Page 91 of Jace
Politely, she pecks the woman’s cheek, then the man’s before excusing herself. Nonchalantly, sashaying my way.
I step back into the shadows of the room, quickly scanning for the scumbro.
I can’t find him as she silently brushes past me, aiming for the wide hallway. I wait a moment, then turn, following her until she ducks down another hallway in the labyrinth of lavish ballrooms.
Rounding the corner, I bump into her.
Just as Grant did, she grabs my tuxedo’s lapels, but unlike him, she doesn’t try to stop me from following her. She knows she can’t.
She pulls me into a wordless kiss.
A kiss aching with every feeling we’ve had to deny, every word we’ve waited to say, every month, day, and minute that’s kept us apart. But now it’s pulsing with so much anticipation, it leaves us breathless.
“Are you okay?” I sigh over her lips.
“Now that you’re here.”
“Viv.” I angle back, cupping her beautiful face. “I’m serious. Did he hurt you? Do you feel okay? Do you?—”
“I’m fine.” She clasps my hands. “I promise. My stomach is still a little squeamish, but if I only eat bread, I’m as good as gold.”
“It’s not like you to get drunk.”
“I know, and I’ve never been that drunk in my life. It hit me so hard, and I felt so bad; my head was splitting yesterday.”
I search her stunning eyes. They sparkle, gazing up at me. Maybe they’re a little puffy from fatigue. But her skin glows as usual. There’s not a mark on her. She’s smiling as always. She seems like herself.
“What happened?”
She sighs resignedly. “It was a cocktail competition, and I drank the liquor like water: rookie mistake. The next thing I barely remember is Deborah and her fiancé lying me on the bed in my villa. Then I woke up, and it was almost noon the next day. I felt like a truck had hit me. I swear, I amneverdrinking again.”
“Where was the scumbro? And where is he now?”
She blinks, trying to recall. “With his cousins, as usual. I haven’t seen him. He’s left me alone. He was at his sister’s ceremony today, then he snuck out to party with the groomsmen, I’m sure.”
I lower my voice, changing our plan. “Stay in your room tonight. Lock the door and use your necklace if you need me. I’ll be on the other side of the fence outside your villa.” She nods as I continue. “I don’t want you on a private jet with him and his entourage tomorrow. I booked you a commercial flight. I’ll fly home before you and wait for you at the airport.”
Her brows bend at my tone. “Okay, but why the change in plans?”
“Tomorrow, all hell will break loose, and I don’t want you anywhere near it. When the fuckwad and his cousins go home, they’ll find their servers were taken, and it’s done.”
Her jaw falls. “Done?”
“Yeah, done. Ruby stole DJ’s server. She dug around and found that he owns some old bungalow on the Isle of Palms. That’s where it was, not at his house with his wife. The place had a stash of old porn DVDs and condoms. The fucker uses it for his affairs or whatever he’s into with the scumbro.”
Her eyes blink like she can’t believe it. “So… So I’m free? That’s it? We have all the servers? He doesn’t have the video anymore?”
Tears brim in her eyes, making them glow.
God, I love this woman’s tender heart. I know better than to mistake it for a weak spirit.
Vivian aims her emotions like a weapon. She’s attuned and perceptive. It’s how she figured out where her ex was hiding the servers. She saw the deception in his eyes. She sensed it was his cousins.
Gently, I kiss her forehead. “Hopefully, yes. You’re free, but we need to be sure, and there’s only one way.”
“Okay.” She gazes up at me, steeling her jaw. “Name it, and I’ll do it.”
“You need to let me beat the shit out of him.”
