Page 144 of Sire
“Hi, Wren. I’m Vivian Tate.” Her right hand warmly reaches to shake mine, but I clock the wedding ring sparkling on her left. “And I get it. Jace is always so sweet, guarding the door whenever I have a client. He makes everyone feel safe.”
“Yep, that’s our Jace.” I smack his chest under his dark suit. It’s like smacking the Hoover Dam. “Always keeping us safe.”
No, this is our Jace, breaking my heart.
He’s in love with a married woman.
On the firstblock between Delta’s and the church, we walk in heavy silence. Vale had the sex bench and my new toys sent to my penthouse before she sent me and Jace on our way.
Solemnly, he strides between me and the bustling road, his sad eyes making me want to pull him into a giant hug.
We stroll past Axel’s law office on Meeting Street, and I can’t take his pain. Tenderly, I offer, “She seems really sweet, and like she likes you, too. So, what are you gonna do?”
“Respect her marriage,” he grumbles. “Even though it’s a shitty one.”
“Shitty?”
“Beyond shitty. I want to kill her husband, but that would hurt her, and hurting Vivian would kill me. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She just wants out of her crappy marriage, but he won’t let her go.”
“How do you know all this?”
We turn left toward the church. Palm trees line the sidewalk outside boutiques and galleries. It’s quaint, but not for Jace.
“We’ve become close friends.” He mutters, glancing down, “Well… as close as her marriage and my morals will allow.”
I loop my arm over his like a little dinghy, casting her delicate rope around a cast-iron bollard. Except, I worry in this storm, Jace will drift away, so I hold on tight.
“Are you in love with her?”
“Painfully.” He lifts his stare, his handsome face, stone.
“Does she know?”
“Accidentally.”
“Are your morals waiting for her?”
“Impatiently.”
God, I love my kings so much. When they hurt, I hurt. “When will you make a move?”
“When I get a sign.”
“Mmm.” I squeeze his arm. “Like, when she cuts off her pinky for you?”
Jace turns his gaze to me. “Something like that.” I smile to lift his spirits. It almost works. He grins. “I’m damn glad he found you. Thatwefound you. You know that now, right?”
“Yep. Just like I knew Sire’s the one for me…” We turn right on Church Street.Speak of my handsome devil.He’s standing on the sidewalk, waiting outside his chapel for us. “Vivian’s the one for you. I felt it.”
Jace huffs, laughing, “Youjustmet her.”
“Youjustbelieve me; you’ll be with Vivian one day.” I echo him, “You know that now, right?”
He unhooks his arm from mine, wrapping his over my shoulder as we cross the street. “Whatever you say, little one.”
“You owe me a trip to Dollywood.”
“Deal,” he agrees as we reach the chapel, and I rush into Sire’s waiting arms.
