Sothing about Jace had changed.
I couldn’t quite na it, but I could feel it.
He wasn’t cold, not exactly. He was just quieter and harder to read. There was a stillness in him that felt dangerous, like the air right before lightning splits the sky.
He didn’t go to Palermo anymore. According to Tomas, he changed his mind last minute and ca ho. I was relieved but at the sa ti worried about his deanor. I would catch him standing by the window so nights, staring out into the city, his phone in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other. The glow from the skyline would fall across his face, outlining that expression I had learned to recognize was the one he wore when he was thinking too much.
At first, I didn’t question it. We’d been through enough for to know that silence, for Jace, usually ant he was planning sothing. But this ti... this silence felt heavier. It carried sothing he wasn’t saying.
Every ti I asked, he’d smile and say, "It’s nothing you need to worry about, mia cara."
But I knew better.
There was always sothing to worry about in his world.
The penthouse had grown busier over the last few days. New n had shown up again not the usual guards, but others. n I’d never seen before. It was hard to keep up. They moved like shadows, quiet and fast, whispering to Jace behind closed doors before disappearing again. Whenever I entered a room, conversations stopped. Phones clicked off and eyes dropped.
I hated it.
I hated feeling like the ghost in my own ho.
Even Tomas had been avoiding , which was unusual. He had always been the one who spoke to like a normal person. Now, he was jumpy and overly loyal to Jace, but clearly not happy about sothing.
That afternoon, I decided to ask.
He was in the study with Jace when I walked in. Both of them turned to look at , and I could instantly feel the tension in the air.
"What’s going on?" I asked softly.
Tomas glanced at Jace like he was waiting for permission to answer, but Jace’s eyes cut to him. The look was sharp and held an air of finality. That was enough to keep him quiet.
"Nothing," Jace said, setting a file down. "We’re just going over logistics."
I crossed my arms. "Logistics for what?"
"For keeping you safe." His tone was even, and calm...but too calm.
That calm always scared more than his anger ever did.
"Jace," I whispered, "you’re hiding sothing."
He ca closer, reaching for my hand. His thumb brushed over my knuckles, warm and steady. "You trust , don’t you?"
I nodded slowly. "Of course I do."
"Then trust now. So things are better left unseen until they’re over."
I wanted to argue, but the way he said it, the weight in his eyes. They told I wouldn’t win. So I just nodded again, even though my chest ached from holding in everything I wanted to say.
When I turned to leave, Tomas caught Jace’s eye. I didn’t miss the look they exchanged. It wasn’t casual. It was the kind that said everything without words.
I lingered outside the study door for a mont, and that’s when I heard Tomas’s low voice through the gap.
"You’re really using her as bait?"
The silence that followed was deafening. Then Jace’s voice ca, it was quiet but lethal.
"He won’t co for . He’ll co for her. And when he does... I’ll be waiting." He said.
My heart stopped.
I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to breathe quietly, but it was useless. I could barely stand.
Bait?
That word echoed in my head, sharp and bitter.
I stepped away before I could hear anything else. The hallway spun for a second, and I leaned against the wall until the dizziness passed.
He was planning sothing. Sothing dangerous. And sohow, I was a part of it?
All night, I couldn’t sleep. Every ti I closed my eyes, I kept hearing Tomas’s voice. I heard the disbelief in it and Jace’s cool reply over and over again. I knew he’d never put in harm’s way intentionally, but this was different. This was war. Jace was at his most ruthless when he thought he was protecting the people he loved.
When morning ca, the sunlight filled the room, but it didn’t bring any peace.
Jace was already gone from the bed. Again.
I sat up slowly, noticing the faint scent of his cologne still on the pillow. It made my chest tighten. I walked to the window, watching the cars pass below. The sa black SUV that had been parked across the street for days was gone now, replaced by a delivery van I didn’t recognize. Everything looked normal but normal ant nothing in the mafia world.
Hours passed. Jace ca ho late in the afternoon, his suit jacket thrown over his shoulder, exhaustion in his eyes.
He didn’t say much. Just kissed my temple, told he would be late for dinner and then disappeared into his ho office. I I wanted to follow him and demand answers but sothing in his expression stopped .
Instead, I waited.
It was nearly midnight when he ca to bed that night. He didn’t co down for dinner so I had food sent to him. I felt the mattress dip as he slid under the sheets, his hand tracing my arm before pulling close.
"You’re not asleep," he murmured against my hair.
"How could I sleep when you barely look at anymore?" I whispered back.
He exhaled, long and low. "It’s temporary. I promise."
"Whatever it is you’re planning, Jace... please don’t hurt in the process."
His hand paused against my skin. Then he kissed my shoulder and said softly,
"I won’t."
But his heartbeat told otherwise.
He was already gone. Not physically, but ntally buried in a war I couldn’t see.
And even though I was right there in his arms, I’d never felt further away.
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