Chapter 38
Elias’s phone buzzed against the surface of his desk, the vibration sharp enough to cut through the quiet of his office. He reached for it without looking away from the file he had been reading, expecting a routine update. But the name on the screen made his eyes narrow.
Justin.
The message was short and urgent.
'We need to meet.'
Elias frowned, typing back quickly.
'Why?'
No reply came. Instead, a moment later, another message dropped onto the screen—an encrypted attachment. He opened it with a slight grimace, a set of coordinates unfolding into a location on the map. A restaurant. Elias tilted his head, studying it.
It's not flashy. Not polished. Certainly not the sort of establishment he would ever choose on his own. It looked almost deliberately plain, a place people went to vanish into the crowd and not to be seen. Which, of course, was likely the point. Justin didn’t want anyone catching them together.
Elias slid his chair back, pocketed his phone, stood, and walked out of his office. His gaze flickered, almost involuntarily, across the office floor to the corner where Jace usually sat. Empty. Of course. The whole building was empty. Every staff member was gone.
A small smile tugged at Elias’s lips. He hadn’t seen Jace for hours now. By this time, Jace would either be at home, probably tired trying to shed off the day’s exhaustion, or at the hospital with Noah.
The hospital.
His body tightened at the thought, a sharp pulse surging through him.
That hallway.
He could still taste smell it...the faint antiseptic tang in the air, mingled with the heat of Jace’s breath as their mouths clashed, desperate and unrestrained. Jace’s back had slammed against the cold wall, yet his lips had burned with urgency. Elias had gripped his wrists above his head, feeling the shiver that ran through Jace’s body, that helpless arch when Elias pressed closer. The sound... God, the sound....of Jace gasping, biting back a moan, trying not to be heard in the sterile quiet of the hospital.
Every detail lived in Elias’s memory as if it were branded there. The taste of Jace’s tongue.... the slick heat of his mouth.... the way his body writhed in surrender despite the risk of being seen. Elias had buried himself in that danger, savoring every stolen second, the delicious tension of knowing anyone could turn a corner and see them, not when Jace’s lips trembled beneath his, not when Jace was clawing lightly at his shirt, pulling him closer instead of pushing away.
The memory made his chest tighten, his cock hard, straining against his trousers. Elias shifted in his seat, forcing a breath through clenched teeth. He had to focus. Not now.
The jolt came when the car slowed, his driver’s voice cutting into the haze. “We’re here, sir.”
Elias blinked, looking out the window.
The place looked even worse in person than it had on the map. Dim, unimpressive. Almost seedy. Certainly not the kind of location where business was conducted or where someone like him belonged. What in the hell did Justin want to tell him in this kind of place?
Elias adjusted his cufflinks with a sharp flick, schooling his features into cool indifference as he stepped out of the car.
Inside, the atmosphere was no better. No waiter greeted him at the door, no polished staff rushing to usher him to a table. What exactly had he expected? This wasn’t his world. This was anonymity.
His phone buzzed once more. The message was clear.
'Table 24.'
Elias’s eyes swept the room, scanning rows of battered chairs and low murmur of conversations. He moved carefully, deliberately, eyes narrowing as he searched.
Then he saw it.
Table 24.
He moved towards the table.
His eyes quickly glanced to his side, and at first, all he caught was the back of a brunette’s head. Then the figure shifted, and his breath caught.
Jace.
Sitting there, relaxed in the muted glow of the restaurant’s poor lighting. Elias’s jaw tightened. Jace. Here. At this place.
But the sharper sting came when his gaze fell on the man across from him.
Aiden.
Their heads bent close together, words exchanged in soft tones. Wine glasses stood half-full between them. Jace’s lips curved into a faint smile at something Aiden had said, his expression softer than Elias had seen in weeks.
Something twisted hard in Elias’s chest.
Where those two on a date?
Elias’s steps slowed, every nerve in his body wired and sharp. His pulse roared in his ears as he drew closer, his gaze fixed on the sight he could hardly process.
Jace. With Aiden.
On a date.
What the hell was this?
\~~~
“What are you doing here?”
Elias’s voice was low, but it carried, sharp enough to slice through the quiet hum of the restaurant.
