Jack’s face grew grim and regret haunted his eyes. Then he stared directly into Jace’s eyes.

“Take care of her for me.”

“I will,” Jace said shortly.

“And tell her I’m sorry,” he added quietly. “Tell her I love her. I’ll always love her.”

“If you love her, you’ll take this opportunity to straighten your life out,” Jace said. “If you’ll stick it out, I’ll hire a lawyer for you. Try to work out a deal where you go to rehab and get probation as opposed to a jail sentence. Can’t guarantee anything. I don’t want you anywhere near Bethany. She’s been hurt enough. If things work out, I wouldn’t be opposed to you keeping in touch with her.”

Jack stared at Jace for a long moment. “You’d do that for me?”

“I’m doing it for Bethany,” Jace said stiffly. “Only for her.”

Jack nodded. “Thanks, then. I’ll do it. It’s time to do something . . . different. Better. I almost killed the person who means the most to me. Can’t even say what that does to a man. I won’t touch that shit again. Ever.”

“I hope you’re telling the truth. I hope you straighten up and get clean.”

“Time’s up,” the officer said, moving forward to guide Jack out.

“I’ll have a lawyer come see you,” Jace said.

It went against every instinct not to let them make Jack rot in jail. Not that he’d probably do any time anyway. But he was doing this for Bethany, because it would be her who’d be hurt knowing Jack had gone to jail for his foolish actions. And he’d do anything at all to spare her more pain. Even if it meant helping the man who’d nearly ended her life.

It was twisted and fucked up in every way. His gut screamed to take revenge. To make Jack suffer for what he’d done. But Bethany would suffer the most and Jace couldn’t bear that.

“You’re a good man,” Jack said. “You’ll be good for my Bethy. I want her to be happy.”

“She’s mine,” Jace corrected.

“But she was mine first,” Jack said softly.

And then the officer led him away and Jace stood staring after him as he shuffled like a man much older than his twentysomething years.

“Jace?”

He turned to see Mia standing a short distance away, flanked by Gabe and Ash.

“Is it true? She’s awake? I heard you talking to Jack.”

Jace relaxed and then smiled at his family. “Yeah, she woke up a while ago. We talked. She was disoriented. Had no idea what happened.” His smile faded. “Had to tell her about Jack.”

Sympathy brimmed in Mia’s eyes.

“How’d she take it?” Gabe asked gruffly.

“Not very well. She’s upset,” Jace said with a sigh. “But she’s tough and she realizes she’s done all she can do for him.”

“Can we see her?” Mia asked.

“Yeah, baby girl. But first I need to see if they’ll let her eat something. She’s hungry and I promised her a good meal if they’ll let her have it. None of this hospital shit.”

“I’ll run out and get us all something,” Ash offered.

“That would be great. Thanks. I’m sure you’re all starving. You’ve been here all damn night. You should probably all go home and get some rest.”

“We’ll go home after we see Bethany. I want her to know she has people here who love her,” Mia said.

Jace pulled her into a hug. “Thanks, baby girl.”

She squeezed him back, then pushed away. “Go see if they’ll let her eat. I for one am starving and would love part of this fantastic meal you’ve promised her.”

• • •

Bethany glanced up when her door opened and Gabe, Mia and Ash walked in, relieved smiles on their faces when they saw her sitting up in bed. Jace squeezed her hand and smiled.

“Looks like dinner is here.”

Ash walked forward, several takeout bags and carry-out boxes in his hands. He spread them over the end of the bed and then walked up the other side of her bed and leaned over to give her a kiss.

“Scared the shit out of us, sweetheart.”

She smiled up at him and then he enfolded her in a fierce hug.

As soon as Ash let her go, Gabe pressed in with a ferocious hug of his own and then Mia latched on to her, hugging and babbling a nonstop stream that had Bethany’s head spinning.

“Brought you supper. Well, brought it for all of us. Haven’t had much to eat during our vigil,” Ash said.

“Thank you all for being here,” she said softly. “It means a lot to have people who care. I’ve never had that before.”

Jace tightened his hold on her hand, giving her a fierce squeeze. Ash’s gaze softened while Mia looked as though she was going to cry. Gabe gave her another quick hug and then kissed the top of her head.

“You’re family,” Gabe declared. “Maybe not the most normal family in the world, but you’re stuck with us now.”

She grinned. “Can’t think of a better family to belong to.”

Ash brought her a foam container filled with wonderful-smelling food. She peeked inside to see he’d loaded it down with finger foods. Fried cheese, crab wontons, barbecue riblets, French fries, Asian noodles and an eggroll. It was so unbelievably perfect that she could only stare as her stomach protested the fact she hadn’t dug in yet.

When he produced a bottle of orange juice, however, she lost the battle and burst into tears.

Ash looked horrified. Mia and Gabe exchanged panicked glances and Jace leaned in, concern flaring in his eyes.

“Baby, what’s the matter? Is that not what you wanted? I’ll get you whatever you want to eat.”

“It’s perfect,” she said with a sniffle. “It’s all my favorites and he remembered orange juice.”

Ash cracked a grin and Jace sat back, relief soaring in his eyes. Then Mia and Gabe burst into laughter and Ash joined them. Soon Jace was chuckling and Bethany giggled, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“God, I’m such a dork,” she said. “I get the best food ever and I start crying like a moron.”

“I’m with you,” Mia said, settling down with her own plate of yummy goodness. “Best food evah!”

Ash took a seat at the end of her bed, his thigh resting against her feet. “Did you find out when she can go home?”

