“No.” I pluck out my phone. “I got a group text with Delphine and Ruby. Ruby tailed her ex to some laser tag place today; he and his boys like to play withpretendguns. And now Delphine’s watching him freeze his bird brain at a smoothie bar.”
“So it was Sheremetev or Satan.” Sire glances up, asking me, “What’s your gut tell you?”
I take two breaths.Fuck, what a day.I mentally search through it, focusing on that dark SUV with tinted windows.
“Satan,” my instinct speaks. “It was Ruslan. Not Sheremetev.”
“Axel’s setting up the meeting with him, right?” Nash confirms. “So why is Ruslan followingyou?”
I glance around the room. There are sixteen thrones, but only four are full tonight. “Where’s Axel? And Nick? And Loch?”
Sire huffs knowingly. “Two have babies, and one has a bride. You’ll see. They’re why you bust your ass to go home every night.”
“So why areyouhere?” Grant asks what we’re wondering.
Sire grins. “Because Wren is with Bluebell at Mom’s and letting Sasha teach her how to knit a polushalok, and that’s too much estrogen for my dick. If I spent the night with them, I’d never see it again.”
Nash laughs. “What’s a plushlock?”
“Apolushalok,” Grant corrects him. “It’s a Russian traditional shawl and a dick killer for sure.”
I huff. Frustrated. Exhausted. Focused on Vivian. “Can we move on?”
Grant mutters, “Speaking of pussy whipped.”
“It’s all locked down.” Nash senses my urgency. “Extra guards are everywhere. Here. The club. The homes. We’re good.”
“So you’re staying here with Vivian tonight?” Sire can’t fight his knowing smile. “You know, to keep hersafeand all?”
“I’m sure as shit not letting her go back to her home where the scumbag is a threat,” I reason. “And if I’m being tailed, I’m not going to my hideout with her. This place is a fortress. We’ll stay the night.”
I turn to Grant. “You got the cameras on her house hacked yet?”
“On it.” He gets serious. “Started recording twenty-four hours of dummy footage last night, starting with her, opening the gate. It’ll be ready and loaded up by tomorrow morning. Then, you’re free to enter undetected.” He grins. “Pussy pun intended.”
