Chapter 70
Jace’s eyes snapped open.
Blinding light slipped through the edges of the curtains, cutting across the room like knives. His head pounded instantly, a savage migraine clawing at his skull. He groaned, pressing the heel of his palm against his temple as he slowly pushed himself upright. The sheets were soft beneath him. The mattress was firm yet luxurious, nothing like the lumpy bed in his own small apartment.
Disoriented, he glanced around. The space was sleek, expansive, and filled with muted tones and expensive furniture. His blurred mind tried to assemble the pieces. Where was he? Why did this place feel… familiar?
Like he had been here before.
His lips parted as recognition pricked the back of his mind, but the answer refused to come. The pounding in his skull made it impossible to think clearly. He blinked hard as though forcing the haze to lift.
Then...
The faint hiss of water reached his ears.... Running water..... A shower.
His gaze swung toward the closed bathroom door. Steam crept from the gap beneath it, faint, but it was unmistakable. Someone was in there. Someone who lived here.
His chest tightened. The memories of last night began to flicker at the edges of his mind the bar, the stranger, the kisses, the body pressed against his, the rough sex that had left his muscles aching. His stomach dropped.
The bathroom door opened.
And Jace froze.
Elias stepped out with the steam rolling after him, droplets still clinging to his hair. A towel hung low around his waist, revealing the cut of his abs, the broadness of his chest, the lines Jace knew too well, even if he had tried to forget.
No.
His pulse thundered. He had to be dreaming. He had to be. But Elias’s sharp, unreadable eyes landed on him.
He was in Elias’s house.
And the stranger from last night was not a stranger at all.
The truth hit him like a blade to the gut. The blurred face from the bar snapped into focus, memory sliding into place with brutal clarity. It had been Elias who had pulled him close. It was Elias who had kissed him until he was drunk on more than whiskey. It was Elias who had taken him to bed, fucked him until Jace forgot his pain for one fleeting, reckless night.
Elias.
Shame rose hot in Jace’s chest, suffocating him. Because in that drunken haze, he had not just given Elias his body again he had given him everything else too. He had confessed. Every dark truth. Every sin he had tried to bury. He had told Elias how he had once planned to use him, how revenge had driven him at first, how love had blindsided him and broken him. How Aiden had been paid to distract him. How he was the son of the very family Victor Crane had slaughtered.
And worse, he had also told Elias about the proof he had gotten that could take Elias’s father.
His stomach knotted violently.
Elias’s voice broke through the storm in his head, smooth, deep, and steady.
“Good morning.”
Jace jerked slightly at the sound. It was too normal and too calm, as though they had not torn each other apart last night.
“G…good morning,” Jace stammered, hating the way his voice shook.
“Hope you enjoyed your night,” Elias said, his tone unreadable.
“Yeah.” Jace swallowed hard, fingers clutching the edge of the sheets. “Yeah, I… I guess.”
A beat of silence hung between them it was heavy and electric. Elias studied him, like he was trying to peel back Jace’s layers with nothing more than his gaze. Jace could not take it.
“So regarding last night…” Elias began, but Jace cut him off.
“I need to go.”
He scrambled out of bed, his body still sore, his legs weak from both alcohol and the roughness of what they had done. Every movement reminded him of Elias’s touch, the way he had been filled, undone and claimed. Heat crawled up his neck, but it was not desire now it was humiliation.
He pulled his clothes back on hurriedly, avoiding Elias’s eyes the entire time. The air between them felt suffocating, pressing in with all the unspoken things neither of them was ready to confront.
Without another word, Jace rushed out, leaving Elias’s house behind like it was a burning building. His chest was tight, his thoughts spinning with his shame swallowing him whole.
As he stepped out into the daylight, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
For a moment, he thought about ignoring it. He could not handle more right now. But the name flashing across the screen rooted him to the spot.
Aiden.
His stomach clenched. He should have blocked him last night. Erase him. Forget he even existed. But his trembling thumb betrayed him, and he swiped the screen open.
The message glared back at him.
~ Jace please just give me another chance. Can we meet so I can explain?
Jace stood there on the sidewalk, the words cutting deep. His throat burned. Another chance? To explain?
He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. No... He could not..... Not now. He could not let Aiden’s voice infect him again, could not let himself be pulled into another spiral of lies and pain.
He pressed the power button down until the screen went black. The phone felt heavy in his hand so he slid it into his pocket, Jace exhaled shakily. He was not ready to face Aiden. Not today. Maybe not ever.
Jace was not sure he could forgive Aiden or even himself.
And that was the hardest truth of all.