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Her eyes burned with ive way to theer and deep sadness She still wasn’t sure which was the clear winner Her emotions were a mess lately Between Jack and Jace she was on a roller coaster fro the clock each ti ti that Jace would be home much earlier than usual

Even after all of that, she was eager to see hiive him and they’d move on The question hether Jace would truly ue in the future Soher skin, but to hell with that No one deserved to be flayed alive because someone else was in a crappy mood Shit happened to everyone It was no excuse to take it out on others

Anger felt much better than the pathetic weariness she’d displayed the evening before She could deal with anger It er, less vulnerable Despair and damn tears were for the birds

But there was also the fact that trust took ti fair to Jace? He’d only known her such a short time and trust was earned What had she really done to earn it yet?

Calm settled over her They could work this out Trust wasn’t automatic So about her life or her past was exactly conducive to gaining instant faith And Jace was trying She knew that without a doubt

Her cell phone rang and she autolanced at the LCD screen, holding her breath as she realized she hoped it was Jace She frohen she saw Kaden’s na contact

"Hello?"

"Miss Willis, this is Kaden I tried to call Mr Crestwell but he’s currently unavailable So I wanted to let you know that Mr Kingston is back at the apartment"

She sat up fully in bed "Jack’s there?"

"Yes, o"

She threw off the covers and swung her legs over the side "Where are you right now? Are you still there?"

"Yes,over Stay there, please Jace wouldn’t like if I was there alone Just don’t let Jack leave before I arrive, okay?"

Kaden hesitated a brief o up with you Those are the conditions"

"Of course," she said hastily "I’ll leave right away"

She disconnected the call and hurried out of bed to dress She looked like crap but she wasn’t going to take the tiht not be there that long Who knehat he was thinking?

A few minutes later, she went down to the lobby and asked the dooret her a cab TwentyKaden aiting for her just outside the main entrance

"He’s still here?" she asked breathlessly as she ran up to the door

"Yes I’ll go up with you now I left a e with Mr Crestwell’s receptionist, but I was told he’s in closed-door s for the next while"

"Yes," Bethany ot into the elevator "He’s really busy this et inside the apart close to her side

"Jack," she whispered when she saw hi by the bar in the kitchen

Jack’s head came up and his eyes sparked with surprise when he saw her

She flew around the bar and hugged him fiercely

"Jack, I’ve been so worried Where have you been? Why haven’t you called? Why did you let rinned crookedly at her He looked awful Paler and thinner, aunt And he had shadows under his eyes that told her he hadn’t slept in forever

"Had shit to do, babe Told you that"

Anger whipped up her spine "That’s bullshit! You had a nice place to stay Jace did this for you All of it And you didn’t even stop to think that I orried sick about you"

Jack’s eyes grew hooded "He didn’t do it for me, babe He did it for you and we both know it"

"Does it matter who he did it for?" she all but shouted

"Yeah, it does"

She turned in agitation and glanced over to where Kaden stood, his expression indecipherable "Can you give us some privacy?"

Kaden didn’t look thrilled at that prospect

"He’s not going to hurt me," she said in exasperation "You can stand just outside No way for either of us to go anywhere as long as you’re guarding the door"

Kaden’s shoulders heaved and then he reluctantly went to the door, walked out and then closed it behind him Then she turned back to Jack

"What the hell is going on with you, Jack? What about the drugs? What are you into?"

A bleak expression entered Jack’s eyes "Let me make you a cup of hot chocolate Already made me one We can talk then You’re cold and hate to say this, babe, but you look like shit Crestwell not taking care of you like he promised?"

The accusation in Jack’s voice just pissed her off evenanother cup of cocoa and set it next to his to stir in the mix while she stood there and continued to stew

"Jace is taking care of me just fine This isn’t aboutbetter with your life Why are you so deter to let you stay here as long as you need to You could get a real job Get out of the life you’re in now"

Jack finished stirring and then turned back to the sink to drop in the spoon and put away the s fro rooet it under control But it ate at her This wasn’t the Jack she knew He seeive a shit about himself one way or another It infuriated her that he had a chance to be better now and he was just pissing it away