Page 147 of Give Me Redemption

“What’s with the questions?” Bryce says.

“Where’s Harrison?” Jace asks.

“At the barn house,” he replies. “Got a beer or something?”

“In the fridge,” Jace says. I hear him strike his lighter and I know he’s lit a cigarette when the smell drifts in the air. “You never answered me.”

“We’re getting married next weekend,” Bryce says. “We came to figure everything out.”

“Oh,” Jace says.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Wanted to get away from the city.”

I notice he doesn’t tell Bryce the real reason he’s out here, which was to talk to Lee about his new idea. I’m assuming he wants to get him out of here as quick as possible. My eyes dart to the side of the couch and I see my purse.

Shit.

Bryce can’t see it from where he is, but if he sits down in the chair, he will.

“So, listen,” Bryce says, taking a seat on the edge of the couch. “I know lately things have been rocky between us. You’ve been distant, and I don’t know why… I mean, I’m pretty sure I know why.”

Moments tick by, and Jace says nothing.

“Really?” Bryce says. “You’re not going to talk to me about this?”

“About what?”

“Jace, I’m not fucking stupid.” He stands up, and my eyes jump to my purse. He stops, looking down. “You sure you have nothing to tell me?” he says, looking back at his brother.

Jace’s eyes narrow. Bryce leans down and picks up my purse. “She’s here, isn’t she?”

Jace stands up and takes the purse from his brother’s hand, tossing it onto the couch. “Why are you here, Bryce?”

Bryce shakes his head, disappointment clear on his face. “After everything we’ve been through, you’re keeping this from me,” he says. “She fucked me over. She fucked you over, and yet you’re picking her over your family.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jace says, even-toned.

“Whatever.” Bryce puts down the beer he was drinking. “It’s your life.” He sounds defeated, like he’s tired from the inside out.

He exhales and lifts his snapback hat off his head before dropping it lazily down. He looks to my purse before looking back at his brother. He seems to come to terms with how things look. He’s not a gullible man. He knows I’m here, and he knows Jace isn’t telling him the truth.

Is Jace ashamed that he’s with me?

Is that why he won’t tell Bryce?

The thought hurts.

“I wanted to see if you would be my best man. Stand beside me when I marry K.”

Jace looks guilt-stricken. His eyes go down to the floor, and he takes in a breath. He’s shirtless still, and I see Bryce look over his scars.

“Of course, I will,” he says, his voice full of unshed emotion. “I’m sorry… I.” He shakes his head and runs his hand down his face. “You threw me off.”

“How did you get all of those?” Bryce asks, nodding at the scars.

Jace looks down at his chest and stomach. “A bomb. I was hit with debris and buried under cement.”

---