Chapter 71
The days dragged on like a cruel punishment.
Every morning, Jace woke with the same knot in his chest, the same replay of that night flashing like a broken reel in his mind. He could not shake the image of Elias’s face when he had realized it had been him in bed. Could not forget the shame that burned when he remembered his drunken confessions laid bare.
Worse than the words, though, was the memory of Elias’s body. The feel of his mouth... his hands, the roughness that had left Jace aching for days. He hated himself for wanting to relive it, even as guilt ate away at him.
So he stayed away.
For nearly a week, Jace had avoided Crane Corp, claiming sickness as an excuse and avoided Aiden’s calls and Elias’s looming presence. But the silence only amplified everything. The more he hid, the louder the thoughts became, circling like vultures in his skull.
Eventually, he caved. Work, at least, could drown the noise.
That morning, Jace stepped into Crane Corp, his chest tight but his head held high. He told himself he could do this. He would bury himself in reports.... in data..... in anything that would keep him from thinking about Elias or that night.
For the first few hours, it almost worked. The steady clack of his keyboard was soothing and his mind was remaing focused on the pile of documents on his desk.
Then—
“Mr. Elias would like to see you in his office.”
Jace stiffened. He turned, and there stood Elias’s secretary, expression perfectly neutral. The words dropped like stones in his stomach.
Jace opened his mouth, the instinct to say no brimming on his tongue. But he swallowed it down. Refusal would only make things worse, Elias would come here, to his cubicle, and that would draw every pair of eyes in the room.
He forced a small nod. “Tell him I will be right there.”
The walk to Elias’s office felt like a death march.
When he stepped inside, the air was heavy with whiskey. Elias stood with his back to him, broad shoulders framed against the floor-to-ceiling glass. The city stretched out beyond him, glittering under the midday sun. In one hand, he held a glass, amber liquid catching the light.
On the desk, the bottle sat open, half-empty.
Jace’s throat tightened, but he shut the door quietly and waited. Elias finally turned, his gaze sharp but unreadable, and gestured toward the chair opposite him.
“Sit.”
Jace obeyed, his palms clammy against his thighs.
The silence was suffocating. Minutes ticked by five, ten, maybe thirty. Neither spoke. Elias sipped his whiskey, eyes drifting somewhere far beyond the room. Jace stared at his hands, heart thundering.
When Elias finally broke the silence, his voice was calm but heavy.
“Jace,” he said, “I understand why you planned to take down my father.” His jaw tightened. “But please... can you just stop?”
The words pierced him.
“I should stop?” Jace’s voice cracked. He lifted his head, eyes blazing. “After everything your father did to me, to my family? After the blood he spilled? And you are asking me to stop?”
“Jace, I do understand. I am just... ” Elias’s tone wavered slightly. “I am trying to protect you.”
Jace let out a sharp laugh, though nothing about it was amused. “Protect me? No..... You are protecting your father.”
“That is not true.” Elias leaned forward, his hand curling into a fist. “I am protecting you. You will only hurt yourself if you keep going.”
Jace slammed his palm against the desk, anger sparking hot in his veins. “That’s a lie, Elias. I saw the 2009 file in your office. You knew..... You knew what your father did, but you still chose to shield him.”
Elias’s eyes darkened. “Do you think I had a choice?”
“Yes, Elias.” Jace’s voice rose. “You had a choice. You had the chance to make your father suffer for what he has done, but you did not.”
“You think I never tried?” Elias’s voice thundered suddenly, raw and sharp. “Do you think I just stood by while he destroyed lives?”
Jace’s chest heaved. “What do you call it then? Covering up for him? .... Protecting him? That makes you as evil as he is.”
The words hung like poison in the air.
Elias’s jaw flexed. He took a slow sip of whiskey, then set the glass down with a soft clink. Silence stretched heavily until he spoke again quieter this time, his voice carrying something dangerously close to pain.
“I did try,” Elias murmured, his gaze lowering. His hand gripped the glass so tightly Jace feared it would shatter. “I tried to expose him, and make him pay But that man....” His voice broke, and he clenched his jaw, forcing it steady. “That man is holding my mother hostage, Jace.”
Jace froze. “What?”
“He hit her for years,” Elias continued, each word sharp with memory. “He broke her until she had nothing left...... I thought she was dead...... For years, I thought she was gone.” He exhaled shakily, eyes flickering with fury. “When I finally gathered the evidence to bring him down, he told me the truth, that my mother was still alive. And if I wanted her to stay that way, I had to give up.”
Jace’s heart twisted. He reached across the desk without thinking, his fingers brushing Elias’s hand. “Elias… I did not know. I am so sorry.” His voice dropped, tender. “But… how do you know he is telling the truth?”
Elias’s gaze lifted. “Because he may be many things but one thing he’s never been is a liar.”
The silence that followed was suffocating. Jace’s mind reeled, trying to process the weight of what Elias had carried. But even then, a single thought burned inside him, he could not stop. Not now. Not after he was so close to getting justice for his parents.
“Elias,” Jace said softly, pulling his hand back. “I understand what you have told me..... I understand the pain you are carrying. But I can not give up.” His voice grew firmer and steadier with each word. “I can not be at peace knowing your father is free..... knowing he is still out there, hurting people and destroying lives..... I have come too far.... I can notstop now.”
Elias’s eyes flickered, a storm brewing in them.
“The best thing we can do,” Jace continued, leaning forward, “is to work together..... To take him down...... He is using your mother as insurance, Elias. He will keep blackmailing you and keep you under his thumb, unless we end this..... Your father is evil..... He has to pay..... Please..... I need your help.”
Elias went utterly still.
The air between them tightened, Jace could feel it the battle raging behind Elias’s eyes, the pull of fear against the pull of justice. He knew Elias was imagining the fallout, the fire his father would rain upon them if they dared strike.
Finally, Elias exhaled, long and slow. He leaned back in his chair, shoulders sinking under the weight of his decision.
“Okay,” he said quietly. Then louder, “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Relief flooded Jace, so sharp it almost hurt. His chest loosened, his breath coming easier for the first time in days.
Then his phone buzzed on the desk.
Aiden.
Jace’s jaw tightened. The name alone made his stomach churn. Without hesitation, he hit decline and flipped the phone over, screen-down.
Elias’s brow arched. He leaned back, voice laced with disdain. “Was that your little fake boyfriend?”
“Please, Elias.” Jace’s voice was firm, pained. “Don’t call him that. I never want anything to do with him again.”
“Oh… really?” Elias rose from his chair slowly, his steps deliberate as he moved around the desk. His gaze locked on Jace, dark and intense.
“Yes.” Jace’s throat tightened, but he did not look away. “I do not think I can ever forgive him for what he did. He used me. He…” His words faltered, raw emotion choking him.
Then Elias was there, standing before him. And before Jace could finish, Elias leaned down and kissed him.
The taste of whiskey lingered on his lips, warm and intoxicating. For a moment, Jace froze, his heart slamming against his ribs. Then his resolve cracked, and he kissed Elias back.
When Elias pulled back, his eyes burned with something Jace had been starving for.
“I fucking missed you, Jace,” Elias whispered.
Jace’s chest ached, his breath uneven. “I missed you too, Elias.”
And then their lips crashed together again.