Chapter 46
The fluorescent lights above the supermarket buzzed faintly, their glare spilling down over rows of neatly stacked boxes and bags. Jace’s hand trembled as he reached for a carton of milk. He stared at it too long, as if the white plastic held answers, as if focusing on something so ordinary might drown out the storm that was tearing him apart inside.
Elias knew.
The thought made his chest clench until he could hardly breathe. Elias had known all along.
His fingers tightened around the handle of the shopping cart. It squeaked as he pushed it forward, the sound loud, unbearable, grating against the silence of his panic.
How long had Elias known? Since the beginning? Since that first night in the bar? Or when Jace had spilled a drink on him like a nobody?
And worse... what else did he know?
Jace’s pulse hammered. Did Elias know about the nights with Aiden?
He gritted his teeth and shoved a box of cereal into the cart. He did not even glance at the price. His hands moved on instinct, reaching for things he was not sure he would eat. Anything to make his body look busy while his mind spiralled.
“Jace.”
The voice snapped through the noise in his head, pulling him up short. He froze, the box of pasta in his hand slipping and clattering into the cart.
He turned, already knowing who it was.
Aiden stood at the end of the aisle, leaning casually against the shelf of canned goods, but his eyes betrayed him. They weren’t casual at all. They burned too intensely and seemed desperate.
Jace’s breath caught. He swallowed hard and turned back to the shelves, pretending to scan labels. “You should not be here, aiden.”
Aiden ignored him, stepping closer, his sneakers silent on the polished tiles. “I have been calling you. You don’t answer. Do you think I’m just going to give up?”
Jace squeezed the edge of the cart until his knuckles whitened. “You should.” His voice was low, tight.
But Aiden only moved closer until Jace could feel the heat of him standing behind his shoulder. “I can not.” His words were soft, but they hit like a blow. “I would not."
Jace spun around, eyes flashing. “You don’t understand. This....whatever this is....it’s not going to work.”
“I do not care.” Aiden’s jaw tightened, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “You think I give a damn about that? You think I haven’t already thought about what it means.... what it risks?” His voice rose, just enough that a passing shopper glanced their way before moving on quickly.
Jace’s chest rose and fell sharply. “This is not only about you or me—”
“Yes, it is!” Aiden snapped, his voice breaking. “It’s about us. Do not stand there and tell me you did not feel it too. Don’t pretend like what we had was nothing.”
Jace faltered. For a moment, the panic... the guilt tangled into something heavier that pressed against his ribs until it was hard for him to breathe.
Yes, He had felt it too.
That was the problem.
Aiden stepped forward, lowering his voice again, softer, pleading. “I don’t care if it has to be in secret.....I do not care if the whole world turns against us.....Stay with me, Jace. I will take whatever pieces of you you’ll give me.”
The words struck something deep inside, a place Jace had buried beneath lies, anger, and survival. For a heartbeat, he really wanted to say yes.... He wanted to let Aiden’s warmth burn away the cold he had felt all his life since he lost his parents..... to burn away the cold fear Elias left in his chest... He wanted to believe there could still be a love that wasn’t twisted, wasn’t poisoned.
But Elias’s voice echoed in his mind “You can't run from me, sweetheart?”
His body also remembered Elias too well. The bruises on his hips, the ache in his muscles, the way Elias had pushed him past breaking until he didn’t know where hate ended and desire began.
Jace tore his gaze away from Aiden. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Yes, I do.” Aiden’s eyes softened, his voice thick. “I’m asking for you.....That’s all I have ever wanted.”
Jace was torn—caught between two worlds that would eventually rip him apart. On one side, the dangerous obsession of Elias, a love built on lies, power, dominance, secrets too heavy to escape. On the other, Aiden, relentless, foolish, maybe even reckless.
But it felt real.
Real in a way Jace had not thought he deserved.
The cart’s wheel squeaked as he shoved it forward, breaking the moment, forcing himself to move before he drowned in it. “You should forget me, Aiden. That’s the only way we would both survive this.”
But Aiden followed, his voice chasing him down the aisle. “I can’t forget you. And I won’t stop jace.....not until i can have you.”
Jace’s steps faltered. He gripped the cart tighter, his heart caught between panic and longing, between the fake love that might already be too real and the real love that might never survive.
And as he walked away, every word Aiden had spoken clung to him like a second skin, refusing to be shaken off.