Page 148 of Give Me Redemption

“Jesus.”

“War’s a bitch, brother. I barely made it out. These scars remind me that I did.”

Bryce agrees, “Yeah, you did. You seem to be doing really well, too. I’m glad.”

“Thanks,” Jace says.

Bryce pulls his hat down onto his head and nods. “All right, well, it’s settled. I’ll leave you be.” He walks toward the door before turning around to face Jace. “I love you, brother.”

“Yeah,” Jace says. “Me too.”

The door clicks shut, and I walk out. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

Jace looks over at me. “He’s not ready.”

“But you love him, Jace. You’re really just going to keep this part of your life from him?”

Jace looks down. “Not forever, but for right now. Yes. Even though the bust was a few months ago, it’s still fresh to him, Dalton. That club was everything to my brother, and we took that away from him. He won’t take the truth well.

“I’m just going to keep my distance for a while. He has his own thing going on with Harrison, and I have you. This is just the way it has to be.”

I exhale. “I don’t want to be the reason you and your brother aren’t close, Jace.”

“You’re not. It’s my decision.”

He walks over to me. “I shouldn’t have to choose between the two of you, and I think giving him some time will help.”

“Okay,” I say. “If you think that’s the best thing, then that’s what we’ll do.”

He gives me a small smile. “Shower still running?” he asks.

“I shut it off.”

“Still wanna take one?” He lifts a brow.

“Yeah,” I say slowly.

“Can I join you?”

I exhale dramatically. “I guess.”

I turn to walk back to the bathroom and Jace smacks my ass, causing me to yelp.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Jace

Months slip past us in a blur of me working on getting the veterans out at the ranch. Dalton got a couple of leads on Chloe’s case, but they ended up being dead ends. She’s tired all the time, and I’m out at the ranch a lot. But we talk on the phone every day, and we make sure to spend weekends together. After Bryce and Harrison got married, we found out Harrison was pregnant.

Some crazy motherfucker hit Bryce’s car at a four-way, and they all ended up in the hospital. It had something to do with Bones. I told Bryce that man was trouble, but for some reason, Bryce likes the guy.

I don’t know.

I asked Dalton if she would take a look at the case. She went to Bryce and questioned him about the accident, but he wasn’t very helpful. Like I said, Bryce likes Bones, so whatever he knows, he’s keeping it to himself.

After she spoke with Bryce, she confessed to me that she didn’t want to be the one on that case. I really shouldn’t have asked her, so I told her it was fine.

Dalton walks into the room wearing a baseball hat and tight jeans. “You ready?” she asks.

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