The clatter of cutlery from nearby tables faded into nothing. Jace froze, his head snapping up, his eyes wide like a man caught doing something he shouldn’t. He looked… guilty. Almost as if Elias had just caught him cheating.
“Jace,” Elias said, his jaw tightening, “what’s going on here?”
Across the table, Aiden blinked, visibly startled. He stood quickly, a polite smile pulling at his lips as he extended a hand. “Mr. Crane, I can explain—”
Elias didn’t move. His cold stare swept over the offered hand as if it were invisible. He didn’t care for Aiden or what excuses he wanted to give. His focus was locked solely on Jace.
Jace swallowed hard, fumbling with his words. “Elias, it’s not what you think. We… we’re just having dinner.”
“Oh?” Elias’s voice dropped into a dangerous calm, his brow arched. “Just dinner? Just the two of you?”
“Yes,” Jace said quickly, his hands tightening around the stem of his glass. “It’s really not what you think.”
Elias leaned a little closer, his mouth curving into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Of course. If it’s nothing, then you won’t mind if I join you.”
Before Jace could protest, Elias pulled out the empty chair beside Aiden and lowered himself into it with effortless authority. The air seemed to grow colder, heavier, as he sat facing Jace directly across the table.
He turned slightly, ignoring Aiden’s stiff posture, his attention cutting into Jace like a blade. “So… where were we?” Elias asked softly, the edge of mockery threading his voice.
Jace shifted, visibly uncomfortable. “Elias, you don’t understand. Aiden just...he invited me out. I didn’t—”
“Didn’t what?” Elias cut in, his eyes narrowing. “Didn’t think to mention it? Didn’t think it mattered?”
Jace flinched at the sharpness in his tone. “I wasn’t hiding anything. I just… thought it would be harmless.”
Elias let out a quiet laugh, though there was no humor in it. “Harmless. Interesting choice of words.” He leaned back slightly, his gaze unwavering. “You look awfully comfortable and happy for something so harmless, Jace.”
Jace’s chest rose and fell, his frustration starting to slip through his restraint. “You’re twisting this. It’s nothing. Aiden’s just a friend—”
Elias’s lips curved into something cold. “A friend who takes you out to dinner? Who makes you smile like that?”
Aiden tried again, his voice careful, diplomatic. “Mr. Crane, you’re misunderstanding—”
Elias didn’t even look at him. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”
The dismissal was brutal, slicing Aiden out of the moment entirely.
Jace’s cheeks flushed with heat, his eyes darting between them. “Why are you doing this Elias? You're over reacting, you have no right—”
“No right?” Elias’s voice dropped lower, velvet laced with steel. He leaned forward, his gaze searing into Jace’s. “You’re sitting across from another man, sharing wine, smiling like you’re on a date, and you’re telling me I don’t have the right to ask questions?”
Jace’s lips parted, but no words came out.
Silence stretched, suffocating. The tension clung to the table, thick and unyielding.
Finally, Elias tilted his head, his next words soft, but they struck like a knife. “Tell me, Jace… is this what you do when I’m not around? Find someone else to keep you company?....is this how you prostitute yourself to other men?”
The hurt in Jace’s eyes was immediate, raw and unguarded, but Elias didn’t pull the words back. He couldn’t. His jealousy had already spoken.
Jace pushed his chair back abruptly, the scrape loud enough to draw stares from surrounding tables. He stood, his hands trembling, his voice shaking with fury. “I won't allow you to talk to me like that. ”
He didn’t wait for Elias’s response.
“Jace—” Elias started, but the word barely left his lips before Jace turned sharply, his shoulders rigid.
“Come on, Aiden.”
Aiden hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with the storm he’d been dragged into, but he stood quickly and followed as Jace stormed out of the restaurant without looking back.
Elias sat there, motionless, his chest tight, the chair across from him now painfully empty.
The glass Jace had been holding still sat on the table, half-finished, a smear of his fingerprints on the stem. Elias stared at it, his jaw clenched so hard it ached.
Jace could leave with whoever he pleased. Date whoever he wanted. Elias could have anyone he wanted too.
He didn't care
But deep down...the bitter truth gnawed at him.
Elias cared far too much.