I turned to glare at him. “I haven’t decided if I’m fine yet.”
He flashed that lazy, arrogant smirk that made me want to throw things. “You will.”
I groaned and flopped back against the couch, my mind spinning with everything that had happened tonight.
This was insane—wewere insane.
Jace winked, though, all cocky confidence and unshakable certainty, and I couldn’t stop my answering grin. The warmth that spread through me wasn’t fear or doubt—it was something terrifyingly close toright. Like no matter how twisted or obsessed we were, this was exactly where I was meant to be.
JACE
She was finally here for good. In my bed. Wrapped in my sheets. Breathing in my space.
I lay beside her, watching the slow, steady rise and fall of her chest. Her lips were slightly parted, her hair a mess against my pillow, the strands catching the moonlight filtering through the blinds. Too pretty. Too perfect. And completely mine.
She slept with one hand curled beneath her cheek, her body relaxed in a way I’d never seen before. That should have been a good thing, but all it did was remind me how much I needed to keep her here.
My cameras—strategically placed—gave me every angle of the room so I could watch her when I couldn’t be here. There was one trained on the bed and another covering the entrance. A final one was in the corner near my dresser, positioned to capture the room’s entire layout.
I should have been satisfied, I should have closed my eyes and gone to sleep, but I wasn’t done.
My fingers curled around the tiny device Jagger had sent me. Small. Subtle. Undetectable. Just like he promised.
I moved carefully, pressing it against her skin and firing the tracker beneath the soft curve of her shoulder. She stirred slightly, a quiet moan escaping her lips. My breath caught, watching her lashes flutter, but the sleeping pill I’d slipped into her drink at dinner had done its job. She didn’t wake.
A slow grin curled my lips. Perfect.
I tucked the device away and shifted closer, pulling her against me, inhaling her scent. Soft. Sweet. Addictive.
She was finally right where she belonged.
By the time the sun filtered through the curtains, I was already up, moving silently in the kitchen. Matty sat at the kitchen island, freshly back from a jog, drenched in sweat and looking like he wanted to murder someone. He was stirring his protein shake aggressively, eyes narrowing at me as I cracked eggs into a pan.
“What are you doing?” Matty grumbled, eyeing the ingredients I had set out.
“Making breakfast.”
“For yourself?”
I smirked. “For Riley.”
He groaned, taking a long gulp from his drink. “You’re acting suspicious.”
I flipped the eggs with practiced ease. “I’m always suspicious.”
“No, this is worse.” He leveled a glare at me. “You look…smug.”
“I have a lot to be smug about.”
Matty groaned. “Jace. There’s obsessed and then there’s Parker. Think about who you want to be when you grow up.”
I grinned, sliding the eggs onto a plate. “Maybe Parker wants to bemewhen he grows up.”
Matty shook his head, muttering something about how I was insane. I ignored him and piled Riley’s plate with exactly what I knew she liked—fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and a stack of pancakes with just the right amount of syrup. I grabbed a fresh cup of coffee, made exactly how she drank it, and balanced it all on a tray before heading back to the bedroom.
When I pushed open the door, Riley was stirring, her hair a tangled mess, her skin flushed with sleep. She stretched, blinking up at me as I set the tray down beside her.
“You made me breakfast?” she mumbled in a husky voice.