Page 26 of Quadruplets for the Vipers

“Jace, I’m not in the mood for joking around,” I snap.

He holds up his hands in defense. “Believe it or not, not everything that comes out of my mouth is a joke.”

“Oh really,” I reply sarcastically. “Prove it. Tell me something real.”

He surprises me by asking me a question. “Is the man upstairs the first dead body you’ve ever seen?”

“No.” My mind goes back to the horror and gore upstairs. The reality of a dead body is far more horrific than it is in the movies. “But it’s the first one I remember. I was in the car accident that killed my parents, but I was too young and too traumatized to remember.”

“Shit. I’m sorry about your parents. It’s probably best that you don’t remember their deaths, so you can remember them as they were. I think the first body you see is the one that haunts you. I know it is for me.”

“Who was it? The first body you saw?”

“My mom, I was nine,” he says in the voice of someone who still suffers from the loss.

“I’m so sorry. What happened? That’s if you don’t mind my asking,” I ask gently.

“She took her own life, an overdose.”

“I’m so sorry, Jace, that’s awful, no child should ever have to see that,” I reply sincerely, my heart breaking for young Jace.

He shrugs, brushing it off. “Where did you go when your parents died? Who did you live with?”

“My grandfather.”

“Is he a good man?”

“The best, I was lucky to have him. Where did you live after your mom died?”

“With my dad. The son of a bitch tormented my mom. He was one of the reasons why my mom did what she did; he drove her to it, made her believe she was worthless and that life wasn’t worth living after years of abuse. Her death didn’t change him much. The motherfucker just beat on me instead. The second I could get out of that hellhole, I left and never looked back.”

“Oh, Jace, that’s horrible.”

He shrugs, “I’ve made my peace with it. My brothers and the Steel Vipers are my family now. However, the one aspect of my past that stays with me is my default defense mechanism. I learned early on that the best way to avoid a beating was to keep my father happy and laughing, which I did by playing the clown, cracking jokes, and amusing his buddies when they came home drunk. I might not be that same scared kid anymore, butclowning around when things get too serious is an inbuilt part of me now.”

“Thank you for explaining that to me,” I say earnestly.

We fall into a comfortable silence as he makes more tea. He tells me that he’s going to go check on the others and to wait there, which I do gladly, not wanting to see the body upstairs again. After a short while, he returns.

“Ready to go? The guys can handle everything here.”

I nod, grateful to be getting as far away as I can from the dead man upstairs. I don’t want to know what Jace means by handling it.

Following Jace’s revelation, I feel a bond with him and a new level of understanding of who he is. Perhaps I was too quick to judge with my dismissal of him as just a cocky jock-type. It’s clear there’s more to Jace than the person he shows to the world.

***

When we arrive at the men’s house, Knox is there.

“Leah,” he says, jumping to his feet. “ I’m sorry I left, Axel and I… well, that doesn’t matter now. How are you doing?”

“Better, thank you,” I reply truthfully.

I’ve no idea why Knox is so mad at Axel, but it’s not my place to ask.

“We’ll find out what those bastards wanted, I promise. If they were here to harm you or the baby, I’ll hunt them down and make them pay,” he promises darkly.

I don’t doubt his seriousness. Though I don’t want any bloodshed on my behalf, it’s nice to know that Knox will do anything to protect me.

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