Page 14 of Reckless Rebel

"Which he is," my dad interrupts.

"Then I know his parents are dead, so what is this family you speak of?" The only things I know about him is that he can apparently pleasure multiple women at once, and he gives zero fucks about his model-looking girlfriend.

"It’s not really our place to say. If Jace wants to get to know you in the process of getting to know Sofia, then it's up to him to tell you,” my mom replies.

My dad tries next. "Look, Sweetheart, Jace has had it tough, tougher than most, and we need to support him in the process of connecting with his sister."

"Dad, I'm sorry, but did you not hear the part about the freaking orgy I witnessed?" I demand in disbelief.

He fails to hide his grin. "What Jace gets up to in his own time is up to him."

"Unbelievable,” I mutter. "So it's just totally fine for Sofia and I, to hang around a guy who drinks, probably does drugs, partakes in group sex, and is apparently a known gang member?"

"You hang around worse,” my dad says under his breath, and my mom cuts him a sharp look.

"All we are saying, Darling, is give him a chance, he might surprise you." She is using the voice she uses on her patients again.

"That's just your inner shrink talking." I roll my eyes, realizing this conversation is completely pointless.

"Well, if he wants a space in this family, he's got one, we would never deny Sofia her real family." My dad responds.

"We are her real family, he's just a stranger that shares her blood." I shake my head, and leave the room before I can hear anymore of their counsellor talk. Storming up the stairs like a child.

I almost make it to my room, but as soon as her pink door comes into view, I can't help myself. I push the door open and slip inside, breathing in her scent. She's already in a deep sleep and I find myself envying her. She's just had the biggest wrench thrown into the works and it's not even rattled her in the slightest. She spent the whole evening talking to Jace as fast as she could to tell him about herself, and unbelievably, he hung onto her every word. Never once seeming bored or sick of her. Not that he would, but people who don't have younger siblings don't understand how to be around kids, they are still so young and vulnerable. They haven't yet been tainted by this thing we call life.

Rick tries with her, but I see his eyes gloss over whenever she tries to explain the difference between her Barbies, or why Cinderella is her favorite princess. It's not his fault, it's just not something he has to deal with. But that wasn't Jace. He not only listened, but had thought out discussions with her, including his own debate on why Belle is clearly the better princess. How can a guy who is so bad, know how to act so good?

I shake my head at the thoughts, drop a light kiss to Sofia’s head and slip out of her room quietly. I make my way to my room, grab my phone and then flop into the chair in the corner. Time to do my own research. I open Instagram and type in his name and wait while the results load.

The first result that pops up is him, because of course it is, and considering we live two towns away from each other, our amount of mutuals is pretty high. I click into his profile and find exactly what I expected, tons of pictures of him at parties surrounded by other hot guys and an insane amount of beautiful girls. Typical player.

The most recent picture on there is different from all the others though. It’s a picture that someone else has taken. He is sitting on a sun lounger by a huge swimming pool, his tattooed torso completely on display, and the beautiful blonde from last night is standing next to him. She looks like a supermodel in her black bathing suit, with gorgeous ink dancing down her thigh to match his. They are the picture perfect couple, looking at each with such love and adoration. It almost makes me forget about the orgy.

Almost.

He has captioned the photo, ‘So much love for my Queen’ with a crown emoji and a heart emoji. If I hadn’t seen so much of him last night, I’d almost believe him. Apparently even the most beautiful girl in the world isn’t good enough to keep him from straying. The picture is from a week ago and I notice that before that, there is almost a six month gap between his posts. There are a couple of vague shots of Christmas, the same beautiful girl beside him and a couple of friends, but apart from that, nothing.

The last picture before the Christmas ones is of him and a girl with short black hair, his arm is wrapped around her, a playful smile on her face as he stares down at her, and they look like they are at some sort of party based off the background. It stands out from the others because of the way he is looking at her, it’s almost the same as the way he looks at the blonde. Before that it’s all pictures of different girls, different parties and the usual boy stuff of cars etc, but what changed. Who is the girl with the black hair and how did he go from her to the beautiful blonde?

9

Jace

The buzzing of my phone wakes me up, the sound going straight to my pounding head. I lick my lips in an attempt to chase away the dryness, but it does nothing. I try to open my eyes and the pain pulses through me. Fuck what did I take last night? I can’t even remember getting home. I reach up to swipe a hand over my face and don’t miss the tremor as I do it. I clench my fist to try to make it subside, but it doesn’t help. I can feel the need coursing through my veins. I know I’m getting worse and I know I don’t care. Maybe it will help push me over the edge? Maybe once and for all I can just disappear and finally know some peace.

“Rough night?” A hushed voice startles me, and I turn over to find Marcus sitting on the sofa by the window, looking out onto the estate. He doesn’t even look at me as he continues to speak. “Third time this week I have woken up in the middle of the night and found my fiancée missing from our bed.” There is no accusal in his tone, just disappointment.

It should probably make me feel some sort of regret. “Well, if she would stop fishing me out of the dark holes I willingly climb into, you wouldn’t have that problem.” I swipe the bottle of water off the nightstand and drain it in three gulps. It does nothing to satisfy the ache in my throat.

He looks at me with a cocked brow. “If I had the power to control anything she does, I still wouldn't stop her from rescuing you.”

“I don’t need rescuing,” I grit the words out through my teeth, my family just not seeming to grasp that I don’t want their help.

“Then what do you need, brother? Because I sure as shit don’t know, and neither does Lincoln.” His voice has that same regal tone to it that it always holds, except unlike normal I can hear desperation in it.

I stand from the bed unable to bear his scrutiny as he glares at me waiting for an answer, “I need you all to stop,” I bark. “Stop trying to help me, stop waiting for me to be okay, just fucking stop!” My voice rises with each word and he smiles, like this is exactly the reaction he wanted from me. Months of silence and now he is choosing to rile me up, like I haven’t dealt with enough bombs this weekend. Fuck I need a drink.

Marcus nods his head slowly like he is agreeing with me and I sigh in relief until he speaks again. “Family breakfast in ten minutes.” He stands from the sofa, moving towards the door and speaks again before I can protest. “Attendance is mandatory or Elle says the next time you step into The Ring, she will be your opponent, and unlike all the assholes you think you have bested, she won’t let you win.” He leaves without waiting for my response because he knows, it doesn't matter what state I am in. I will never willingly risk the wrath of Elle King.

---