Jace sighed. “In a case like this—well, I should say, when suicide is actually attempted, they put the patient under psychiatric evaluation, have the shrink come, wait for him to sign off, et cetera, et cetera. But in this case, given the circumstances, if all her tests come back okay, she can go home as early as tomorrow. The police have already taken a statement from Kaden, and they’ll likely be around to see Bethany later on this afternoon, but she doesn’t remember much so she can only provide information on the events just prior to her blacking out.”

Bethany sighed, chewing on a cheese stick as sadness settled into her chest. Jace squeezed her knee and continued talking to the others about all the doctor had to say.

“Is he in jail now?” She spoke up when Jace had finished.

Jace gave her a look of sympathy. “Yeah, baby. They took him away right after I left your room to see about getting you something to eat. He agreed to go to rehab. I offered him a lawyer if he’d go into rehab and straighten out his shit. If the lawyer can work it out with the D.A., he’ll get probation under the condition that he checks into rehab.”

“Thank you,” she said. “You didn’t have to do that. I know you’re angry and you have every right to be. But thank you for doing that for him.”

“I did it for you, baby.”

“I know,” she whispered. “And I love you for that.”

His eyes went soft, like melting chocolate. “Love you too, baby.”

She stifled a yawn and stuffed a crab wonton in her mouth, savoring the yummy flavor. She followed it with a forkful of noodles and then got barbecue sauce all over her fingers when she devoured a riblet. By the time she’d put a sizeable dent in the food Ash had brought her, the yawns were coming faster than she could eat.

“We’re going to head out now,” Gabe said. “Bethany’s tired and we’re all exhausted as well. Going to head home and get some sleep.”

“Thank you for being here,” Bethany said again. “It means a lot to me. Thank you for caring.”

Gabe smiled and ruffled her hair before bending down to kiss her cheek. Mia gave her a huge hug and then Ash kissed her brow and gave her a big hug as well.

“Catch you later, sweetheart. Rest up so you can go home tomorrow.”

“That I can do,” she said with a smile.

They all left the room and Bethany sagged back on her bed, her food container still resting on her lap. Jace cleared it away, setting it aside, and then he began lowering her bed so it was fully reclined.

“Time for you to get some rest, baby.”

“Are you staying?” she asked, worried he would leave and she’d be alone.

He frowned. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to crawl onto this bed with you and you’re going to sleep in my arms.”

She sighed with contentment. “Good. I really didn’t want to be alone tonight. Hospitals give me the creeps.”

“You’ll never be alone again,” he said tenderly, his eyes full of love and promise.

He climbed into bed with her, fully dressed, and positioned himself on his side, instantly pulling her tight against his body just as he’d done before. He kissed her brow and then rested his cheek against her forehead.

“Love you,” she whispered.

“Love you too, baby. Almost lost you. Not ever going to do that again.”

She smiled and snuggled further into his embrace, feeling the security and comfort of his strong body. She was absolutely where she belonged.

Chapter forty-three

“Jace, where on earth are you taking me?”

He chuckled and led Bethany by the arm as they walked farther into the unknown.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Is that blindfold on right? I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

“Yes, it’s on,” she said in exasperation. “I can’t see a thing! I’m going to kill myself in these shoes!”

“Not going to happen, baby. I’m not going to let you fall. Besides, you look killer in those heels. Later, I’m going to fuck you in those shoes and nothing else.”

A hot flush traveled from head to toe. Her nipples hardened and her clit tingled in anticipation. Jace had bought her the most awesome shoes ever. Full of sparkle with a heel so high she hadn’t been sure she could walk in them. But she’d known instantly that these were shoes she’d get fucked in later, which meant she was walking in them no matter what.

“Like that idea, do you?” Jace murmured.

“So not fair,” she complained. “You’re torturing me!”

He laughed again and then halted. She listened for any clue of where they were, but there was only silence. He’d blindfolded her before they left the apartment and had led her down to the waiting car, bundled her inside and made her wear it the entire way to wherever he was taking her.

The last few weeks had been so sigh-worthy. Ever since she’d been released from the hospital, he’d treated her like the most precious thing in the world. He’d taken a solid week off from work, leaving Gabe and Ash to clean up the Paris deal, which fortunately they’d salvaged thanks to an investor Gabe had located. And he’d spent every minute of every single day pampering her endlessly. Feeding her. Making love to her. Spoiling her absolutely rotten. She wasn’t complaining a bit. The weeks had been a slice of heaven.

The only downer to the entire time had been Jack. But even that had its positives. True to his word, Jace had secured a lawyer for Jack and he’d worked out a plea agreement with the D.A. Ninety-day rehab program and then probation. Jace had secured a job for Jack when he got out and it would be up to Jack to turn his life around.

Bethany had no idea if Jack would follow through, but he was the only one who could change his life. No one else could do it for him.

“Ready to see your surprise?” Jace asked.

“Yes!”

He reached up to remove her blindfold and the minute it was gone, she was greeted by the sight of Mia, Chessy, Trish, Gina, Caroline, Brandon, Gabe and Ash all standing around a table that held a ginormous four-tiered cake.

“Surprise!” they all shouted. “Happy Birthday, Bethany!”

Her mouth fell open and she stared at them in absolute shock. Then she turned to Jace as they all started to sing an off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

“How did you know?” she whispered. “I didn’t even remember it was my birthday.”

“I have my ways,” he said smugly. “Couldn’t let your birthday go uncelebrated, baby.”